“The Hawk”
Dear IACS Community,
Next week, IACS will be participating in Say Something Week, a national initiative sponsored by the Sandy Hook Promise Foundation. The Say Something program provides a framework to create a newly empowered student body that looks out for each other, fostering a safer school climate. We participated in Say Something Week last year for the first time and found it to be a positive, community-building experience and are excited to reintroduce it.
The Say Something Call-to-Action Week reinforce the power of young people to reach out to students in need, or to say something to a trusted adult to protect a friend or peer from hurting themselves or others. We all play a role in keeping our school safe. Students truly are the eyes and ears of the school and have tremendous potential to positively impact our community.
Advisory discussions will be tailored at each grade level to ensure the content is age appropriate. Among younger students, discussions will center on bullying or unkind behavior. High School level discussions may include issues of harassment, unhealthy relationships, self -harm or violence; selected articles from the new online magazine Student Health 101, will be used as a resource at the high school level. Through Advisory, students school-wide will discuss ways children and young adults become aware of unsafe or unkind behaviors, and the role that social media may play. Discussions will also address why a student may be reluctant to say something — what barriers students may face in speaking up, and how we as a school can help students overcome those barriers. The goal of participating in the “Say Something” Week is to show students that there are many small ways each of us can reach out to others in times of need and that reporting unsafe, potentially violent behavior to a trusted adult is the responsible thing to do. Collectively, we all share the responsibility of keeping our school culture one of safety and respect.
This very message is the cornerstone of the IACS community and is tightly woven into our school’s outcomes of Community Membership, Effective Communication, Self- Direction and Problem Solving.
I am excited to work again with our students and staff on the “Say Something” Campaign. I encourage you to look through the Say Something Parent Guide, and to engage with your children next week about their advisory discussions and activities to further their learning and reinforce this program’s important message.
Best,
Gayle Nutile-Pimm
Director of Health and Wellness
All School News
Health and Wellness Update: As part of our ongoing commitment to providing a safe, healthy and supportive environment for our students, IACS has updated the Substance Use Prevention and Education Policy. You may find it here, on the IACS website under the Health Office link, under the Policies, Protocols and Resources tab.
Special Education Workshop:
Innovation Academy will host a workshop covering Basic Rights in Special Education on November 3rd from 6:30 to 8:30. This workshop will be led by a representative from the Federation for Children with Special Needs and will provide an overview of special education laws and procedures with time for questions as well. RSVP at http://fcsn.org/ptic/workshops/schedule is encouraged but not required.
Tyngsboro Health and Safety Fair:
The Town of Tyngsboro will be holding a Health and Safety Fair on Saturday, October 22nd from 9:00 am – 1:00 pm at the Tyngsboro High School. The Tyngsborough Police Department as well as the Lowell Community Health Center will be providing education and resources on substance/use, abuse and treatment for the public. In addition to this valuable service, There will be nearly 50 health and wellness vendors, K-9 demonstrations, a fire safety trailer, the new Tyngsborough Ambulance. Please see the attached flyer for more information.
Lost and Found Bins Overflowing
Our lost and found bins are overflowing. We’ll be cleaning them out and donating the items to local charities on 10/31. Please ask your student to look through them or come by school if you are missing items.
IACA News
BoxTops: Our advisory contest ends today! The winning advisory will be announced before the end of October. Didn't have a chance to bring them in? Don't stop clipping- we'll have another contest soon! Please remember to send them in with your child's name in the bag/envelope. BoxTops are worth 10 cents each- it all adds up! Thank you.
HS Open House: Volunteers needed! We are in need of someone to watch over the refreshment table at our High School Open House on October 29th ( Sat.) From 9:30am-12pm. You may split this time with someone else if need be. Duties include setting up the table and putting out refreshments ( already provided), and breaking everything down when the event is over between 11:30 and 12:30. For more information contact Jo Anne Frazier at iacapresident@gmail.com Thank you!
7th/8th grade Halloween Social: Get ready for some spooky fun! Our 7/8th grade social is Friday, October 28 from 7-9pm. Thank you to everyone who volunteered for this event! Costumes are optional, but we will have a prize for the best boy and girl costume, and photo ops with some spooky Halloween props! We are still in need of snacks for the event- 100 calorie snack-packs, or small bags of popcorn, goldfish, Rice Krispy treats or fruit snacks will work as well. We'll have water available but juice boxes are welcome too. Please contact Dawn Chandonnet at tealuke04@comcast.net if you are able to help with the event!
Yankee Candle: Yankee Candle orders have been collected and submitted. This is a very profitable fundraiser for our school- thank you to everyone who participated!
Drama News:
Join us for The IACS Production of
THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS this November 17-19!
