December 6, 2024

Dear MHS Families,

I want to thank the MHS staff for their unwavering diligence in my absence. It was no surprise to find that we have eagerly continued our good work for the students, staff and the community, and the community has responded with resounding approval with passage of the referendum. We are excited to beginning planning for improvements!

We love to give special recognition to those who really stand out. This week we honored 6 students at our Mustang Pride Breakfast. Congratulations to Andrew Ayers, Gianna Pedi, Gabriel Aguila, Rocci Pellettiere, Ubaldo Morales, and Kevin Alexis Loera Olmos (see picture below).

Congratulations to Mike Dayton on being recognized as Assitant Coach of the year. We truly appreciate the seemingly effortless energy and enthusiam he puts into all he does.

Finally, congratulations also to the hard work of our Science Olympiad Team, students and mentors, who came in 4th at the Marquette University High School Invitational in November!

Coming up we have the Holiday Collage Concert and Dias Festivos. We hope you will join us for these evenings of holiday cheer and community fellowship.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Go Mustangs!

Dr. Alexandria Taylor

Principal

Mundelein High School

847-949-2200

www.d120.org

ataylor@d120.org

Dec 6 - Senior Cap and Gown Deadline - Extended to December 20th

Dec 6 - Spotlight Choir

Dec 6 - Winter Parents Night Out

Dec 6-11 - Holiday Gift Drive

Dec 6-18 - Toys for Tots Drive

Dec 10 - Band Concert

Dec 12 - Theme Thursday - Ugly Sweater Day

Dec 12 - Holiday Collage Concert

Dec 12 - Winter Art Show

Dec 13 - Dias Festivos

Dec 16 - Orchesis Dance Show

Dec 17 - Special Schedule

Dec 18-19 - Final Exams

Dec 20 - Emergency Day

Dec 23 - Start of Winter Break

Congratulations Science Olympiad Team! The MHS SciOly team competed at the Marquette University High School Invitational in November. Thirty-three individual medals were won and the team came in 4th overall. Go Mustangs!

Congratulations to the six students who received a coveted Mustang Pride Award during a special breakfast program Thursday morning: Andrew Ayers, Gianna Pedi (not pictured), Gabriel Aguila, Rocci Pellettiere, Ubaldo Morales (not pictured), and Kevin Alexis Loera Olmos.

Click here for more pictures.

Much of what MHS Assistant Soccer Coach Mike Dayton does for his team occurs behind the scenes. His work helping students with academics, college recruitment and life skills in general won’t make any headlines in the sports pages.

But his work is noticed by his colleagues and now it has been recognized by the Illinois High School Soccer Coaches Association (IHSSCA). In November, Dayton was named IHSSCA Assistant Coach of the Year for section 4, which includes 31 schools, including teams from the North Suburban Conference.

Click here to read more.

MHS teacher Georgina Aguirre is facilitating an affinity group at school to support educators of color. She is part of a network of affinity groups set up by the Illinois State Board of Education. Her work will have a positive impact on both staff and students at MHS.

Click here to read more.

College Ambassadors were successful with their Pie-a-Teacher fundraiser! Next week, 8 staff members will be pied in the face by a student. Don't worry about missing it, the pie-ing will be filmed and shown on the Friday Focus!

There are so many celebrations in December, it truly is the busiest month of the year.

Winter Solstice - December 21st

Christmas - December 25th

Hanukkah - Begins December 25th at sundown.

Kwanzaa - Begins on December 26th

New Year's Eve - December 31st

It is also a month to remember universal human rights and person with disabilities.

Course selection for next year is beginning. Parents and guardians are able to see what their students are thinking about for course selection with a Guardian Schoolinks account.

Email akroll@d120.org and request your Guardian Account access code today!

In the spirit of gratitude and with regard to our community's tradition for giving, please consider sponsoring a family in need during this holiday season.

Families identified as needing a bit of support in bringing holiday cheer into their homes reside in our greater Mundelein area (including those living in School Districts 73, 75, 76 and 120).

Simply use this Sign Up Genius link to help support a family.

Gift drop-off will run until Wednesday, Dec. 11 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. (M-F) at The Welcome Center, 1500 W. Hawley St. Please carefully read the directions included in the link.

The MHS Sophomore Class Leadership Team and the U.S. Marines are teaming up for the 2024 Toys for Tots drive!

Please help us reach our goal of collecting 250 new, unwrapped toys by December 18th.

You can drop off your donations in the boxes located by the front entrance.

