2021-10-29 Noticias de ISLA y ISLA PTO
Emily Smith
Letter from the Director
"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower." - Albert Camus
October 29th, 2021
Queridas familias,
Things are never dull around here, and today was no exception. Today I was greeted by a number of book characters, superheroes, princesses, and other personalities walking around in the Kindergarten area, and a number of students in fall colors throughout the rest of the building during our fall fiestas. Emotions were high, fun was had, and I think it is safe to say that you families all have your work cut out for you this weekend--so enjoy!
Transportation: If your child rides the bus, you might have encountered a bus delay, a missed stop, or another similar inconvenience. On behalf of the transportation committee, I would like to apologize, and relate that we have heard your voices and have taken them seriously; as a consequence, we have relayed these concerns repeatedly to our bus company. The ISLA board has heard you as well, and has approved the added expense of an additional route, as long as the committee could verify that it would help most if not all of the existing routes.
Therefore, I am pleased to announce that we will be sending out new routes today,and we have added one bus to our “fleet”! Please check to see if you have you have a new bus #number or a new time(s), and in some cases, a new pickup location (new bus stops will be communicated to families directly).
The new routes will be effective as of Wednesday, November 3rd, and all bus riders will receive a notification through our system.
Please be patient with the implementation of the new routes, as these drivers will be working through some issues as they arise, similar to the first few days of school. Please also remember that this is a national crisis, and we are thankful to have the service that we have. However, we are very pleased with this new solution and feel that it will alleviate the issues on nearly every route.
Parent Teacher Conferences and Parking: Please be advised that you can park single file on the entire length of the school “driveway” in the front of the school during conferences, on the same side that cars drive for dropoff/pickup. Please leave the “bus side” (school side) open for through traffic. Signs will be posted.
The Unit of Inquiry Summaries are going out later this weekend in preparation for conferences. I think they will be useful in understanding how your children learned through transdisciplinary learning within this first unit. The work which was produced through this first Central Idea was very impressive, and I am so proud of our faculty and students. This is the first time we have done this in this format, so we are still working through some system issues, and please note that these are slightly different from progress reports that you have received in the past; this is explained in more detail below in this newsletter.
Atentamente,
Jeremy
Español:
El otoño es una segunda primavera en la que cada hoja es una flor. - Albert Camus
Queridas familias,
Las cosas nunca son aburridas por aquí, y hoy no fue la excepción. Hoy me recibieron varios personajes de libros, superhéroes, princesas y otras personalidades que caminaban por el área del Kinder y varios estudiantes con los colores del otoño en todo el resto del edificio durante nuestras fiestas de otoño. Los estudiantes estaban muy emocionados, se divirtieron mucho durante las fiestas en sus respectivos salones y creo que es seguro decir que todas las familias van a tener diversión extra este fin de semana! ¡Así que disfruten!
Transporte: Si su hijo(a) usa el transporte de ISLA , es posible que se haya encontrado con un retraso del autobús, una parada pérdida u otro inconveniente similar. En nombre del comité de transporte, me gustaría disculparme y asegurarles que hemos escuchado sus voces y las hemos tomado en serio; como consecuencia, hemos transmitido estas inquietudes repetidamente a nuestra empresa de autobuses. La junta de ISLA también lo escuchó y aprobó el gasto adicional de una ruta adicional siempre que el comité pudiera verificar que ayudaría a la mayoría si no a todas,las rutas de buses existentes.
Por lo tanto, me complace anunciar que estaremos enviando nuevas rutas hoy y ¡hemos agregado un autobús a nuestra “flota”! Por favor verifique si tiene un nuevo número de autobús o una nueva (s) hora (s) y en varios casos una nueva ubicación de recogida.
Las nuevas rutas entrarán en vigencia a partir del miércoles 3 de noviembre y todos los pasajeros de autobús recibirán una notificación a través de nuestro sistema.
Por favor tener paciencia con la implementación de las nuevas rutas ya que estos conductores resolverán algunos problemas a medida que surjan de manera similar a los primeros días de clases. Recuerde también que esta es una crisis nacional y estamos agradecidos de contar con el servicio que tenemos. Sin embargo, estamos muy satisfechos con esta nueva solución y creemos que aliviará los problemas en casi todas las rutas.
