Don't you just love this time of year in New York? The leaves are turning the most beautiful shades of orange, reds, and yellows and the morning air feels crisp and refreshing. Fall is certainly here. Now if we can only have a weekend without rain!

Please review your child's progress report with your child. Progress reports are available on Home Access and have been mailed. This is an important step in assisting your child in understanding the importance of healthy school habits and setting goals for they year. If you are concerned about your child's progress or have questions about the progress report, please contact your child's school counselor if you would like to set up an appointment. You can also contact the teacher directly via email.

We are constantly seeking to improve as a school community. One of the best ways to learn more about what the students think about our school is to ask students. Over the next few weeks, administrators will begin hosting "Talk Time". The purpose of Talk Time is to gain insight into how children are experiencing middle school. The group conversations will focus on hearing students perspectives about IEYMS thus far. Participation in Talk Time will be strictly voluntary. Teachers will ask for student volunteers or they can sign up on their own. Students will be given a date and time to meet with administrators in student groups and share their insights about our school.

Please be mindful that anyone picking up a child early from school must be listed in our Student Management System or must be indicated on the emergency card as an emergency contact. For safety reasons, we will only release students to people listed in the system as a contact and only after verifying their identification. If someone comes in to pick up a child and they are not on the card we will call to confirm with you that they are okay to do so. If we are unable to reach the legal guardian, we will not release the child. Please make sure that they are added to your child’s emergency card. If your child’s card has not been returned to the office, please get it in as soon as possible! If you have signed up for Home Access, you can see the names of the people listed as your child's emergency contacts.

We also ask for your support in making sure that your child understands your expectations for morning arrival and afternoon dismissal. At dismissal, we release students to go home. Please establish an afterschool plan with clear expectations for your child. This includes enforcing a procedure for contacting parents/legal guardians if a child wants to change the established plan.

As always, please do not hesitate to reach out with any concerns or questions. Have a wonderful week.

Save the Dates

October 16-20: PINK Out Week (Breast Cancer Awareness)

October 23-31: Red Ribbon Week (Drug Awareness Week)

October 27: Halloween Dance (6th Gr)

October 31: Halloween

Did you know that children can suffer academically if they miss just 10 percent of the school year? That’s just 18 days or 2 to 3 days per month. An important factor in students' success in school is being present and being on time. We are asking for your cooperation in ensuring that your child(ren) are present in school, unless sick, and on time daily. Missing school adds up to missed opportunities, and can cause students to fall behind academically.

Unfortunately, some students are beginning to present patterns of attendance and arriving late to school. As a reminder, school begins at 8:05 for grade 6 students. They enter the building at 8:00. School begins at 8:25 for grades 7 and 8. They enter the building at 8:20. Breakfast service begins at 7:45.

Let’s work together as a school community to get all our kids to school, on time, every day.

Building off of last year's production success, this year's IEYMS Musical is You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Auditions will take place November 6, 8, and 9 after school in the Auditorium. For scheduling reasons, we will be holding auditions early this year - although full rehearsals will not begin until February, the auditions are taking place this fall. The show dates are May 2nd and 3rd, 2024. Like last year, we will have one day of vocal auditions, one day of acting auditions, and a day of callbacks. PLEASE BE AVAILABLE TO ATTEND ALL THREE DAYS OF AUDITIONS. There are 16 featured parts in this show, plus of course the large chorus of singers and dancers. More information is available on the Google Classroom for the show, which everyone is encouraged to join! The Classroom code is t6mfujt. If you have any questions, please direct them to Mr. Harris, Mrs. Bianco, Mrs. Reader or Mrs. O'Connor. We look forward to working with our IEYMS actors, singers, and dancers on this very fun show!

At IEY, one of our goals as educators is to continue to build the critical thinking skills of students. Critical thinking is a complex process of conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action" (Scriven, 1996). Critical thinking allows students to solve problems, think about content from different perspectives, discover facts, prove thinking, challenge beliefs, and create new ideas. While there are a variety of strategies students can use to think critically about different content, we use a strategy named CERC. CERC stands for Claim-Evidence-Reasoning-Counterclaim. You can support the development of critical thinking at home by using a few simple tips.

Shout out to Dr. Misner, Ms. McCue, and Ms. Singleton for leading our scholars through an interactive discovery of density. 6th-grade science students have made fantastic progress in their recent exploration of density. The students have engaged in an immersive hands-on learning and projects where they designed, tested, and built boats to discover the principles of buoyancy. It's been a remarkable journey watching them apply their knowledge of density, materials, and geometry to construct these vessels. The enthusiasm and teamwork displayed by the students were truly inspiring, as they not only learned about the scientific concepts but also honed their problem-solving and critical thinking skills. The smiles on their faces as they witnessed their boats floating with the greatest buoyancy were priceless.

Pablo Cartaya, an internationally acclaimed author, screenwriter, speaker, and educator visited IEYMS. Mr. Cartaya led writers’ workshop sessions with students that emphasized the importance for our students “to write the stories they would like to read.” Mr. Cartaya led reading and writing exercises where students analyzed the use of foreshadowing in writing as it pertains to the development of theme, thinking visually to write visually, and exploring books to “find the story that speaks to them as individual readers.”

In addition to facilitating writing exercises with our aspiring authors, Mr. Cartaya had an in depth book talks with students where author's craft, universal themes, and character development were analyzed in his books titled,The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora, Marcus Vega Doesn't Speak Spanish, Each Tiny Spark, and The Last Beekeeper. Mr. Cartatya shared, “The students and staff at Isaac were incredible and I’m grateful to have spent the day talking about books and writing with them! It was a beautiful time spent with Isaac kids.”

