January 3, 2025

Happy New Year MHS Families!

I hope you have all had a restful winter break. We are excited to welcome students back on January 7th to begin a strong second semester!

Keep scrolling to catch up on events that took place before break and check out what's on the horizon for January.

Have a terrific weekend!

Go Mustangs!

Dr. Alexandria Taylor

Principal

Mundelein High School

847-949-2200

www.d120.org

ataylor@d120.org

Jan 6 - Teacher Institute Day

Jan 7 - Students Return to School - 1st Day of Second Semester

Jan 9 - Principal's Student Advisory Committee (PSAC)

Jan 13 - Sophomore Course Selection Begins

Jan 13-24 - ACCESS Testing

Jan 14 - 8th Grade All Stars

Jan 16 - Class of 2029 Night

Jan 20 - MLK Jr. Day - No School

Jan 22 - Jazz Concert

Jan 23 - Building Tour

Jan 24 - Late Start

Jan 30-Feb 1 - Winter Play

The MHS Puertas Club sponsored another fun Dias Festivos event for the community on Friday, December 13th. The event included cookie decorating, button-making, a visit by Santa and plenty of food.

Click here to see more.

Thanks to all who donated gifts for this year’s Holiday Gift Drive and to the many people from School Districts 73, 75, 76 and 120 who made this happen. Thanks also to Santa Claus for providing holiday cheer to our families on a cold Friday night.

Click here to see more.

A Bûche de Noël bake off took place on Wednesday, December 18th! Our French World Language students created some truly magical holiday treats. The staff judging panel had a challenge to decide the winner of the festive desserts.

Our INCubator students made all of their MVP pitches this past Friday in front of our community board members. Students received 10 minutes of feedback for future growth and reflection and we heard many great ideas for future products! Congrats to the teams for all of their hard work and successful pitches!

Click here to see the full photo album.

A special thank you goes out to Mr. Ray Gossel, former MHS Art Teacher and inspired artist, who donated his original painting of the Spirit of Mundelein airplane. The Spirit of Mundelein was built right here at Mundelein High School between 1990 and 1994 by Jim Jackson and his students. Mr. Jackson and a flight-licensed student then flew this hand-crafted plane to the arctic circle and back.

Mr. Gossel (shown below with Dr. Taylor) used pictures from the trip as inspiration for his commemorative painting.

You can read more about the Spirit of Mundelein in Smithsonian Magazine.

Benefits for youth:

• Increased high school graduation rates
• Lower high school dropout rates
• Healthier relationships and lifestyle choices
• Better attitude about school
• Higher college enrollment rates and higher educational aspirations
• Enhanced self-esteem and self-confidence
• Improved behavior, both at home and at school
• Stronger relationships with parents, teachers, and peers
• Improved interpersonal skills
• Decreased likelihood of initiating drug and alcohol use (MENTOR, 2009; Cavell, DuBois, Karcher, Keller, & Rhodes, 2009)

Learn more at Youth.gov

January breakfast and lunch menus are now available.

Click here to take a look.

No students in session.

Students in session. Beginning of Semester 2.

7:45 - 8:40am

District Meeting Room (DMR)

All students are welcome!

The course selection process for the 2025-2026 school year will begin in the coming weeks. Please take a moment to read through all of the information and links below to ensure that you are well-informed of this process.

Counselors will be making presentations in developmental guidance lessons to inform students and will begin meeting with individual students on the following dates:

• Juniors: December 2nd - Completed
• Sophomores: January 13
• Freshman: January 27

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

We look forward to working closely with you and your student to plan for an exciting and challenging 2024-2025 school year.

More information coming soon.

Incoming Freshmen families! We are very excited that you will be joining the MHS family and we are looking forward to assisting your student in making the important transition from middle school to high school. On Thursday, January 16, 2025, we are hosting our Class of 2029 Incoming Freshmen Night at Mundelein High School for both families and students. The program will include an overview of our academic programs, course placements, information on the day-in-the-life of a ninth grader, and extracurricular opportunities at MHS.

Both parents and students are invited to attend. Incoming ninth graders will meet with high school students to learn more about what they will experience as they transition to MHS. Topics such as classes, activities, athletics, and special events will be discussed. Students will also have an opportunity to ask questions about the transition to high school.

Click here to see the schedule and learn more.

MHS wishes you a meaningful Martin Luther King Jr. Day as we honor his legacy of equality and justice for all.

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.

Our next tour is on January 23rd at 4:30pm. Click here to register.

Classes begin at 9:40am.

Buses will run one hour later than usual.

Click here for late start schedule.

Save the date. More information coming soon.

To learn everything you need to know about graduation and download a handy checklist to keep you on track, please click here.

Senior yard signs are now available for $15 each! Each sign comes with yard stakes. All proceeds to benefit the MHS Student Support Fund!

The CCRC offers assistance with all aspects of the college application process:

• Narrowing down college choices
• Working through applications
• Checking essays
• Discussing financial concerns and scholarships
• Talking about standardized tests
• Working with potential college athletes
• Discussing military options
• Helping students connect with people at university

Click here to learn more.

www.studentaid.gov

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.

If you’re interested in learning more about our Dual Credit Student Internship course or any of our Experiential Education programs, contact Alexander Kapotas at akapotas@d120.org or at (847) 949-2200 x1092.

Check out this promo video that captures the spirit of the experiential education program here at Mundelein High School. Your epic future awaits, Mustangs!

