“The Hawk”

Dear IACS Community,

 

Yesterday we celebrated the Class of 2016 with a ceremony that recognized every senior’s contribution to our school.  Not even some light rain towards the end could put a damper on the laughter and shouts of joy shared among students, faculty, and families.  As in years past, multiple audience members approached me with compliments of the amazing, personalized nature our ceremony.  We can’t think of a better gift to give our graduates and their families as our seniors make this joyous passage.  

 

A big note of thanks to the parent and student volunteers who organized and executed the Graduation Reception.  Additional thanks to the crew of parents who helped supervise the “Last Bash” all night graduation party at the Tyngsboro Sports Center.  

 

Congratulations Class of 2016.  We’re so proud of you all!

 

Greg Orpen

Head of School

 

Panoramic picture of the Class of 2016 proceeding from Saturday’s graduation. For more pictures see a photo gallery posted on the Lowell Sun.

 

All School News

 

Dates At a Glance:

 

June 11 HS Graduation 10:00 am  – 12:00

June 15 Board of Trustee Meeting 6:30 – 8:30 pm

          Grade 8 Moving Up Ceremony 8:15-9:15 am

    Early Release 12:25 Dismissal

June 16 Last Day of School, End of Year BBQ 1 pm Dismissal

 

School Year 2016-2017 Dates at a Glance

 

IACS School Nutrition Program, Farm to School and Garden Club Updates

Did you know that we have 5 apple trees on the IACS property? They are visible as you exit the parking lot. Last year IACS parent, Bernadette Baird, along with other IACS volunteers, were able to donate 80 pounds of apples to the Merrimack Valley Food Bank. Additionally these delicious apples were served to our students during lunch. This year it was time to prune the trees back to keep them healthy, and we're grateful that a local arborist came and pruned all the trees at no cost.

Led by IACS parent, Natalie Kelsey, the Garden Club undertook a huge project this spring that will span the summer and go well into autumn. It's a straw bale garden, a relatively new concept in veggie gardening that minimizes weeding and kneeling and makes it easy to garden anywhere, even if you don't have good or plentiful soil. At the top of the hill behind the garden, the Hawkmoths set up 19 bales of straw and kept them well watered and fertilized for a few weeks until they'd begun to compost. Last week, the club planted a range of fruits and veggies that include pumpkins, melons, cucumbers, corn, tomatoes, sweet and hot peppers, beans, lettuce, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, and more. Flowers were added to attract pollinators and to make it look nice. They'll maintain the garden throughout the summer, and harvest anything that's ready to eat as it becomes ripe. When everyone comes back in September, there will still be many tomatoes, peppers, squashes and melons to share with the IACS kitchen, and hopefully a few pumpkins come fall!

Through the Farms to School Program, IACS students enjoyed locally grown produced for breakfast and lunch this year.  Fresh produce was purchased from Griggs Farm, Gaudette Farm, Dragon Fly Farm of MA and Kimball’s Fruit Stand Farm of NH and included cherry tomatoes, lettuce, apples, pears, a variety of award winning squash and more.

Finally, IACS alumni Marc Printz, recently donated a Garden Tower to IACS. The Garden Tower grows plants vertically, enabling you to grow 50 plants in a very small space it also has an integrated composting for organic gardening! Along with the top, side planting pockets are large enough to accommodate compact root vegetables such as turnips, carrots, and radishes. The harvest will be used this fall for the IACS breakfast and lunch programs.

Many thanks to the IACS community for their support of these program!  

If you would like to get involved in any of these ongoing projects please contact School Nutrition Director, Karen Drake at kdrake@innovationcharter.org.

Transportation 2016/2017

 

There are still seats available on the Christianson buses.  ALL (Christianson and Tyngsboro) bus forms and checks are due to IACS by June 16th

 

2016 Family Survey Raffle Winners:  Congratulations to Paula Girouard and Sandy Jillett, this year’s raffle winners who will receive a chromebook.   We received 271 responses from this survey but have goals of reaching at least 100 more!   Families who have not yet completed the 2016 Family Survey can still do so.

 

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO COMPLETE THE SURVEY

 

As an added incentive to complete the survey, we’re going to keep the window open until June 30th and select two more winners from those who enter the raffle. (Directions at the end of the survey).  This time the prize will be a night off from cooking dinner!  Winners will pick their favorite pizza restaurant (or equivalent) and IACS will pick up the bill for your family.  Families who have already registered for the Chromebook Raffle will be included in the second drawing.  

 

Feedback to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE):

 

The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education ESE has launched an online statewide feedback form to gather thoughts and ideas from a variety of stakeholders. The form will be available through June 17, 2016.

.

 

IACS School Nutrition Program

The June Breakfast and Lunch Menus have been posted.  CLICK HERE TO ORDER.  We've added gluten free option for both breakfast and lunch including Gluten Free Pizza on Friday's.

