IACS Hawk
January 15, 2021
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Dear IACS Community,
Today our staff was on campus making final preparations for our transition to hybrid programming. As we begin this new model on Tuesday for students assigned to the Red Team, (and on Thursday for the Blue team) all students and staff will be practicing new logistics, from pick-up and drop off routines to more controlled movement and transitions inside the building. No doubt this "new normal" will feel unusual and inefficient at first, just as it was when we started the year in September. But like all habit formation I have no doubt that any kinks will be ironed out if we apply the problem-solving and self-direction we’re so accustomed to practicing on a daily basis. With that in mind, I’ll extend a preemptive note of thanks for your patience!
Please take a moment to read about the important information that has been assembled in the rest of the Hawk, especially the resources our Racial Justice Committee has assembled honoring Martin Luther King Jr.
In partnership,
Greg Orpen
Head of School
All School News
Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday is not just another holiday. In honor of his powerful messages and life work, it has been dedicated to be a day off for us to give back and serve our communities. You may already give back to your community. If so, it’s a good day to continue that work. If not, we have some ideas for easy things you can do to make our communities better at this time. We have also put together some resources about the Civil Rights Movement and Dr. King.
Re-Enrollment for 2021
It’s already time to start thinking about Fall of 2021!
This year you will find your students re-enrollment form coming to you via email. Please fill out the google survey for all current IACS students.
Please be sure to complete the survey by January 29th ,slots not retained will be made available to new students on our March 1st 2021 lottery.
As always if you have any questions feel free to contact the Enrollment office.
Enrollment office
978-649-0432 ext 2218 Kathleen Feeney
978-649-0432 ext 3218 Marybeth Bush
Virtual Open House for Prospective Families
We have several virtual open house sessions coming up for prospective families ahead of our lottery. Please share this form to register with friends who are interested in learning more about IACS.
Per diem Substitute Teachers Needed:
We are looking for a few more people to join our substitute teacher pool. As we start to make plans for the return of students and teachers to classrooms, Virtual and In Person, we want to also have a working list of substitutes so that we can ensure that we provide your students uninterrupted learning. If you or a friend are interested in learning more about becoming a substitute at IACS please fill out the availability form. Half day and full day subbing opportunities are available. IACS pays $25 per hour up to $100 per day maximum.
HS & MS School Calendar
We have included the pdf for the 2020-2021 HS & MS Calendar. Please see the calendar on our website for the most up to date information.
Book Donations for Class Project:
Hello, my name is Morgan and I am a senior here at Innovation. This semester I am taking a class on children’s literature. I am currently working on a project with a group of other seniors on how to make books more accessible to children. We are going to be running a virtual bingo event and are looking for donations of books. Everyone who attends will be receiving a book and we are looking for any donations families may have. We are looking for new or gently used books, without tears or drawings. While we are accepting any books we are looking for books suited for elementary-age to early middle school-age children. A box will be placed in the library for said donations. The event will take place on Saturday 23rd from 1 pm to 2 pm. Here is a form to sign up to attend https://forms.gle/WLrWMT7agTDGRwFx7
If anyone has any questions or is interested you can contact us at: morgan.rico@innovationcharter.org, adelaide.ansah@innovationcharter.org, annalyse.talbot@innovationcharter.org, aphroditi.tziotziouras@innovationcharter.org, elaina.chisholm@innovationcharter.org, helena.spanos@innovationcharter.org

School Breakfast & Lunch Program
IACS is offering FREE breakfast and lunch meals to ALL IACS on-campus learners. On-campus learners do not need to enroll or use a lunch account to receive free meals. Remote and hybrid learners can also receive free meals at either their town’s school or at IACS. Remote and hybrid learners, if you would like to pick up meals for days when the student is off-campus learning, enroll in this program by completing this survey. You do not need to complete the survey if you have already enrolled. Email kdrake@innovationcharter.org if you have any questions
Theatre News
Middle School News

We are looking forward to welcoming students to campus for our hybrid program next week. A reminder that students can be dropped off anytime between 7:45-8:15 and will go directly to their advisory classroom listed below.

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School Supply Lists
What will students need at school? Here are the supply lists:
Please remind your child to charge their computer and bring their charger along with their computer.
If your child needs to sign out a computer, please fill out the Chromebook user contract form and email Heather Landis at hlandis@innovationcharter.org to arrange to pick it up or have it brought to your child’s hybrid classroom.
Hybrid Information
Please read through this document to learn about what the shift to our hybrid model in January will look like at the middle school.
Thank you to families that joined us at our community forum about the hybrid transition at the middle school. Below are links to the slide deck and a recording.
High School Transition
It is that time of year that eighth grade students and families are looking ahead to high school. Eighth graders continuing onto High School at IACS do not need to reapply.
For students and families that are interested in learning more about our high school program, we are offering three virtual open house events. Attendees must register beforehand by emailing: visit@innovationcharter.org in order to receive the Zoom link.
There will be the choice of 2 more identical events:
Thursday, 1/28 7-8pm
Thursday, 2/11 7-8pm
Please specify which date you would like to attend in your email.
For students applying to technical or private schools, please ensure that you ask teachers directly about letters of recommendation and provide at least 2 weeks notice.
Please contact Kathleeen Feeney in the enrollment office to request transcripts that are sent along with your application. (kfeeney@innovationcharter.org)
High School News

Virtual Exhibition Night
Did you have a chance to visit the plethora of virtual presentations last night? If not you’ll want to make time to check out the incredible projects that our students and teachers have worked on this semester. Project learning meets Remote learning. Congratulations to our Students and teachers on all their hard work this semester!
Link to Virtual Exhibition Night 2021
January Switch to Hybrid Information
Thank you to our families that joined us for the Hybrid Information Forum for HS Families. Below you will find the Video of the forum as well as the powerpoint slideshow. This is the Hybrid Bell Schedule, very similar to our current one, that will go into effect on Tuesday, January 19th.
Video from HS Community Forum – January 6, 2021
Slide Show from HS Community Forum – January 6, 2021
Yearbook Announcements
The yearbook is having a few pages displaying photos of life during remote learning, so please send any pictures you have to yearbook@innovationcharter.org by January 20. Photos can be either academic or personal, showing learning or just family time and fun. Also, there will be separate senior pages, so seniors, make sure to send plenty of pictures!
Seniors:
Seniors: senior quotes, class will, and remember-you-for’s are due Friday, February 5 in the spreadsheet Mr. Macdonald shared with you (not emailed to him or the yearbook account). See your email for more details.
Links to the Student written Innovator Newspaper:
"Innovation’s New Students in Online School" – https://theinnovator.org/2021/01/15/innovations-new-students-in-online-school/
"Students React to 2nd MCAS Postponement" – https://theinnovator.org/2021/01/08/students-react-to-second-mcas-postponement/
Yearbook Announcements
The yearbook is having a few pages displaying photos of life during remote learning, so please send any pictures you have to yearbook@innovationcharter.org by January 20 (the date emailed to students earlier was incorrect). Photos can be either academic or personal, showing learning or just family time and fun. Also, there will be separate senior pages, so seniors, make sure to send plenty of pictures!
Innovation Academy Charter School