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?

Innovations Extended Care Info

We often get the question, "Do you offer before and after care?"

Yes! Innovations Extended Care Program is dedicated to creating a fun and creative environment that will inspire students to learn new skills, make new friends, and enjoy being a kid! For more information download our Extended Care Handbook.

A few facts about Extended Care:
1. Before care begins at 7:00am and ends at 6:00pm.
2. Student/Staff ratio of 20:1.
3. Use of Positive Behavior Management just like during the school day.
4. Reasonable pricing at $5/hr. See attached doc for pricing, drop ins are allowed. We would love to be able to offer the Innovations Extended Care program for free. If any parents would like to work on getting grants to sustain this program, please contact the Director.

Please contact Donna in the main office for more information.

Thank you to Solar!

Here is an article about the Extreme School Makeover and the help that Solar provided us with.

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Volunteering article – “The Season of Giving”

As the season of giving comes just around the corner, the spirit of giving at Solar is in full force.

On Saturday, October 9, a team of 45 Solar employees took San Diego’s Innovations Academy by storm in an “Extreme School Makeover” project, in conjunction with Volunteer San Diego’s Serve-a-thon. Volunteers transformed two empty, industrial spaces into fun and inviting playrooms by painting murals, constructing planter boxes, building walls and working on an indoor tree house.

“Charter schools are not given facilities, so we are located in a business park with no outdoor play space and are using these industrial bays as our play area,” said Christine Kuglen, Founder and Director of Innovations Academy. “It’s difficult to find the time and money to do what we want to do so that the kids feel like they have a great area to play in, so we are very appreciative for the Serve-a-thon and volunteers coming in to create a beautiful space that we wouldn’t have had otherwise.”

Pedro Ruiz, a second shift painter in the industrial coatings 149 division, brought his family in to help with his assigned project – a mural of San Diego’s skyline. “We thought it was a great opportunity to get involved and help teach our kids the value of giving back,” said Pedro.

Charter Informational Events

The first event is a Charter Candidate Forum at Gompers Preparatory Academy, Wednesday, Oct. 13^th from 6-8. All the school board candidates who are up for election will be in attendance. The event is co-sponsored by GPA and CCSA and being moderated by the League of Women Voters. Learn more about board candidates by attending this event.

The second event is the Charter Townhall Meeting being held on Monday, October 18^th at Darnall Charter School from 6:30 to 8pm. Board President Barrea and some charter leaders will discuss the budget situation and share information on Prop. J. Come learn about Prop J!

Learn about Prop J

SDUSD is proposing a temporary parcel tax that will cost home owners $98 a year and, in return for that, schools will receive $50 million each year over the next 5 years. Please learn about Prop J for yourself and tell everyone you know to do the same.

In the past 3 years, Sacramento has cut annual funding for San Diego City Schools by more than $300 million – nearly a quarter of the District’s operating budget. Innovations too has experienced cuts, last year alone we were cut and deferred by $300,000, that's 1/3 of our operating budget.

This measure will provide $50 million a year for 5 years to help offset those cuts, to relieve severe cuts in academic programs. Charter schools are guaranteed a per year a pro-rata share each year which we estimate will be about $500/student per year.

This is a local measure, passed by local voters. By law, Sacramento can NOT take this funding away.

Voter Information:

• Check your voter status at:
  http://www2.sdcounty.ca.gov/rov/eng/evoter_query.asp
• Register to vote deadline: October 18th:
  https://www.sos.ca.gov/nvrc/fedform/
• Request to Vote by Mail:
  http://www.sdcounty.ca.gov/voters/Eng/Eabsentee.shtml

API Growth

Innovations Academy is in the top schools in the county for API growth for the 2009/10 school year. See the article in Sign On San Diego (see the chart). While we have our qualms about state testing, we know that assessment is an important measure and wanted to share our improvement.

Family Meals!

Dear Parents,

Chickpeas is so grateful to be able to serve delicious and healthy lunches to your child at Innovations Academy! Our first couple of weeks have been successful due to the participation of the wonderful staff, parents and students at Innovations Academy.

First and foremost, we would like to thank you for your understanding and patience as we introduced our online ordering system. There were unforeseen technical problems and glitches that made online ordering difficult, if not impossible, for periods of time. We apologize for this frustrating experience, and want to thank you all for your patience while the Web team to which we outsource troubleshooted these problems. We are relieved that the problems are now fixed and the site is running properly. Features such as automated order confirmations via e-mail and pricing are now in proper working order.

Another improvement you will see is larger portion sizes for some of the entrees and sides. Based on your valuable feedback, we will increase the standard portion sizes for items such as the French toast and sweet potato fries. For those who desire even bigger portions, our menu allows you to order "double portions," in which you get twice the amount of food for an extra $2.50.

Chickpeas serves healthy lunches throughout San Diego

We are truly excited that you have joined us on our mission to feed growing bodies solid nutrition. We are kicking off the Fall season with many exciting plans in store for you and your children. In mid-October, we will be on campus to bring your children and staff a fun and interactive Nutrition Assembly, presented by Chickpeas owner and dynamic speaker, Julie Frans. The topics covered will include breakfast foods, snacks, drinks and general information about ingredients, and how to make healthier choices. Your child will learn how to become a "label detective," by learning which ingredients are truly healthy and beneficial, and which should be avoided or are misleading. Your child will come away empowered and enlightened about the food and choices they can make that will affect them for their entire lives! Stay tuned for the date, time and more information on the upcoming assembly.

Starting on Monday, September 20th, we will begin offering our delicious and convenient Family Dinners! Please read on for more details.

We look forward to a healthy year together!

Sincerely,
Robbie and Julie, and The Chickpeas Team
619.447.4140