newsletter

 Integrated Arts Academy September 8, 2015 NEWSLETTER Important Dates Sept. 15 ​
Open House ​
2 & 3 6:00pm Sept. 16 ​
Open House​
K & 1 6:00 pm + ​
STEP 1 Sept. 17 ​
Open House​
4 & 5 6:00 pm + ​
STEP 2 Oct. 1 ​
PTO Meeting 6pm Oct. 6 ​
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School Picture Day Whole School Photo at 8:10! Oct. 8 ​
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IAA Fun Run ½ Day​
11:30 dismissal Parent Conferences Oct. 9​
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No School Parent Conferences Oct. 12 ​
​
No School ​
Columbus Day Welcome Back to School! Wonder, Imagination, Creativity, Growth Next PTO Meeting Thursday, 10/1 6:00 pm in cafeteria Childcare available Pizza for $1.00 (donation) per slice at 5:45 Join the PTO email list! Join the IAA Facebook Page! Email [email protected] to join.
Calling all IAA fans of biking! ​
Would you like Burlington's streets to be safe for you and your kids to bike? ​
How much of a difference would it make if there were a barrier separating you from traffic? Now is your chance! ​
On September 12 and 13 ­­ next weekend! ­­ Burlington DPW and Local Motion will be organizing a Pop­up Protected Bike Lane Demonstration in the Old North End. ​
T he route includes portions of Union Street and Winooski Avenue between North Street and Pearl Street. You can read more about the pop­up and see a map of the route at ​
bit.ly/BTVpopup​
. So come on out with your family on the 12th or the 13th and experience what biking in a protected lane is like. ​
And if you want to help make this first­ever protected bike lane demonstration a success, check out volunteer shifts at ​
http://vols.pt/8KcvWw​
. Recently the IAA gathered together to discuss these important issues. Guess how we did it? We acted it out, we danced it, we created and we sang and it was deep and it was fun. Studies have shown that teachers who are creative tend to elicit more creative behavior from their students. I want to take a moment to recognize the most creative staff in the state of vermont and what I believe to be one of the most creative school staffs in America! So the fine people of this school are going to help you this year. They will guide you and they will allow you to ​
W onder​
They will lift your ​
Imagination. They will support your ​
Creativity​
, and they will guide your ​
Growth​
as a student and a community member. You know what the amazing thing is about a school community like ours? You, the students and families here right now, getting ready to enter this building, will do the same for all of us adults. You will allow us adults to ​
W onder. ​
You will lift our Imaginations. ​
You will support our ​
Creativity​
, and You will guide our ​
Growth ​
as teachers and community members. That’s what IAA does, It allows teachers, artists and students to foster passion in each other and inspire one another. I’ll end this with a short poem: We hear but do we listen We look but do we see Not only what it is But what it could be The way we embrace the arts and support one another at IAA allows us to take the anticipation of this moment, the beginning of another school year, and truly ​
Listen and deeply ​
See​
. And I know it will be another amazing, magical year. So let the wonder, imagination, creativity and growth began. ­Mr. Bobby Issue 1 · September 8, 2015 ·​
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Integrated Arts Academy · Burlington, Vermont. 05401 ·802­864­8475 · ​
www.iaa.bsdvt.org Kindergarten Third Grade Second Grade Grade 2 is off to an amazing start! We are excited to focus on many new units this year and to have the opportunity to have 6 new ipads in both classrooms! We are beginning our year thinking about how to work in healthy classroom environments, following our four ROAR rules. We are focusing on team building and supporting one another as we engage in our learning. We are excited to begin integrated arts this year and our first unit will begin mid­September integrating The Kindergarten students have had a visual art with Ms. Leaphart. In math and very exciting start to the school year! literacy we are remembering what it We are learning about what it means to means to be a reader and a be in school and to be part of a learning mathematician and exploring tools and team. The kids have done a really nice areas in our room, and how to use them job as we learn about the many routines and expectations of school. We are and discovering and sharing who we are slowly introducing more each day and are as learners. We are setting some goals having so much fun as we start to meet for our school year as well as exploring all of the specialist teachers. We have literature around hopes and dreams and started our unit of study around then creating our own hopes and dreams. sunflowers ­ so please be sure to ask We are excited to meet all families at our your child about how we sketched our Open House​