 

IACA News

 

5K Raffle Reminder! Help IACS achieve our goal of installing water filling stations in our buildings.  The most efficient method to purchase tickets is to go online at:

https://www.raffleriver.com/app/raffle/3816-5k-Raffle-Innovation-Academy/

 

August Events- Ice Cream Socials, Welcome Back Luncheon

 

We know that summer hasn't even begun yet, but IACA has their planning hats on all year round! Come join us for our Ice-Cream Social in August!

We are looking for volunteers to help staff the event and help with ice cream supplies. We also provide our teachers with a Welcome Back Luncheon. If you are interested in helping with either of these events, please click here for our volunteer sign-up.

 

Boxtops

We are in the home stretch for our Boxtops Baseball contest! The contest ends today- but please continue to send in your Boxtops until the last day of school! We are always collecting, regardless of whether there's a contest or not. We'll announce the prizes for advisories with the highest totals next week. Thank you!

 

Shoe Collection

Next week is the last week we will be collecting shoes for the school year. If you have shoes to donate, there will be collection boxes in school until next Friday. If you have shoes to donate and miss the deadline, no worries! We will continue this fundraiser throughout the school year next year!

 

Drama News:

 

DID YOU HEAR?

 

Since the High School Glee Camp NYC trip filled up so fast,

 

the High School groups at IMPROV and DRAMA CAMPS

 

are also going to NYC on the Wednesday of each week!

 

Check it out at innovationcharter.org/theater

 

SUMMER IS COMING and we want you to join us for

IACS Performing Arts Camps

for students completing grades 4-12

July 11-15: Improv Camp

 

July 18-22: Glee Camp

With a Middle School Performance of

Star Wars the Musical

and

a High School Performance of Scenes & Songs from Hamilton

 

July 25-29: Drama Camp

With a Middle School Performance of Treasure Island and

a High School Performance of Sherlock Holmes

 

Forms available at the main office and at https://www.innovationcharter.org/theater

 

On Wednesday, July 27 we will head to NYC for a Master Class with RYAN SCOTT OLIVER – writer and Broadway Director of 35MM! He is going to be there to help guide you in whatever ways you wish toward achieving your dreams!

Join us in the BIG APPLE!

Questions? Email rhawthorne@innovationcharter.org

 

Athletics Update:  Due to the amount of growth in the IACS soccer program, the Athletic Department will be adding JV teams to the program in the fall of 2016. These teams will be made up of both high school students who want focused skill development and increased playing time that would not be available to them on a varsity team as well as middle school students (7th and 8th graders) who are ready to take their game to the next level. The JV teams will play a separate schedule of games against other high school JV teams in the area. JV teams will practice three days a week and MS students on the teams are expected to attend all practices. HS students on the JV team may optionally attend varsity practice on the days when varsity is practicing and there is no JV practice. To get a spot on the JV team as a middle schooler, athletes need to attend high school soccer try-outs in August. The try-out schedule (try-outs are for those interested in JV and varsity teams) is posted on the IACS athletics webpage and varsity soccer calendars. The JV team practice schedules will be as follows for the fall season (varsity and middle school schedules can be found on their respective webpages):

 

High School JV Boys: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday 3:15pm to 5:15pm @ IACS

High School JV Girls: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday 3:15pm to 5:15pm @ IACS

 

Please contact Nolan McKinnon, IACS Athletic Director, at nmckinnon@innovationcharter.org or Bruce Cottle, IACS Soccer Coordinator, at bcottle@innovationcharter.org with any questions about the expansion of the soccer program.

 

Middle School News:

Middle school students sharing their art and enjoying the work of others at the middle school art show

 

 

Congratulations:

On Tuesday the MS Boys baseball team won the EAA league championship over SLS 8-0.   This is the first Baseball Championship for the IACS Hawks. Congratulations to Coach O'Donnell, Coach Leedberg and all of the boys on the team!

 

 

8th Grade Moving Up Ceremony:

The Moving Up ceremony for 8th graders will be heldon Wednesday, June 15th from 8:15 am to 9:15 am with a reception to follow. Eighth grade students have a ceremony including a retrospective account of middle school written by students and recognition of students’ completion of middle school. This will be followed by a continental breakfast for students and their guests. Due to space constraints in the auditorium, students are limited to no more than 2 guests at the assembly. Please respect this rule to ensure all that attend can be seated.

 

Be Prepared for Outdoor Events:

Field Day will be on Tuesday for 7th/8th graders and Wednesday for 5th/6th graders. Students will also be likely to spend more time outdoors in the final week of school. Please be mindful to bring in sunscreen, hats, water bottles etc. to keep hydrated and safe from the sun and heat.    

 

High School News

 

Click the blue link for the full text…

 

End of Endersession…Here Comes Graduation!