Estacionamiento y Conferencias de Padres y Maestros: Tenga en cuenta que puede estacionar una fila en toda la longitud del “camino de entrada” de la escuela en el frente de la escuela durante las conferencias, en el mismo lado que los autos conducen para dejar / recoger a los estudiantes. Por favor, deje el "lado del autobús" (lado de la escuela) abierto para el tráfico. Se colocarán letreros.
Los resúmenes de la unidad de investigación se publicarán a finales de este fin de semana en preparación para las conferencias. Creo que serán útiles para comprender cómo sus hijos aprendieron a través del aprendizaje transdisciplinario dentro de esta primera unidad. El trabajo que se produjo a través de esta primera Idea Central fue muy impresionante y estoy muy orgulloso de nuestros profesores y estudiantes. Esta es la primera vez que hacemos esto en este formato, por lo que todavía estamos trabajando en algunos problemas del sistema y tenga en cuenta que estos resúmenes de la unidad son ligeramente diferentes de los informes de progreso que ha recibido en el pasado; esto se explica con más detalle a continuación en este boletín.
Atentamente,
Jeremy
Transportation Hub
If your child rides the bus, you might have encountered a bus delay, a missed stop, or another similar inconvenience. On behalf of the transportation committee, I would like to apologize, and relate that we have heard your voices and have taken them seriously; as a consequence, we have relayed these concerns repeatedly to our bus company. The ISLA board has heard you as well, and has approved the added expense of an additional route, as long as the committee could verify that it would help most if not all of the existing routes.
Therefore, I am pleased to announce that we will be sending out new routes today,and we have added one bus to our “fleet”! Please check to see if you have you have a new bus #number or a new time(s), and in some cases, a new pickup location (new bus stops will be communicated to families directly).
The new routes will be effective as of Wednesday, November 3rd, and all bus riders will receive a notification through our system.
Please be patient with the implementation of the new routes, as these drivers will be working through some issues as they arise, similar to the first few days of school. Please also remember that this is a national crisis, and we are thankful to have the service that we have. However, we are very pleased with this new solution and feel that it will alleviate the issues on nearly every route.
ISLA Juntos Information Session
Do you have questions about Spanish immersion programs after ISLA graduation? For over ten years, the majority of ISLA graduates have continued their immersion journey through the Hopkins School District's JUNTOS program where we have seen our alumni continue to thrive. Even with the move to our new location, we value our relationship with the Hopkins Juntos program and through a memorandum of understanding, our students will continue to have access to this opportunity. Join us to learn more about this dynamic IB MYP learning trajectory for junior high and beyond. During this session, Hopkins Juntos staff will join us to provide an overview of the JUNTOS Spanish Immersion experience in a presentation tailored to ISLA upper grade families.
When: November 9th, 6:30pm - 7:30pm
Where: Virtually through Zoom
What: 30 minute presentation from Hopkins Juntos staff and Q&A
Zoom Details
Topic: ISLA Juntos Information Session
Time: Nov 9, 2021 06:30 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/96639562639?pwd=WVNRWllCOURnUm53NXdRNkl5aUsvZz09
Meeting ID: 966 3956 2639
Passcode: H2ydqD
Fall Goal Setting Conference
There will be no school on Monday, November 1st and Tuesday, November 2nd due to fall goal setting conferences.
Conferences are scheduled for
- Monday, November 1st from 12:00 noon to 8:00 pm
- Tuesday, November 2nd from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm
For grades 1-6, parents and students attend these conferences together. For pre-k and kinder, parents/caregivers attend conferences without children.
We are happy to announce that we will be hosting fall conferences in person at our new home at 5350 W 78th Street. We ask that all who attend follow our mask policy while in the building.
If you have not had the opportunity to sign up for a conference time, please reach out to your child's teacher.
The uniform exchange will be set up during conferences. If you have need of gently used clothes that meet our dress code, please feel free to browse the tables. You do not need to bring clothes to take clothes.