on Tuesday, September very own pictures of sunflowers! 15th to share more details and respond to We have enjoyed the No David! book series ­ a starting point for many questions! conversations about the school rules and The Second Grade Team, how to treat each other kindly and with Mr. Leal & Mrs. Greve respect. We are learning how to take care of own needs, helping friends and how to tidy up the classrooms! It has been so much fun getting to know all the students. The Kindergarten Team, Ms. Emily and Ms. Maggie First Grade We have had a great first week. We are really enjoying getting to know your children. Thank you for sharing them with us. We are spending a lot of time getting to know each other, building our community and learning our ROAR rules. We are practicing routines, reading, writing, exploring with math, getting moving, singing, creating and making new friends. If you have any questions at all, feel free to reach out to us. We are looking forward to meeting you at our Open House on Wednesday, September 16 from 6:00­7:00. The First Grade Team, Mrs. Patalano and Ms. Jen Our Gardens are Beautiful and Bountiful this year! THANK YOU BONNIE ACKER!!!! The third grade team would like to welcome you to the start of a great year! As we begin our year together we are taking time to review our classroom routines and establish the rules that will help us be a successful community. Please take time to talk with your student about the R.O.A.R. rules that are being developed. Working together as a team we can help students make great contributions. These first few weeks we want to make sure we are developing that sense of community. Slowly we will be delving more deeply into our academic learning. We will begin reading groups shortly, start to discuss place value, begin our word study and examine narrative writing. Please ask about our curriculum so we can work together to help support students. We will begin our co­teaching work with Mr. Myreggard on September 10th. As the co­teaching format has been changed we are developing some new material for this round. We will be exploring the rhythm and patterns of words and how that connects with poetry as well as fractions all through music! Our open house is coming up. Although the district calendar lists it th​
on the 16​
, I believe we have th​
switched our night to the 15​
. Please try to join us on September th​
15​
for a night dedicated to grades 2 and 3. Of course if you can’t make it we are always just a phone call, mouse click or door knock away. Feel free to contact us with questions at [email protected], or [email protected]​
. The Third Grade Team, Mr. Wallace & Mr. Mike Issue 1 · September 8, 2015 ·​
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Integrated Arts Academy · Burlington, Vermont. 05401 ·802­864­8475 · ​
www.iaa.bsdvt.org Fourth Grade Fifth Grade Several parents and students from our former 5th grade classes have bumped into us on the playground or hallways and mentioned they miss the IAA experience Greetings Families!! very much, but they are excited for the I am so thrilled to be here at IAA as the new adventures of middle school life! new school counselor! I have been a We are very excited to welcome our new 5th grade students into our classrooms parent here for five years and am really and we have already hit the road running. dedicated to this amazing school and Parents are encouraged to join us on our community. adventures during this year. As always, I have a lot planned for this year’s parents are invited for Monday Morning guidance classes. At the moment we are Assemblies and Friday Town Meetings. doing group activities around cooperation We also hope you may be able to join us and trust­building. Throughout much of on field trips and during special student the year, we will focus on kindness in sharing events here at school. It is special when students have an relation to friendship and community. opportunity to see our parents sharing While being mindful of the positive their time and talent in the school setting. behaviors we hope to see in our Our Open House is scheduled for students, we will address bullying September 17, from 6:00­7:00pm. prevention and healthy relationships. I Thank you for sharing your children with will integrate specific art projects into us! It is exciting getting to know your lessons throughout the school year and children as together we create a new will be working closely with Ms. Joan to learning community. As always, please share your questions and concerns with incorporate drama into the classroom us as the year moves along. We are guidance program. grateful for the support you give us! I am also meeting with students The Fifth Grade Team, individually and in small groups. You may Ms. B & Mr. Whitman contact me by email me at [email protected]​