During Open House, parents who visited Ms. Reader’s Art Room were able to participate in a quick drawing activity. Parents traced circle shapes, used their favorite colors and shared one thing they love about their child. If they had time, parents also drew or wrote out their favorite animals, hobbies and

foods. Art students loved reading the comments left by their parents during Open House Night. Thank you parents for your participation!!

While parents were tracing circles and experimenting with color, 8th grade students in Mr. Fry's art class designed portraits of people who inspired them. Art work was created in the style of Brazilian Muralist Eduardo Kobra. Portraits were drawn from photographs then covered with a geometric pattern of students choice. Then students colored their creations with either water color, paint, markers, or color pencils. Below you will see the student's creations, the Art teacher Mr. Fry's model, as well as the artwork from Kobra that served as the inspirational piece.

On Friday, October 13, 2023, two city council members visited IEYMS to meet with students interested in learning more about New Rochelle’s city council, local government work, leadership, and the influence of Hispanic leaders in our community. Students who are interested in leadership, politics, and governance, signed up to be a part of this learning experience. Ms. Yadira Ramos-Herbert who is currently serving her first term as a member of the New Rochelle City Council, proudly representing District 3 and Martha Lopez-Hanratty who is currently serving New Rochelle City Council, proudly representing District 1 met with IEY students as they learned more about the role of the City Council.

Did you know that according to recent data from breast cancer organizations, about 1 in 8 U.S. women and 1 in 833 U.S. men will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of their lives.

IEYMS students and staff will go pink in observance of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. We ask our IEYMS community to join us as we continue to bring awareness and hope for those who are survivors, those who have lost a loved one, or those who are dealing with this terrible disease. Thank you, Ms. Rodriguez for organizing this week's activities.

The IEY Girl's Volleyball team is off to a strong start with 3 wins and 1 loss record to date. So far, IEY has defeated Scarsdale, Mamaroneck, and White Plains, losing only to Pelham. Up next is Scarsdale Maroon and Ursuline. For many of our athletes, it is their first time playing volleyball. Alison A, Melany C, Samantha B, Beatriz B, Ariana B, Zaira C., Ashley C., Jenna C., Margaret C., Yulissa M., Irene P., Jazmin R., Sofia R., Vanessa R., Frida S., Annabella R., and Coach Garabito, Keep up the good work!

New State Science Investigations Aligned to the NYS P-12 Science Standards:

The Intermediate-level Science Test aligned to the New York State P-12 Science Learning Standards will be administered in Grade 8 for the first time in Spring 2024. These tests are designed to measure knowledge and skills contained in NYS P-12 Science Learning Standards. In order to prepare for these tests with authentic, hands-on laboratory experiences, students will participate in a series of activities called Investigations. The Investigations provide one way that students can demonstrate their science knowledge and skills, which will also be assessed on the written exam.

The new Investigations will be embedded into instruction and have been designed to facilitate the shift to 3-dimensional teaching and learning in science. This shift calls for students using scientific practices to explore, examine, and explain how and why phenomena occur and to design solutions to problems.

Through these hands-on laboratory experiences, students will think like scientists as they use scientific practices and employ their reasoning skills. The four Investigations and topics covered through the Investigations are:

• Structures and Properties of Matter: All Mixed Up

• Energy: Cool It!

• Weather and Climate: How’s the Weather Up There?

• Structure Function and Information Processing: It’s Alive?

7th and 8th grade science teachers are currently receiving a series of hands-on training sessions to support the implementation and roll out of these four new science investigations this school year to support science instruction and prepare students for success. Students will enjoy the opportunity to engage with these hands-on investigations and connect and apply what they’ve learned throughout their middle school science experience.

On Wednesday, October 11, the PTA in collaboration with the Student Assistance Office sponsored a presentation for parents on Bullying: What Parents Need to Know to Best Support All Youth. The guest speaker was Kara Santucci, MHC from Student Assistance Services Adolescent Counseling & Bullying Prevention Resource Center. Click the attachment below to learn more.

Our lost and found is already bursting at the seams with hoodies, water bottles, and other items. If your child is missing something, please tell them to stop at the security desk and check out the items that have been left behind. By the end of the month, we will have a ton of coats, hats, and other winter items. These items usually go unclaimed. We know the children are middle school aged and should demonstrate responsibility for their belongings, however, please consider writing your child's name on the inside tag so we can identify the owner. Coats, hoodies, and the like are very expensive and we do not have the capacity to store these items long-term. We will be cleaning out our lost and found before Thanksgiving break. Any items left will be donated to a local charity.

Did you know that 13 is the average age when kids try alcohol and drugs for the first time? Armed with the right information and concrete strategies, we can support our kids in making good choices.

Each year, National Red Ribbon Week is celebrated from October 23 - 31 with the theme for this year being “Be Kind to your Mind, Live Drug-Free”. Schools across the country use this time to engage kids in dialogues about the importance of making positive life choices and avoiding the temptation to use drugs and alcohol.

Research shows that children of parents who talk to their teens regularly about drugs are 42% less likely to use drugs than those who don’t, yet only a quarter of teens report having these conversations. For this Red Ribbon Week, be part of the conversation by taking the opportunity to talk to your child and help drive awareness of living a drug-free life.

During this Red Ribbon week, students at IEYMS will be participating in a SPIRIT week to celebrate Red Ribbon week as well as have the opportunity to participate in a variety of activities educating them about the risks of substance use as well as strategies to help refuse situations while maintaining the friendship.

For more information please contact Ryan Leak, Student Assistance Counselor at rleak@nredlearn.org

Thank you!

Ryan Leak, MSW