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n W h at s c h o ol e s h ou ld b The Catherine Cook School 226 West Schiller Street, Chicago, Illinois 60610-1808 t: 312.266.3381 | f: 312.266.3616 w: catherinecookschool.org

Production Notes: • Die-cut slit for 1-business card on flap as indicated by dashed lines.

Drop dashed keyline. See mockup on pasteboard at left.

• Glued pocket has rounded edge on left side of packet flap.

Drop dashed keyline.

• Overall Gloss varnish on cover 1,3,4. NO VARNISH ON COVER 2!

discoveries & challenges Individual Attention Inspiring and educating Members of a global society

Phil Production Notes: • Overall Gloss varnish on cover 1,3,4. NO VARNISH ON COVER 2!

The Catherine Cook School is a Chicago independent preparatory school serving preschool through eighth grade. We are an inclusive learning community dedicated to inspiring personal excellence and educating children for life.

Our school strives to prepare students to participate in the

discoveries and challenges of the future with the foundations of wisdom and personal discipline.  We are dedicated to cultivating the unique nature and potential of each student and committed to building a school community enhanced by racial, cultural, and socioeconomic diversity. We provide a nurturing and caring environment enhanced by a low teacher-student ratio. We are interested in a personal learning approach that incorporates individual attention, hands-on experiential learning, and a challenging and well-rounded curriculum.

In the process of inspiring and educating children for life, we

believe that students must learn how to think, to solve problems, to capitalize on strengths, to make good decisions, and to become effective communicators. In preparing students to live comfortably in an ever-changing and diverse society, we seek to move students beyond tolerating difference to engaging all people as valued members of a global society.

We make every effort to ensure that our academic program is of

the highest quality. We go to great lengths to hire the best teachers, to adopt the best curricula, to be open to change, and to hold our school to the highest academic standards. A true willingness to listen and an engagement in professional reflection are indispensable components of our commitment to continual improvement, relevance, and accountability.

osophy

Inspiring and Educating Children for Life

History The Catherine Cook School was established in 1975 as the Melrose Cooperative Nursery Center and housed at Temple Shalom. We soon began to add elementary grades to our program and moved to the Old Town neighborhood in 1995, operating from Immaculate Conception Church. In 1990, we purchased the former B & B Shoe Company factory at 226 West Schiller, renovated it from the ground up, and moved into our permanent home in 1992. At that time, the school was renamed in honor of Catherine Cook Anagnost, a remarkable civic leader and one of the first American women to qualify as both an attorney and a certified public accountant. Our school continued as a parent cooperative until 1997 when a Board of Trustees was elected, and a national search brought us our first professional Head of School. Recent years have seen the steady growth of our newest unit, the Middle School, which offers a robust program of education through the eighth grade. To meet the needs of our rapid growth, a playground was added in 1998, and in 2006, a newly constructed gymnasium and rooftop playspace were opened.

Our school’s namesake, Catherine Cook Anagnost, was an American immigrant success story who passed the Illinois bar exam without attending law school! Our school is named for an individual who overcame obstacles, stood for perseverance, and worked for change in her community. As a parent, lawyer, and civic leader, Catherine Cook embodied our core values through her life, her accomplishments, and her spirit.

The Catherine Cook School is what school should be:

A joyful and inclusive learning community an educational community

As a junior school, we focus on the educational and social development of each child during the crucial years from preschool to eighth grade. With an average student/ teacher ratio of 10:1, we are a community of learners where students and families are known by name. Personal attention and a collaborative spirit create an environment that inspires curiosity, passion, and achievement.

an urban community

Our location in the heart of the eclectic Old Town neighborhood puts the resources of the city at our doorstep: museums, parks, arts, and civic life. We strive to cultivate a vibrant school community that reflects Chicago’s diversity and to engage our students in the community so they may develop a personal sense of stewardship and social responsibility.

a community of achievers

Every year, we see happy, confident, and well-educated children graduate from our Middle School and attend their high schools of choice. Catherine Cook alumni attend Chicago’s premier independent schools, top-tier boarding schools, and the most selective high schools in the Chicago Public Schools system. Fully accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States, the State of Illinois, and the North Central Association, The Catherine Cook School enjoys an excellent reputation as one of Chicago’s outstanding independent schools.