Athletics events week of 1/6/2025

Winter Athletic Department Newsletter

Submitted by Coach Dart

Khloe Heerdegen was 4-0 on the day bringing home the tournament championship @ 138 lbs. Alexia Pacheco and Vanessa Osorio placed 5th and 7th respectively at 120 lbs as well.

BDQ Limited had the pleasure of hosting the Girls Wrestling Holiday Party with smoked Birria tacos.

Submitter by Coach Johnson

Mundelein Boys Bowling had a great day at the Blue Devil Shootout last Saturday. Both Varsity and JV teams took 1st place at the tournament and the Mustangs brought home 4 individual medals. Shawn Mastandrea won 1st place Varsity Individual, bowling a 1383 on the day. The JV team took home 3 individual medals with Ben Helge taking 1st, Calum Bruce Cartwright 3rd, and Cole Vander Wal 4th. The Mustangs then when on to beat the Zion Benton Zee Bee’s on Monday night to stay a top of the NSC conference standings. With just a few conference matches left the boys are in the running to bring home another conference championship.

Submitted by Coach Rosales

Sunday the 15th marked the second competition for JV and the first for Varsity Cheer. JV is continuing their holiday cheer having placed 5th out of 11 teams while Varsity celebrates their 6th place finish out of 13. For Varsity, the celebration comes at a cost as they had one of their teammates go down with an injury during the competition, but they rose above, rallied together, and with the support of a JV alternate they were able to successfully redo their routine. Both teams look forward to their next competition at Lake High School on January 4th.

This was for you Khloe! We know you’ll be back stronger than ever!

Submitted by Coach Strauss

Mundelein Girls Gymnastics had a great weekend! Our JV team placed 5th at the Libertyville Invite on Friday night. Natalie Kampa placed 3rd on Vault with an 8.05 and Cassidy Valenziano placed 4th on Uneven Bars with a 7.70. On Saturday, our Varsity squad placed 5th out of 11 teams with their highest team score so far this season of 131.06! Lexie Ede placed 1st on Balance Beam with a 9.40 and 1st All-Around with a 37.85. Isla Rehm placed 10th on Balance Beam with an 8.60.

Submitted by Coach Prorok

Girls bowling is having a fantastic start. We defeated Warren with a score 9-0. Brianna Orlowski Merner bowled an impressive series of 681 with a high game of 267. Renata Turska had a high series of 421 with a high game of 172. Naomi Routledge contributed a strong 170 game to help the team succeed. Great performance by all. Then we bowled Grayslake North on Monday. We won 7-2. The girls bowled well with both teams bowling over 790 pins in the second game. Brianna Orlowski Merner, Melissa Orlowski, Paige Winters, and Reene Photopoulos all bowled over 200 pins in a game.

Up next - JV tournament at Lakeside Lanes and Varsity tournament at Strikefest in Plainfield.

PreVenture is a mental health program that screens students for personality related risk factors that may indicate increased risk for future participation in high-risk behaviors, including using drugs and alcohol. This does not evaluate for current high-risk behaviors, rather this is a preventative program to support the development of coping skills and self regulation strategies.

Omni utilizes the Substance Use Risk Profile Scale (SURPS) to screen students for eligibility. To learn more about PreVenture, click below.

English/Spanish

Quest is proud to be your dining partner and we are committed to providing the best experience possible to every student, including nutritious food, a wide variety of choices, and a seamless dining experience. We wanted to share a few important reminders about the dining program and we welcome your questions and feedback. Click here for more information.

New Year, New Look! Elevate Your Mustang Pride! Exciting news! We've expanded our spirit wear lineup with premium brands Under Armour and Champion at Mymustangnation.com.

Customize your gear with official school logos using our state-of-the-art DigiSoft printing for a smoother feel. Shop online 24/7 or see our printed merch at Mundelein High School. Visit us at mymustangnation.com or linked through the d120.org website.

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

English | Spanish

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, leave early or arrive late, please submit the attendance via the monitor application within Power School in lieu of calling the attendance line and leaving a voicemail.

Please log on to the Power School parent portal at the MHS website https://www.d120.org/ to record your student’s attendance.

Attached you will find instructions on how to submit your students attendance.

Power School Attendance Instructions

Guardians will be receiving an email with your parent Power School log in instructions if needed.

If you need further support please call 847-949-2200.

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 Bus Bulletin (Find Mundelein Area Schools when prompted for a district) *Note - This is managed by Lakeside Bus Company and not MHS.

Although we take great pride in a dress code that encourages self-expression, we do want to remind students of our student dress code policy as found in our student handbook.

• Clothing must cover all undergarments (waistbands and straps excluded).

• Fabric covering all private parts must not be seen through.

• Clothing that depicts, advertises or advocates the use of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana or other controlled substances is prohibited.

• Clothing that depicts pornography, nudity or sexual acts is prohibited.

With the increased enrollment in recent years, we have been unable to provide a locker for every student at MHS. Since many students do not use a locker, we are assigning lockers to students upon request. Click below to request your locker!

Sign up for a Guardian SchooLinks Account! Be a part of your student’s college and career exploration. Understand more about the benefits of a Guardian Account with this video. If you need assistance creating your Guardian Account, email akroll@d120.org with your student’s name and ID number. A claim code and directions will be provided in response.

• Principal's Blog Archive
• District Developments Newsletter
• The Mustang Newpaper

Website: www.d120.org

Location: 1359 West Hawley Street, Mundelein, IL, USA

Phone: 847-949-2200