Sept 15 Hispanic Heritage Kick-Off & Rosh HaShana

Sept 22 Star Testing - Math

Sept 28 Community Night Cookout

Sept 28 Universidad de Padres

Sept 28 Building Tour

Oct 6 Late Start

Oct 9 No School

The Mustang Pride Award is a special award given to students who have displayed our Profile of a Learner tenets. These tenets challenge students to live and rise to the occasion by demonstrating …

• Agility… students adapt successfully to a new situation
• Being Self-Assured… students show up, stand up, or speak-up
• Being Proactive… students “make something happen
• Being Information-Seeking… students seek, acquire or evaluate knowledge from a diverse perspective
• Resilience… students make the most out of a challenge or overcome adversity
• Empathy… students value the feelings of others

Those receiving awards were Marisol Vargas, Alexis Carreno (not pictured), Avril Ramirez, Nicholas Osorio (nominated by two different staff members), Maria Castro, and Tonni Lumu. Pictured with the group is Dr. Alexandria Rios-Taylor, MHS Principal, and Nicholas Osorio’s younger sister. Congratulations to these students!

Cultural Awareness Day

Puertas - Hispanic Heritage Month - Dress to show your cultural pride.

All MHS students will take the reading and math STAR assessments this fall. The STAR assessments are designed to provide valuable insights into your students’ proficiency in these subjects, assisting us in determining the support and enrichment required for their academic success. We will administer the STAR math assessment on Friday, September 22nd, and the STAR reading assessment on Friday, September 28th. We will follow a special schedule on these two Fridays, which includes a 40-minute testing window between first and second periods.

There is no need for your student to prepare for the STAR assessment. These assessments are designed to measure their current skill levels, and there are no specific materials or study guides required. Students will take the STAR reading and math assessments in September and then again in April. This allows us to track their growth and progress in these subjects over the course of the school year.

Computer Adaptive Testing:

The STAR assessments are computer-adaptive, which means that the difficulty level of the questions adjusts based on your student’s responses. This individualized approach ensures a more accurate and personalized assessment experience and results.

STAR Math and Reading

The STAR Math assessment assesses math achievement in five key domains: numbers and operations, algebra, geometry and measurement, data analysis, statistics, and probability.

Score Reporting. The STAR Reading assessment evaluates your student’s reading comprehension and skills across various domains, including word knowledge, comprehension strategies, analysis of literary text, analysis of argument, and evaluation of text.

Score Reporting

After the assessments are completed, scores will be emailed to both students and families. It is important to note that these scores are just one data point among many that we use to ensure students have the support and resources they need to succeed at MHS.

Your support in helping us gather valuable data to enhance your student's educational journey is greatly appreciated. Please emphasize the importance of your student's serious effort on these tests, as accurate scores are crucial for us to determine the necessary steps for achieving academic success.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the STAR assessments, please feel free to reach out to Dr. Taylor, Building Principal (ataylor@d120.org), or Mr. Lerner, Math Department Chair (rlerner@d120.org), at any time.

On Wednesday, October 11, 2023, MHS will be participating in PSAT/NMSQT testing or participating in an E-Learning Day.

• Class of 2027 (Freshman) - participating in an e-learning day (remain at home and follow e-learning instructions)

• Class of 2026 (Sophomores) -report to campus for practice SAT exam in the morning. Participate in e-learning in the afternoon.

• Class of 2025 (Juniors) - report to campus for PSAT / NMSQT. Participate in e-learning in the afternoon.

• Class of 2024 (Seniors) - participating in an e-learning day (remain at home and follow e-learning instructions)

The PSAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) will be administered free of charge. All Class of 2025 students, or the entire junior class, will automatically be registered for this exam. Students will not need to do anything special in order to take this exam. The PSAT/NMSQT will be approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes long.

In addition, ALL Class of 2026, or the entire sophomore class, will take a practice SAT exam on Khan Academy. This exam is to provide students with a practice exam to provide areas of focus for the school year. All students in the Class of 2025 and 2026 are required to attend these exams at MHS during the morning. See tentative schedule below. After the exam, students will be released to go home for the rest of the day.

Wednesday, October 11 Schedule

• 8:30 am - Room Check in

• 8:40 am - Exam begins

• Approximately 11:00 am - Exam ends*

• 11:15 am - Buses leave

• Rest of the day - Asynchronous course work to be completed

*Students with testing accommodations will receive a separate letter with accommodations and schedule adjustments.

Lunch will be available for students before they leave after the exam or if the exam is scheduled into the afternoon.

The PSAT/NMSQT exam and Practice SAT exam will be delivered digitally - Class of 2025 & 2026 students MUST bring their fully charged chromebooks to school for this exam. This format will be used for all spring testing in April, so this is a good trail run for students and staff to participate in prior to April.

• Students may bring a calculator for this exam, however, there is an online calculator for students to use.

• Students are able to highlight text.

• Students may eliminate responses when choosing their answer.

• The digital exam is shorter with only 98 questions total.

Students and parents were sent testing information Thursday morning, August, 24, 2023.

