On Monday, Nov 28, the CICS Northtown campus welcomed award-winning author Laura Ruby to its monthly student book club. Ms. Ruby's most recent novel, Bone Gap, won the 2016 Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature, given annually by the American Library Association. The book was also a National Book Award finalist. "The Printz is the equivalent to the Newbery or Caldecott awards, but for older readers," explained CICS Northtown's librarian Jim Klise. "It's the most important award for young adult literature, so having her with us was a truly exciting opportunity for the students. The students were thrilled and honored to meet her."

Chicago International Charter School (CICS) Northtown Academy hosted acclaimed novelist and poet Rachel DeWoskin for a reading conversation with the school's Book and Literary Journal club. Ms. DeWoskin read her latest novel, "Someday We Will Fly", to Northtown Academy students.  Students had the opportunity to ask questions about writing, revision, book publications and received copies of Ms. DeWoskin's latest book. The event was part of Northtown's ongoing commitment to support the arts, cultivate the love of reading and empower young authors on our campus. Rachel's novel won the 2020 Sydney Taylor Book Award from the American Library Association.  #WeAreCICS #CICS Northtown Academy #Civitas Education Partners

CICS Northtown Academy, Class of 2014
Northeastern Illinois University, Class of 2018

My name is Yadira Alonzo and I am 18 years old. I graduated from CICS Northtown Academy in 2014, and I am currently a full-time student at Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU). I grew up in Mexico, then moved to Albany Park in 2007.

Last week, Chicago Public Schools released school performance results – School Quality Rating Policy (SQRP) – from the 2015-2016 school year. CICS has a lot to celebrate and more work to do. We are proud to announce our third consecutive year of improvement across the network, with six of our campuses rated in the top two performance categories of SQRP. These achievements are the results of the talented and committed teachers, leaders, and operators working tirelessly for our students.

Chicago International Charter School selects seasoned education leader as next chief executive

Kris Cheung selected for his collaborative leadership style and ability turn challenges into opportunities

October 18, 2021 

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CHICAGO – Chicago International Charter School (CICS), a network of 13 public charter schools serving 7,400 students, is excited to announce that Kris Cheung will begin as the organization’s Chief Executive Officer, effective November 1, 2021. Following an extensive national search, Cheung was selected due to his deep experience as a leader in education, his relational leadership style and ability to drive student outcomes while maintaining a well-run organization. 

“Kris is a seasoned leader who we are confident has the experience and capabilities to lead CICS into our next phase,” said Evan Sharp, member of CICS’ Board of Directors and chair of the CEO Search Committee. “What stood out to us about Kris was his ability to ask thoughtful questions and listen intently, surround himself with experts, and galvanize people around a common goal. Our Board is deeply grateful to the entire CICS team for providing stability and continuity for our students, families and staff while we found the right person for the role.”

Cheung comes to CICS with more than a decade of leadership at two of the nation’s highly regarded charter networks: Success Academy in New York and KIPP Texas. As the Chief Operating Officer at Success Academy, he helped the organization grow from seven schools serving 2,400 students to 46 schools serving more than 16,000 students. At KIPP Texas, he led the consolidation of four KIPP regions across Texas, now serving 34,000 students at 59 schools statewide. In both roles, Kris brought stakeholders together across departments and regions, while navigating significant complexity, to create more high-quality opportunities for students. 

“CICS has been an education leader in Chicago for more than 24 years and I’m eager to build upon the amazing work of our students, families and staff in the years to come,” said Cheung. “I know the last 18 months have been challenging for everyone and I’m excited to lead a team that has demonstrated resilience, perseverance and a relentless focus on students in the face of significant obstacles. I look forward to building relationships with everyone who is committed to the success of Chicago’s children.” 

 About Chicago International Charter School

Chicago International Charter School is a vibrant network of diverse Chicago charter schools that enable students to thrive every day, put them on a path to success in college and life, and empower entrepreneurial educators to pursue excellence through innovation. CICS is serving more than 7,400 students at 13 campuses across Chicago. To learn more, visit  www.chicagointl.org.

Press Release_Chicago International Charter School selects seasoned education leader as next chief executive

Rallying around an agenda that supports the advancement of Black and Brown children in his community is what Robert Alexander is all about. Now he’s giving back to the community where it all started for him, as a teacher, at his alma mater, CICS Loomis-Longwood. 

National Principals Month honors principals for their significant impact on the success and well-being of our nation’s students.

Join us as we celebrate all CICS principals throughout October!

Check out several of the school principals from our Avalon, Basil, Bucktown, Irving Park, Loomis-Longwood, Lloyd Bond, Northtown Academy, Prairie, Ralph Ellison, Washington Park, West Belden and Wrightwood campuses. 

