January 17, 2025

Hello and Happy Friday!

We've been very fortunate with the weather this winter, but we still have several weeks to go. Snow and ice are a very real possibility so please be sure to check the weather the night before and leave yourself plenty of time to get to school in the morning...and be sure to dress warm.

On Thursday, January 16th, we welcomed our future Mustangs and their families to Class of 2029 Night. As always, it's such a joy to greet our incoming Freshman and see the excitement and wonder in their faces.

Sunday, we are hosting a huge robotics tournament, stop by and see what our STEAM kids have been working on this year!

Last but not least, Monday is a federal holiday and there is NO SCHOOL! Have a wonderful 3-day weekend!

Go Mustangs!

Dr. Alexandria Taylor

Principal

Mundelein High School

847-949-2200

www.d120.org

ataylor@d120.org

Jan 19 - Robotics Tournament

Jan 20 - MLK Jr. Day - No School

Jan 21 - ACCESS Testing Continues

Jan 21 - Sophomore Course Selection Continues

Jan 22 - Jazz Concert

Jan 23 - Building Tour

Jan 24 - Late Start

Jan 28 - High School Study Abroad Presentation

Jan 30-Feb 1 - Winter Play

Feb 13 - Honors Band Concert

Feb 14 - Teacher Institute Day

Feb 17 - Federal Holiday - NO SCHOOL

Feb 22 - Winter Dance

Congratulations to the MHS Sci Olympiad team for taking first place in its division, second place overall at the LHS/VHHS Invitational.

On Thursday evening we welcomed our Future Mustangs and their families! Thanks to all who participated in making this night a special event!

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

We are excited to announce that our parent calendar has gone electronic. The MHS 2nd Semester calendar is now online in both Flipbook and PDF downloadable format.

A big thank you to Kameal Myrie, Class of 2025, who designed this semester's calendar! Very nice job! You can see more of Kameal's work at www.artisticallymira.com.

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

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.

Classes begin at 9:40am.

Buses will run one hour later than usual.

Click here for late start schedule.

All greade levels may attend this presentation.

Tursday, January 28th

4th Period

CCRC - B105

Register in SchooLinks

by William Shakespeare
Directed by Jonathan Meier

January 30, 31, February 1 at 7:30 p.m.
January 31 at 3:45 p.m.
February 1 at 2 p.m.

Performed with the audience sitting onstage in a thrust configuration, this production will feature original music composed and played live at each performance by Holden Meier, as well as fight choreography by Dan Haller (MHS ’18).

Adults - $10

Seniors/Students - $5

Limited seating. Early purchase is recommended.

Click here to purchase tickets.

Online sales stop 2 hours prior to each performance.

Walk-up sales start 30 minutes prior to each performance (cash or check only).

House opens 20 minutes prior to each performance.

Save the date. More info coming soon.

Click here to learn more about the history and tradions of Valentine's Day.

NO SCHOOL!

Is it Washinton's Birthday or Presidents Day? If you would like to learn some history on the subject, click here to see what the National Archive has to say about this day.

Save the date. More info 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.

Many scholarship opportunities for Mundelein High School Seniors are now open! Ms. Bogseth sends out weekly emails with a list of scholarships but all of the MHS specific scholarships as well as community scholarships are posted in SchooLinks.

Seniors- in your SchooLinks account, click on “Finances” and then “Scholarship Match”. Scholarships posted by Ms. Bogseth will be under the “District-Posted” tab.

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 1/20/2025

Winter Athletic Department Newsletter

Submitted by Coach Billitier

On January 12th, the Special Olympics competition team won the regional basketball championship. The Mustangs beat both Hoffman Estates and Crystal Lake Central with incredible four-quarter comebacks. Transition athlete Isaias Hernandez put up a combined 40 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists. Team captain Ethan Mitchell put his leadership skills on full display motivating his team on the bench and directing his teammates on the court. The Mustangs ended the regular season with a record of 6-1, and they are beyond excited to compete at the state tournament in March at Illinois State University.

Thank you to all the staff across the building who support and assist the team during the season.

Submitted by Coach Strauss

This past weekend, the varsity girls' gymnastics scored our season team high with a 134.20! Sophomore Ella Kessel had her best floor score of the season with an 8.8, landing a great 1 and ½ twist. Junior Lexie Ede scored a career high in the all-around with a 38.00, placing 1st in all-around, beam, and floor. We look forward to continuing to grow over the last month of our season!

Submitted by Coach Dart

Another strong showing from our Lady Mustang wrestlers this last weekend!

Natalie Gonzalez won her first championship of her short career, earning a 1st place finish at 125C with a 3-0 record on the day. Analise Huizar also had a strong showing in her first tournament of the season with a 5th place finish and a 2-1 record for the day.

The Lady Mustang wrestlers will be in action again this Friday night @ Lake Zurich HS - 530pm.

Submitted by Coaches Sweno and Johnson

The Mundelein boys bowling team had a great end to their regular season this past week with both Varsity and JV levels winning the NSC conference tournament on Friday. Along with the conference tournament the team won the regular season title as well for the second year in a row. The Mustangs took home 7 individual medals at the conference tournament. Three on Varsity placed: Shawn Mastandrea (1st), Matteo Mele (9th), and Calum Bruce cartwright (11th). Four Bowlers on JV placed: Chase Moy (2nd), TJ Kuhn (4th), Ben Helge (5th), and Trevor Wiersema (7th). The teams then went on to win the Blue Devil Pin Fest tournament the following day as well for the teams fourth consecutive tournament victory. Shawn Mastandrea and Denver Russel took home the 1st and 2nd place individual medals for Varsity, while TJ Kuhn and Chase Moy placed 4th and 5th on JV. The Mustangs look to keep this momentum going in the post season as they prepare for regionals this Friday at Bertrand Lanes in Waukegan.

Submitted by Coach Badgley

They boys had a solid weekend. Playing at Lake Zurich and losing by 10 then having a great game with a strong Red Rage support section. The boys defeated Addison Trail 70-60 being paced with Evan Salvador's 31 points, including 7 three point field goals and LaQuan Thomas' 22 points.

Tuesday evening the boys basketball team played Waukegan at home in front of a nice Red Rage student section.

Waukegan is a top ranked team and currently 1st in the North Suburban Conference. The Mustangs gave the Bulldogs all they could handle leading for most of the first 3 quarters. The 4th quarter proved to be too short as the boys lost the lead but was bringing it back when time expired. A great effort by our team. Scoring was paced by Evan Salvador with 22 and LaQuan Thomas with 17.

Submitted by Coach Stocker

Our Wrestling team continues to compete at a high level. Here are just a few of our most recent achievements this season. We defeated Libertyville in a dual meet for the first time in almost 40 years, and Senior Abisai Hernandez, has hit 100 wins over his career. He becomes only the 10th wrestler in MHS Wrestling history to achieve this feat.

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