Jan. 23, 2018 e-Newsletter
Thank you, First Responders!
On Jan. 19, our Early Childhood II and Kindergarten students were treated to a visit from Sean and Emily Chudzik, Independence parents and EMTs with Saint Francis Healthcare. The children learned about the tools First Responders use and why their jobs are very important to the Independence community and beyond. The visit concluded with a tour of a real ambulance, prompting one excited student to declare, "This is the best day ever!"
If you know of any First Responder families looking for an exceptional school, please encourage them to contact us about our First Responders Community Partnership!
REMINDER
Next IPA Meeting on Feb. 13
The IPA is excited to announce that its next meeting will be held at the Food Bank of Delaware's Newark Branch (14 Garfield Way, Newark, DE 19713) on Tuesday, Feb. 13 from 6-8 p.m. This will be a "working" meeting where we encourage parents and their kids to come and lend a hand to those in need. You are welcome to stay for the full two hours or for part of the time.
The Food Bank does require children to be a minimum age of 7, and everyone must wear closed-toe shoes and comfortable clothes. We hope you can join us for a fun night of giving back to our community. Please RSVP to IPA President Pooja D'Souza by emailing poojavdsouza@gmail.com.
40 Things to Love about Independence
Independence will be celebrating its 40th Anniversary throughout the 2017-18 school year. As part of that celebration, we will highlight, in chronological order, 40 points of pride for our students, our families and the Independence community as a whole.
14. Consumer Product Showcase
In this long-term project, eighth graders in Mrs. Copeland and Mrs. Ferrell's science classes spend several months researching and testing popular consumer products, before presenting the results at the Consumer Product Showcase. Scientists and engineers from local research groups, graduate students, school administrators, faculty, family and friends all attend the event. Upon completion, the eighth-grade students will have learned to utilize and demonstrate their abilities in research, critical thinking, writing, design and public speaking.
UPCOMING EVENTS
1/25 - Student Dance Party for grades 1-5 from 6:30-8 p.m. (multi-purpose room)
1/26 - Parent conferences (school closed, Extended Day open)
1/29 - Eighth-grade Consumer Product Showcase from 3:30-5 p.m. (gym)
2/1 - Re-enrollment contracts for 2018-19 published online (due 3/1)
2/6 - View-ahead Day for Kindergarten and grade 1 at 8:30 a.m.
Click here for the 2017-18 calendar at a glance.
Click here for the full 2017-18 school calendar.
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Registration for our next session on Tuesday, Feb. 13 will be available soon. If you're interested in this FREE program, please click the logo above for details.
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Click the logo above to visit the winter sports "Teams & Results" page, where you can stay up-to-date on all the latest news and recaps about Patriot athletics!
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THE INDEPENDENCE SCHOOL BLOG
Click the "Indy Insights" logo above for a collection of useful ideas, guidance and resources by members of our faculty, administration and staff.
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Did you know that Extended Day offers a variety of special programs throughout the school year? Click here for all the details.
2018 Student Dance Party
Sponsored by
The Independence Physical Education Department
This Thursday, Jan. 25
6:30-8 p.m. | Multi-purpose room
(Pick up and drop off outside the multi-purpose room in Loop B)
**This event is for Independence students in grades 1-5 ONLY**
Registration is available by clicking here.
Cost is $10 per student, with payment to be made at the door the night of the dance (cash only, please). If you have any questions about this event, please contact Mrs. Heather Horsey, of the PE Department, at 302-239-0330 or hhorsey@tisde.org.
We look forward to dancin' the night away!
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Congratulations to our group of eight eighth-grade students (including those not pictured) on being named Salesian Scholars by Salesianum School! We are very proud of these young men.
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MISSION UNSTOPPABLE
In December, Miss Gilmore and Mrs. Saggese's fourth-grade students read The Genius Files: Mission Unstoppable by Dan Gutman. The main characters take a cross-country road trip through America, which provided the students with ample opportunity to expand and connect social studies curriculum content with language arts and technology.
Using Google Maps and their new Chromebooks, the fourth graders used lines of longitude and latitude to plot key locations from the story on a map. With the help of Mrs. Minihan, our Technology Integration Specialist, and Google My Maps, students were able to create a great cross-curricular technology project. Mrs. Minihan tweeted the final project to the author, and he tweeted back! Click here to see.
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ENGINEERS TEACHING ALGEBRA
Engineer Mark Love and his "Engineers Teaching Algebra" program returned to Independence on Jan. 16 for eighth graders in Mrs. Kacmarcik and Mr. Lazar's classes. Founded by Mr. Love in 1994, "Engineers Teaching Algebra" includes a 90-minute session that uses math in real-life, hands-on experiences and promotes both collaborative problem solving and STEM education in the process.
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Thank you to Dr. Dahra Williams, Consulting Psychologist at Independence, for an extremely informative and helpful presentation on "What is Occupying the Adolescent Mind?" The presentation on Jan. 16 was part of a great Parent Coffee series offered to parents by our Center for Wellness, Innovation and Learning. Dr. Williams' slides will be available soon in the Parent Portal of our website.
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Have you checked out our official Alumni page? You can keep up with all the latest news on our talented graduates. If you have your own alumni submission, please email Tanya Godsey, Alumni Relations Coordinator.
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