The PSAT/NMSQT is a multiple-choice assessment of verbal, mathematics and writing skills. The digital version is an adaptive test which means the exam will begin to deliver questions based on the students’ responses. There are several benefits to taking this exam. First, this is a great exposure to the SAT exam structure which all 11th grade students will take in April this school year. This will allow MHS to decide what math and English topics should be reviewed prior to the April SAT. In addition, top-performing juniors nationally may be eligible for money through National Merit, National Achievement, or National Hispanic Scholarship funds. This is a great opportunity for students to possibly obtain National Merit recognition and scholarship money.

To learn more about the PSAT/NMSQT, visit www.collegeboard.org/psat. For questions, please contact akroll@d120.org

On Saturday the Boys' Cross Country Team took 3rd out of 12 teams at the Lee Halberg Springfield Lanphier meet. Tom Russ again led the way, taking 6th out of 86 runners. We had 4 medalists, placing 4 in the top 14. In the freshman race, we took 2nd, losing by 5 points to Springfield. Izic Miller won the individual title by 25 seconds. We had another 4 medalists in this race, placing 4 in the top 8. In the unscored open race, we had another 3 medalists, with Nathaniel Mendez leading our squad in 7th place.

Last night we ran in our first conference meet of the season. If you weren't there tonight you missed a great meet. We beat Waukegan 15-50, Warren 15-49, and Libertyville 21-34. The last time we faced Libertyville was at the County meet, where they beat us by 22 points. Tonight showed us how good we can be.

Tom Russ and Alberto Diaz went 1-2, with Izic Miller, Elijah Mendoza, and Nathan McCreight going 5-6-7. We had a spread of only 33 seconds 1-5. I call that getting it done. Best team race we've run in a few years. I mentioned after County that the Libertyville coach had a big smile on his face. Didn't see him after tonight's meet, but somehow I don't think his smile was as big. Full results are on athletic.net.

Submitted by Coach Winter

Varsity team beat Waukegan last Thursday and lost to Stevenson Tuesday and now 6-4 overall 2-1 in Conference. Friday all the players participated in the homecoming parade and had a great time. On Saturday at the Grayslake Central invite 4 players medaled including 2 freshmen Alina Ahmed and Brianna Mondragon ,along with junior Sreya Kannappan. Our own Gabi Lipske took home gold with a championship victory over Grayslake in an exciting match .

Submitted by Coach Dayton

Senior Adrian Rosiles has been an integral part of the MHS Boys Varsity Soccer team. He played a huge role in the team's first conference 2-1 victory over Waukegan. The boys next game will be against an undefeated Stevenson team where the boys hope to continue their outstanding season.

Submitted by Coach Willis

With huge wins over Antioch and Zion-Benton last week during Homecoming week, the MHS Varsity volleyball team took on Grayslake North on Tuesday and won in 2 sets, bringing our win streak to 7! The Daily Herald has acknowledged this winning streak by ranking our Mustangs in the Top 20 in their circulation range! Congratulations!! Our Mustangs play again at Wauconda on Monday and at Stevenson on Wednesday. Looking ahead, please mark your calendars for Varsity’s Staff Appreciation Night, which will be held on Tuesday, October 3 at our home match against Lakes. And our Cancer Awareness Night on October 11 at home against Lake Zurich. We would love to pack the gym for both events. See you there!

Submitted by Coach Rodriguez

PR explosion at the Wauconda invite last Saturday! 17/19 ran a lifetime (12!) or season (5) best! Every returning runner had a course PR as well! Varsity, led by medalists Brooklyn D’Ambrosio & Vivi Gonzalez, placed 6th out of 12 teams. JV placed 7th out of 14 teams. Great job by all!

The Mundelein Foundation is seeking new members! Do you have one night a month to make a difference? Contact Jennifer for more information on how you can have some fun helping the next generation: 847-987-7955 or brunkow4@sbcglobal.net

Our MHS Portrait of a Learner tenets affirm student identity through schoolwide values, expectations and practices.

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.

Therefore, to secure a visitation time, please select from the following options so we are able to provide the necessary information and personnel during your visit.

Click here to schedule your tour.

Attendance

Regular school attendance is required and necessary to develop the academic and intrapersonal skills needed for success. Students are expected to attend each class and be on time. Students who attend school regularly have been shown to achieve at higher levels than students who do not have regular attendance.

If your student is going to be absent from school, please call the Attendance Line 847-949-2200 ext. 1998 (Spanish) ext. 1999 (English) by 10:00 am.

Bus Notifications

Would you like to know when your student’s bus is going to be late? For Mundelein bus routes, Lakeside Transportation is using the Bus Bulletin notification system to notify parents and students when there are bus delays and schedule changes. For more information, or to sign-up and start receiving notifications, please visit: www.busbulletin.com/parents (Find Mundelein Area Schools when prompted for a district) *Note - This is managed by Lakeside Bus Company and not MHS.

Technology Use

Students will utilize technology to support their learning in class. Students are reminded to use their Chromebooks and cell phones appropriately at all times. For further information about technology use, please refer to the student handbook located on the District web page.