Action at ISLA!

We are H.S.L. H.S.L stands for help save lives. We are a group of sixth graders trying to solve issues around Minnesota and bring happiness all around. In the fall, we held a school wide drive and donated many household items to a local women's shelter in Minneapolis called Haven Housing. It was a great success! We would like to thank the ISLA community for their generous donations.

For our next project, we are looking for ways to improve our school community like starting to compost in the lunchroom and recycle more around the school.

-Annabelle, Anthony, Caitlin, Hannah, Jorge, Lauren, Luca and Sophia

‍

‍

‍

Spring Break

March 26-30 is Spring Break at ISLA.  There will be no school for students or staff.    Enjoy your break!

‍

MCA Testing

MCA testing will begin next week for 3rd-6th grade students and continue after Spring Break.  Please make sure that your child gets a good night’s sleep and a good breakfast before coming to school each day.

‍

Winter Extra-curricular Activities

March 19-26 is the last week of Winter Extra-curricular Activities.  Monday Minecraft and Wednesday Young Rembrandts will have make up sessions the week after spring break.  Spring activities will begin the week of April 9th.

‍

5th Grade Science Fair

The 5th graders demonstrated outstanding communication skills Thursday afternoon as they presented to the ISLA community their culminating project from their current unit of inquiry: I wonder. Driven by the central idea, Curiosity inspires people to look for answers, they were given the opportunity to explore their curiosities by using the design process as well as the Scientific Method to investigate how simple machines work in their lives

‍

Student-Led Conferences

Student-led conferences are scheduled for April 5-6.  Conferences will be held from 12pm-8pm on Thursday, April 5th and 8 am-2 pm on Friday, April 6th.  These conferences with your child are meant to be an informative and rewarding experience.  As you probably know, your role in this conference is that of active listener.  As your child reports to you on his/her progress, feel free to record any questions or comments you have. 

The time will be structured so that the conferences occur simultaneously.  You will first meet with your child and discuss the portfolio of work for 15 minutes.  After 15 minutes the teacher will join the conference to review fall goals, discuss and answer questions.  All parties must do their best to adhere to the schedule, as there is no lag time between one group finishing and the next one beginning.  If you feel the need to continue the conference beyond 30 minues, you can schedule a time with the teacher at a later date. 

This conference is a time for open and honest discussion with your child about his/her progress in school.  Children are involved in the conference in an effort to continue optimal communication between child/parent/teacher.  If you have a concern that you would prefer to address with the teacher in prívate, please let him/her know and you can make arrangements to communicate with one another at another time.

Click here to sign up:   https://goo.gl/yykHah

‍

Spring Extra-Curricular Activity Registration Now Open

ISLA will have the following activities for the spring session. Week of April 9 to May 18 Click here to register: https://goo.gl/forms/1BqALgB1MABSdIYz2

MinecraftEDU

Monday, Thursday 5-6/ 3-4 8 students

MinecraftEDU is a specialized version of Minecraft for educational environments that incorporates IB principles. These activities promote teamwork, friendship, and creativity through true edutainment.

Monday: 5th and 6th grade Thursday: 3rd and 4th grade

Express - Arte

Thursday K-4 8 students

Do you want to express your feelings, preferences, culture and traditions? This is your opportunity to learn how to do it through art, paint and use of recycling materials. In this extracurricular you will be able to create your own paintings and crafts and learn about different techniques from Colombia, El Salvador and United States. 

Teatro - Theater

Tuesday 1-5 15 students

Do you want to practice your Spanish? Theater give you a great opportunity! In this activity you can talk, express and interact with the rest of the students and the teachers at the same time that you have fun moments with your friends. So if you are interested come with us every Tuesday after school, see you soon!

Video Game Workshop - RPG Maker - Haciendo Juegos de Rol en el computador

Wednesday 4-6 8 students

Do you know what RPG stands for? Role Playing Games are growing fast and you can be a part of this. Are you interested in videogame creation? Want to apply your computer knowledge? We will be creating our own videogame without coding with your teammates. We will play the game and share it at the end of the year.

Rotatorio de Deportes - Sports Rotation

Thursday K-6 15 students

If you like physical activity and sport in general, this is your place! The sports rotation makes possible motor skills experimentation through games, presented in a motivating way. Students will actively participate in various activities with the goals of encouraging sports practice, enable the practice of different sports and learn their characteristics. We will also encourage development of values related to the sport (effort, team building, respect ...) and develop social habits of health and hygiene.

Chess Club – Twin Cities Chess Club

Thursday K-6 Minimum 6 students

Want to amaze your friends and impress your opponents? Want to increase your IQ while having fun playing chess and compete for various prizes? Learn from Twin Cities Chess Club instructors who have years of experience. Competitive Chess tournaments are scheduled once a year and students can play for real chess trophies! All levels are welcome.  We have a great instructor for this class but he is not Spanish speaker.

Please make checks payable to: ISLA-PTO

Please have your student bring a nutritious snack and a water bottle for after-school snack time. Please be prompt to pick up your children.  Any student not picked up by 4:50 will be sent to Compañeros.

‍

2018-2019 School Supplies Order!

