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September 18, 2020

Sep 18, 2020Newsletter

Live Lessons and MAP testing and apple orchards – OH MY! Session 2 is off to a great start! We loved seeing everyone again in Live Lessons and were extra grateful for the additional time many of your children spent in live Zoom meetings for MAP testing. We ran into some unforeseen tech issues with testing and for that, we wanted to say thank you for your patience and understanding as we did our very best to work through those challenges. After a busy start to the week, it was a refreshing welcome to see so many of you at our Crane Orchard apple-picking Synergy Session yesterday! If you missed it, please see the link below if you’d like to join us on Thursday, October 8 between 10AM and noon. We’d love to see you there. 🍎

The ‘iCademy Global Blog’ is a weekly communication of important reminders, announcements, and upcoming events that will be posted at the close of each week.

Need-to-Know Information:

  • Parent-Student-Mentor Conferences: Conferences are scheduled for NEXT WEEK. Most grade levels will be conducting meetings on Wednesday, September 23 and Thursday, September 24. If your child’s mentor has times available to meet on more or different days, that will be communicated with you by your teacher’s mentor. Check for conference sign-ups from your child’s mentor – these will be sent via email.

     

  • Outdoor Discovery Center Community Connection Class: This optional class kicked-off this Tuesday for kindergarten through 5th grade students! It was a great time for students to disconnect from their computers, meet new friends, go on an awesome hike, and even pet a snake! We’re excited for this opportunity for these students to learn at the ODC each Tuesday afternoon this semester!

  • Engagement & Attendance: In a traditional brick and mortar school when students show up for the day or for a class, the teacher takes attendance and that is submitted to the State of Michigan. At a virtual school like iCademy Global, three factors play a role in engagement and attendance.  Two-way communication, participation in Live Lessons/check-in with Mentors and adequate time and progress lets us know that you are engaged in your school work and are counted as being present at iCademy Global.  When a student is not meeting the expectations, they are flagged as being absent.  

     

  • Count Days for 2020-2021: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7th & WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10th. It is very important that your child joins for Live Lessons and makes progress in their school work on those days. Checking in on this day is a state requirement and how we receive the state funding for your child. All students must log into EVERY class on that day for a minimum of 3 minutes each.  (For a little bit of added fun to the day, our elementary, middle school, and high school will have some drawings to win some pretty cool PRIZES!)

     

  • Truancy: In order to meet the state expectation of 1098 hours engaged in coursework each year, it is required that iCademy Global students spend an average of 420 minutes per day doing school work – Monday through Friday. In many cases, absences from school are unavoidable due to health problems or other circumstances. However, chronic absenteeism can have a drastic impact on your child’s education. Children chronically absent in kindergarten and first grade are much less likely to learn to read by the end of third grade. By sixth grade, chronic absence is a proven early warning sign of drop-out. By ninth grade, good attendance can predict graduation even better than eighth grade test scores.  

    When we see that a student is not completing his/her coursework within the coursework and/or participating in required Live Lessons, not attending mentor meetings or lacking in two-way communication, parent/guardian will be contacted via an attendance letter indicating multiple absences and requesting a virtual meeting to create a personalized Learning Plan. Parents are a huge player in the success of the students as well.  Parents will be required to walk along side of the student for accountability purposes to ensure success.  If a student does not adhere to the personalized Learning Plan, the Learning Team will begin the Truancy process which may result as a formal file to Truancy through the Ottawa Area Intermediate School District. 

  • LUNCH (AND NOW BREAKFAST, TOO!) PICK UP OPPORTUNITY – ORDERING & PICK UP DAY: If you are in need of lunches for your K-12th grade student, you may sign up each week for FREE! NEW UPDATE: Breakfast is now included for all students in addition to lunches – 5 breakfasts and 5 lunches – so exciting!

    * Each week includes: fruits, vegetables, proteins, and dairy for 5 days for each student registered. Milk will be included as well.

