IAA February Newsletter

Happy February to each of our IAA families! It’s hard to believe we’ve already entered into the second month of the 2021 calendar year. There are a few highlights this month I would like to make sure are brought to your attention.

Trimester 2 Report Cards:

Students trimester 2 report cards will report out in all subject areas with student proficiency levels and comments from both the classroom teachers and unified arts teachers. Families will have the option of viewing student's report cards electronically in the PowerSchool Portal on or after Feb. 19th.

• Feb. 12 - End of Trimester 2

• Feb. 19 - Report cards issued

February Break

Students will have their February break as our schools will be closed beginning February 22nd and lasting through March 2nd. Students will resume with school on Wednesday, March 3rd, which is a remote learning day and return to in-person learning on March 4th. Please refer to the district’s 2020-2021 school calendar for more information.

Annual Title I Family Meeting - What is a Title I School?

Annually, schools share information with families on the purpose of Title I, which schools receive funds and why, and how Title I funds may be used. Please join us for our Annual Title I meeting which will take place on March 4th at 5:30 p.m. prior to our PTO meeting to learn more.

K-5 Spring 2021 State Assessment Calendar

Please the specified spring dates for this year’s State Assessment Calendar. These dates are set and state assessments are expected to be given on the dates indicated on the calendar.

Vaccination Clinics at IAA

Our school will be used by the Department of Health as a community vaccination site on specified Wednesdays when our students are not in school. The clinics will be set up in our gym similar to the set up for voting this past fall. Upcoming dates are: Feb 3rd, Feb 10th, Feb 17th, Feb 24th, and March 3rd. Future Wednesdays in March are also anticipated.

Have a great February!

Question: What year was the main IAA building constructed?

Answer: 1904 and 1905

Third, fourth, and fifth graders at IAA have experienced two out of three virtual, interactive performances with violinist, Rebecca Anderson and cellist, Alan Richardson. Students have enjoyed music in their classrooms and engaging with the professional musicians. The sessions have focused on anywhere from components of a song, mood, and musical instruments. This opportunity supports ONE-Strings programming and has been brought to us through the IAA partnership with Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival.

ONE Strings is back in action with strict COVID precautions but still all the fun and creativity!

First off, we would like to introduce to you Ms. Rachel Keyser, a new addition to our ONE Strings teaching staff. Rachel has been teaching in the Burlington area for over 10 years and heads the Burlington After-School Strings Program. She works privately with students as well as multiple group settings. She is thrilled to be given the opportunity to explore music with kids some of whom have never picked up an instrument before! In addition to Rachel, Kathleen Kono returns for her 8th year of teaching ONE Strings. Kathleen is in her 21st year of public school teaching. Kathleen also teaches at Burlington High School, VYOA, UVM and works privately with students. Kathleen is so thankful to be back at IAA with the most wonderful students and staff.

This year, ONE Strings sessions are being held once a week for six weeks in 3rd, 4th and 5th grades. The incredible 5th graders are currently in their session which will end right before February break, then the amazing 4th graders will begin their session after February break. The year will conclude with the awesome third graders starting after April break. Each session will end with a recording of the students presenting what they have learned. That recording will be distributed to parents and guardians!

Each class still maintains three feet of distance during strings, AND they students do not share instruments this year. Now that we have two teachers, we have two sets of instruments and each one is assigned to a specific student for the six weeks then they are disinfected and quarantined for over 7 days before the next grade uses them.

A huge shout out to the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival and the IAA PTO for making it possible for ONE Strings to be at IAA year after year! And an additional big thank you to the 3rd, 4th and 5th grade teachers for opening up your classrooms to Rachel and Kathleen and giving your students the gift of music exploration.

Bring on the music,

Kathleen and Rachel!

To date we filmed, produced, edited, and uploaded 19 IAA Town Meetings!

Here is a sampling of the most recent:

• An artist talk from Will Kasso Condry of the Juniper Creative Arts on the history of street art

• Celebration of learning from Ms. Haker’s Kindergarten sharing their goals for the new year

• Quotes and art honoring the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.

• Celebration of learning from Ms. Heather’s second grade class sharing their flags for social justice after studying the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The Flynn Theater for the Performing Arts has February break camps coming up:

A Riff on the Wizard of Oz – a virtual February break camp

• Monday-Friday, February 22-26 | 2-3:30 pm; Final Performance 2/26 at 3 pm | Ages 8-12

• Pay-what-you-can, suggested cost of $75 (any amount, including $0, accepted)

• Have you ever wanted to jump right into a story you love? Here's your chance. In this camp, instructed by Tracy Vicory-Rosenquest, students create their own story inspired by The Wizard of Oz! Students will develop their own character following the archetype of the traditional Oz characters (for example, “If I Only Had a….”). Campers will work together to write and direct an original play inspired by the classic tale and work with co-actors/co-scriptwriters to find a way to get Dorothy back to Kansas!

Happy February everyone! Mother Nature continues to cooperate with us so we can hold P.E. outside most of the time. Right now, 3rd, 2nd and Kindgarten are focusing on Winter Olympic themed events, while 1st, 4th and 5th graders have completed this unit. Some events we will focus on are luge, cross country skiing, speed skating, biathlon and curling. All of these events will be modified for land and for safety. We are going to continue to hold P.E. outside as much as we can, as long as it is a safe temperature. If your child has P.E., please send them to school with clothing that will keep them warm outside. (jacket, snow pants, hat, gloves and boots) If your child needs any of these pieces of clothing, please feel free to contact the school and we will do our best to help provide them with what they need. Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions. cjuckett@bsdvt.org

Mr. Juckett (Mr. J)

In this rotation of Library, we have been studying Haiku’s and have been using this year’s Red Clover Nominee: Lion of the Sky Haiku for all seasons to help explore that. Classes have been creating their own Riddle-ku, which is what Lion of the Sky is filled with: these are Haiku with a twist; they are told from the point of view of the object, and the reader tries to guess what it is. You may have seen these come home with you student (they are VERY proud of them)!

In these two week before break Ms. B’s 5th grade will be exploring Book Creator in Arts Integration and going through the process of bringing one of their narratives to publication.

If your student has library books that they have finished reading and they want new ones, you can remind them to return the books and the bag to their classroom library book return, and either login in to the online library catalog (3-5) or fill out a paper book choice form (K-2) to get new books.

If you have any questions please feel free to email me: jpeake@bsdvt.org or if you would like to donate any books to the library, check out our Amazon Wish List.

Happy February,

Ms. Jen

Instagram: @iaa_library