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Nurse's Corner

ISLA is on a Waiting List for a Vaccination Clinic

We've had a lot of questions from families inquiring whether or not ISLA will host a vaccination clinic for our students and others in the community. We have indicated at both the state and county level that we are interested in being a host site, and are currently on a waiting list. We have not heard yet whether we will get chosen as a site. If you are interested in getting your child vaccinated and are able to sign up for an appointment elsewhere, we would encourage you to do that. As soon as we hear anything about whether we can host a vaccination clinic at ISLA, we will let the ISLA community know details regarding that.

‍Vaccination Information for Children and Teens‍

Please visit this link (COVID-19 Vaccine for Children & Teens) for information regarding vaccinations for your student. Towards the bottom of the page is a heading called, "Find a Child or Teen Vaccine". You can enter your ZIP code and find the nearest locations of clinics or community sites who are ready to administer vaccines to children and teens, ages 5 to 17.

Once your student is fully vaccinated (2 weeks after their 2nd dose), they do not need to quarantine if they are identified as a close contact. Please provide proof of vaccination status to the School Nurse (tnelson@isla.school) in order to qualify for this exemption from quarantine.

‍BinaxNOW OTC at-home rapid antigen test kits available

‍If you did not pick up an at-home COVID test kit during conferences and you would like one, please send an email to the School Nurse (tnelson@isla.school) to ask about availability.

Remember, once you get a positive test result with any type of COVID test (rapid, antigen, molecular, PCR, or any other name), it is not recommended to do further testing. If you get positive results, you are infected with the COVID virus and need to take the appropriate next steps. If your ISLA student tests positive, is in close contact with someone who tests positive, or lives in the same household as someone who tests positive, please send an email to [covid19reporting@isla.school] as soon as possible.

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Give to the Max

https://www.givemn.org/organization/Islapto

Please support the ISLA PTO during the Give to the Max Day campaign!  This is Minnesota’s biggest giving campaign of the year and ISLA PTO’s only Fall fundraiser. Our ISLA PTO Give to the Max goal for this year is $25,000! We believe we can accomplish this and achieve a secondary goal of maximizing the percentage of families who participate this year!  

We all love a little friendly competition, so there will be fabulous prizes for the 3 classrooms who have the highest participation rate in the campaign. We are not basing it on the $$ amount raised, only on the percentage of families that donate.

1st place – Classroom party of the teacher’s choice (i.e. pizza party, movie & popcorn, etc.) and non-uniform day

2nd place – Special treat and non-uniform day

3rd place – Non-uniform day

Any classrooms that achieve 100% participation automatically win the 1st place prize!

Early giving is welcomed as cash prizes are awarded to organizations daily based on daily participation. Go to this link https://www.givemn.org/organization/Islapto and donate now!

Thank you ISLA Community!

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Hello ISLA Families!

We are beginning to form a list of interested host families for our Language Ambassadors (LAs) this spring, as well as next Fall semester as well. LAs typically move to their second host family around mid-January and stay through the end of the school year.

This year, we have 5 LAs from various Spanish-speaking countries. Gisela is from El Salvador; Anamaría, Carlos and Carolina are from Colombia; and Irene will be joining us in a few weeks from Spain. LAs are teaching assistants, between 21-30 years old, who will help the teachers in the classrooms, help supervise the lunch/recess times, and teach extra-curricular classes to kids in Spanish.

ISLA's LAs are invaluable to our school, and to the families who host them. Life-long friendships have been made, and they are eager to be welcomed into your family and share their cultures with you.

Hosting an LA can be a great opportunity for your student

• to hear and/or speak more Spanish
• to learn more about a different culture
• to make a connection for future family travel or exchanges of your own
• to meet new ISLA families (each LA is paired with two aunt and uncle families as well!)

LAs go to school when your kids go to school (not during conferences, for example) and can ride the bus if your kids ride the bus. They need their own separate bedroom, but can share a bathroom with family members. ISLA PTO graciously provides families with a grocery stipend in addition to a regular stipend for hosting. If you are interested in opening your home to an LA or getting involved in the LA program in other ways, please contact us to learn more.

Karen Heuiser and Zsuzsanna Matika
PTO LA Coordinators
‍islalaprogram@gmail.com

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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

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Meet Anamaria!

My name is Anamaria Díaz, I am from Bogotá, Colombia. I am currently studying Licensure in foreign languages with an emphasis in English at La Gran Colombia University. I just turned 22 years old. My family is a really really important factor in my life I live with my parents and my brother, who is 19 and is in the Air Force right now.

My hobbies include playing the ukelele, and also I like to sing, my favorite activity is going to concerts. Coffee? Yes please!

This is a huge experience for me because I will learn so many things since I am willing to assist as an assistant teacher. I am so excited to meet new people and be able to know new places. Being a new member of a family is a good challenge because you have to be open to different thoughts, cultures and traditional things they are accustomed to. The host family I’m living with are The Coopers: Mike, Sheryl, Talia and Gabriel have brought home to me. I am really glad to have this opportunity. I will be working in the kindergarten classrooms, and can be reached at 952-270-6263 or adiaz@isla.school. Thank you!