1. Sign up no later than 1:30pm on SUNDAY each week. Please sign up for MONDAY, SEPT. 21 PICK-UP HERE.

2. Because of the exciting new USDA lunch programming, your child’s lunch account will not be charged. IMPORTANT NOTE: Please help us prevent waste by making sure you pick up your order if you sign up for it. If there are two times you do not pick up your order, we will be unable to continue to provide the service for you.

3. Arrive at the iCademy door in the east lot (see map below) between 1:30-1:45 pm on MONDAY.

4. Stay in your car and your lunches will be delivered to you.

5. Repeat each week you wish.

6. Questions? Please contact Nancy at nmichaels@hollandchristian.org. 

  • Feeding America: Mark your calendar and share these dates with friends and neighbors! Feeding America Mobile Food Distribution takes place at Zeeland Public Roosevelt School’s west parking lot (175 W. Roosevelt Ave., Zeeland, MI 49464). This is a drive-thru, no contact distribution. All are welcome. No income guidelines or proof of residency required.  Event runs 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm on October 13, November 17, December 8 and January 12, 2021.

  • NOT LOCAL? LOOKING FOR FREE MEALS FOR YOUR CHILD(REN)?

    • Contact your local ISD: If you are out of range, but would like to take advantage of the week’s worth of free meals for your children, please connect with your local Intermediate School District for information on receiving free meals. As long as your local ISD has a virtual school program, you can qualify for free meals. 

    • Meet UP and Eat UP: This is another incredible program (sponsored by the United Way) providing meals for families throughout Michigan. Please view the interactive map HERE for more information on food distribution near you.

  • K-12 Synergy Session on Thursday, October 8 @ Crane’s Apple Orchard in Fennville, MI from 10AM-noon! We has such a large turnout for apple-picking that we wanted to offer one more date for gathering together to pick apples with other iCademy families!  We ask that you please SIGN-UP HERE so we know who to plan for. Details for the event are located in the sign-up. Hope to see many of you there! 

Reminders:

  • HELP NEEDED FROM ALL FAMILIES, ASAP, PLEASE!! The recently proposed, Return to Learn Budget is scheduled to affect iCademy students. This time last year our enrollment was 204 students. We are currently at 430. This legislation threatens to eliminate funding for the 226 additional students we have enrolled this year. Funding would, instead, be awarded to the school a student attended last year. 

    While we hope this legislation will be amended, there is no guarantee of that happening. We need your help as a supporter of our school! Please let our legislators hear your voice on this issue. It is super quick to read more and contact our legislators HERE. Thank you in advance for your support of our students at iCademy Global!

  • Got Questions? We’ve got answers! Whenever you have questions, big or small, we are here to answer them! Your first point of contact for all questions is your child’s MENTOR. Can’t remember who that is? When your child is logged-in to their Student Portal (https://portal.icademyglobal.org) with their Microsoft 365 credentials, their Student Dashboard has their mentor’s contact information. The quickest way to reach your child’s mentor is for the student to connect with them in Zoom. From there, they can direct you to the right place if they personally can’t answer your questions.

  • iCademy Annual Asbestos Notification: Please click this link to view this annual notification.

  • Email List: Do you have another family member you would like added to our email list for school-wide communication? If so, please contact Ms. Leisa Lobbezoo at leisa.lobbezoo@icademyglobal.org to be added.

  • Follow Us on Facebook & Instagram! We love to keep you connected to the iCademy community on our Facebook & Instagram pages. If you haven’t already done so, follow us today! @icademyvirtual (FB), @icademyelementary (FB), @icademyvirtual (IG), @icademyelementary (IG). You can even request to join the iCademy Global Parents Facebook page!

Upcoming Events:

  • Wednesday, September 23 & Thursday, September 24: Conferences

  • Thursday, October 8: K-12 Synergy Session – Crane’s Apple Orchard (Part 2!)

Important iCademy Resources:

Enjoy the beautiful outdoors this weekend!

– iCademy Global Staff