Happy Friday IA families,
I was very happy to see so many of you at our Open House last night. I appreciate all the compliments for our teaching staff. They are world-class, and I count myself lucky to work with such an incredible group.
Please talk with your students about their grades that are coming out on 9/13. While we don’t want you to panic if your student’s grades aren’t where you want them to be at this first grade report, it is a good indicator if you need to work with your students to review areas of concern. It’s important to work with them early to catch up if they have fallen behind.
A quick word to our 9th grade parents. It is very common, at all high schools, for freshman student grades to drop at the beginning of the year. The work required and expectations of teachers goes up in high school, and some students don’t hear the repeated warnings from teachers to be ready for the elevated level of rigor. This does not mean that their high school careers are ruined. Teachers give students opportunities to recover and will work with them to improve. I would encourage you to discuss what concerns your students have about the classes where you have seen a drop in grades. An honest, reflective discussion on what caused the drop in grades will help them shape their habits for the rest of their high school career.
I also want to remind everyone that if your student’s grade drops below 70% in their virtual class this year, they will need to report to a supervised lab for two weeks. At that time, we’ll check the grades again, and students who have improved their grades can regain their independent options. This is an effort to support our students. At any other school, students are assigned to a supervised lab for virtual classes whether they are failing or not. We value our students developing their independence, but if they need more supervision to succeed, we will provide it for them. This is true for all students, even those in first and eighth period virtual. The option of coming late and leaving early is a privilege, and our contract explicitly states that students must be in good academic standing to take advantage of this option.
In the vein of support, it is very important to encourage your students to have the confidence to ask their teachers and peers for help. So many of our students want to be independent and successful, and in their limited experience, this means having all the answers all the time. They are embarrassed to ask for help because they think it is a failure. Please encourage your students to ask for help. Share with them moments when you needed help and how it made you better. I remember my son being surprised when I shared with him that I did a mock-interview for my position as principal to help me prepare and get feedback from my mentors. He assumed that because I’m an adult, I would do it all myself. Sharing those experiences helps to normalize them.
Speaking of helping, you can also share with your students that the Math Center will be opening next Monday during both lunches. Students can come to the math center to get support from trained student tutors there.
I am encouraged with the general grades that we are seeing from our students. They are doing great and most have settled into the IA Way of mature responsibility.
Thanks as always for your continued support.