Why CCS?

In the Early Childhood Program, Preschool through Senior Kindergarten, our concentration is on play-to-learn activities, with a strong emphasis on sensory integration, language development, and socialization. Print-rich learning environments prepare our youngest students for later reading and writing experiences, and the daily program includes fine and gross motor activities as well as arts and craft explorations. Parallel play in small groups encourages social development. In Junior and Senior Kindergarten, the emphasis broadens to include authentic experiences in early literacy, mathematics, science, and social studies. World language study begins in the Senior Kindergarten year. Joyful and nurturing, the Early Childhood program provides a strong foundation for a lifetime of learning and working together in community.

Curriculum Highlights Preschool Literacy Readiness: learning the alphabet; recalling and repeating stories; communicating feelings; following directions Mathematical Readiness: counting to 10; recognizing groups of 5; sorting objects into 2 categories; developing a sense of time Social Skills:participating in a group; sharing and turntaking; developing self-control

Junior Kindergarten Pre-Reading: letter sounds; opposites, sequences, left-toright; making predictions; dictating experience stories Pre-Writing: forming uppercase letters; forming shapes and numbers; representational drawing; invented spelling

Pre-Mathematics: counting to 20; counting by 10s; the calendar; basic geometric shapes; comparing, sorting, classifying; introduction to estimation and graphs Social Skills: following 3-step directions; respecting others as self; cooperation and problem solving; personal safety; appreciating cultures, holidays, and customs; contributing to “school rules”

Senior Kindergarten Pre-Reading/Reading: recognizing story elements; upper- and lowercase letters and their sounds; basic sight words Pre-Writing/Writing: invented/phonetic spelling; expressing ideas and thoughts in writing; writing first and last name

Mathematics: counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s; counting to 50 and 100; measurement; shapes, patterns, symmetry; addition and subtraction number stories; coins; telling time World Language Social Skills: similarities and differences between self and others; basic needs of all cultures (food, shelter, water, community)

EarlyChild

hood PS, JK, SK

The Lower School, grades 1-4, continues to emphasize hands-on, experiential learning in an expansive academic environment. Early literacy experiences lead to a robust literature-based reading program. Early experiences with manipulatives in sequencing and categorizing lead to real-world mathematical problem solving. Early experiences with classroom plants and pets lead to thoughtful scientific investigations. Hearing stories about children in other lands in kindergarten may lead to Internet communications with students around the world and learning about world cultures through first-person stories. Interactive learning technologies

daily with laptop computers in the fourth

expand the educational horizon throughout

grade. Classes in music, world languages,

the Lower School, with students working

art, and physical education round out the curriculum.

In these grades, we encourage

children to become independent learners by helping them to develop organizational skills and problem-solving approaches that are useful in both academic and social settings. Integrity, generosity, and loyalty are cornerstones of our ethical environment, and students are expected to treat all members of their learning community with kindness and respect. The Lower School is a lively, friendly environment where children thrive as happy, inquisitive, and resourceful students, developing a strong sense of community membership.