or call 652­4214 (the phone will be working soon, hopefully). If you want to stop by, my office is across the hall from the first grade classrooms. I look forward to getting to know all of the wonderful students and families at IAA! Senora Bangoura’s 4th graders What a busy and exciting start to the school year we’ve had! We’ve been using the theme of “community” to build a learning environment that is friendly, respectful and arts enriched. We’ve created community collages, communal bulletin boards and used drama to act out our visions of a collaborative community. ONE Strings​
will start on the week of September 28. This is an amazing opportunity to be able to pick up our instruments and learn music as a class together with our strings teacher extraordinaire, Kathleen Kono. Fourth graders also have an additional opportunity to study strings after school if they choose to. After school strings forms went home on the first week of school but if you are still interested and didn’t fill out the form, it is not too late. If you’ve lost the form just send your student with a message to collect a copy from the office or classroom teacher. We look forward to an exciting year of learning! If you have any questions, feel free to contact Autumn Bangoura or Aurie Thibault at ​
[email protected]​
or Meredith Hoisington [email protected] The Fourth Grade Team, Mr. T & Senora Bangoura Mr. T’s 4th graders The ​
Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival​
Strings Trio and Composers in Residence visited the 4th & 5th graders last week. They held a music composition workshop with the 5th graders and the trio performed for the 4th graders. The trio will be back in late September with the artistic director of LCCMF, Soovin Kim. We are thrilled to kick off the ​
ONE STRINGS​
program this year with such wonderfully supportive partners! Issue 1 · September 8, 2015 ·​
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Integrated Arts Academy · Burlington, Vermont. 05401 ·802­864­8475 · ​
www.iaa.bsdvt.org Integrated Arts A New Mosaic Welcomes Us Back to School​
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Drama With much gratitude to the Amy E. Tarrant Foundation, Inc., I’m happy to be back at IAA for another year. My four­day Every year we have exciting things week is focused on developing kids’ happening at IAA above and beyond drama skills as they learn about other the day to day integrated arts topics or concepts. The teachers select experiences in the classrooms, and the topics, and then we work together to Thanks to an amazing residency with this year is no exception. We plan and carry out units of study ­­ e.g. continue to build on and nurture our BCA teaching artist Rebecca folktales, bullying prevention, American relationships beyond the walls of this Schwarz, last year's graduating 5th Revolution ­­ integrated with drama grade students created a vibrant new building and value deeply our arts activities. Children pantomime activities partnerships. This year we will sign for our school. During the last of all kinds, learn to speak loudly and continue our collaborative work with month of art class, students with expression, practice being different the ​
Flynn Center, Burlington City experienced the design process for characters and improvising dialogue, this public work of art; they discussed Arts, Young Traditions Vermont, among many other things. I'm excited to Lake Champlain Chamber Music what they would like the world to be co­teaching with the stellar IAA Festival, Vermont Youth Orchestra know about our school, they teachers again and learning from them brainstormed words that express how Organization, the Vermont Arts and the students. How we learn at IAA, they made thumbnail Council and VSA Vermont.​
Ms. Joan, drama coach lucky we are to have these amazing sketches to share their ideas, and [email protected] resources to tap into. We are eager finally they combined multiple ideas into one school sign. They then worked with Rebecca to cut pieces of glass and lay them out on their design, transforming their image into a mosaic. In other (exciting) new, we’ve moved! The art studio is now located in Room 103, next to the office. Our new home is bright, beautiful and spacious, and the students are filling it with creative ideas already. Check out the art studio blog for more frequent classroom updates and images: Click Here Ada Leaphart [email protected] to begin a ten day, whole school residency with Flynn teaching artist, Lida Winfield this fall and are looking forward to a storytelling residency in the Spring. Additionally, all classrooms will again attend three performances at the Flynn Theater with our whole school going to see Math Dance in March of next year. We will continue our smaller residency work with Burlington City Arts and the wonderful connections we’ve made with YTV. Our Friday Town Meetings will feature a once a month performance by a local performer and we hope to bring in some additional music opportunities for the students across the grade levels. We’ll keep you posted as things arise and of course will invite you to all events related to these exceptional art opportunities. Judy Klima, Arts Coach/Coordinator [email protected] IAA Welcomes this year’s new staff: We are privileged to have such a professional group of new staff at IAA! Welcome to: Shalom Zeigfinger ­ SPED Meredith Hoisington­ Guidance Andrea Farley ­ ELL Sarah Felson ­ Social Worker Gwen ­ Paraeducator Christine Call ­ Paraeducator Lauren Weiss ­ Paraeducator Issue 1 · September 8, 2015 ·​