We plan to profile all our principals this week and their journeys to becoming great leaders!  We thank them for all they do!  

www.principalsmonth.org 
www.ChicagoIntl.Org

#ThankAPrincipal #CICSPrincipals #Leaders 

Earlier this month, Kris Cheung joined CICS as our new Chief Executive Officer.

Kris is a student-centered leader and we are excited for him to be part of the CICS family serving our teachers, staff and familes in providing excellent, innovative and equitable educational experiences to Chicago’s communities.

Check him out at Crain's Chicago ‘On the Move.’

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.      

The Illinois Network of Charter Schools (INCS) announced that Lindy Mandel, middle school teacher and instructional coach at Chicago International Charter School Irving Park, has been named Elementary Teacher of the Year! 

Learn more about CICS Northtown Academy.

CICS is extremely excited to announce that we have our own 2022 Posse Scholar at CICS Northtown Academy, Ahmed Patel. Ahmed recently shared his excitement for this honor and credits his strong support system during this time.

CICS Northtown Academy students have earned academic honors from the College Board National Recognition Programs. These National Recognition Programs grant underrepresented students academic honors that can be included on college and scholarship applications and connect students with universities across the country, helping them meaningfully connect to colleges and stand out during the admissions process.

Students Thrive and Grow with Internships

CICS Northtown Academy partnered with Genesys Works last summer, an organization that provides pathways to career success for high school students in underserved communities. The primary elements of their program model include skills training, meaningful internships, college and career coaching and alumni support.

Two CICS Northtown Academy students, Maria Tencio and Justine James Reyes, applied to the Genesys Quarter 1 Works training program. As part of this program, these NTA students were accepted to a summer internship program. We interviewed both students and they shared some of their experiences and lessons they learned over the course of their intership. 

Taking a Chance Pays Off

Maria Tencio wanted to start her senior year the right way with an internship experience added to her name. She applied for a summer internship because she was motivated to step out of her comfort zone. She saw the Genesys Works program as an opportunity to gain skills she could use in the future and work in a professional setting. Originally, she requested an accounting internship, but landed an IT internship with the advertising firm Ten35. Without hesitation, she took it even though she knew nothing about IT. Beyond learning everything from how to build a computer from scratch to understanding network topologies, Maria’s confidence grew exponentially to also improve her confidence in public speaking and the ability to collaborate with others. “I feel more comfortable sharing my ideas with others and am able to communicate my ideas in a group setting.”

Justine James Reyes was determined to apply for a summer internship despite the current pandemic. He knew he wanted to do something over the course of the summer before he started his senior year. He applied for a Genesys Works internship because he was unsure whether he wanted a career in the medical or the computer field and saw this internship as an opportunity to help him figure that out. Justin was placed with TransUnion as a Web Development intern. He describes the internship experience as an ideal one because he learned valuable skills such as time management, writing work emails, how to successfully interview for a job and the importance of networking. Although he enjoyed working with computers, Justine realized it was not something he wanted to pursue as a career, so he has now decided to pursue a career in the medical field.

Navigating the Future

Both Maria and Justine believe that their internship opportunity is something worthwhile and should be offered to all students because of experiences one gains. They both made contacts while at their internships including mentors they will continuously seek advice from throughout their academic careers. Maria said that the internship was hard work but totally worth the effort. Justine felt the internship helped with him with his personal growth and said he knew it had a similar impact on other students he met with the program. 

Maria and Justine agree that students need to be open minded and take advantage of opportunities that could help them think critically about work and realize the limitless career choices. They encourage other students to do internships while in high school. Real life work experiences gave both of these students a better perspective of the skills needed in a career but also helped them find what they are passionate about doing. Both Maria and Justine represent CICS Northtown Academy’s goal of providing an environment in which students’ creativity, intellectual prowess and problem-solving capabilities are nurtured and thrive to promote remarkable growth.

If students are interested in learning more about Genesys Works internships, please go to their FAQ page for more information about their program and internship opportunities.  

“We started this about four years ago to start off the school year,” explains Kevin Ryan, CICS Northtown Dean of Students. The CICS Northtown high schoolers are invited to bring extra school supplies to the Dean’s office, and have the chance to enter a raffle sponsored by the school.

Thursday, October 11, 2018; 6:30pm-8pm

At CICS Northtown Academy, all students have an advisory period to catch up on homework and listen to school announcements. Jeremiah P., now a senior, started reading the announcements his sophomore year—and people took notice. In this article, Jeremiah shares his experience building confidence, discusses the power of networking, and gives a few examples of his work!