Additional info for the week

Dear IA Families,

We have some additional information for you. Please note the deadlines.

1) Fresh & Easy Grocery Receipts need to be turned in by this Friday Jan 7th. Please put receipts in the box outside Donna's office. WE get $1 for every $20 of groceries purchased.

2) IA Night at Chili's is Wed January 12th from 5pm - 8 pm. Come out and join other IA families and teachers for a fun evening out. Our drama students from last session will perform at 7 pm at Chilis. Our school gets 15% of all proceeds spent that night. Invite family, friends and neighbors. Fliers will go home at the end of this week.

3) Our after school enrichment programs start next week. Fencing for 3rd - 6th graders is offered on Mondays, 10 classes for $120. Registration forms are at the front desk.

For our Kinders - 2nd graders Spanish is offered on Tuesday and Chinese on Thursdays. The cost is $195 for 10 lessons. There is an early registration discount of 20% if you pay by this Friday. Email sd@languagedoor.com or complete the registration form (available at front desk) and payment and leave with Donna to take advantage of this opportunity.

Thanks!

Update for the New Year

Good Evening, Innovations Community! There are six important information segments.

1) No school tomorrow, Monday but we are so excited to see your children back in full gear on Tuesday!

2) Please help us bring an excellent Science Resource to our school for $3. Every 4th – 8th grader can participate by bringing in to their teacher $3 if you haven’t already done so. Zingy Learning has grade level science programs aligned to California's grade-level content standards and frameworks. A flier will go home this week with detailed information. If you have not paid, and most have not, and you can afford $3, please send it in Tuesday with your child.

3) After School Enrichment Classes are slowly becoming available for your child: Fencing will be held on Mondays for 3rd through 8th graders starting on 1/10, Legos is on Wednesdays for all ages, Language Classes will be available for K-2nd grade students: Spanish starting 1/11 will be held on Tuesdays and Mandarin Chinese on Thursdays starting 1/13 for the young ones. Details and cost of each of these classes on fliers available at the front desk.

4) A Fundraiser is happening on Wednesday, January 12th at Chili’s Restaurant. Mark your calendars and ask your child for the flier or stop by the front desk and ask Donna.

5) Many sweaters and jackets were left around the school. We will be taking all of them to a thrift store or giving them away this Friday. If you are missing any PLEASE stop by our Lost and Found , your child’s classroom and the play bays before Friday to look for them before they are GONE.

6) Don’t forget Pizza and Fruit for lunch this Friday. $3 for one slice, $4 for two.

Welcome back and Happy New Year!!!

The 2011/12 Application Period is Open!

Thank you for your interest in our school. Our application period is now open.

We are accepting applications for grades Kindergarten through eighth grade. We will be accepting applications between January 1, 2011 and March 31, 2011.

Applications are accepted per a public lottery drawing in April. Check with our front office for the specific date on or after April 1st. All parents will be notified by April 30, 2011 as to their status.

Late applications, received after March 31, 2011, will be considered only after our entire lottery is
exhausted.

You must re-apply every year if your child is not accepted.

Additional Information:

Siblings of currently enrolled students are given priority. An application for siblings is still required.

Kindergarten Applicants must be 5 years of age on or before October 15, 2011.

How to Apply:
1. Fill out an application and send it in.
2. Attend a mandatory information session for enrollment. Information Sessions are scheduled
on the following dates:

January 25(Tuesday) 6:00 p.m.
February 16(Wednesday) 6:30 p.m.
March 19(Saturday) 10:00 a.m.

Quick Information about Innovations Academy:

Current Enrollment: 253
Programs: 5 day attendance, 3 day attendance and 2 day attendance
Teaching Methodology: Student Centered Project Based Learning, Differentiated Instruction, and our Explorations Program.
Grade Levels: K-8th grade
Academic Year Type: Traditional
Student Teacher Ratio: Maximum 25:1
Before/After School Care Available: Yes, for a fee, from 7:00 a.m.- 6:00 p.m.
Cost: FREE -- We're a public charter school.

Weekly Update

Good Evening, Innovations Community!

1)The Holiday break is coming and I would like to encourage you to find a good read aloud book and set the goal of reading every day aloud to your children. Hearing stories read aloud is important for all age levels, including our eighth graders. Don’t let your children miss out.

2) This is the last week for DeeDee’s class to accept non-perishable food donations for Feeding America-San Diego. Contribute to their service learning project by bringing in a non perishable food.

3) Did you know that tomorrow, Monday, Dec 13th, there will be a Groupon for Donorschoose.org. For $10, you can give $25 worth of donations. If you do groupons, we would appreciate the donation. We currently have at least one teacher with a donorschoose request.

See his request here:
http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/proposal.html?id=447739&verify=1256076429

4) Monday is our fundraising night at Fresh and Easy. Staff from Innovations will be bagging groceries. Stop in and visit them. Do your grocery shopping for the week tomorrow at Fresh and Easy in North Park.

5) Monday is busy. Our December board meeting is held at 6:30 upstairs in Tony’s room.

4) This Friday is Pizza Friday. $3 for one slice and $4 for two slices. This includes fruit and water. Support our 8th grade and get a nice hot lunch.

Fresh & Easy Fundraiser

Monday evening December 13th is IA Night at the "Fresh & Easy" Grocery store at 32nd and University--It's a beautiful brand new store. From 4 - 8 pm, IA is hosting shoppers at the store. We are asking all families to come and shop on Dec 13th from 4 - 8 pm as IA gets 5% of the total sales generated during this time frame. Ask your friends and neighbors to shop at this time as well-- it's all money for our school! When you come to shop, make sure you check in with our parent volunteers as we will offer a party to the class with the most participation in this event.

We need parent volunteers for the night to help greet, bag groceries and hand out free samples. We have 20 one hour shifts available. Please call Michelle Anderson at 951-541-4664 or Tami Hermann at 619-246-4395 and let us know when you can help, or email Michelle at michelle@innovationsacademy.org. Kids are welcome to work along side their parents. This is a great way to meet other families from IA.

Thanks for helping. See you Monday evening as we shop to raise money for IA!

Explorations Program

The Explorations Edition of Highlights is here! Learn all about our Explorations Program, just one part of what makes IA stand out.

If you know of any businesses that would like to sponsor the program and make a year end donation please see our Facebook Causes page!

Changing Education Paradigms

Here's a great video from the RSA where Sir Ken Robinson talks about Changing Education Paradigms.

What are your thoughts on this video?