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Integrated Arts Academy · Burlington, Vermont. 05401 ·802­864­8475 · ​
www.iaa.bsdvt.org Health Matters Physical Education Welcome to health services at the IAA. I am a nationally certified school nurse serving our school community on a full­time basis. My job is multi­faceted and involves case management, emergency care and first aid. In addition, I administer daily medications, do state mandated vision and hearing checks with the resulting referrals and follow up, crisis intervention, student health counseling, maintaining of cumulative health records, medical referrals, finding medical homes for students, communicable disease control (pertussis), social welfare referrals, health education on a daily basis, immunization compliance reports as well as insurance, asthma, medical/dental home data collection for the VT DeCpartment of Health. I belong on the school safety team, consult with teachers and staff, and coordinate the School­Based Health Center (SBHC). Asthma, diabetes and head lice are my areas of expertise. My goal is to help keep students in the classroom, healthy and ready to learn! Louise Mongeon RN, NCSN School Nurse [email protected] Move it! Move it! Is every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 7:40 until 8:10 a.m. You’ve got to Move it! Move it . Welcome back! All PE classes have been going over ROAR rules and routines for our first few classes. Second through fifth grade classes having been using our brand new pedometers. They can't stop moving. As you know, we all need to get 60 minutes of physical activity a day. Please encourage your child to move as much as possible whether they are on a playground, at school, at a park, at home, on a bike, with a racquet, with a ball or a jump rope! Anything, JUST MOVE. They will start Team Building activities that stress cooperation, communication, and goal setting. We will play such games as Hot Cocoa, Blob Tag, All Tied Up, and Traffic Jam. What lies ahead? Fitness testing and bike riding units! Kindergarten and first graders have been learning our routines, moving safely through space, and will begin playing games like Farmer Sam, Jewel Thieves, Bridge Tag, Go Away, Go Home, and Machines and Builders, . We are learning about moving safely in our own personal space. Kindergarten will have Action Based Learning class on Wednesdays as th​
well beginning on September 16​
. Please remind your child to bring sneakers to school on the days they have Physical Education. If your child does not wear sneakers to PE they will not be able to safely play in the gym. I am always looking for volunteers especially for ABL, during our FUN RUN th​
on October 8​
, and during bike week October 12­23. Please contact me (Danielle Vierling) via email at [email protected] or you can follow us on Twitter @DLVierling or IAA PE Class . Danielle Vierling PE/Dance Teacher English Language Learner News The ELL teachers are very excited to introduce our new District Director, Miriam Ehtesham­Cating. Miriam comes from Rochester, New York and has over 35 years of experience of working with ELL students. She is a true advocate for students and parents of ELL students. If you ever need to contact her about your child, her email is: ​
[email protected]​
. Our other exciting news is that the STEP Program (Studying Toward English Proficiency), a district program housed at IAA serving students needing intensive English instruction, has just doubled in size and is now serving first graders. Our own Mary Neudecker has become the classroom teacher for STEP 1 serving first and second graders and Lynda Siegel is now focusing just on third through fifth graders in the STEP 2 classroom. We’re so pleased to be able to provide this support to our newest Americans. We also have a new ELL teacher to support our students in their classrooms­­Andrea Farley. Andrea worked as an ELL Teacher at J.J. Flynn ES and C.P. Smith ES last year. Andrea is originally from Brazil, but has been living here in the United States for 16 years. Veteran ELL teachers Kristen Bingel and Aranka Gyuk will continue to support our English Language Learners at IAA this year. The ELL Team, Aranka Gyuk, Kristen Bingel, Andrea Farley, Lynda Siegel, Mary Neudecker Issue 1 · September 8, 2015 ·​
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Integrated Arts Academy · Burlington, Vermont. 05401 ·802­864­8475 · ​
www.iaa.bsdvt.org Learning Center Our library classroom welcomes readers and researchers throughout the day for a variety of information needs. Students may visit our library to borrow materials appropriate to class assignments and to support personal interests and independent learning. The mission of the library is to ensure that students and staff are effective users and communicators of ideas and information. Simply put, we want to help our students: “​
