On Friday, March 27th, we had our first KIPP Chicago Zoom community circle. We spent 45 minutes coming together in community through group meditation, some poetry, and a Q&A session with former U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. We look forward to coming together for more of these sessions in the future!

On Friday, March 27th, we had our first KIPP Chicago Zoom community circle. We spent 45 minutes coming together in community through group meditation, some poetry, and a Q&A session with former U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. We look forward to coming together for more of these sessions in the future!

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At KIPP we often say: “Find a way or make one.” The last few weeks have undoubtedly tested this core principle. But thanks to our committed teachers and leaders, we have found a way to safely ensure students receive food, a way to close a significant hardware gap, a way to navigate unfamiliar tech platforms for our lessons… and we have found a way to establish a simple fact: nothing, not even a global pandemic, can disrupt our Team and Family culture.

When an extended closure looked inevitable, teachers made their convictions clear. Their KIPPsters didn’t have the luxury of missing out on learning. Simply printing worksheets or asking students to get on external education apps would not be enough. Our KIPPsters would need more from us. They would need love, they would need Joy-factor, and they would need us to do what we do best everyday, teach.

This is why KIPP Chicago’s vision is for students to have access to the same education as if they were sitting at desks in our schools. Our teachers are working harder than ever to replicate their exact curriculum in Google virtual classrooms. They are uploading videos of morning circles, facilitating classroom shout-outs, and administering “exit tickets” to measure student mastery. They are literally “making” a way to deliver on our simple promise: “KIPP will do whatever it takes to see its students to and through college.”

At-home Learning Highlights

Casey Weldon from KIPP One Primary created a beautiful YouTube channel for her students, including a project to create a ‘Window of Hope’ to honor the idea of keeping everyone safe by staying indoors.

Mr. Saunders leads his students in Quarantine Classroom videos.

Ms. Nuñez from KIPP Academy Chicago Primary uses footage of her students from earlier in the year to create videos, engaging her students in math lessons.

Ms. Grossheim makes sure to keep students engaged with costume pieces in her lessons.

School Leaders are offering students a schedule to try and maintain a sense of normalcy while engaging in at-home learning.

Our Academic Team continues to structure what at-home learning expectations look like.

KIPP: STEM Create at Home Challenge Winner

We want to highlight the work of Destiny Burrows, a student at KIPP Academy Chicago. Out of 400 submissions, Destiny was selected as one of two winners in the science presentation category for the KIPP Create At Home challenge! We are so proud of her creativity, energy, and incredible hard work. Check out her project on Mae Jemison.

The post Embracing an Inclusive and Challenging Curriculum appeared first on KIPP Chicago Public Schools.

“Learning to stand in somebody else’s shoes, to see through their eyes, that’s how peace begins. And it’s up to you to make that happen. Empathy is a quality of character that can change the world.” -Barack Obama

Be on the lookout for a virtual tour. In the meantime, check out this video created by KIPP One Primary’s visual arts teacher, Ms. Weldon, and her students for the current show, Self(ie) Love. The song was written by the guitar player in front! And MarcAnthony, alum of KIPP Ascend Middle School, created this video of some of the artwork being made for our current show, Self(ie) Love, open until June 12th.

MarcAnthony is starting his own company called, Phwealthy, to help small businesses advertise through video. We are so proud of his entrepreneurial skills and can’t wait to see where he goes!

New website

We’re excited to share our new CMASJ website with you! This new site features lesson plans from every art show to share with other educators, photos from all 11 of our exhibitions, and more. We hope this can be a resource for parents and educators who are engaging their kids in learning about art and social justice.

Click here to sign up for our CMASJ newsletter to receive updates, volunteer opportunities, and calendar information.

The post Sharing Resources from our CMASJ appeared first on KIPP Chicago Public Schools.

Ms. Robinson leads a ‘Calm Classroom’ series on the KIPP Bloom Primary YouTube page.

Mr. Gibson from KIPP Ascend Primary offers students a dance break with some mindfulness practice, deep breathing exercises, and positive affirmations.

Yoga with Ms. Marshall from KIPP Academy Chicago Primary!

The post Integrating Social Emotional Learning appeared first on KIPP Chicago Public Schools.