LowerSchool

Curriculum Highlights

All students in grades 1-4 study World Language, Art Studio, Music, and Physical Education, in addition to: GRADE 1 Language Arts Math: place value; addition/subtraction; measurement; money; time Science: life cycles; animal habitats Social Studies: family traditions; African American history; map skills

GRADE 2 Language Arts Math: addition/ subtraction; multiplication/ division; comparing fractions; place value, decimals, money; 2-D and 3-D shapes Science: solar system; three forms of matter; energy in motion Social Studies: immigration and ancestry; Native Americans; North American geography

Grades1-4

GRADE 3 Language Arts Math: fractions; multiplication/ division; measurement and area; geometry Science: rocks, minerals, fossils; energy and forces Social Studies: America’s westward expansion; Chinese cultural studies

GRADE 4 Language Arts Math: multiplication/ division; decimals; data and graphing; chance and probability Science: food chains and webs; simple machines; sound and light; earth science Social Studies: world geography; Illinois history; ancient Egypt and Greece

Curriculum Highlights

In the Middle School, language arts and social studies are taught using a project-based humanities curriculum. Students hone writing, research, and analytical skills through deep exploration of topics in world history, current events, and the American experience. Past themes have included Mayan, Aztec, and Incan civilizations; Ancient China, Greece, and Rome; Islamic civilizations; exploration, revolution, and industrialization; and race and equity in America. Students also write and think about literature using the Readers and Writers Workshop format. All students in grades 5-8 also take World Language, Art Studio, Music, Physical Education, Public Speaking, Study Skills, and: GRADE 5 Math: fractions, decimals, percents; exponents and negative numbers; ratios and rates; area, volume, capacity; algebraic expressions Science: astronomy; electricity; magnetism

GRADE 6 Math: factors and primes; 2-D geometry; area and perimeter; fractions, decimals, percents Science: taxonomy and classification

GRADE 7 Math: introduction to algebra; positive and negative numbers; linear equations and inequalities; probability Science: human biology and health; microbiology; heredity and evolution

GRADE 8 Math: Pythagorean theorem; exponential and quadratic relationships; linear equations and inequalities Science: physics; chemical interactions

MiddleS

Analytical and abstract thinking are the foundations of all academic work in the Middle School, grades 5-8. Students learn to be independent critical thinkers in math, science, social studies, literature, and writing, as well as in physical education and health. We stress finding connections between fields of human endeavor by integrating learning across academic disciplines, and our combined humanities curriculum provides a rich matrix of content through which students develop skills in reading, writing, and analysis. At the heart of the Middle School experience, our one-to-one tablet computer program empowers

navigating the social and emotional changes

students to be collaborators, communi-

of early adolescence. Establishing strong,

cators, and investigators, linked to a world of

dependable relationships between students

learning resources and limitless potential.

and teachers is crucial at this age, and our



Middle School students explore new

Our Middle School faculty focuses on

helping students achieve balance as they

academic territory and develop personal

embrace a rigorous academic program while

skills with a safety net of caring teachers and advisors behind them. Interscholastic sports, school musicals, and service learning experiences all provide a laboratory for extending joyful learning beyond the classroom. Students are expected to become independent learners, thoughtful judges, and responsible leaders, engaging and appreciating the diversity of our community and treating all people with respect. 

choolGrades5-8

The Arts The arts are an integral part of our 360° approach to education. Dedicated specialist instructors develop student proficiency and self-expression in visual arts, music, drama, and speech, fostering a rich appreciation of artistic traditions and confidence as creators and performers.

W h at s c h o ol e s h ou ld b

Music

Students from Preschool through eighth grade attend music classes twice weekly. An early childhood music specialist encourages children’s natural love of music-making through songs, musical games, rhythm awareness, and simple musical instruments. In the Lower School, the program incorporates a variety of Orff instruments as students begin to create and perform their own compositions and develop knowledge of music theory. In Middle School, instruction centers on vocal training and choral repertoire. Middle School students who wish to participate in the school’s annual musical may audition for singing, acting, and technical support roles. Students from fourth to eighth grades may also join the extracurricular band program whether or not they have played an instrument previously. Private instruction is also available in piano, violin, guitar, and percussion.

Performing Arts

From dramatic play in Preschool to staging an annual musical in Middle School, the performing arts permeate our program at The Catherine Cook School. Classroom and after school opportunities abound for Lower School students to extend their creativity through Readers Theatre, acting, puppetry, or improvisation. Storytelling and oratory are emphasized in Middle School “On Your Feet” classes so that students develop into confident public speakers, while Drama Club participants dig more deeply into professional scripts, character study, and stagecraft. Every grade and class has the opportunity to showcase a performance at a weekly all-school assembly.   