Think​
, ​
Create​
, ​
Share,​
​
and Grow​
.” We strive to create an inviting learning environment that inspires and honors curiosity, creativity, and collaboration. Due to district budget cuts, the IAA library will be supported by library assistants only part­time. Two part­time library assistants: Mrs. Shepherd, will be in the library on Tuesdays and Mrs. Stewart, will be in on Thursday afternoons and Fridays. We welcome volunteers at any time, but are particularly in need of volunteer assistants to help man the circulation desk on Monday afternoons from 12:45­1:30, Wednesdays 10:00­12:15, and Thursday mornings. Volunteers at these times will ensure that students in ALL our classes have adequate support finding and using library resources. During library time, students may explore the world through books; extend their thinking through literacy­related art projects and movement; connect with information, families, other students and experts around the world using online tools, such as skype and google hangout, our library blog, twitter, voicethread (practicing safe and appropriate use of social media); and more. In partnership with students and staff, we recognize reading as a "window to the world," a foundation for students to become skilled in multiple literacies. Families are welcome to borrow materials as well as students, just stop by the library to sign up for a library card. Please come "check us out"... Shannon Walters, ​
IAA Teacher Librarian [email protected] ​
MONDAY Friday Town Meeting Schedule September 14th!! First Coffee Connections September 11 ­ YTV Presents Pascal and Yann Click to read about Pascal & Yann September 18 ­ Writer’s Read September 25 ­ Magical Mailbox October 2 ­ Classroom Presentation October 16 ­ Magical Mailbox October 23 ­ Residency Presentation Everyone is welcome! Special Education All IAA Parents! Please join us for Coffee Connections Every Monday morning at 8:30, following the Monday Morning Meeting. There will be coffee, snack and conversation with other IAA parents in the cafeteria! Join us if you can! We are looking for parents to bring in pastries, help with set up or help with clean up. If you are available to help Welcome to the new school year! We are excited to be part of such an amazing, diverse and talented school. Ms. Cassie​
will be working with students in fifth and third grade. ​
Mr. P will be working with students in fourth and second grade. ​
Ms. Barb​
will be working with students in kindergarten and first grade. ​
Mrs. Delaney​
is our speech and language pathologist working with all grades. ​
Ms. Mclean and ​
Mr. Z​
are our new interventionist here at IAA. Mr. Z will be our literacy interventionist and Ms. Mclean will be our math interventionist. They have been super busy trying to schedule children first through fifth grade. How lucky are we to have a literacy and math expert. Ms. Meredith​
is out new school guidance counselor. What an asset to our team! She even has a “really cool doll house” in her office, stated one excited student. You will most certainly see her zooming the halls. Ms. Ellinson​
is our school psychologist here at IAA. She also sees students in Kindergarten all the way up to Fifth grade. Her calm mannerisms are enjoyed by students and adults alike. We are a collaborative team and spend time making sure that our students feel a strong sense of belonging. We believe all children have unique artistic talents and bring a wealth of personal stories to their learning. Welcome back musical IAA students! We will continue to build on the many musical successes of last year! Our youngest students are already learning to be Tuneful, Beatful, and Artful with music, while the older students are using those skills in many beautiful ways. 3rd graders will be learning to play the recorder and 4th and 5th graders will again be composing on Noteflight, through our partner, Music­COMP and also using GarageBand in the classroom. 4th and 5th graders (and 3rd in the Spring) will be playing violin in their classrooms twice a week and invited to take lessons in the after­school strings program on violin, viola or cello. Contact me by email, follow me on Twitter (IAAMusicvt) and visit my website: iaamusic.weebly.com Mr. Myregaard Happy 2015­2016 school year! The Special Education Team [email protected] Issue 1 · September 8, 2015 ·​
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Integrated Arts Academy · Burlington, Vermont. 05401 ·802­864­8475 · ​
www.iaa.bsdvt.org Integrated Arts Academy ● Snapshots Welcome Back to School! Let’s make it a JOYFUL year! Joyful learning can flourish in school ­ if you give joy a chance. Steven Wolk Issue 1 · September 8, 2015 ·​
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Integrated Arts Academy · Burlington, Vermont. 05401 ·802­864­8475 · ​
www.iaa.bsdvt.org