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IAA Newsletter

March 2020

IAANewsletterMarch 2020

Principal's Note

The onset of March finds us preparing for spring activities and, hopefully, warmer weather to enjoy the many outdoor experiences our state has to offer. March offers a time of year when we all begin thinking about our transition from the winter months and envisioning the direction the spring season will take us. The same is true for our IAA classrooms and learning environments. The coming weeks will be full of exciting experiences and opportunities for our students and families. Follow our classroom newsletters closely to be aware of grade level specific events along with the dates and times of these activities. A few school-wide events that you may want to place on your calendar for the month of March are:

  • March 9th and 13th: ROAR Film Festival at Monday Morning Meeting and Friday Town Meeting

  • March 13th: District Beyond Black History Month @ Burlington High School, 5:30 p.m.

  • March 18th: IAA Family Math Night, 6:00-7:00 p.m.

  • March 26th (p.m.) & 27th (full-day): Parent Teacher Conferences

  • March 29th: Kids Are Alright Concert at Higher Ground, 12:30 p.m.

  • April 3rd & 10th: Arts Integration Breakfasts


Have a great month!.

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School News

The Kids Are Alright at Higher Ground

About this Event

$10 adult / $5 kid advance | $12 adult / $7 kid day of show

Contact Emily Titterton at etittert@bsdvt.org if cost is a barrier.

The Kids Are Alright Concert!

For grown-ups who used to be kids, and kids who are still kids! Kids’ songs reinterpreted and ready to ROCK to bring music and art into the classrooms at Integrated Arts Academy at H.O. Wheeler.

Featuring Live Performances by KeruBo, The Mister Chris and Friends Band, Mal Maïz, Nightwalker, and the IAA Staff Band with special guest Dj Djoeh. ONE-Sings in the lobby by Mr. Brian preshow.

Higher Ground – Sunday, March 29th

Doors at 12pm, show 12:30-2:30 pm

**We turn down the amplifiers and have free earplugs on hand for sensitive ears!**
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District News

TDI Summer Camp 2020! Parents and teachers--do you have an advanced, gifted, or creative child, entering grades 4-9, who would love to have fun with intellectual peers this summer, while exploring a wide variety of topics? Consider sending them to the Talent Development Institute (TDI Summer Camp) 2020! A sample of our classes includes: Computer Game Design, The World Outside, Fabric Arts, Writing and Laughing, Rube Goldberg Machines, Almost History, Gravity-Powered Catapults, Digital Design, The Game of Civilization, Gathering Magic, and Powerful Podcasts! TDI Summer Camp takes place on the beautiful campus of Northern Vermont University, Johnson, Vermont. Students may come for one or two weeks, June 21-27 and/or June 28-July 4, 2020. There are overnight and commuter options, and partial scholarships are available. For more information, go to https://tdivermont.org/ or email lucy@tdivermont.org.
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Flynn Updates

The Flynn is thrilled to welcome IAA families for fun and inclusive arts experiences this spring. Our Free Family Saturdays Series continues through June with Burlington singer-songwriters/pianists Joshua Glass and Adriana Chobot joining forces for Piano Duels on 3/14; the Young Tradition Youth Commission on 4/11; the return of Red Kite Green Mountain, designed for young people on the autism spectrum and open to all, on 5/9; and Myra Flynn during the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival on 6/6. We will also hold a free Sensory-Friendly Drumming workshop for all ages on 3/29, as well as a free Inclusion Fusion workshop for children ages 10 and up and adults on 4/4.

Many spring classes begin in March. For the littles, ages 0-5, there’s Music Together and Mini Dancers. For elementary students, ages 5-12, check out Hip-Hop, Breakdancing, Youth Dances, Rhythm Kids, Filmmaking, and Juggling, as well as April vacation camps. Visit online to choose from more than 30 summer camp offerings, including old favorites like The Magic Toy Box, Broadway Showstoppers, Latin Jazz Intensive, and History Comes Alive, plus new offerings like Show Choir Camp, Story Portal, Dancing with the Stars, Cirque du Flynn, and Young Choreographers Project. A complete list of class and camp offerings—for ages zero to 55 and beyond—is available online at www.flynncenter.org<http://www.flynncenter.org/>.

The Flynn remains firmly committed to accessibility for all; please contact Sarah (registrar@flynncenter.org<mailto:registrar@flynncenter.org> or 802-652-4537) to discuss any questions or concerns you, your family, or your students may have. We are happy to assist you with class selection, financial aid options, facilities tours, or to help connect with faculty.

Arts Integration

Kindergarten attended Rainbow Fish at the Flynn Theater on February 13th by Mermaid Theater of Nova Scotia. After the show, each class made a collaborative fish mural that is currently on display in the kindergarten hallway. Students had a lot of fun working together to create the fish and learn about fish by reading informational texts. Next, kindergarten will be illustrating number pairs!

First grade wrapped up their art and social studies unit before break. They looked at all different types of maps, then did some research out in the community of the architecture in the Old North End in order to create drawings to turn into prints. Then each 1st grade class printed a community map complete with a street, sidewalk, trees, cars, and Amazon Prime boxes! Next up, 1st grade will be exploring Light and Sound Waves during arts integration.

