New Homeschool Program

Are you interested in a new independent study program just for homeschoolers in grades 3-8? IA has created a new community for homeschool families who want to engage in project based learning in a self contained classroom two days per week. Amy Mulert, a credentialed teacher, and Roekmini Pullom, IA homeschool mom extroardinaire, work with homeschool learners to design their own learning plans, coordinate fieldtrips, and create fun group-learning activities. This program is perfect for self motivated & independent learners with parents who want to explore project based learning as a community as well as at home. Amy and Roekmini will be available to speak with you at all the registration sessions starting tomorrow (see our calendar). Additionally on Monday at 4pm they are holding an informational session to all interested families at the school site.

Parent Questions

Parent Question: I wanted to double check on the teacher/student ratio for next year. It's my understanding that IA is not expanding the class sizes and the ratio will remain at 20:1. Is that correct?

Answer: The student teacher ratio for next year will be approximately the same at 20:1. We've had a couple classes where, just due to how we had combo classes and two kinders last year, there may be a couple extra kids. This may go back down because of families that are not able to come to Mission Valley.

Parent Question: Also, I wanted to know if there will still be aides in the classroom or if you've have to let go of the aides due to budget constraints.

Answer: We're still working on aides for the classrooms. What we'd really like to see here is more parent participation for those who can make it in during the day. We have a few thoughts about having some rotating aides so that if a classroom needs assistance then someone would be available. What we found last year was that not all the classes needed an aide every day.

Parent Question: One more thing, it would be nice if we could have a meeting to discuss how the new location and budget constraints will affects the programs at IA. For example, how will PE be provided now, what type of partnership programs will be available, etc. I'm curious to know if Playwell Technologies and Mad Science will be returning. If not, what programs will be put in their place? These are some of the things I'm wondering about for next year and I think some of the other families might benefit from knowing as well.

Answer: As for budget, we're still waiting to hear from our back office manager about that. Like all public schools our numbers will be lower for next year but we're still waiting to hear exactly how much we're being cut. At worst it's looking like a cut of $700 per student.

As for the site, there are a lot of community resources in the area that we'll be tapping into. There's a YMCA, a golf course, and walking trails that we know of around the area. Additionally, we're in the same building as Cloud 9 shuttles, so we're looking into partnering with them for transportation.

We do have some outside space, it's not a ton but it's certainly workable. As for PE, Michelle is securing PE partnerships that can work both indoors and outdoors. Some of these include yoga/stretching, conditioning, hiking, obstacle course, and PE games. Possibly golf for older kids. Legos with Playwell tek and Mad Science are too expensive. If you know of any companies that might like to sponsor these programs let us know. Michelle is trying to have a Legos employee do some outside consulting for us. Mad Science we may contract with during Project time and share it between different classes once a quarter. The enrichment that Michelle is most excited by right now is puppetry, singing, photography, film, art, and computer technology.

If you have more questions, send them our way!