Unit Summaries
Teachers have been hard at work finalizing our first Unit Summaries to be shared on Toddle. As a reminder, these Unit Summaries differ from the Progress Reports that you may have seen in the past. While Progress Reports, sent home in February and June, include a more detailed view of students' progress in specific subject areas, Unit Summaries provide an overview of the most recent unit of inquiry. Rather than viewing subject areas such as social studies, science, language arts, etc. as separate areas, our IB units are taught through a transdisciplinary approach. We hope that these overviews spark interesting, authentic conversations at home about students’ dynamic learning experiences and conceptual understandings. For more details about assessment at ISLA, please refer to the information that was sent home this fall: Assessment at ISLA.
Nurse's Corner
Families will be able to pick up an at-home COVID test next week when they come for conferences. Every teacher has a supply in their classroom, please ask them for one if you are interested. We have enough test kits for every family to take one. If you have multiple students at ISLA, please take a maximum of 2 kits per family, at this time. Please reach out to the School Nurse if you have any questions regarding testing or using these test kits (tnelson@isla.school).
BinaxNOW OTC at-home COVID tests
Instructions for use by students:
- This is an antigen test. It is meant to be used by students who have symptoms. It is not as effective for surveillance testing (testing without having symptoms). It should not be used for testing when doing a shortened 7-day quarantine.
- Keep this kit at home until it is needed. If your student has any potential COVID symptoms, please keep them home from school and use this rapid test.
- Package contains 2 tests; the intent is for both tests to be used by the same person. The 2nd test should be done 36 hours after the 1st test. The student should stay home until both tests are completed, results are negative, and they no longer have symptoms.
- If either the 1st OR the 2nd test shows positive results, that would indicate that the person is infected with the COVID virus. You will need to stay home and keep away from others. This advice does not change if you get a second test result that is negative. See If You Are Sick or Test Positive (https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/coronavirus/sick.html) for more info. BinaxNOW OTC tests that are positive can sometimes have faint indicators. Even if it is a faint line, it should be treated as a positive. Families should watch the How to Administer the BinaxNOW OTC COVID test (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baQQfoX-JXo) before administering the test.
- If both tests are negative and the person continues to have symptoms, they should get a molecular COVID test completed through a community testing center or clinic.
- Please document test results by taking a photo of the test kit after completion. Please write your child’s name on the test kit and include the date and time of test administration.
- For any positive test result, please send an email to [covid19reporting@isla.school] and someone will reach out to you with further instructions.
Vaccine Incentive Program for 12 to 17 year olds:
New Information from the CDC:
Updated CDC Holiday Celebration Guide
Language Ambassadors
Wondering what ISLA's LA Program is all about? I'm sure your children already know and love them from their many interactions at school, but if you're a new family to ISLA, this is the first year you get to experience all of what our wonderful Language Ambassadors bring to our school! Our LAs participate in the Amity program and come from Spanish speaking countries, bringing so much to our ISLA classrooms and our ISLA families.
Here are two quick videos from 2019 and 2020 showcasing ISLA's former LAs. I hope you enjoyed meeting this year's LAs in this week's videos about DDLM as well!
Welcome to Minnesota Anamaría, Carlos, Gisela and Carolina! Our K-2 classes are lucky to have you!
Meet Carlos!
My name is Carlos Ernesto Navia. I am from Colombia. I studied at Cesmag in Pasto NariñoColombia,with an emphasis on Physical Education.
I am 23 years old. I have two brothers and one sister. I am the oldest child in my family. I also have two cats, which I adore.
I am glad to be here because I want to learn about the culture and share my Colombian culture. Colombian culture is rich in food, music, dancing and much more. I am excited to share these with ISLA students.
I like working with children because everyone has fun, and I love to be creative.
In my free time, I really like to play soccer, basketball, walk in parks, draw and take pictures.
I hope to learn American customs and different significant places in Minnesota. I also hope to be able to improve my English and contribute to everything necessary.
I am staying with the Paine family for the fall semester. Gaby is actually my aunt,so I am extremely lucky. They have made me feel very happy and comfortable andI am very thankful. I am excited for the many fantastic opportunities that willhappen while I am here.
I willbe working in the K-2 classrooms while at ISLA. My phone number is 952-270-6264,and my email is cnavia@isla.school. Thank you!