Tickets are now on sale for our 2024 Spotlight Event on December 6th, 2024 at 7:30pm in the MHS auditorium. Online sales will close at 7:30am on Wednesday, December 4th. A limited amount of seats will be available at the door unless we sell out.

Purchase event tickets here.

The Mundelein Varsity Dance Team is hosting a Winter Parents Night Out for kids ages 3-11 years old on December 6th from 6:00-8:30pm. Join us for a pizza dinner, fun crafts, games and a movie at the Mundelein High School North Gym. The cost of this event is $30 per child.

Join us for the Fall Band Concert featuring

Through the Open Door by Nathan Daughtrey

Tuesday, December 10th

MHS Auditorium

7:00pm

Free Admission

Ring in the holiday season with us on December 12th at 7pm in the MHS Auditorium

Traditionally, Honors Concert Choir, Honors Master Singers, and Honors Wind Ensemble perform the Hallelujah Chorus from Händel’s Messiah to conclude our concert, and staff joins in.

We'd love for you to join us.

Visit our Winter Art Show while you are here for the holiday Concert! MHS will be displaying some of our students' best works!

As everyone is getting into the holiday spirit, we wanted to invite you to Puertas Club’s annual holiday event, Días Festivos, on Friday, December 13th, from 6:00-8:00 PM in the cafeteria! This bilingual, open-house style event is aimed at bringing families together to celebrate the spirit of the season with their children and take part in family friendly activities that highlight some of the holiday and seasonal traditions of Latin America.

Come see some amazing students perform on stage (some for the first time!) in our annual winter show "Lose My Breath".

December 16th at 7:00 pm in the auditorium.

Please help promote the show to students. Tickets are $10 at the door, $7 with a school ID. Money earned at the show goes towards the Orchesis Dance Scholarship.

See attached flyer for more information.

We will have an early release for all students on this day to allow them to head home to prepare and “Study With Purpose” for their Final Exams.

Click here for the Special Schedule

Cap and gown order deadline! Orders received after December 20th will incur late fees and may not arrive in time for graduation. To place your order, please visit Herff Jones online at www.herffjones.com or call 815-756-4743.

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

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.

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.

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 12/9/24

Fall Athletic Department Newsletter

Submitted by Coach Prorok

Mundelein Girls Bowling is underway. We had our first tournament in Antioch over the weekend. The team showed up bowling 200+ pins over the competition with Brianna Orlowski Merner, Mia Ryan, and Paige Winters earning 1st, 11th , and 12th place respectively. On Monday, we bowled Stevenson High School. Highlights from the night: JV and Varsity both won, Varsity had a team score of 975 for Game 3, and six different athletes (Brianna Orlowski Merner, Reena Photopoulos, Morgan Pawlak, Charlotte Niziolek, Melissa Orozco, and Paige Winters) bowled a game over 190 pins.

The boys basketball program had a very successful introductory week for the new season. Both freshmen teams won their respective tournaments at Wheeling HS, while the sophomore basketball team won their tournament at Antioch HS.

The varsity team finished their tournament with a 2-2 record and taking 3rd place. The boys defeated Carmel on Monday and then defeated Grant in convincing fashion on Tuesday. The brought a non conference match up with Warren, ranked as high as 1 in some state polls already this season. Our boys competed but came up short this time. Saturday brought a match up with Deerfield where the game was close for the entirety, but eventually Deerfield pulled away and won at the end.

Derek Bishop and Evan Salvador were unanimous coaches selections for the all-tournament team. Derek close to 90 points in 4 games while Evan scored close to 60 points.

The boys are back at it again this week playing Niles West at home on Wednesday, then traveling to Glenbrook North on Saturday afternoon. Next week is @ Highland Park on Dec. 10th and then @ Stevenson on Dec. 14th to start off NSC play.

Congratulations to our Frosh A Boys Basketball team for going undefeated with a 3-0 record to win the 2022 Wheeling High School Frosh Turkey Tournament! Mundelein won a close battle with Vernon Hills 52-50 in game 1, defeated Wheeling 62-28 in game 2, and pulled away in the second half to beat Maine East 58-43 in game 3.

Team members: Laquan Thomas, Alex McCreight, Logan Young, Ryan Wolverton, Eddie Zuniga, Isaiah McKinney, Brandon Werner, Frankie Lesniak, Johnny Weiss, Peter Nanos, and Matthew Zizzo

Coaches: Greg Dorgan and Elliot Morrison

Submitted by Coach Teipel

Girls Basketball had a great night of gift wrapping and fun for our Adopt-A-Family event for the holidays.

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.

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• The Mustang Newpaper

Website: www.d120.org

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

Phone: 847-949-2200