“The Hawk”

All School News

Dear IACS Community:

One of the best parts of my day consistently is time with my advisory. I don’t think I’m unique in this; I think the majority of advisors and students would say this as well. So, what is advisory and what makes it so special? It is difficult to put into words….let me try.

Advisory is dual-purposed; students are supported both in their academic and social/emotional growth. In advisory, students set ILP goals, track them, and reflect on them. With their advisor’s guidance, students check x2 to consider their progress and make improvement plans. They also work to prepare for public presentations of learning, like Quality Night. This smaller community (12-13 students) becomes a homebase for students. We build teamwork and camaraderie and students build connections help one another problem-solve through regular class meetings. Advisory becomes a special place– a place where students can celebrate with one another or gain support from peers and their advisor when we are presented with obstacles or the tough stuff that life sometimes gives us.

Three years ago, we began the transition to an advisory program at the middle school. While the same goals were present in our former middle school model, our middle school staff worked together to take a step back and consider how we might restructure our program to better support students academic and social/emotional needs. Since we have introduced advisory at the middle school, we have seen a sharp reduction in the number of students on Academic Probation each quarter and an increase in students on the honor roll. While difficult to measure, students also seem to feel an even greater sense of being an important part of the community and appreciate how advisory helps them develop as individuals.

Best,

Melissa Kapeckas

Middle School Principal

Students in the Kapeckas advisory do a problem solving activity. Four students hold on to the same pen, working together to draw an image.

Dates At a Glance:

February 29: Board of Trustee Finance Meeting

March 1:      Admissions Lottery @ 4:00 pm

March 2:     Early Release

March 5:     SAT Exam 8:00 am

March 8:     IACA Pot Luck Meeting 7:00 pm

March 9:    Early Release

          ILP CONFERENCES

March 10:  Innovation Morning for Prospective Middle School Parents/Guardians 8:30 – 9:30 am

March 10-12 Winter Drama Production    7:00 pm

March 14:   Board of Trustee Meeting 6:30 – 8:30 pm

         Middle School Band and Chorus Concert 7:00 – 8:00 pm

March 16:   Early Release

March 22:   5th Grade Quality Night 6:00 – 7:15 pm

          HS MCAS ELA Testing

March 23:   HS MCAS ELA Testing

                 Full Day Wednesday

March 24: HS MCAS ELA Testing

March 25: No School – Good Friday

March 29: Innovation Morning for Prospective Middle School Parents/Guardians 8:30 – 9:30 am

March 30: Early Release

          No HS Internships

          HS Exhibition Night 6:00 – 8:00 pm

Parent Health & Wellness Survey

As part of our ongoing assessment of wellness education, programs, and  initiatives at IACS, we are seeking parental input.  Below is a link to a quick five question survey that we are hoping all parents will take a few moments to complete.  The answers will provide feedback that will directly impact our planning.  In order to collect meaningful data,  we ask that you complete one survey for each child enrolled at  IACS. Many thanks for your partnership in developing  a culture of wellness here at IACS.  

Lastly, as I look toward next year, I intend to more actively engage parents in discussions and decisions regarding our wellness program. At the end of the survey, please share your name and contact information if you are interested in becoming a more formal part of these ongoing discussions. The time commitment would be minimal (in fact, the  hope is that much of your support/input can be obtained via online conversations.)  

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to reach out to me at gnutilepimm@innovationcharter.org

Click here to complete the survey. Thank you in advance for your time and support.

Technology Update

Students and Families,

Beginning this week, we will be providing internet filtering for all chromebooks logged with innovationcharter.org accounts off campus as well as here at school. This filtering will ensure that we are  up to date with federal requirements for students who receive loaned devices from the school, but it will affect all students who log into the "chrome" browser or a chromebook with an innovationcharter.org account. Students are used to seeing filtered internet at school, but they may find some pages blocked that weren't before when they are on their home network or at another location providing internet access.

Though the software solution we use to filter internet access for all student chrome accounts also allows monitoring of student internet use, we see little benefit to the routine monitoring of students at home and have disabled this feature outside of school hours.

Families participating in our BYOD program should be aware that students who own their own machine can circumvent our filtering outside of school by simply using a browser other than chrome, or not logging into their browser with an innovationcharter.org account. Families looking to filter or monitor internet use at home should use their own measures to do so; here are links to Comcast and Verizon support pages on setting up parental filters at home. If you want the school filters to be in use all of the time, the best option is to set up a student with a chromebook and ensure that only innovationcharter.org logins are allowed (instructions for limiting who can sign into a chromebook are here).

If you have questions about internet filtering or other matters, please feel free to contact me directly at thinkle@innovationcharter.org.

Tom Hinkle

Director of Instructional Technology

IACS School Nutrition Program

The March Breakfast and Lunch Menus have been posted.  CLICK HERE TO ORDER.  While pre-ordering is preferred, all meals are available cash & carry. To preview menus going to Breakfast & Lunch Menu.

<p style="color:rgb(51,51,51);Trebuchet MS';font-size:13px;Offer vs Serve" Program  – Per the USDA, an Offer Versus Serve program states that an “Offer versus serve or OVS is a concept that applies to menu planning and the meal service. OVS allows students to decline some of the food offered in a reimbursable lunch or breakfast. The goals of OVS are to reduce food waste and to permit students to choose the foods they want to eat. Because students may choose fewer selections under OVS, guidance is provided on what constitutes a reimbursable lunch and breakfast.”  The complete policy can be found at http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/governance/Policy-Memos/2013/SP45-2013a.pdf.   

When pre-ordering; reimbursable meals are categorized as either a Combo (reimbursable meal) or A la carte (non-reimbursable meal).  For reimbursable meals, prices will reflect each family’s eligibility level of full price, free or reduced price.  A la carte options prices reflect that these items are for sales and but are not part of the NSLP.  

Additionally, monthly menus also identify reimbursable meals vs a la carte choices and are posted on the school website (https://www.innovationcharter.org/food-menu) and displayed at various places within the school as well as at the beginning of the lunch service line.

Reimbursable Meal	Reimbursable Meal Full Price	Free or Reduced Price	A la carte (non-reimbursable)
Breakfast (offer 4 food items/3 food components;  must take 3 food items including ½  cup fruit)	$2.00	$0.00 $0.30	$1.00 for additional meal item (ie bagel or breakfast sandwich) $0.50 milk or juice
Lunch (offer 5 components;  must take 3 including at least ½ cup fruit or ½ cup vegetable)	$3.85 when pre-ordered $4.00 cash & carry $2.00 sandwich meal*	$0.00 $0.40	$2.00 sandwich, yogurt parfait $3.00 soup $1.00 extra slice  pizza $0.50 milk or juice