These cross-stitch hearts were created by the 5th graders at KIPP Ascend Middle School last year as part of our Heart Felt and Sew Kind art show. They are still used to this day when sending gratitude to community partners or others who are working to make a difference. To our KIPP essential employees, we are so grateful for you!

KIPP Bloom has been consistently supporting the nutritional needs of their families. As we are planning to expand the capacity of the Bloom pantry, our community partnerships are equally important to meet the nutritional needs of families. Our most recent partnership is with the K.L.E.O. (Keep Loving Each Other) Center. K.L.E.O. (in partnership with University of Chicago) offers a monthly food pantry event that also services community health needs. The day of the event offers creative performances by local artists, diabetes testing for families, healthy food instruction and recipes and raffles. The event is open to the public and free. Find the monthly calendar here.

The post Addressing Food Justice appeared first on KIPP Chicago Public Schools.

We loved welcoming teachers into our Children’s Museum of Art and Social Justice for our first two wellbeing workshops: watercolor and yoga. We are currently working on continuing our teacher wellness workshops online. We’ll be looking for people to lead meditation, yoga, dance, and other workshops from home. We’re really excited for our own Ellen Sale, School Leader of KIPP Bloom College Prep, to guide us in a yoga class as she is close to completing her certification!

Partnerships and Teacher Discounts

Unmeasured, a virtual barre class series, is offering teachers 20% off their monthly membership.

Asutra is offering a standing 10% membership for KIPP employees. This is right on time for our quarantine and chill! The code has been sent to staff and we’re grateful for this partnership!

Core Power Yoga is offering a discounted Black Tag membership for Chicago Public Schools employees. This features unlimited yoga, at any Core Power Yoga studio across the United States. To take advantage of the membership you must present your KIPP Chicago ID card and enroll in auto renewal.

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This WBEZ article highlights institutionalized health care inequalities that leave many low income black and brown communities more vulnerable than what is typically experienced in affluent communities.

This NYTimes article quotes Lori Lightfoot, saying, “Those numbers take your breath away, they really do. This is a call-to-action moment for all of us,” when discussing the newly released statistics that 72% of Chicago deaths have been African Americans.

Racial Equity Tools is a site designed to support individuals and groups working to achieve racial equity. Here are some resources related to COVID-19.

Mayor Lightfoot and CDPH released new demographic data tied to COVID-19, revealing significant racial health inequities. Read more about her plans to confront the problem.

Talking about COVID-19 with children

This episode of The Daily focuses on how to talk with our children about COVID-19.

This article from PBS Kids features numerous resources for talking with kids about COVID-19, prevention, and taking care of ourselves. This episode of Daniel Tiger shows kids how to wash their hands. These are just a few of the video links to help children understand the pandemic.

One of our wonderful partners, Pure Edge, has great content for mindfulness and movement for adults and kids.

Thinking about food during COVID-19

This article on practicing the division of responsibility in eating is a helpful guide to eating, especially during stress or trauma.

Enter your zip code at feedingamerica.org to find a food bank near you or to donate and find volunteer opportunities.

Native Tongue is a Chicago-based blog and free magazine. They believe that everyone deserves access to food education.

Arts related

Google Arts & Culture takes you inside the collections of 2,500 museums worldwide, including special online exhibits.

The Children’s Museum of the Arts in NYC has a great website with at-home art projects.

These videos from a Chicago early childhood education music teacher are great for children, ages 1-3.

This Artful site is FULL of theater and dance lessons.

Managing anxiety

The Headspace app is offering a free set of meditation, sleep, and movement exercises, “Weathering the Storm.” Try this meditation for focus, stress, sleep, and even handwashing.

Text HOME to 741741 from anywhere in the United States, anytime, about any type of crisis. A live, trained Crisis Counselor receives the text and responds, all from a secure online platform.

Managing stress and other tips for dealing with COVID-19 from the CDC.

Parenting

Motherwell, a space for telling all sides of the parenting story, has a section about what it is like to parent now. Their stories remind us that we are all in this together.

On the Kids Cook Real Food site, you can sign up for virtual classes to teach your kids cooking skills.

Janet Lansbury is a RIE (Resources for Infant Educarers) trained expert on raising children in a respectful, connected way. We love her books and podcast, Unruffled, where she guides parents through the challenges of raising children.

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