Enjoy break this next week!
All iCademy students and staff will be on Thanksgiving Recess next week. Please take this time to disconnect and recharge. We look forward to interacting with all of you when school resumes on November 30th.
NEW INFORMATION:
BREAKFAST/LUNCH PICK UP OPPORTUNITY – Next Week at ZPS. Resumes at Homestead on Tuesday, Dec 1st!
**PLEASE NOTE ADDITIONAL CHANGES TO PICK UP TIME AND DAY.
As a reminder, FOR NEXT WEEK, ONLY, in order to participate, please contact, Zeeland Public Schools at 616-748-3128 or email foodservice@zps.org before noon on Friday, 11/ 20 to reserve your meals. If you email, please include your name, school and for how many children you are requesting meals. Pick up of meals will be at The Bridge in Downtown Zeeland between 2pm – 5pm.
Resuming for pick up on December 1st at Homestead Campus! If you are in need of breakfast/lunches for your child(ren), you may sign up each week for FREE! Children you register for this service do not need to be students at Inno or iCademy but can be siblings, ages 0-18, who also live at the home.
In order to accommodate members of our sister schools, Precademy and Innocademy as they make the shift to remote learning, it was necessary to change our previously established order deadline as well as pick up day/time. Please see below for changes and THANK you for your flexibility.
- Sign up no later than 9:00 am on FRIDAY each week. Please click to register for pickup on TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1ST between 11:15-11:30 pm.
- Questions? Please contact Stacy at hotlunch@innocademy.com.
CAMPUS VISIT BY APPOINTMENT ONLY
Beginning November 30th, if you need to visit campus in order to exchange a device or charging cord, please make an appointment with your mentor as there may not be someone on campus readily available to help you without an appointment.
ANGEL TREE
THANK YOU to everyone who has already selected an item from our Virtual Angel Tree! Just over 1/2 of the requests have been claimed. If you are able to help, please see directions, below. The bin will still available for gift drop-off outside the front doors and may be accessed without an appointment. As a reminder…
- To claim one of the 294 items from the Angel Tree request list, please click THIS LINK.
- Please bring items to Homestead Campus by Monday, December 7th.Shipping directly to Homestead Campus (8485 Homestead Drive, Zeeland, MI 49464) from Amazon is also a great option – please add family # to the notes section of your order.
- Drop Off bin located by the front doors Monday – Friday (excluding Break Week) between 8:30 am – 4:00 pm. Please do not drop items off outside of those hours. When you drop off items please let Ms. Deedee know by email deedee.defrell@icademyglobal.org or Phone/Text 616-566-1311
ICADEMY YEARBOOK – FIRST EVER EDITION!
Please see the note, below, from our recently developed iCademy Yearbook Club!
The Middle/High School Yearbook Club is creating a yearbook for the 2020-2021 school year and was curious if you would be interested in purchasing one. Because this is a new development at iCademy, we are looking for interest before we plan anything large.
Each yearbook is $10, with 20% of our profit donated to a charity that works towards Covid-19 relief and helps out for those who need it. The yearbooks will be available at the end of the school year when all of our 2020-2021 memories have been wrapped up.
This year has been a challenging but wonderful experience for students, parents, and teachers, and we are looking forward to sharing all of the memories. Even though this year has been a challenge for everyone, we would still love for you to be able to cherish the good memories that your children have had at this school!
If you are interested in an end-of-year yearbook, please submit this form (it’ll take about a minute) so we can be informed of interest. THIS IS NOT AN ORDER FORM. IF ENOUGH ARE INTERESTED, WE WILL TAKE ORDERS LATER THIS SPRING. THIS JUST LETS US KNOW IF YOU ARE INTERESTED =).
https://forms.gle/uN9CeEbZ8RTUfEqU8
Sincerely,
The iCademy Yearbook Committee
STAY SAFE
Please stay well and help others do the same by practicing the 3 Ws safety measures, below.
- WATCH… your distance to ensure 6 feet from others
- WASH… your hands and sanitize
- WEAR.. a securely fitting mask over your mouth and nose
Bittersweet Ski Passes
We are again offering Bittersweet Ski Passes for students (7 + years) and their families (extended families, too!) through Innocademy and iCademy Global.
