Principal's Blog #20

Mustang families,

We had a great time meeting our incoming Freshman families last night at Class of 2028 Night. This morning we received the feedback below. I'd like to share it with you all. It's a representation of the phenomenal parents and community we serve. Thank you for entrusting us with your children.

"Good morning Dr. Taylor, I just wanted to commend you and your staff on the excellent incoming Freshman night you held last night. My oldest son will begin at MHS this August and is both nervous and excited about the transition. After attending last evening's presentation, he feels less nervous and much more excited about the opportunities MHS offers. The student activity fair in the Gym was amazing and truly highlighted what your school has to offer! I am a teacher at Fremont Intermediate School and was able to reconnect with many former students last night - all of whom were thrilled to talk about their positive experiences at MHS. Thank you for a wonderful evening!" - Anonymous

Have a great weekend,

Dr. Alexandria Rios Taylor

Principal, Mundelein High School

847-949-2200 x1257

www.d120.org

ataylor@d120.org

Jan 25 - Monthly Building Tour

Jan 26 - Late Start - Classes Begin at 9:40am

Feb 1 - Student Registration Begins

Feb 19 Presidents’ Day - No School

The Fine Arts team made their annual trip to Fremont, West Oak, and Carl Sandburg on Thursday, January 18th. Hundreds of 8th graders received information on how to find their “And” at MHS in the coming year by joining Media, Visual Arts, Band, Choir, and Theatre! The energy was high during each of the 45 minute presentations!

“New year, new me, new classes, new Artist of the MONTH!!! Say hi to Leila Bychowski @luvleilaaaa this junior has been doing some amazing oil paintings. Check them out up front by the main entrance and on instagram @mhsart120”

Every 3 years, Mundelein High School surveys parents and industry partners in order to gauge workforce needs in the local community. This data is compiled with other Lake County schools to influence funding and programming for the future. Please take 5 minutes to complete this short survey on the preparedness of our high school graduates and future workforce needs.

Students can schedule a time during their PE, lunch or study hall class period. Parent consent forms are required for 16-year-old donors. All donors receive a signature T-Shirt as our thank you. Wear your "Just Donate It" shirt from the last blood drive and be entered into a raffle to win prizes!

We are proud to host visitors to learn more about our programming and facilities. In order to minimize the impact on the educational environment, we have chosen to host visitors on select days throughout the school year.

Our next tour is on January 25th at 4:30pm. Click here to register.

Classes begin at 9:40am. Busses will run one hour later than usual.

Click here for the late start schedule.

"The United Nations General Assembly designated January 27—the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau—as International Holocaust Remembrance Day, a time to remember the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and the millions of other victims of Nazi persecution.

As we are witnessing an alarming rise of antisemitism around the globe, it is more important than ever for us to recognize the critical lessons of Holocaust history as we commemorate the victims and honor the survivors."

https://www.ushmm.org/remember/international-holocaust-remembrance-day

Parent Letter (English / Español)

Presidents’ Day, in the United States, holiday (third Monday in February) popularly recognized as honoring George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. The day is sometimes understood as a celebration of the birthdays and lives of all U.S. presidents. To learn more, click here.

• Juniors: November 27 - Completed
• Sophomores: December 11 - Completed
• 8th graders: January 18
• Freshman: February 5

Course selection resources:

• Course Selection Preparation and Process (English / Spanish)

• Mundelein High School Academic Course Guide (English/Spanish)

• Course Request Worksheet (English / Spanish)

• Mundelein High School Career Pathways (English / Spanish)

• Advanced Placement/Honors Recruitment Letter to Parents/Guardians (English / Spanish)

• Accelerated Placement Act Letter to Parents/Guardians (English / Spanish)

If you have any questions about this process you can reach out directly to your school counselor for more information.

We will regularly feature a student, staff member or department at our school (Or all three at once), to give Mustang Nation a closer look at these wonderful folks! “We are MHS”! To nominate yourself or others for this feature, please email Mr. Gonzalez – hgonzalez@d120.org

Take a moment to review the January self-care check list

Need help completing the FAFSA? Register for the FAFSA Support Event at the College of Lake County on Tuesday, February 6th from 4-7:30PM. Limited spots available!

Experiential Education describes all opportunities offered to students to give them a chance to explore the world of careers and professions. These include classes like Dual Credit Student Internship, Business INCubator, and Geometry in Construction as well as career treks and featured guest speakers.

The College of Lake County is pleased to once again offer to MHS students an opportunity to participate in a Spring Break Apprenticeship Awareness program, March 25 - 28th through the Career and Job Placement Center of CLC.

Please see the flyer, application, and session descriptions below. 70 Lake County students will be accepted into program which is for grades 9-12.

Students will be placed into two 35-student groups (A & B) with a Zoom virtual connection for the first two days of the program and then in-person activities for the last two days. Buses will transport students to on-site locations during the sessions, but they will need transportation to our Grayslake Campus and Advanced Technology Center (ATC) in Gurnee on the third and fourth days of the program. (We will invite parents/guardians to attend the last day's session at the ATC with their student.)

Students will receive their stipend ($200 Visa gift card) on the final day of the session pending completion of all requirements of the program. The outline of the sessions is also included for your review and to share with students.

This year CLC staff are attempting to streamline the registration process through the use of QR codes or weblinks with the application form. Please use the QR codes included on the application, which is available in both English and Spanish.