Danielle

On the 2009/10 School Year

Christine, our Staff Director, posts about developments for next year. She's currently in Costa Rica getting in some good reflection time on last year. She wrote the following to a parent.

~~~

Dear [IA parent],

This year is going to be quite different, in my opinion. We are a much more solidified team this year. We also have an awareness of where we were struggling with our mission. We are also streamlining our program. Our program has essentially three components.

The first is our Social Emotional program. Last year we succeeded in showing kids that we are serious about empowering them. But we were not effective in producing a cohesive program and we seemed to stumble a bit through the year with pendulum swings of freedom and frustration. By February we had realized that we were going to use Positive Discipline. Then by May we found a comprehensive school program called the Responsive Classroom, that guides teachers in the organization of a classroom in alignment with Positive Discipline and our mission. This guidance is for organization and interaction. I believe this year will be different in that our interactions with the kids will be more empowering, loving and firm.

The second component is Project Based Learning. All of our teachers have now received extra training in creating projects that are not just fun but rigorous and bring with them a rubric for assessment that students can help create and use to measure their success. This will give our projects the sometimes missing component of rigor. It will also help us teach our students how to create a real project. I am hoping they will be able to implement this when they want to learn about anything.

The third component is the change in our skills program. We will be using literature to support our projects and doing more incorporation of the various styles of writing. Our teachers will be actively using high quality children's literature to model the skills. We will be working on goal setting and self evaluation much throughout the year.. Math will still be skills based but we are using more manipulatives and problem solving approaches. Children will be encouraged to master basic skills based on an understanding about how they learn best.

Many of our teachers are partnering. All of our grades are single grades so we will be actively seeking ways to integrate children in multiage learning activities.

Michelle is securing out Partner teachers. We are trying to keep our focus on Art, Music and Technology/Science.

Still no homework, though the kids may be asked to look up something on the Internet, interview a parent or grandparent or neighbor about something occasionally. The students will be compiling portfolios that parents can see anytime as well as using an online project software called Project Foundry that helps them develop their projects. The projects will be different, the structure more firm than last year with measurable components and rubrics for measurement. We are working on improving our report cards which were difficult for teachers and too subjective. The start times are still up for debate. We will be having staggered start times... the older kids will start later than the younger kids...8:30, 8:45 or 9:00? I hope this information helps.

Hope your summer is going well. I am feeling rejuvenated.

Respectfully,

Christine Kuglen

IA Summer Reading

Hello IA Community!

I wanted to share some of our summer reading with you as I know a lot of parents are interested in our philosophy and style. Here are some great reads that we're focusing on this year!

Must have reads! These books largely guide our principles:

• Positive Discipline in the Classroom by Nelsen, Lott and Glenn - How to encourage a loving yet firm environment for groups.
  
• The First Six Weeks of School by Denton and Kriete - How to structure the first six weeks to gain the best environment.
  
• The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life by Zander - How to open one's mind to multiple perspectives and support people.
  
• The Ethic of Excellence by Ron Berger - Perfecting project based learning.
  

In addition, these have been recommended to us and various staff are reading them:

• The Power of Our Words by Denton
  
• Teaching Children to Care by Ruth Charney
  
• Rules in School by Brady, Forton, Porter and Wood
  
• The Morning Meeting Book by Kriete
  
• Parents and Teachers Working Together by Davis and Yang
  
• Solving Thorny Behavior Problems by Crowe
  

These are bonus books that some of our staff have read and are reading this year. You may find them fascinating too!

Communications Program:

• 99 Activities and Greetings for Morning Meetings by Correa-Connelly
  
• Classroom Spaces that Work by Clayton and Forton
• 7 Strategies for Developing Capable Students by Glenn and Brock
• The Schools Our Children Deserve by Kohn
• The Homework Myth by Kohn
• "I Won't Learn from You": And Other Thoughts on Creative Maladjustment by Kohl
• The Compassionate Classroom by Hart & Kindle Hodson
• Life Enriching Education by Rosenberg
• "Yardsticks: Children in the Classroom Ages 4 - 14" by Chip Wood

Project Based Learning:

• Disrupting Class by Christensen
  
• "Passion for Learning: How a Project-Based System Meets the Needs of High School Students in the 21st Century "
  By Ronald J. Newell
  
• Insights and Inspirations from Reggio Emilia by Gandini, Etheridge and Hill
  
• The Lively Kindergarten by Jones
• Learning Together with Young Children: A Curriculum Framework for Reflective Teachers by Curtis and Carter
  

About Charter Schools:

• Democratic Learning and Leading: Creating Collaborative School Governance By Ronald J. Newell and Irving H Buchen
• Teachers As Owners: A Key to Revitalizing Public Education
  Edited by Edward J. Dirkswager with a foreword by Ted Kolderie
• The Coolest School in America: How Small Learning Communities Are Changing Everything Edited by Doug Thomas, Walter Enloe, and Ron Newell
• A Different Kind of Teacher by John Taylor Gatto
  

Enjoy!

Danielle

IA has a New Home

"For every mountain there is a miracle." ~ Robert H. Schuller


Today, I'm excited to announce that we have secured a wonderful site for Innovations Academy starting in the 2009 school year. We are locating at 123 Camino de la Reina, San Diego, CA 92108 in Mission Valley (right off the 8).

I cannot think of an address more suited to us, 123 like ABC. Camino de la Reina translates to "Path of the Queens" which seems perfect for our royal team. The classroom space is bigger, brighter, and cleaner, with space for communal rooms . The campus is beautiful with its lined trees and grassy knolls. The interior is ours to decorate and create. We're close to many community resources. Best of all, there is enough space for us all with room to grow.

We hope that you'll be joining us this Fall at our new site to kick off the new year. At this time we are securing a before and after school program for families who would like to attend. We'll be working hard over the summer to bring people together through carpools using an online ride share program (stay tuned, I should have it out in a week or less).

If you are not continuing with us to the new site, please call or email right away. Email is best.

Danielle - 858-337-1977
Email: Danielle AT InnovationsAcademy.org


Thank you again for an amazing year,

Danielle, Christine, and all IA staff

New Site for 2009/10 Year

"The strongest oak of the forest is not the one that is protected from the storm and hidden from the sun. It's the one that stands in the open where it is compelled to struggle for existence against the winds and rains and the scorching sun." ~Napoleon Hill


Over the last month Innovations Academy has faced and and is soon to complete a new challenge, facilities. We were notified by the Kroc Center that they would like us to vacate the space by June 30th which meant that we had to find a new school site fast. In a short amount of time our community bound together to find and secure a new site. We are in negotiations for a new site in Mission Valley right off the Auto Circle Pkwy exit and should have a lease signed next week.

In just over a month we have done this amazing feet, proving our strength once again. We're sorry that we didn't notify our new enrollments sooner and wished to get all our information clear before informing our new community. Our apologies as we know this will come as an inconvenience to some families.

Though I can't disclose the new site yet, I can give some details. The classroom space is bigger, brighter, and cleaner. The campus is beautiful with its lined trees and grassy knolls. The interior is ours to decorate and create. We're close to many community resources. Best of all, there is enough space for us all with room to grow.

We hope that you'll be joining us this Fall at our new site to kick off the new year. At this time we are securing a before and after school program for families who would like to attend as we know that it is a need in our community. In addition, because of the new space and popular demand we will be starting our day earlier, most likely 8am. Stay tuned! We'll be working hard over the summer to bring people together through carpools as well.

If you know that you will not be following us to Mission Valley or have questions, please contact me at Danielle (at) InnovationsAcademy.org or call my cell phone 858-337-1977. If you are on our wait list and would like to be removed due to location, please notify us as well.