Dear King School Families,
A new school year is just around the corner, and on behalf of the entire staff at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. School, I want to extend a heartfelt welcome to all of you! As I begin my 17th year as principal, I'm as excited as ever to start this new year of learning, growth, and community. This year, we will welcome more students and educators than ever before. This is a reflection of district decisions, strong demand, our collaborative partnerships, and the many accomplishments of our students.
To our returning families, it's wonderful to have you back! To those of you joining us for the first time, a special welcome to the King family. We are thrilled to welcome you to our community. We look forward to building strong, supportive partnerships with each of you.
I want to share some important updates regarding our leadership team and building. Our Assistant Principal, Hannah Wirtshafter, is on maternity leave and will be back with us in December. During this time, we are fortunate to have our very own Kindergarten teacher,
Sarah Carpenter, stepping into the role of Interim Assistant Principal. We are confident she will do an outstanding job.
I also want to share an exciting update about our building. We will be opening a
new wing this year for our fifth grade classes. This space was formerly used for after-school programming and we will now be sharing these areas. Special thank you to our teachers, custodians, and after-school teams for their hard work in transforming these spaces.
We are incredibly proud of our school community, and we want to share that last year, MLK was recognized as a
National Blue Ribbon School! This is one of the highest honors in education, and it truly reflects the hard work, dedication, and collaborative spirit of our students, staff, and, most importantly, you—our families. This prestigious award is something we all cherish and are committed to upholding.
This year promises to be filled with engaging lessons and exciting discoveries.
Our focus this year will be on building a strong and collaborative community, where students, staff, and families work together to create an environment where every child feels safe, valued, and inspired to reach their full potential. Part of this effort involves our educators implementing a new social emotional curriculum called Wayfinder. I will share more details about this and other steps, but I want to highlight an emphasis on community, especially as we are in an expansion period.
Transportation: Please be on the lookout for a letter from the district transportation department regarding eligibility with your bus stop location as well as drop-off and pick-up times.
Please
click here for more information, including the CPS Bus Tracker
Supplies: Unless your child’s teacher asks for specific items, please do not feel obligated to purchase any supplies prior to the first day of school.
This year, students in grades 3-5 who are in Ni Hao will have an “
Explorations” block instead of the usual Ni Hao period. During this time, students will take part in two Mandarin classes per week, along with other fun elective classes taught by our specialists. We are excited about this revision as it will permit for smaller class sizes and the opportunity for students to explore exciting new topics.
Your child's teacher will soon reach out with a personal welcome letter via
ParentSquare, our school-wide communication platform. You should expect to receive this by the end of the month. We are excited for the year ahead and can't wait to partner with you to make it a truly successful and memorable one for your child.
Thanks for making it to the end of a very long letter! One last item that I want to share with you is our Back to School BBQ. Please save the date of September 16 from 4pm to 6pm for this event.
Teamwork makes the Dream Work!!
Yours truly,
Gerald Yung, Principal
PS. For a list of all staff members, please
click here.
Kicking off the new school year with Interim Assistant Principal Ms. Carpenter at a district training last Monday!
With three new classrooms being added, our clusters are shifting and many teachers are moving rooms.
Huge appreciation to our teachers and custodians for all their hard work in this transition!