Visual Arts

Students in Preschool and Junior Kindergarten create art daily through projects designed with the development of the child in mind and incorporating themes such as self, family, friends, nature, and the seasons. Starting in Senior Kindergarten, students travel twice a week to our art studios, and projects become more involved and sophisticated. From a young age, students are introduced to a wide variety of media and techniques, including drawing, painting, collage, plaster, ceramics, and sculpture construction to create still lifes, abstracts, landscapes, and self portraits. In Middle School, film and video enter the curriculum. Throughout our program, students develop a rich visual vocabulary through study of global artistic traditions and the work of famous artists, with art projects and classroom learning being thoughtfully coordinated to integrate learning across disciplines. Displays of artwork from all grade levels are exhibited in the school’s art gallery and throughout the school.

The arts program at The Catherine Cook School is designed to engage students’ interests and talents in a developmentally appropriate fashion. Students in every division are exposed to a comprehensive arts program where they discover and develop creative talents, essential for a lifetime of creative thinking and learning.

Phys A true 360˚ education engages both mind and body, and the physical education program at The Catherine Cook School encourages students to develop the skills and mindset needed to become healthy and fit for life. Students attend physical education classes from Preschool through eighth grade, participating in games and activities that develop confidence and sportsmanship while building fine and gross motor skills. The school has a fully equipped gymnasium with climbing wall and running track, where students participate in physical education classes and inter-scholastic sports. Neighborhood playing fields host field games and sports, and our rooftop playspace buzzes with activity during two daily recess periods. In Middle School, students may participate in a variety of interscholastic sports at CCS, always emphasizing values of teamwork, fair play, and commitment. Our After School program gives students of all ages opportunities to develop new skills through a wide variety of physical activities; recent offerings have included karate, cross country running, whiffle ball, jazz dance, and more.

The Catherine Cook Cougars compete with other Chicago-area middle schools in:

• Boys and girls basketball • Boys and girls soccer • Boys flag football • Girls volleyball

Educational technology at its best is a powerful tool to good learning. This belief is at the core of the technology program at The Catherine Cook School. As we continue to add resources and adopt new uses of technology, each innovation is undertaken with a firm grounding in sound pedagogy. For students through third grade, our computer lab is the primary workspace for technology-aided instruction. A full-time technology teacher assists classroom teachers to develop and use the wealth of electronic materials available to supplement traditional instruction. Each classroom in first to third grade also hosts at least two desktop computer stations to enhance in-class learning. In the fourth grade, each student has access to a tablet computer throughout the school day. Students are taught to use the core applications in Microsoft’s Office Suite to present their schoolwork in an increasingly appealing and organized manner. In addition to using handwriting recognition software, students learn keyboarding skills so that they can type efficiently and effectively before they enter Middle School.

Each Middle School student is assigned a tablet laptop computer as part of our new one-to-one initiative, the first of its kind in a Chicago-area independent middle school. These computers are taken home each day and provide students all the tools required to complete assignments, to explore, and to produce creative and intriguing projects to demonstrate understanding of core subject matter. Students are encouraged to collaborate and communicate not only with one another, but also with a global community of learners. They are expected to use 21st century tools to become life long learners, not simply to consume the products of a mediacentered world. Over eleven classrooms in Lower and Middle School are equipped with interactive white boards, which can be linked to tablet laptops. Teachers use these boards to share interactive lessons and live web content with students and to preserve in-class screen sessions as notes or summaries. A collection of digital cameras, computer microscopes, outstanding software applications, and other tools are available to teachers and students to help them more fully engage and understand the world in which we live.

Technology

Community A 360˚ education draws on the talents and resources

of every member of our school community—students, teachers, and parents—and encourages students of all ages to become deeply invested members of both the local and global community.

