Dear Ombudsman Chicago Northwest Family,
I am delighted to welcome our new and returning families to the 2021-22 school year. The last 18 months have been an adventure to say the very least. I appreciate the dedication of all our school stakeholders – students, staff, parents, leadership; without everyone’s hard work and commitment, we would not have been able to be as successful as we were during these trying times. I cannot say I ever imagined my first years as Principal would have included the school closing due to the pandemic and then reopening for a hybrid model. However, I have learned so much during these times and am very excited to be welcoming the school community back in person this fall! Remember, this year we begin school on August 30th!
As a product of Chicago Public Schools, it has been a life-long dream to serve students and families in our great city. I believe in the vision and mission of Ombudsman and Chicago Public Schools, even more now than ever, after seeing how much we can all overcome and the strength the city and our students have. Our mission is to provide personalized, evidence-based educational services for nontraditional learners in collaboration with families and school districts. To ensure all students are successful in our school, we will work to ensure that we live by CPS’s core values. Additional information can be found at: www.cps.edu/about/vision
The Ombudsman Chicago Northwest staff is prepared to work with the community and our families to best serve our students. Our staff believes in the importance of meeting the needs of and having constant communication with our students, families, and community. We believe this is especially important this year, as we will have to be diligent about receiving and relaying any changing and new information coming from the state and health organizations. To ensure consistency inside and outside of school, we welcome our families and the community to participate in our school norms and agreements:
- Respect each other’s time.
- Ensure respectful communication.
- Be mindful of space.
- We are a restorative school.
- We are a team.
We have numerous supports and staff equipped with knowledge, skills, and resources to help our students be successful both in and outside of school. Upon entering our school, students not only communicate with their advisory teachers, champions, and content teachers, but also have daily access to our Social Worker, their assigned Post-Secondary Counselor, Instruction Aides, Dean, Retention Specialist, Principal, and so on. We believe that having a strong and well-rounded school team will help us provide the supports our students and families need after the trying times that we have all seen. Each staff member at our school serves on teams such as our Continuous Improvement Work Plan Team, Behavioral Health Team, Climate Team, Testing Committee, Unity Team, and Data Team. These teams exist for staff to bring their expertise in different aspects of school success to ensure success throughout every aspect of the school day.
We love to hear from our families and the community. We invite you to contact our staff – your student’s teacher, support staff, administration – so we can best serve you. We look forward to seeing students and their families at our mandatory Back To School Orientations on August 25-27, at our Open House on October 5, and periodically throughout the year at our Northwest Nights and special events. Please tell us the best way to get in touch with you so we can invite you to exciting events at our school.
We thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to working closely with you. Thank you for trusting our school with your child and in your community.
Sincerely,
Alexandra K. Dakessian
Principal of Ombudsman Chicago Northwest