IACS Hawk Distance Edition
Week ending July 10, 2020
បកប្រែទំព័រនេះជាភាសាខ្មែរ៖ ចុចលើប៊ូតុងបកប្រែព្រឹត្តិប័ត្រនៅខាងស្តាំ
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.Dear IACS Community,
As a follow up to our Board of Trustee's letter to the community dated June 22, I have a few updates to share regarding the school's efforts to engage in anti-racism work. There will be two events in which community members may participate as speakers as well as listeners.
The first event, sponsored by an emerging antiracism committee, will occur on Thursday, July 16 at 6:30 p.m. via Zoom (https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86980607912, Meeting ID: 869 8060 7912
Password: 7AXqXD). This will be an opportunity for students, staff, and other members of the IACS community (alumni, former staff and students, families, etc.) to express their concerns and share their experiences regarding racial injustice at IACS. Members of the Board will be in attendance. If you would like to be placed on a speaker list for this event, please email racialjustice@innovationcharter.org by Wednesday, July 15th at 6:30 p.m. Please be advised that each speaker is given a maximum of 3 minutes to share out during the forum. We will open the floor for speakers who have not signed up in advance at the end. This session will be recorded, but speakers may choose not to use video or may identify themselves on Zoom by only their community role - staff, faculty, current parent, past parent, current student, or alum.
As mentioned in the public letter from the IACS Board of Trustees, there will be a second opportunity during the scheduled Board meeting on Monday, July 20th at 6:30 p.m. via Zoom
(https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89433012658 Meeting ID: 894 3301 2658 Password: 3YFEhv). We have extended our regular public comment time to 30 minutes, and those who wish to speak must sign up before 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 19 by emailing us at bot@innovationcharter.org. Guidelines for speaking at the Board meeting are the same as outlined above. Preference will be given to those who did not speak at the forum on the 16th.
Board meetings are public meetings and public records are kept of these meetings. If you wish to send something to be read into the record on your behalf, or if you wish to remain anonymous, you may do so by emailing us your comments at the link above no less than 24 hours in advance of the meeting. Again, monthly Board meetings are open to all; feel free to join us for part or all of this meeting.
Please note: It is important that members of the community be free to share their experiences in both of these forums. However, we request that speakers refrain from naming folks other than themselves unless permission has been granted ahead of time by that individual. Experiences may be shared by referring to community members as “a student”, “a current parent”, “a staff member”, etc.
In partnership,
Greg Orpen
Head of School
All School News
Hybrid Model Family Survey: Thank you to all the families who responded to last week's survey about hybrid models. One of the recurring themes we heard from families was how important it would be for students in the same family (or even same carpool) to be placed in the same "A" or "B" cohort. We certainly understand why this need would be on the radar for so many of you, so please know that we are taking in that feedback and will be developing processes that will support that need. As a reminder, a hybrid model of remote and "in-person" learning is just one of three models we're preparing.
Immunization Updates From the Health Office
Hello from the health office staff! During these unsettled times we encourage families to continue to reach out to coordinate well-child care and immunizations with their pediatricians; maintaining overall general health must be a priority.
As we prepare to welcome students back to school for next year, we would like to remind families of the following statewide immunization regulations for school attendance:
Students entering Grade 7 must show proof of having a Tdap vaccine prior to school entry
Starting with the 2020-21 school year, all students entering Grades 7 and 11 will also need to show proof of having received the meningococcal conjugate vaccine, MenACWY (brand names Menveo or Menactra) for school entry.
Please send updated immunization records to the Health Office as soon as possible. You can mail updated records to the IACS Health Office or you can email the records to healthoffice@innovationcharter.org.
Thank you in advance for helping us maintain a healthy school environment for all community members.
IACS Health Office Staff
New Summer Hours at IACS: Our main office will be open Monday through Friday, 8 am until 3pm. If families have any school items to return (books, Chromebooks, uniforms, paperwork, etc.), you may come during those windows of time. While sending an email in advance (mainoffice@innovationcharter.org) is helpful, no appointments are required.
If you are a new family to the IACS Community
Please be sure to send us a copy of your student’s current report card so we can place them in the correct math classes for the fall.
Attn: Admissions
Also, Please inform your child’s former school that they will not be returning in the fall.
We will request student records over the summer.
If you are a returning student please be sure to return your medical (Emergency info) form as soon as possible, You should be receiving one in the mail soon.
Please return Chromebooks
In an effort to prepare for the coming year, we ask that you please return any Chromebook and charger that you may have borrowed to the school during the Summer hours.(M-F 8am -3 pm). If you need to use the computer to complete summer work please contact Mrs Landis (hlandis@innovationcharter.org) and she will make a note so that you do not receive a bill. Thank you for your help with this. If you have already communicated with her, you do not need to do so again. Happy Summer!