Looking for a way to take the headache out of school supply shopping this summer? New for this coming school year (2018/2019), all ISLA families will have the opportunity to skip the hassle and have SchoolKidz do all the shopping for them! With an easy online ordering process, school shopping can now take 5 minutes and also raise money for ISLA.

Orders for next fall will need to be complete by the end of the school year. The order window will be from April to June. More information will be coming soon!

‍

2017-18 Yearbook Pictures Needed!

The yearbook committee needs photos of ISLA students, teachers, and staff!  Please upload photos from school events to https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B8M4CyhIOQsxajYyZXdhb3B2NGM?usp=sharing.  We can only use well lit, in focus photos.  For the yearbook photos of kids facing the camera are almost always better (with the occasional exception of an artistic type photo or one showing their ISLA shirts.)

Questions? Contact Katie Gitler islasyearbook@gmail.com.  THANK YOU!

Questions? Contact Laura Tellier at ltellier@themarsh.com.

Deadline to order an ISLA yearbook is March 30, 2018. click here to place order

‍

International Day of Happiness

Every year on March 20, people around the world celebrate International Day of Happiness. A profound shift in attitude is underway all over the world. We are starting to understand that happiness should be a basic human right. Advertisers tell us that we need to buy their products to be happy, celebrities and the media claim happiness comes with beauty and fame, and politicians say that nothing matters more than growing the economy. But the latest research from the science of well-being shows that there are several key areas that can make a difference to our happiness and they are within our control.

Happiness is sustainable and starts from the awareness that we are enough; and that we have all the resources we need for happiness already inside of us. We can practice happiness habits, and like any habit, they eventually become our automatic, no effort way of being. These 7 Happiness Habits are coordinated for each day of the week, to help you and your family get started celebrating happiness. We will also be celebrating some of these habits at school during the next week.

• Soulful Sunday--A life of meaning contributes to sustainable happiness and helps you live longer. There are many ways to experience meaning; conversations with a trusted friend, getting in touch with nature, quiet moments that connect us to inner guidance, as well as something greater.
• Mindful Monday--The practice of focusing awareness on the present moment is a proven way to reduce stress, increase focus, enhance emotional intelligence and decrease anxiety.
• Grati-Tuesday--By intentionally focusing on the good things, we are affirming that there is goodness in the world, so the feeling of positivity grows. The best things about gratitude is that it not only increases positive emotion up to 25%, it also sustains it. If you want to jumpstart your well-being, this is where to start.
• Wellness Wednesday--Simply put, happiness is good for your health. Choose a form of exercise that you love. Get enough sleep. Choose foods that energize the body instead of dulling the mind. Take care of your body to feel energized and happy!
• Thoughtful Thursday--To feel good, do good. Giving to others releases endorphins, activating the parts of our brains that are associated with trust, pleasure and social connection.
• Friday Freedom--Being your authentic self allows you to live with greater freedom. Forgiveness is a byproduct of living authentically and vulnerably. Practicing forgiveness doesn't only benefit the person we forgive, but it also has tangible benefits for ourselves as well
  
• Social Saturday--Everyone needs connection to survive and thrive. Connection is important in boosting mental and physical health and even increases immunity and longevity. Make time for friends and family--your well-being depends on it!

‍

PTO Website Designer/Maintainer

Hello everyone! Are you looking for a way to help ISLA and the PTO, but don’t have time to make scheduled meetings, or travel a lot? Well we have the position for you! The PTO board has gone through the process of reviewing and updating the content on the PTO website as it migrated over to a new server. The work that was done so far was very basic, and now we are looking for someone to give it some additional TLC (graphics of events, additional descriptors of PTO activities), and then perform regular maintenance on the site.

Maintenance includes:

• Updating documentation after meetings (provided by the PTO Secretary),
• Changing content as new events are scheduled (dates, locations, etc.), and
• Other activities to ensure the content remains accurate and current such as adding new board members, LAs, etc.

We anticipate the initial TLC to take anywhere from 10-20 hours, and the regular maintenance 1-3 hours per month.

“But Wait” you say, “I’m not a techy person!”

You don’t need to be. The webpages are maintained using Google forms, and you will just need a little bit of orientation to get started.

Does this sound like the role for you? Please contact Sarah Walz (gregsarahwalz@msn.com) and we can discuss further.

Thanks to everyone for your continued contribution to ISLA’s mission.

‍

2018-2019 Language Ambassadors (LAs) Host Families Needed!

This school year is not yet over and we still have lots of time to enjoy our current LAs! But, can you believe that planning for the 2018-19 LA program has already begun?! The applicants are being interviewed and the search for next year Host Families is underway. Hosting is an unbelievable opportunity to expose your children and family to the Spanish language and culture – one that will gift your family with a lasting friendship and close bond to another country, while possibly improving everyone’s Spanish!

If you are interested in hosting and/or want more information, please contact Kim Gelperin at kimgelp@gmail.com.

Look for the LA INFO table at conferences:

-       Thursday, April 4: 5:30pm to 7:00pm

-       Friday, April 5: 9:00am to 10:30am

Learn more about the program, find out what is expected of an LA Host Family and ask questions!