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Class of 2026 Senior Activities

PAC/BAC Meeting

DECEMBER 16, 2025
8:15AM IN ROOM 119 OR VIRTUAL

Chicago STEM Conference Opportunity

Saturday, December 6, 2025

Winter Concert, “A Jazzy Winter Evening"

Thursday, December 11th!
Doors open at 4:30 PM

Apply to Become a Local School Council Candidate

2026 is an election year for Chicago Public Schools. CPS is holding District-wide Local School Council (LSC) elections, and we want to encourage you to run as a candidate for your school’s LSC!

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Upcoming Events

Dec 8

Vision Screening in the Media Center

Dec 9

Vision Screening in the Media Center

Dec 10

Vision Screening in the Media Center

Dec 10

Grand Valley State University Rep Visit

Time: 12:35 PM – 1:25 PM

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Meet our principal! Mrs. Manjarrez!

For the past twelve years, Back of the Yards College Prep has been both my professional and personal home. I have had the privilege of serving in many roles—founding Mathematics teacher, Department Chair, ILT Lead, IB MYP Coordinator, and Assistant Principal—working alongside dedicated students, staff, families, alumni, and community partners to build a school that is a true neighborhood school of choice on Chicago’s southwest side. My 20 years in education, including 15 in leadership, have been shaped by a deep commitment to equity, high expectations, and collaborative growth. The accomplishments we have achieved together—record-setting graduation rates, strong college enrollment and persistence, and consistently high freshman-on-track rates—are a testament to the extraordinary dedication of our faculty, staff, and partners. As principal, I am committed to building on this strong foundation, fostering innovation, and continuing to strengthen the relationships that make our school thrive. This work is personal to me—not only as an educator but as a mother of two Latino children—and I am honored to serve a community that has become a part of my identity.

BOBCAT STAFF MEMBER OF THE MONTH- MS. GUTIERREZ

Congratulations to Ms. Gutierrez for being recognized as our Bobcat Staff Member of the Month for November! Her colleagues shared the following praise:

She is always down to help and support whatever you are trying to do in the building. She is always worrying about supporting our students enough and seeks opportunities that our community might not otherwise know or come into contact with.

Ms. Gutierrez has gone from sharing the responsibility of being our post secondary lead to now being the one to lead the way. She did an amazing job of finding schools that were appropriate for our students using their GPA and ACT along with finding the appropriate amount of chaperones and coverage. She stayed for our parent nights to help recruit parents to chaperone and she worked with Mrs. Walker and assisted our parent chaperones in completing the necessary steps to become a parent volunteer. She holds workshops on Tuesday and Wednesday to help our students apply for the questbridge scholarship and she prepares our students for the Posse Interview 1, and now we have 10 out of our 20 nominees move on to the 2nd round. She is a vital asset to our team and I am really appreciative of her hard work.

Ms. Gutierrez shows incredible dedication to our students! She not only supports Posse and QuestBridge applicants through every step of the process, but she also makes herself available after hours to ensure students have the help they need. Ms. Gutierrez takes the initiative to plan college trips for EVERY grade level, giving students valuable opportunities to explore campuses and think about their postsecondary plans. She also organizes impactful events such as college and alumni-led fairs, creating spaces for students to connect with resources and Bobcat role models. Her commitment goes above and beyond, and it makes a lasting difference in our school community!

Ms. Gutierrez has done a phenomenal job planning all the senior college trips, getting parents cleared to chaperone trips, helping with grade level parent nights, getting college representatives to come speak to our students during the school day, getting colleges to attend our fall college fair, working with students on Posse and Questbridge scholarships. Ms. Gutierrez goes above and beyond helping our students and encouraging them to be their best selves.

Once again, Congratulations Ms. Gutierrez!