Welcome to the website for Chicago International Charter School Ð Irving Park Campus.
Our school is a wonderful place for young children to grow and learn, and I am proud to
be part of this nurturing school community.
We strive to create a school climate in which children, teachers and parents find a
sense of community, experience the warmth of friendship, and are inspired to view
learning as a life long process. We proudly serve 515 students in Kindergarten through
8th grade. Most of our students live in the surrounding communities, but some travel
from across the city to attend our school.
The mission of CICS-Irving Park is to educate and nurture our children by fostering
a safe and positive environment that is conducive of all children receiving a high
quality college preparatory education. Each child will develop the confidence and
academic skills to grow academically, socially, intellectually, and morally into
Life-Long Learners.
We are committed to a world-class education that nurtures every child to
become an inspired leader, a well-rounded individual and contributing member of a
global society. Our instructional program is highly differentiated and rigorous.
Teachers use the data from interim and classroom assessments to individualize
instruction. We maximize each student’s growth and individual success by meeting
each student where he or she is and assisting in the learning process. Beginning in
Kindergarten, students have one-on-one meetings with the classroom teacher and
Director to discuss their goals and plan for college. We have exceeded our targets
in both math and reading on NWEA and have closed the achievement gap two years in a
row. CICS Irving Park was recently listed in the Chicago Tribune as the charter
school with the highest percentage of students meeting or exceeding ISAT standards - 92.5%
The CICS Irving Park staff consists of more than 45 dedicated, highly
qualified, committed and caring professionals. We value individual and
organizational excellence, diversity, and a collaborative process for continuous
growth. The CICS Irving Park School community is dedicated to student growth. We
believe in cooperative teamwork, drawing on each other’s individual strengths and
special talents to provide a comprehensive educational experience for the students.
We strive to help each child develop into an educated, well-adjusted and productive
human being. Staff members at CICS Irving Park are constantly seeking professional
growth opportunities. Many are involved in graduate level course work and two have
received National Board Certification as Master teachers. This commitment to
professional growth has helped to ensure continued success for our students.
We foster an orderly, child centered environment where everyone is expected
to behave in ways that respect and value everyone else in the organization. All
students are expected to exhibit the Rockin’ R’s: Respectful, Responsible, and
Ready to Learn in all areas of the school. Expectations are high, yet reasonable
and modeled on a daily basis. Our uniform set of practices and procedures are
aligned to our school’s mission and goals. Each day begins with a school wide
community meeting where positive contributions of students are celebrated.
We are fortunate to have an active parent community that supports the staff
and children in our school. These active parents fundraise, provide copy service to
our teachers, instruct some of our after school programs, provide a wide variety of
student and classroom support and much more. With our parent volunteers we are able
to sponsor events that would otherwise not be possible.
School/home communication is a critical component to school success. Each
family receives a family handbook with important school information. Families
receive information via School Messenger and our school website. The Friday
Flyer Packet is posted on our website every week with news about the activities
taking place at school. We believe in a continuous process of communication
between the school and home. In addition to the above resources, we utilize
classroom newsletters, progress reports, Parent/Teacher conferences, telephone calls, email, parent information nights and CICS Irving Park activities to enhance the communication process.
We partner with a wide variety of community partners which positively benefit
all involved. Our school is an effective and caring place because we are an
integral part of our community. Our community partnerships contribute to enhanced
academic performance, fewer discipline problems, higher staff morale, and improved
use of resources. Bulb planting in the Spring, donating food to the food
depositories, cleaning up the community, and visiting the elderly are just a few of
the ways that CICS Irving Park Students have contributed to the surrounding
community.
The staff and I are excited about working with our 515 students and have many
engaging activities planned for them. We believe that we make a powerful difference in
the lives of our students.
CICS Irving Park is proud of our fine tradition of academic excellence, and we look
forward to providing a superior education for our students. This website holds much of
the information you will need to get to know CICS Irving Park and all that makes this a
special place to learn. If you would like more information about CICS Irving Park
School, you may reach me via email at jheiman@victoryep.com.
In Partnership,
Janet Heiman
Director
