Chicago International Charter School

Dear CICS Families,

I hope that you all have found moments of relaxation and rejuvenation as summer weather finally graces our beautiful city. After an exceedingly difficult year, we all deserve time to celebrate what we accomplished, mourn what we lost, and feel grateful for what lies ahead.

Speaking of what lies ahead, it is with great excitement that I am writing to officially notify you that our CICS campuses will return for full-time, in-person learning this fall. We are working closely and collaborating with all our SMO partners for a strong and safe launch. Planning is ongoing and new information is gathered daily, and we are confident that we will be ready to welcome back students into our school buildings when we begin the 2021-2022 school year.

There will be many more details and conversations in the weeks ahead, and you should expect outreach from your individual school campus as plans evolve. Please reach out directly to your school leaders with any questions that you have. And, in the meantime, continue to rest and find moments of joy as you soak in a long-awaited Chicago summer.

I look forward to seeing our community back together soon.

With warmest regards,

Pelin Deniz
Chief Operations Officer 
Chicago International Charter School 

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[Spanish Translation]

Estimadas familias de CICS,

Espero que todos hayan encontrado momentos de relajación y rejuvenecimiento mientras el clima de verano finalmente adorna nuestra hermosa ciudad. Después de un año extremadamente difícil, todos merecemos tiempo para celebrar lo que logramos, lamentar lo que perdimos y sentirnos agradecidos por lo que nos espera.

Hablando de lo que nos espera, les escribo con gran entusiasmo para notificarles oficialmente que nuestros escuelas de CICS volverán para el aprendizaje en persona a tiempo completo este otoño. Trabajamos cerca y colaboramos con todos nuestros socios del SMO para un lanzamiento sólido y seguro. La planificación es continuada y se recopila nueva información todos los días, y estamos seguros de que estaremos listos para recibir a los estudiantes en nuestros edificios escolares cuando comencemos el año escolar 2021-2022.

Habrá muchos más detalles y conversaciones en las próximas semanas, y debe esperar un acercamiento de su escuela escolar individual a medida que evolucionen los planes. Comuníquese directamente con los líderes de su escuela si tiene alguna pregunta. Y, mientras tanto, continúe descansando y encuentre momentos de alegría mientras se sumerge en un verano de Chicago tan esperado.

Espero ver a nuestra comunidad nuevamente unida pronto.

Con mis mejores deseos,

Pelin Deniz
Chief Operations Officer 
Chicago International Charter School 

Dear CICS Families, 

Welcome back from Spring Break! Even if you stayed close to home over the week off, I hope you found moments to rest, relax and prepare for the final months of the school year. 

We want to remind our CICS families that each CICS campus will be offering families different learning opportunities, based on need and parent/guardian input, for the remainder of the school year. All campuses will continue to offer remote learning for families who desire, and your campus and SMO teams will share more details about various in-person options on a campus-by-campus basis. 

Each CICS campus is finalizing its plan for the in-person administration of assessments to begin in the weeks ahead. It’s important that we have students participate in these assessments so that we can understand how to best support our students when we return in the fall. Please let your School Leader know if you have any questions or concerns about assessments and campuses will share more information as it becomes available. 

Thank you for your ongoing support of CICS and our students. We look forward to finishing this remarkable school year strong, in partnership with you. 

Stay safe and have a wonderful return from Spring Break!

Thank you, 

Christine Leung

Interim CEO

Chicago International Charter School 

[Spanish Translation]

Estimadas familias de CICS,

¡Bienvenidos de regreso de las vacaciones de primavera! Sii se quedó cerca de casa durante la semana libre, espero que haya encontrado momentos para descansar, relajarse y prepararse para los últimos meses del año escolar.

Queremos recordar a nuestras familias que cada escuela de CICS ofrecerá a las familias diferentes oportunidades de aprendizaje, según la necesidad y la opinión de los padres / tutores, durante el resto del año escolar. Todos nuestras escuelas continuarán ofreciendo aprendizaje remoto para las familias que lo deseen, y su escuela y los equipos de SMO compartirán más detalles sobre varias opciones en persona en cada escuela.

Cada escuela de CICS está finalizando su plan para que las evaluaciones de la administración hechos en persona comienzan en las próximas semanas. Es importante que los estudiantes participen en estas evaluaciones para que podamos entender cómo apoyar mejor a nuestros estudiantes cuando regresemos en el otoño. Informe a su líder escolar si tiene alguna pregunta o inquietud sobre las evaluaciones y los campus compartirán más información a medida que esté disponible.

Gracias por su continuo apoyo a CICS y nuestros estudiantes. Esperamos terminar este año escolar extraordinario con fuerza, en sociedad con usted.

¡Manténgase a salvo y tenga un maravilloso regreso de las vacaciones de primavera!

Gracias,

Christine Leung

CEO interino

Escuela Charter Internacional de Chicago

Meals Fuel Students’ Bodies and Minds

It is important that CICS students maintain a healthy body and mind during the school year. CICS recognizes that meals contribute to our physical, social and mental well-being. 

Our Food Services team plays an essential role to all our CICS schools. They are an important part of improving the health and well-being of our students.  We would like to share the story of what our food service program does every school day in order to keep students healthy and fed. 

A Change in Meals 

CICS knows that what a child eats plays a role in their level of creativity, engagement and academic performance. Our food program ensures that students and families have nutritious meal options. Due to the pandemic, the last in-school meals were served to CICS students on Friday, March 13.

With only the weekend to plan, CICS began to offer meals for pickup to our students and their families on the following Monday, March 16.  While those first few meals consisted of sandwiches and wraps, CICS quickly realized that families needed items that could be heated at home.

What’s for Lunch?

All fourteen CICS school campuses have on-site prep kitchens where food can be prepared and served to students from steam table serving lines, as well as self-serve salad bars. The current curbside pick-up breakfast menu offers shelf stable items along with occasional fresh fruit or juice. Lunch and supper options include ready-to-heat items such as hamburgers, chicken and burritos and there are new items such as chicken legs and other plated entrees being added. Pizza and chicken tenders/nuggets are still a favorite, just as they were when meals were served on campuses. The menus also acknowledge that families may have dietary restrictions so there are always no-meat protein items available. Milk is included with every meal and healthy snacks such as granola bars and raisins are also provided.

Changes to Food Service Distribution 

Curbside food pickup has been important while students are remote learning. CICS has accommodated most families who drive up to one the campuses; some families walk up to the table if they live close by. Every day, our families have been grateful for their childrens’ meals and for the opportunity to see the food staff, even if they are socially distanced or in their cars. Students are always excited to see  their “lunch lady” from the car.  

Recognizing CICS Food Service Staff 

The CICS food service staff are rarely recognized for the important role they play in the lives of our students. At one campus, a mother occasionally cooks lunch for the food service staff and brings it to them on Fridays. This is just an example of how close this community is. They have served 500,000 meals since the middle of March. It is their mission, especially during remote learning, to create high quality meals that students want to eat and to get those meals to every family. Many parents realize that, without food service staff, their children would not have the meals they usually receive while in school. It shows how important they are! 

As a school community, our priority is to keep every student fed. Even when school schedules change or holidays come and go, distribution times are adjusted. CICS has also added an additional morning pick-up time to accommodate family schedules.