SCIENCE ACADEMY OF CHICAGO

FEBRUARY 2021

Re-Enrollment Season

Dear Science Academy Families & Community,

It is hard to believe, but it is time to re-enroll for the 2021-2022 school year! We greatly appreciate your trust in us to provide a private school education as an investment in your children's future. We are officially accepting re-enrollments.

Please keep in mind that open enrollment to the public begins March 6th, 2021. All priorities will be removed during open enrollment. At this point, students who meet the school's admission criteria will be admitted in the order in which their completed applications are received. Classes and sections are limited based on our published student-teacher ratios; keep in mind that our classes especially at the primary and early elementary level may fill up quickly to capacity: pre-school, kindergarten, first and second grades.

Please take advantage of the many discount options! These are all great ways to save!

● Option 1: 20% tuition discount if paid in full by May 28th

● Option 2: 15% tuition discount if a deposit is paid by May 28th

● Merit-Based Scholarships: Eligible students could receive up to $3,000 off tuition!

● New SAC Family Referral: $500 credit to your tuition!

Feel free to reach out with any questions. We look forward to another year together!

Sincerely,

Ms. Bartucci

Principal

Virtual Open House

Join us Saturday February 13th, 2021 at 11:00am for a virtual open house that will detail our academic program.

**For any family that joins our open house and enrolls with us we will have their registration fee of $150 waived upon enrollment**

See you there!

Topic: Science Academy of Chicago Virtual Open House
Time: Feb 13, 2021 11:00 AM Central Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/72904600844?pwd=UmREaGJMYXdxUWh4UE9FcGhQdUVzZz09

Meeting ID: 729 0460 0844
Passcode: openhouse

2nd Quarter Award Ceremony

The 2nd Quarter Award Ceremony was held on Wednesday January 20th, 2021.

In total, 53 out of 85 Third - Eighth grade students achieved honor roll status! We are so proud of our students; 62% of the student body achieved honor roll! 18 students earned a perfect 4.0 Grade Point Average and an additional 35 students earned a high Grade Point Average between 3.75-3.99. These numbers are reflective not only of their hard work and dedication to their studies, but the consistent and positive motivation from their teachers.

In addition to academic awards, students were awarded for their good behavior and overall merit achievements. Students showed excellence in being helpful to their classmates and others: Kaylee B., Elif K., Mehmet M., Hatice O., Numan T., Elif U., and Leyla Y. Many students were awarded the respectful student award: Asema, Nurmira, Hatice, Soha, Ali B., Veronica K., Ahmet E., and Bahar Er. School/Community Service Awards: Marwah A., Nevra C., Naim C., Bera G., Nesibe G., Aneesa K., Veronica K., Bahar K., and Mahi M.! Responsibility award: Dunya A., Ahmet E., Naim C., Bahar K., Rabia U., Elif U., and Leyla Y.

We also awarded NOETIC MATH COMPETITION winners! Our team winners are: Vahdet A., Tarik Y., Selime O., Kenan S., Leyla Y. and honorable mentions: Sabrina B., Maryum S., Yavuz Er., Mariam K., Matt T., Naile U., Ahmed A., Ali Muhammad K., Bahar K., and Yakup U.!!

Congrats everyone!

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Ms.Cynthia's PK4 Class:

PK4 kiddos have been trying to get outside and enjoy the fresh air as much as possible. They cannot wait until the temperature gets a little warmer so we can head outside and enjoy the new piles of snow!

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Ms.Danielle's KG Class:

Coming back from winter break, Kindergarten has kept their learning and momentum going! We learned all about the season of winter, winter animals, hibernating, and the Arctic.

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We continued working on our writing skills and the students wrote and illustrated short stories. We also discussed how this related to our classroom and what we can do to help others even though we are only in kindergarten. Students listened to the song "With My Own Two Hands" then drew pictures and wrote sentences of what they could do to help others and make our world a better place just like Martin Luther King Jr.

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After reading the book "The Snow Globe Family" we discussed story elements including main idea, details, characters, setting, and story events. Then the students wrote their own story using the writing prompt "If I lived in a snow globe..." They practiced sentence structure, spelling, handwriting, and creative writing. Another winter theme students learned about was Martin Luther King Jr. They learned about peace, equality, and fairness.

Mr.Ahmet's Science Class ~Natural Disasters~

Students love learning about natural disasters, so Mr.Ahmet used this engaging project topic for 7th Graders to help them work on important research and improve their vital skills ( creativity, hands-on, critical thinking, social skills...etc). This natural disasters research project guides students through all the steps, from brainstorming to reflection. They didn't only learn about natural disasters from group presentations, they also understood their potential for creativeness. Researching natural disasters gives students a chance to dig deeper into a topic of interest (earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanoes, avalanches, landslides, tsunami...etc). Let's congratulate 7th Grade students for their great models of natural disasters.

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Ms.Johnson's Art Class

Ms. Johnson’s Art Classes have been busy learning new art-making techniques, being inspired to use the imagination, and exploring the work of artists from historical and contemporary times.

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Kindergarten recently explored the art element called form as they made three-dimensional sculpture. They experimented with shapes of paper by folding, cutting, and gluing parts together in imaginative ways. The final result is a colorful sculpture that includes many paper forms. Students learned to think in terms of three-dimensional form and had the opportunity to use their hands to manipulate materials and build a sculpture while problem-solving and expressing the imagination.

