Good morning, IPA families,
I hope that everyone had a great first week back at school! I wanted to take a moment to update families regarding a few important items for the coming weeks. Please find those updates below:
Possible Incliment Weather/E-learning:
The weather forecast for next week is indicating that very cold temperatures are headed our way. There is a possibility that our district may call an e-learning day if the temperatures are too cold for students to attend school. In preperation for that possibility, all students (K-8) will be brining their assigned Chromebooks home from school today. If students do not have a charger, we ask that they preserve their Chromebook's battery for possible e-learning next week. Students can also utilize "C" chargers to charge their Chromebooks if they happen to have one at home for cell phones or other devices. If an e-learning day is called next week, I will provide a schedule for all students to follow. All students will be expected to log in to their virtual learning if an e-learning day is used.
Expectation Assemblies:
All students have participated in multiple school-wide expectation reviews throughout this past week. Feel free to ask your student about the expectations at IPA and how we are encouraging them to be safe, respectful and ready to learn.
No School:
There is no school on Monday, January 15 in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
Warm Clothing:
Please remember that students need to be dressed with coats, hats and gloves for the cold weather. K-5 students have outdoor recess unless the windchill is 20 degress or below. We want to make sure sudents are dressed appropriately so that they are warm enough while outside for arrival, dismissal, and recess. If you need support for coats, hats or gloves, please reach out to the main office at 217-351-3995.
Report Cards/Winter MAP Scores:
All K-8 families can expect second quarter report cards and winter MAP scores to be sent electronically on January 17, 2024.
Language Testing:
Our multilingual learners will all be taking language tests throughout January and February. Our students who are learning English will be taking the state mandated ACCESS test. Our students who are learning Spanish, or are fully bilingual, will be taking the STAMP exam for Spanish language acquisition. Both tests are important for students. The ACCESS test demonstrates how our students grow in their English language acquisition each year and is used to generate our school rating each year by the state. The STAMP test is used to determine how students are growing in their Spanish language acquisition and is used for Spanish high school placement for our current eighth graders. Please remind all students to do their best on these tests.
Families of studnets who take the ACCESS test can find an informative letter attached below.
Early Out Monday:
Monday, January 22, 2024 is an early dismissal day. Students will be dismissed at 12:35 and will arrive home 2 hours earlier than normal time.
Future Freshmen Night:
Centennial and Central High Schools will be hosting their future freshmen night on January 24, 2024 from 6-7p.m. We encourage all of our 8th grade students to attend. If you need to know the school that your student is assigned to, you can call our main office at 217-351-3995.
We hope everyone has a great weekend and upcoming week! Stay wam!
Best regards,
Jonathan Kosovski and the IPA team