Second grade will be integrating literacy and art as they tell stories and collage.

Third grade will be working with Ms. Piper to integrate drama with literacy, social studies, and social emotional learning. THey will be reading books all about people from all around the world who have demonstrated perseverance when faced with life’s biggest challenges. Each small group will focus on a different story and teach it to the rest of the class through performance.

Fourth grade is currently out of the co-teaching rotation, Mr. T and Mr. Mike will be focusing their efforts integrating the arts in their classrooms as they explore Vermont history with their students.

Fifth grade will be working with Mr. Myregaard to integrate science and music. Their plans sound exciting and involve singing about the states of matter!


The final O.N.E.-Sings unit of the year kicked off on Friday, March 6 in kindergarten, 1st grade, and 2nd grade with teaching artist Brian Perkins.

Wonder Week!!

Students and staff at IAA celebrated Wonder Week the week leading up to February break. Wonder Week is intended to be a joyful learning adventure where staff can share a personal passion or interest with students AND students and staff have an opportunity outside the normal rhythm of school to connect and build relationships.


Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth by Oliver Jeffers was used as our shared text and provided inspiration for mixed age group sessions for grades 2-5. Sessions ranged from studying our recycling stream to cursive handwriting to comic books to astrology to cooking! Students and staff had a lot of fun learning and making new connections during Wonder Week.

Drama

The third annual Beyond Black History Month celebration will be held on Friday, March 13th from 5:30 until 8:30 pm at Burlington High School. As always, the celebration will highlight the work of BSD students and educators, who recognize that Black History neither begins nor ends in the month of February, but is present and with us always.

This year's celebration will feature student performances, displays, activities, and a community dinner. There will also be breakout sessions and opportunities for community conversation. I will be taking a group of students to this event to perform spoken word and poetry. If your child is interested in performing, please have them see me in my office for a form.
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Nurse

Hi Everyone,

Please make time for your class to wash their hands often, especially before/after eating, after using the bathroom and when coming in from outside. Also, please encourage students to wash their hands for a minimum of 20 seconds! I know this can be time consuming but it really is the first line of defense!


Hope everyone had a great break and stays healthy moving forward!


Thanks!

Nurse Ali

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PE

Hey there IAA families! I hope everyone enjoyed February break! March is such an exciting month because it means that spring is right around the corner! I am excited to announce that at the end of the month we will be having local tennis pro, Jake Agna coming into class to use the KOTB tennis program to teach our students! Jake will be coming Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings, from March 23rd until April break! I am excited for this opportunity and I look forward to collaborating with Jake to create creative, rigorous, and engaging learning experiences.


Love,

Miss Molly!

PE Wishlist

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Library

Welcome back from break everyone!! Hard to believe that it's March already, but here we are. With the coming of March and spring also comes voting on our Vermont State Award books: the Red Clover Awards and the Dorothy Canfield Fisher awards.

K-4 are about 1/2 way through our 10 nominees, and will be reading 1 a week from now until voting ends on April 26th. Students will get to pick their favorite of the 10 nominees this year, and their votes will get combined with all K-4th grades in the state to select the favorite among Vermont's students.

4th and 5th graders get to participate in the Dorothy Canfield Fisher awards, where if they read at least 5 of the 30 nominees they get to vote for their 1 favorite. I will be hosting a voting party in the library Thursday April 9th from 11:30-12:30; a pizza lunch and book related activities to celebrate this years nominees and the the brave few souls that managed to read all 30! If you are a 4th or 5th grade parent and are interested in volunteering, please email me: jpeake@bsdvt.org or stop by the library.

A giant THANK YOU to all the families that keep buying and sending in wishlist items from the Library Amazon Wishlist. The students are so incredibly excited by all the new books to choose from!

If you have any questions please feel free to email me or stop on by and check out the library yourself.

Thanks,

Ms. Jen

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Art

It is time once again for the annual Burlington School District Elementary Art Show at City Hall. This show is brought to you by Burlington City Arts and Burlington’s elementary visual art teachers.

The exhibition will hang in City Hall from March 5- March 27.

The awards ceremony with the mayor is confirmed for Thursday, March 19 at 5:30pm.

The ceremony will start promptly at 5:30pm in City Hall’s Contois Auditorium. There will be refreshments in the lobby starting from 4:45pm-5:30pm. If your child’s artwork is part of the exhibition, their teacher will reach out directly.


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Music

Congratulations to Arlo Bolles! Arlo, along with Johnny, Aidan A, Sawyer, and Griffin have all been involved with Vermont’s Music-COMP, a leading music composition organization. During January and February, each of these students, along with many other Vermont students, were paired with a professional composer while they continually revised, edited and discussed their compositions with their mentors. At the end of February, 22 pieces from the whole state were chosen to be performed at the Opus 35 concert on March 24th at St Paul’s Cathedral in Burlington. Arlo’s was one of the pieces that was chosen!

You can go to my IAA Music website to hear their pieces: http://iaamusic.weebly.com/opus-35.html

Mr Myregaard

Email: bmyregaa@bsdvt.org

Website: iaamusic.weebly.com

Twitter: @IAAMusicVT