Dear Payton Parents and Guardians,

I am awestruck by the students, faculty, and families of Payton. What a remarkable bunch. The litany of their interests and talents are noteworthy. In the span of just a few weeks so much has been accomplished:

International Travel: Students (and their families...thank you!) hosted visitors from our sister schools in Buenos Aires and Beijing. Two teachers will travel to Russia over Spring Break to establish a sister school relationship with a school in Moscow or St. Petersburg.

Community Service: Advisories made final preparations for Sweetness Day, while hundreds of our students participated in the Wellness Fair. Thanks to so many parents for chaperoning and sponsoring booths!

Academic and Athletic Honors: Seven seniors were named National Merit Finalists and 1 was named a National Achievement Finalist; 4 of our students placed in the top 10 of the Chicago Regional Bridge Building Contest, taking 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 9th place honors; 46 students participated in the American Math Contest; our student-athletes competed in 9 playoff series; and Payton was recently nominated as a National Blue Ribbon School.

Performing Arts: Payton Players, their families, and faculty members enjoyed a thrilling night at Lookingglass Theater watching a special presentation of The Little Prince; the Payton and Northside Choirs joined in what we hope to be the first annual combined concert choir in our Recital Hall...the same locale, where a few weeks earlier, our musicians performed Broadway Gems.

Faculty Honors & Activities: Michael Caines (Math) was cited as an exceptional educator by MIT; Valerie Gemskie (Latin) earned two sizeable grants to support our students' trip to Italy; Jackie Barge (Science) took 4 students to Washington, D.C. to present a poster at the annual NASA conference; the Social Studies Department hosted the History Fair (with many parents serving as judges).

Newly Admitted Students: And in a few days, we will welcome the class of 2018, the strongest incoming freshman class in the city of Chicago.  

It is an honor to be among such talent.Thank you for being a seminal part of the Payton experience.   

A few items of a more administrative nature:

- 2014-2015 Calendar: CPS has settled on a calendar for the upcoming academic year. We will develop and publish the Payton calendar as soon we receive the go ahead from central office. 

- New Building: Plans for the new building on the west side of campus continue to go through iterative phases. We will share when plans have more clarity and finality. 

- 4-year PE requirement: We are still receiving guidance from central office on our many questions regarding the new 4-year PE policy.We will email students and parents with more details about the requirements and potential exemptions to this state law as we start the programming process in the coming weeks.   

I hope this finds you well! 

The Payton Boys Bowling team established itself as a serious competitor this year, earning the respect of all opponents. Payton plays in a strong conference that includes Taft, Von Stueben, Lane, Amundsen, and Northside. The Grizzly team's success this year is a testament to the inspiring leadership of new Coach Jim Kurotsuchi, returning coach Eric Kuchii, and the hard work and commitment of every team member. 

Early in the season the team fought Taft, conference rival and 2013 conference winner in a dramatic series at Habettler Bowl. Payton easily took the first game and forced Taft to battle for the second. It took a 300 game by a Taft player to keep Payton from taking the third game, but the die was cast. Payton defeated the remainder of its conference rivals in season play, finishing second behind Taft. The team moved on to sectionals and advanced to City finals where it placed 8th out of 60 teams. The high team single game score was 975 - a Payton record! Seniors Sammie Coleman and Will Jackson, and sophomores Brandon Taylor and Callen McDonell advanced to state singles play on Jan. 25, with Callen McDonell bowling a 232 game to place 4th out of 60 bowlers at the end of the first game. The fifth team bowler throughout the season, Jack McDonell (soph), had a 608 high series for the team and a 235 high game for the team in season play. Congratulations to the starting five (pictured below) and the rest of this great team: seniors Aaron Fogelson and Jacob McCarthy, sophomores Max Brady and Kit Ng, and freshmen Filip Slusarczyk, Andrew Annulis, and Rob Brutvan.

Front Row (l-r)Coach Jim Kurotshuci, Jack McDonell, Callen McDonell, Max Brady;

Back Row (l-r) Will Jackson, Brandon Taylor, Sammie Coleman, Coach Kuchii

A big thank you to Ingrid Petersen and Craig Stanley for hosting the Parents Night Out on Feb. 21. A great time was had by the approximately 50 parents/guardians that were in attendance. 

Reported with the help of Eleanor Musick (SR), VP of Student Government

Student Government is excited to host the annual Dance-A-Thon on Mar. 7 from 7PM to 7AM! This event raises funds for the Walter and Connie Payton Foundation, which supports liver cancer research. Students sign up with teams of friends to dance all night in shifts. In addition to dancing, there will be fantastic food donated by local businesses, movies for tired dancers, and a host of other activities. Chaperones are needed. Please contact Eleanor Musick, Mr. Brandon Newton (English), or Mr. David Adamji (Asst. Principal) if you can help chaperone.

Student Government continues to work with several teachers to create a sister-school program in the Philippines, in the wake of the devastating typhoon that hit the island in 2013. We have identified a public school that parallels Payton's dedication to academics and character, and are currently in the process of reaching out to them. The end goal is to create a partnership in which we aid them with whatever academic materials they need (extra books Payton doesn't need, etc), and they aid us through exchange and discourse on the Philippines and world at large. Their perspective would be invaluable. We're hoping this partnership will be a lasting one, and the beginning of a Student Government tradition.  

Congratulations also go out to all of Payton's eight IHSA Fall Sports teams. Each of our fall teams earned academic team honors under the IHSA Team Academic Award program. This program is designed to reward teamwork not only in competition, but in the classroom as well. This award recognizes those teams that maintain a grade point average of 3.0 or higher throughout their respective season.

Chess: Congratulations to the chess team as its season wrapped up with a brilliant showing at the state tournament in Peoria!  Despite losing one of their top players at the last minute, they finished in 37th place among 140 teams - 28 places ahead of the year before. Top boards (Caeley Harihara (JR), Michael May (soph), Asher Borstein (frosh) and Peter Williamson (JR)) each got at least 4.5 points out of a possible 7 points, and Peter Li (soph) on board 7 had 4 points.