Middle School News
Due to these unprecedented times the yearbook delivery has been delayed. We are expecting them around mid July. Once they get delivered at school, the pickup dates and times will be announced for students to pickup their yearbook. Questions? contact MS Yearbook advisor Rupali Pakala at: rpakala@innovationcharter.org
MS Virtual Art Show
Semester 2 Art students were given the option of sharing work via a MS Virtual Art Show
Take a look and celebrate what our awesome IACS artists did this spring! Thanks to Ms. Shaby for putting it together for the community to view! If you’d like to add your art work, please email Ms. Shaby.
Summer Packets
Students have a summer packet with ELA and Math practice. Students will be sent invitations to 2 summer packet Google Classrooms (one for ELA and one for math). There are also on our website here: https://www.innovationcharter.org/middle-school/ along with our school supply list.
High School News
HS Yearbooks
If you haven't picked up your high school yearbook yet, you can get it at the main office Monday through Friday from 8 am to 3 pm. Please contact Mr Macdonald if you have any questions: tmacdonald@innovationcharter.org
Course Selections
Students, If you didn’t select your courses back in June be sure to reach out to Crystal McKiel, cmckiel@innovationcharter.org, to make your course selections.
Work Permits
Students needing a work permit need to fill out this work application. Your employer might give you a copy at your interview. Once completed, email a copy to Crystal McKiel, cmckiel@innovationcharter.org or Steph Kelly, skelly@innovationcharter.org. MS students should email Mr. Pereyra, fpereyra@innovationcharter.org. We will issue a work permit to you. While we do work over the Summer there are reduced hours so please allow us 3 business days to process your permit. Employers fill out and sign the first page, and parents and students must also sign the second page (pediatricians must sign the second page for students who are 14 or 15 years old).
Final Report Cards
Report Cards were published to Family Portal’s on Monday, June 29th. Please contact Crystal McKiel or the mainoffice need assistance with your login/password or would like a hard copy mailed to you.
Credit Recovery Classes
Letters went out this week to students eligible to take a summer course. The letters had registration directions and required courses. If you have questions on how to register or didn’t receive an expected letter please contact us.
Graduation
Graduation is planned for Saturday, August 1st at 10am. More specific details will be sent in July. Only immediate family of graduates (max of 4 guests per graduate) can be on campus to attend the ceremony and must register before the ceremony to be allowed in. The deadline to register is Monday, July 27th, 2020. The registration link is here.
Special Note to our newest Alumni
Dear Class of 2020: Congratulations on the completion of your years at IACS! We are going to miss you! One of the long-term focus areas for IACS is to build our alumni structures. To assist with this, we are asking our graduates to voluntarily share their personal emails and cell phone numbers so we can stay connected and share exciting updates occurring at IACS. Thank you to those who have already done so!
To share your contact information, please complete this quick and easy form. Feel reach to reach out to Ms. Morocco (smorocco@innovationcharter.org) with any questions or concerns.
Athletics News
Captains' Practices
Hello IACS Community! As the captains of the Girls Varsity soccer team for 2020, Taylor and Hope wanted to take the time to share some important information about captains' practices for this summer.
We hope this message finds you and your loved ones safe and healthy. We are proud to be writing this message as we prepare for our first official season in the CAC League! Due to social distancing guidelines, we are currently going to keep all conditioning virtual. Although this is sad and difficult, we want to make sure we are making decisions that give us the best chance of having a season come the fall. We have our fingers crossed that we may be able to get together in small groups later on in the summer, and we will keep the team updated!
Students and families, please view this document that Taylor and Hope created which will hopefully help give everyone an idea of what our goals are for each age group this summer.
If you are a new high schooler at IACS or are a current high schooler who is interested in learning more about the soccer team, please reach out to either captain at their IACS emails hope.coleman-plourde@innovationcharter.org or taylor.scanlon@innovationcharter.org. If you are the parent of a rising freshman who is interested in playing soccer and they haven’t been receiving texts/emails from us, please let us know that as well! We are so excited to get to meet prospective players!
Thank you to the student-athletes and parents for your support during these times where we are all being challenged to learn and adapt. We are grateful to have this community to support our team, the athletic program, and our school through it all.
Best,
Taylor and Hope (Class of 2021)
Summer Training Plans
Please see below for summer training plans for high school girls soccer and high school cross country. Any athletes with questions about either plan are encouraged to contact the appropriate head coach (girls soccer, Bruce Cottle, bcottle@innovationcharter.org and cross country, Kyle Thornton, kthornton@innovationcharter.org).
Cross Country Beginner Training Plan
IACA News
Please mark your calendar to join us for our next Meet & Greet
July 15
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84273082044?pwd=QWhaMzc2WDlqZmdOaCt4a21vMWtTZz09
Meeting ID: 842 7308 2044
Password: 860585
Innovation Academy Charter School
Email: mainoffice@innovationcharter.org
Website: www.innovationhcharter.org
Location: 72 Tyng Road, Tyngsborough, MA, United States
Phone: 978-649-0432
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IACStyngsborough/
Twitter: @iacharterschool