Ski passes are a great opportunity for folks to purchase a pass ($22) that acts as a coupon throughout the season, reducing the prices on lift tickets, helmets, and rentals. The pass can be used, repeatedly, at any time throughout the ski season (please read the restrictions on timeframe and days), by the pass holder! ANYONE can be part of the ski club…student, parent, family friend.
If you are interested, please…
- Read through the attached information – INCLUDING COVID 19 policies
- Fill out the attached form for student and/or adult
- Secure in an envelope with payment (checks payable to BITTERSWEET SKI RESORT)
- Label envelope: BITTERSWEET SKI PASSES – LEISA LOBBEZOO
- Return to campus. If you would like to mail the forms and payment via US mail, that is great, too! Please use the information, below:
Leisa Lobbezoo iCademy Global, 8485 Homestead Drive, Zeeland, MI 49464
Once we receive the application and payment, there is usually about a 14 school day turn around for your information to be processed at Bittersweet and passes to be issued so please plan ahead. =)
Just in case you were wondering, “Hmmm…what does Bittersweet usually charge for lift tickets and rentals?”
WITHOUT SKI CLUB PASSES
Adult/Student
$32-$57 lift ticket
$30-$35 rentals
$10 helmet rental
WITH SKI CLUB PASSES ($22 each pass – every skier must have one to receive the discounts.)
Adult (anyone not still in high school)
$26 lift ticket
$26 Rentals
$10 helmet
Student (7 years old and older)
$22 lift ticket
$22 rentals
$10 helmet rental
+ 2 FREE Lessons or NASTAR run
OLD INFORMATION (In Case You Missed It…)
- IMPORTANT LUNCH INFORMATION: Being a virtual school it seems a silly request, but if you have not yet filled out a free/reduced lunch application at lunchapp.com, please do so prior to Thanksgiving break. You will select HOLLAND CHRISTIAN as the district as they are our food service provider.
Even if you think you may not qualify, our school receives credit for each form submitted. What is “credit”? Having our families complete these forms allows us to participate in grant opportunities and funding that directly impacts student learning and academic support. Not only that, but should there be another time where schools are not in session, if your family DOES qualify for benefits of any sort, you will be sent an EBT card in the mail to be able to assist with purchasing food for your family. If you end up qualifying and do not wish to take advantage of any benefits associated with the program, you do not have to participate. - iCademy Clubs: We are so excited to be able to offer 11 clubs to our high school and middle school students. Many of them kicked off last week and this week. Below you will find information on what clubs are being offered as well as a little description. We are also sharing a Club Calendar with you so that you can see when these awesome opportunities happen. Kids can join as many clubs as they wish! None are mandatory, but all are fun!!!
club-listingsDownload
Reminders:
- 2-1-1: This service provides access to food, health, mental health, and various other needs. For assistance, call 2-1-1 on your mobile phone or dial 877-211-5253. Texting is available by texting your zip code to 898211. To access online, go to www.call-211.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 December 8 and January 12, 2021.
- NOT LOCAL? LOOKING FOR FREE MEALS FOR YOUR FAMILY?
- 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.
- COVID-19 DASHBOARD FOR iCADEMY: iCademy Global will share updated COVID-19 data each Monday afternoon. Due to HIPPA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) and FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) laws, no personal information will be shared. When iCademy receives communication of a positive case, we will notify the county health department who traces and directly connects with those in close contact of the positive case. iCademy will notify the school family of the case and the actions taking place as necessary. https://icademyglobal.org/covid-19-dashboard/
- 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.
- 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 alongside 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. - 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.
- Master Staff Contact List: To contact any staff member, please reference this updated master staff contact list. Thank you!
- 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:
- November 21-29: Thanksgiving Break Week
- June 7th – High School Graduation
Important iCademy Resources:
- 2020-2021 iCademy Family Calendar
- 2020-2021 K5 Live Lesson Schedule
- 2020-2021 MS Live Lesson Schedule A
- 2020-2021 MS Live Lesson Schedule B
- 2020-2021 HS Live Lesson Schedule
- 2020-2021 iCademy Elementary K5 Synergy Session Calendar
- VECTOR TECH SUPPORT: Have a tech issue with your child’s computer? Please contact Vector Tech Support at 1-866-629-8005 or support@vectortechgroup.com.
- LINCOLN LEARNING LOG-IN TECH SUPPORT: 1-866-990-6637
Have a great weekend!
– iCademy Global Staff