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Fourth and fifth graders who take Art Class recently made an Expressive Painting. Our students learned about non-objective art, which is art that shows no identifiable reference to realism and conveys mood and emotion through lines, shapes, and colors. They chose one or two of the five elements of nature as inspiration for their art and communicated this idea through painting and collage. Students studied the artist Jean Michel Basquiat and his expressive and abstract art to understand that feeling and mood can be effectively communicated through expressive lines, shapes, and colors.

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In the sixth, seventh, and eighth grade Art Class, students spent much of the second quarter advancing their drawing skills. They made an enlarged portrait drawing from a photograph of themselves, or another person they know. Students studied the style of photorealism and were inspired by portrait paintings by the artist Chuck Close. They used the grid method of drawing to make their work as accurate as possible. The completed drawings show value (highlights and shadows).

Mr.Martinez's Social Studies Class

In Social Studies, 6th grade recently finished learning about the achievements and culture of the ancient Egyptians! To conclude this unit, 6th grade used their new knowledge to develop one of the crowning achievements of the ancient Egyptians, Pyramids! Students worked in groups or individually to complete this project during class and at home. What makes their pyramids unique are the drawings on each side of the pyramid which represent aspects of ancient Egyptian culture they learned about in class.

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Ms.De La Luz's Spanish Class

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1st Grade "Mi Monstruo"

Body parts are some of the first words kids learn in their native language that it comes with ease to learn them in Spanish. It is a fun lesson because it's naturally a hands-on sort theme, students are walking around with ready-to-go visuals. The vocabulary is introduced by pointing, clapping hands and stomping feet as we say the words. Some of the activities we do to review body parts is the classic game Simon Dice (Simon Says) where the students touch the body part they hear and once they know the vocabulary, they can lead the game. In this activity, the students drew a monster, labeled the parts and gave it a name. Creating their own monster is always a favorite activity for SAC students.

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KG Arbol de Familia

Kindergarteners are familiar with their own family members and get engaged when creating a family tree. They complete this activity by writing their immediate family members on the tree in order. Family trees are an effective way of working with family vocabulary and a common activity to complete in a Spanish class.

Science Academy Leadership Program (SALP) Activities

After suspending in-person activities due to the surge in numbers in November, we started doing in-person activities. SALP 6th and 7th-grade students participated in an in-school activity night full of fun. They made tie-dye t-shirts and completed some character education tasks. Another in-person day was held on February 5th 2021. They prepared their own baked potato with different ingredients such as salad, corn, and beans. It was our 10th in-person event this year, and we'll have 5 more events before the year ends!

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FAMILY REFERRAL PROGRAM

Officer Friendly Presents "Cyberbullying" Presentation

On Friday February 5th, 2021, our 8th grade students joined a very informative presentation hosted by Mount Prospect Police Department's Officer Greg Sill and Detective Bill Ryan (cyber crime investigator). They presented on the topic of Cyberbullying. In relation to Detective Ryan's definition, cyberbullying is the use of technology to threaten, embarrass, or target another person. Students discussed how bullying online can occur when threats and mean, aggressive or rude texts, tweets, posts, or messages are sent to others.

Detective Ryan also shared the importance of stopping a cyberbully and how students can be advocates of reporting the cyberbullying to an adult or teacher. This information may be very helpful as students graduate junior high and head off to high school next year!

Each month, Officer Friendly shares a meaningful community presentation with our students and staff. We are grateful for the partnership we have with the MPPD!

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TEACHER OF THIS ISSUE ~MUYESSER KORKMAZ~

Ms. Korkmaz has been working for SAC longer than any other teacher. This year is her 10th year here at SAC. Let's meet her a little bit in detail:

After graduating from Roosevelt University with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and with a minor in Education, she worked voluntarily in SAC and TASC for a while. Then, she started to work in SAC as a Turkish and Character Education teacher in 2010.

For the last 5 years, she is coordinating the Fountain Academy Program, as well. Mrs. Korkmaz is married and has two children (Enes & Tugba, both graduated from SAC).

Mrs. Korkmaz loves teaching and hopes that each one of her students is inspired to be the best they can be.

SAC FAMILY OF THIS ISSUE ~CANBOLAT FAMILY~

The Canbolat Family's children started to study at SAC almost 13 years ago! All 6 children studied or are currently studying at SAC. The oldest child, Bugra, enrolled at SAC in 2008 as a 3rd grader. After graduating from SAC in 2014, he now studies accounting and works for his dad's company. The 2nd child, Hatice, graduated from SAC in 2015 and is majoring in Environmental Health on a pre-med track at Loyola University. The other 4 children are currently enrolled at SAC: Berra-8th Grade, Nevra-7th Grade, Taha-2nd Grade, and Eren-KG.

They say that they choose SAC for their children's education because "Science Academy of Chicago provides a safe and respectful environment for the students." They greatly appreciate that its mission aligns with our family’s values.

The Canbolat Family is the proud owner of Mount Prospect's Istanbul Market & Restaurant and Mr. Canbolat is an active board member of the school and TASC.

ALUMNUS OF THIS ISSUE ~AYSE SULE GULSEN~

Ayse Sule Gulsen graduated from SAC in 2016. Following SAC’s encouragement, she continued her interests through various activities during her high school years. She took part in different clubs, such as Women in STEM, psychology, multicultural and math club. She was part of the National and English Honors Society. She also kept SAC’s tradition of service by volunteering at her local library, senior center, and the American Red Cross. After graduating from Stevenson High School, she is now a freshman at Loyola University majoring in Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience and minoring in Computer Science and Arabic. She has a younger brother from the class of 2019, and two younger sisters still attending SAC in the 6th and 7th grade.

Photo caption:

Ayse Sule Gulsen (right), pictured with her friends at a blood drive organized with the American Red Cross.