See the attached form for information about tickets and about purchasing space in the program!
The fall and winter middle school drama workshop is already filling up! Please see the attached information for details!
What's the next IACS Production? The March show will be the Broadway musical, Man of La Mancha! See the attached information for details and an audition agreement form! We would love to see you at auditions – whether you've been in numerous shows or have never even seen a show!
Questions about the performing arts program? Please email rhawthorne@innovationcharter.org.
Middle School News
5th/6th grade science students experiment with using various bird “beaks” with different types of food to demonstrate that an organism needs to be adapted to its environment.
Class Webpages: Each teacher has a webpage for their course. You can find this on our website via our staff directory (Go to About IACS- The Staff) and click on the photo of your child’s teacher for their website.
Bottle-Flipping?: Has the bottle-flipping craze made its way to your household? Read this blog post to learn how IACS Spanish teachers Ashley Uyaguari and Stel Schmalz turned it into an engaging activity in the target language.
MS After School Art: The second session of after school art classes are starting soon! Classes begin the week of November 8, and students can sign up for either the Tuesday or Thursday session. Like previous sessions, this 8 week open studio class allows students access to a wide variety of materials and tools in the art room. The intention is to provide students with the space and time to create work of their choosing among a group of peers. Available media include drawing, painting, printmaking, mixed media sculpture, collage, book making, photography, paper mache and more. The Registration form can be found here. The deadline for registration is 11/4. For more information, email jshaby@innovationcharter.org
Middle School Art Needs Your Recyclables: We are in need of clean cereal boxes or other similar cardboard packaging for an upcoming 6th grade project. Please have students bring materials to the art room. Please no packaging from foods containing nuts. Thank you!!!
MS Winter Sports: Winter sports packets were handed out to all middle school students. All paperwork is due back to the Athletic Department by Tuesday, November 1st. Please read through the packet information to see if your child is interested in any of the winter sports that are offered. If you have any questions regarding paperwork or winter sports in general, please feel free to contact the Athletic Office at iacsathletics@innovationcharter.org
MS Progress Reports Delayed
Our new progress reports are still in the final stages of coding with the Follett Aspen developers. We are planning on publishing the progress report to the portal on Wednesday, 10/26. We will update families in the Hawk if the date changes. Families and students will receive an email as well when the progress report is published to the portal.
Extracurriculars: Crochet Club, Garden Club, MS Band, MS Chorus, Dungeons and Dragons, Yearbook, After school Art classes, and the Literary Magazine are all accepting new members. Look for more information on the extracurricular page of our website: https://www.innovationcharter.org/middle-school/extracurriculars/
High School News
IACS Science Teacher Becomes NPR Celebrity!
IACS High school science teacher, Katherine Hinkle, has been selected by NPR's Science Friday show to be part of their Educator Collaborative. She will be interviewed on the radio today from 2:40-3:00. If you miss it live the audio should be available here shortly. Below is a description from the Science Friday website of the Educator Collaborative:
We are proud to announce the launch of Science Friday’s newest education initiative, the Educator Collaborative. Of the many incredibly qualified and innovative science teachers in this country, our Educator Collaborative includes some of the very best.
Science Friday started the Educator Collaborative as a way to share novel approaches to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education with a broad educator audience. In this inaugural season, we selected six experienced educators based on their exceptional approaches to STEM teaching and enthusiasm for incorporating current scientific research into their curricula.
Starting in the Spring of 2016, educators in the collaborative worked with one another and with Science Friday’s staff to create ready-to-use educational resources, all of which were inspired by the work of scientists and engineers featured in Science Friday media. The result is a collection of challenging and fun STEM resources for a variety of educational settings. And like all of the resources we share at Science Friday, they’re totally free and don’t require expensive materials to implement, so use as many as you’d like, and share them with your colleagues and friends.
Katherine's lesson and materials titled, "The Albedo Effect, Urban Heat Islands, and Cooling Down Your Playground" can be found by clicking here.
Congratulations Katherine on being selected for this important project…the staff and students at IACS are very proud of you and thankful that you are part of our community!
Instrumental Ensemble Visits the BSO
Senior Night for Girls Soccer
Today at 4pm the girls soccer team would like to invite you to their game because it's senior night!! We will be celebrating our seven seniors and it would be great if everyone could come to show them support. It's a home game so get your friends to go with you…the more the merrier!!
Photo of the Week
Submissions can be emailed to earnold@innovationcharter.org
Photo #1
Ms. Derival’s son, Devin, shocks everyone by dunking Ms. Young during the Fall Festival…nice throw!
Photo #2
Mountain Biking in the Rain for Choice Block
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