SERVICE LEARNING

Meaningful service learning starts within our own school community, with Middle School students helping younger students as book buddies, recess assistants, and lunchroom helpers. From there, the circle expands outward, linking students and their larger communities—neighborhood, city, state, country, and world. Past Middle School service learning themes have included hunger and homelessness, caring for animals and the environment, and elders and aging. Projects are designed to be both experiential and reflective, providing important opportunities for students to examine the nature of community, the importance of ethical thinking, and the impact of personal leadership. 

GLOBAL COMMUNITY

Early introduction to world languages, study of world cultures, and engagement in a diverse community prepare Catherine Cook students to become global thinkers. Travel-study opportunities and cyber-learning links connect the school to students around the world. Our commitment to “green” standards and sustainability—through recycling, source reduction, use of earth-friendly products, and environmental education—pervades school culture, planting a strong sense of global stewardship and citizenship in our students.

PARENT COMMUNITY

Our active Parent Association models community participation at its best at Catherine Cook, recognizing the vital link between student success and parent involvement. From organizing parent education seminars to running the school’s annual Spring Benefit, CCS families are actively involved in the life of the school. Volunteer and social opportunities abound through which parents develop a deeper understanding of the school’s educational goals and expectations for their children.

Recent graduates have been offered high school places at: Independent Schools The British School of Chicago The Chicago Academy for the Arts Chicago Waldorf School The Latin School of Chicago North Shore Country Day School Francis W. Parker School Roycemore School The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools CPS Selective High Schools Gwendolyn Brooks College Prep Jones College Prep Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. College Prep Lane Technical College Prep Northside College Prep Walter Payton College Prep Whitney M. Young Magnet High School CPS Special Programs Lincoln Park High School— International Baccalaureate Double Honors Program Nicholas Senn High School— International Baccalaureate Von Steuben Metropolitan Science Center Faith-Based Schools De La Salle Institute Holy Trinity High School Loyola Academy Luther North High School Mount Carmel High School St. Benedict High School St. Ignatius College Prep St. Scholastica Academy

Every year, Catherine Cook graduates are accepted into the most competitive public and private high schools in Chicago, across the country, and around the world. Our students are sought after because of their strong academic preparation and their fine character. The enriched curriculum, leadership opportunities, and co-curricular activities at Catherine Cook give students a solid foundation for rigorous college preparatory work and the personal skills needed for future success. Secondary school placement is an invested process that often begins with information-gathering in the sixth grade. The Head of Middle School and the Head of School actively assist each family to build a list of schools that are appropriate for their child and to take all the right steps as they navigate the application process.

Boarding Schools Culver Academies (Indiana) Fountain Valley School (Colorado) Lake Forest Academy (Illinois) Leysin American School (Switzerland) Stevenson School (California) The Webb School (Tennessee)

CCS

360° educators empower students to develop Self Motivation Subject mastery Self esteem

Faculty The faculty of The Catherine Cook School is a closeknit community of educators who have dedicated their professional lives to serving children and families. Our teachers are a diverse group of individuals from all over the country, selected for their academic accomplishments, interests, personalities, and the ability to create engaging, empowering, and joyful learning situations. More than half of our faculty hold advanced degrees. Teachers from different divisions and subjects frequently collaborate to integrate curriculum so that students can approach and discuss a subject from many different angles. The school has a strong commitment to the ongoing professional development of our faculty and their embrace of technology to extend students’ learning and creative capacities. A list of our current faculty is included in the Information Guide.

our Faculty

• The CCS teacher is a 360˚ educator who accepts the challenge of identifying individual students’ learning styles and adapting instruction to address students’ strengths and weaknesses.

• The CCS teacher is deeply invested in increasing students’ capacity for learning and creativity, not merely in delivering content.