Registration will be on a first-come/first-served basis--the deadline to register is March 15th. As students register, we will be contacting them to do a short interview by phone to gauge their interest in the program.

Please contact Alexander Kapotas, Career Exploration & Internship Coordinator at akapotas@d120.org or 847-949-2200 x1092 with any questions.

This is a popular event and spots will fill up quickly. Space is limited--apply today!

Visit the Literacy Center

MHS has many supports to offer students. Students can access a quick-reference guide of all supports available on this page. Available is everything from social-emotional support, to financial support. Check it out!

Click here to see all the student support areas we have to offer.

Submitted by Coach Badgley

Congratulations to junior Derek Bishop for entering the coveted 1000 point scorer category in Mundelein Boys Basketball history. He becomes the 21st person on that list (currently he sits at 15th overall)

This picture is the actual shot for his 1000th career point. vs. Belleville Althoff Catholic on December 27, 2023

Submitted by Coach Teipel

Congratulations to senior Rylan Foster for entering the coveted 1000 point scorer category in Mundelein Girls Basketball history. The actual shot for her 1000th career point was MHS vs. Buffalo Grove

Submitted by Coach Newsom, Coach Duncan and Coach Rosales

JV did an amazing job this past weekend at the Grayslake North Invitational. They came out on top with a 1st place win and have started to get a nice collection of trophies to add to their resume. What this team has been able to accomplish this season is amazing. This win is a great motivator to help push us through our last two competitions of our season; Conferences at Lake Zurich and the Sweetheart Challenge at Huntley. Congrats JV on winning 1st. “We’re on a mission to Own. This. Year!”

Submitted by Coach Prorok

The Mustangs had a great week. Varsity put up another high series score remaining undefeated in Conference. At the Warren Blue Devil tournament, the Varsity took 1st place with 4 of the girls placing in the top 12 and JV took 2nd place. Individual awards on Varsity went to Caitlin Sciortino took 2nd place and Samantha Sciortino took 4th place. Individual awards went to Charlotte Niziolek who took 1st place and Anna Kuznetsova who placed 3rd.

Next week is the Conference Tournament.

Our MHS Portrait of a Learner (English | Spanish)tenets affirm student identity through schoolwide values, expectations and practices.

Some new changes for this semester include the installation of vape sensors in the restrooms here at MHS. If you’ve used any of our standard restrooms recently, you may have noticed signage that has been posted regarding these sensors.

On a local, state, and national level, many students are known to be experimenting with vaping, and many are doing so at school. To do our part to mitigate vaping at MHS, sensors have been installed to detect when vaping has occurred. The administration will monitor the notifications of the vape sensors to assist in mitigating the negative impact of vaping at MHS.

If it is determined that a student may have been vaping, a student may be assessed and possibly searched. If a student is presumed to be under the influence, we will follow our district code of conduct and any disciplinary actions aligned with the code of conduct will be enforced. Additionally, we will provide support for the student with a follow-up from our Student Support Teams.

The vape sensors are a tool to help us create a safer and healthier learning environment for our students. We encourage parents and guardians to speak with their children about the dangers of vaping and to reinforce the school’s commitment to promoting healthy behaviors. If you would like additional background before speaking with your young adult, you can reference this article from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

We must work together to continue to educate our students on the dangers of vaping and the effect it has on their bodies. Our Health teachers and Student Support personnel will continue to facilitate awareness lessons and campaigns. We all have a responsibility to guide and support our students and together we can maintain a safe and healthy school environment.

For further support and/or questions, please reach out to your student’s Dean at (847) 949-2200.

Sincerely,

Michael Souza

Associate Principal of Operations

Should an e-learning day be required, the school will notify all students, staff and Mustang families by 6 am via the school website, email and phone number registered in PowerSchool.

• Students should take technology home in the event an e-learning day is utilized.

• If students do not have a functioning Chromebook or charger, please have them go to the Technology Office in the Media Center to check one out.

Click the links to learn about e-Learning in D120 (English / Spanish).

What will e-learning look like for students?

• E-learning school day is 8:40 a.m. -1:40 p.m.

• All students will learn asynchronously (no Zoom). Students will check CANVAS for their required assignments, which must be shared by 9:00 am on the day of the eLearning day.

• Students may email teachers throughout the day for clarification or assistance and / or catch up on missing assignments.

• Assignments for each class will take around 35-45 minutes to complete.

• Students must submit their completed assignments to their teachers by the third school day following the emergency day.

• All students must submit their attendance by 1:40 p.m. Students will receive an email on their school account from Mrs. Stevee Libert with a google form they must complete by 1 p.m. to indicate they are “present” for the day.

• All teachers will be available by email during the e-learning day.

• After-school athletics and extracurriculars will be notified by noon if athletics or activities will resume or be canceled for the evening.

If your student has COVID and will be missing school, this is a regular guardian call out. Please report your student’s absence via PowerSchool.

Students cannot have “remote” or “COVID” absence days.

Past blogs are available at:

https://www.d120.org/about-mhs/principals-newsletter/

Website: www.d120.org
Location: 1359 West Hawley Street, Mundelein, IL, USA
Phone: 847-949-2200
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Mundelein-High-School-District-120/100095401983567/
Twitter: @MundeleinHS