Happy Friday IA Families,
First I want to thank all our students and faculty for the great work that went into the Moonshot Expo. I’ve had a chance to speak with a few of our partners, and they are all very impressed with our students. During the Moonshot, our students were able to work side by side with experts in many different industries and had the opportunity to work with their peers to find real ways to solve the problems we face in our local and global communities.
We’ll now start to settle into a routine with Flex Fridays and regular school days. I’m happy to see our classroom projects begin. This week we saw science students filtering water, AP World History exploring history through open-ended discussions. My personal favorite was seeing AP Language and Composition students exploring the Rhetorical Triangle through Star Wars Super Bowl Ads.
We also see better routines during carpool, where we’ve finally found an effective system that keeps cars moving and keeps our students safe. Thank you to our student and family drivers for your help in this process.
As we settle into a groove, old habits will likely start creeping in. One area we are seeing this is with cell phone use. Our students have done great with following the rules of no cell phone use without express permission during class, but we’re starting to see cell phones popping up here or there. Please remind your students this is a district wide rule that is designed to help them learn. I don’t want this to become contentious with our students and teachers, but it is important that our students remember the rule. Please help us reinforce this at home.
Next week we will begin promoting our RISE program. RISE helps our students develop positive behaviors and rewards them for exhibiting the IA traits. Parents and students will get more information about this next week about how students and parents will be able to participate in the program.
Finally, I wanted to thank all the parents and students who have wished me well this week. I had my first bout with COVID, and it was NOT fun. I’m feeling much better than I was earlier in the week, but I hope this reminds us all that we are still dealing with COVID in our community, so please continue to practice good handwashing and do not send your child to school if they are not feeling well.
Wishing everyone a restful weekend!
Scott Kent
Principal Educator