• The CCS teacher seeks to nurture each student’s academic, emotional, and social growth and to plant in each child the seeds of responsibility, global citizenship, and commitment to personal excellence.

School

Our Extended Day and Lunch Bunch programs

provide safe environments where children enjoy a variety of activities as they unwind after school. Appropriate supervision is provided at all grade levels as students build social skills and relationships outside their regular classroom settings.

Extended Day

After School Adventures are enrichment classes that offer new opportunities for skill development. Budding athletes can explore their creative sides with ceramics, painting, dance classes, and more. Personalities burst forth in karate, clowning, and improv sessions, while Mandarin and Spanish open doors to new cultures. Old favorites always remain on the schedule, and new classes are kid-tested and added each year. Private lessons are also available in guitar, violin, drums, piano, and art.  Recent After School Adventures have included: Chess Clay Creations Clowning Create-a-Play Cross Country

Drama Folk Tales Healthy Kids Cooking Jewelry Making

Karate Knitting Improv Workshop Mad Science Mandarin

Mask Making Painting P.E. Favorites Puppetry Recycled Art

Our Extended Day program is for students of all ages who stay at school past afternoon dismissal. Homework is always “job one,” with the full resources of our library, computers, and wireless network at students’ disposal, as well as friendly adult guidance when needed. Outdoor recess and a snack are always part of Extended Day. Other activities may include indoor physical activities, games, free play, reading, art projects, light cooking, special movie days, and neighborhood excursions. Extended Day is a place where students develop inter-age friendships, with older students leading younger learners by example and all students developing a stronger sense of interconnectedness.

Lunch Bunch

Our Lunch Bunch program provides a mid-day “bridge” for children in our half-day Early Childhood classes. Built into this session are lunch time, a naptime or quiet time, outside recess, free play, story time, and age-appropriate games.

Before SChool

For families who need to drop off students before their classrooms open, we offer a Before School program. Before School is a warm, friendly way for children to start the day in a safe, supervised space as early as 7:30 a.m.

Learning doesn’t stop when the school day ends. Our students are writers and musicians, scientists and artists, mathematicians and athletes. The After School program extends our 360˚ approach to education by encouraging students to try new activities, flex creative muscles, and develop talents to the fullest.

Day

Admission& The Catherine Cook School is an independent school for students in preschool through eighth grade, and our program is intended for students with a strong curiosity and desire to learn. Your first step in the admission process should be to telephone our Office of Admission to request a packet of admission materials and an application. These materials are also available on our website. The school offers school tours for parents and guardians by appointment. Once we have received your completed application and the required processing fee, we will contact you to schedule a parent interview and a visit date for your child. When you have completed both a parent interview and a child visit and submitted all supplemental application materials to the Office of Admission (including required teacher report forms), our admission committee will review all applications. Notification dates are typically in March for all applicants.

The Catherine Cook School administers a need-based financial aid program based on the guidelines of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS). The purpose of the financial aid program is to provide financial assistance to families who would not otherwise be able to afford an independent school education for their child(ren). The program is designed to attract and enroll students from diverse cultural, ethnic, economic, and geographic backgrounds. For our financial aid program to be truly effective, it is expected that all families will make their child(ren)’s education a financial priority. Eligibility for admission is determined independently from a family’s application for financial aid. Please call the Office of Admission from Monday through Friday during business hours at 312.266.3381 for further information. We look forward to meeting you and your family.

W h at s c h o ol e s h ou ld b

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n W h at s c h o ol e s h ou ld b The Catherine Cook School 226 West Schiller Street, Chicago, Illinois 60610-1808 t: 312.266.3381 | f: 312.266.3616 w: catherinecookschool.org

Production Notes: • Die-cut slit for 1-business card on flap as indicated by dashed lines.

Drop dashed keyline. See mockup on pasteboard at left.

• Glued pocket has rounded edge on left side of packet flap.

Drop dashed keyline.

• Overall Gloss varnish on cover 1,3,4. NO VARNISH ON COVER 2!