On April 25, six of our International Academy students joined Ms. Sieverding and Mr. Waddell for a trip to New York City to participate in the Internationals Network for Public Schools (INPS) Math Olympiad. They got to spend Thursday night in Manhattan, then went to Claremont International School in the Bronx on Friday to participate in the Network wide mathematics contest. Our students came in 4th out 8 places in the first round, an impressive achievement for our first time attending. Next year, we'll be more prepared for the quick-action buzzer round! Congratulations to the winning team from Health Sciences High School - a brand new INPS school that has only been open for one year!
On Thursday, May 1st, the International Academy Parent Association met at John Adams Elementary School to learn about requirements for student graduation. It can be quite confusing for families new to Virginia, let alone the United States, to navigate the many required courses and exams students need to pass in order to earn their high school diploma from TC Williams High School. Thankfully, we have excellent school counselors in the International Academy to guide our students and their families through this process. Thank you Ms. Merino, Ms. Mendoza, and Ms. Mateos-Bendinelli!
This week, students in the biology/ecology classes of the International Academy had the opportunity to interview members of the TC Garden Club. The TC Garden Club is sponsored by Patrick Earle, science teacher at TC Williams (outside of the International Academy). Mr. Earle and the Garden Club members meet every Wednesday to care for the TC Discovery Garden just a few minutes' walk from the TC Williams campus. The Discovery Garden and surrounding community gardens are all organic, using compost made from TC Williams kitchen scraps as a main source of nutrients for the plants. Students in the biology/ecology classes have spent much of the school year learning about organic versus industrial farming. Students have learned how the use of excess chemical fertilizers can lead to dead zones in the Chesapeake Bay, how pesticide use can cause unintended health effects in both people and animals, and that there are both pros and cons to growing genetically modified organisms. The students in the I.A. were able to ask the TC Garden Club members about their experiences maintaining an organic garden to hear a first-person perspective on what organic farming may be like.
The TC Zumba Club has been a big hit with our International Academy students and staff. The club began this year when science teacher, Leigh Arscott, started teaching a Zumba class Thursdays after school that is free to all staff and students. Of course, the coolest people in the school are the ones that attend regularly, so that means International Academy students and teachers (like Ms. Janiga, Mr. Rogstad, Ms. Beers, Mr. Munson, and Ms. Krogh) are exercising and partying together every Thursday after school at Zumba! Check out some of these pictures from last week's class.
Hey, students! As you all know, we are taking a BIG field trip on Friday, April 25 for our "Community Stewardship Day". Students will go in groups to various parks around the city to participate in activities such as invasive plant removal, native tree planting, and litter clean-up and sorting. Students will be working with expert volunteers from our community partner groups: the City of Alexandria Department of Recreation, Parks, and Cultural Activities, The National Park Service, The Alexandria Seaport Foundation, Friends of Dyke Marsh, Earth Sangha, and INOVA hospital.
All students are required to wear long-sleeve shirts to protect them from poison ivy, and we encourage you to spend just $5.00 to buy our official International Academy Community Stewardship Day long-sleeved, gray T-shirt from your science teacher. The shirts have our International Academy logo on the front, and say "Community Stewardship Day" on the back. It will be SO GREAT to see every student and teacher wearing these shirts on April 25. If you want to be super generous, you can donate extra money. Some students and teachers are giving $10, $15, or $20 to help pay for T-shirts for those students who may not be able to afford one. BUY YOUR SHIRT, TODAY! It's pretty amazing how quickly time flies. Already, we are in the third quarter of our second year here at the International Academy. We started our year strong with some great learning experiences, especially in the biology/ecology classes with Ms. Arscott, Mr. Parker, Ms. Harvey, and Ms. Molina. In the fall, our classes went outside several times to the nearby Chinquapin Trail to measure water quality of Taylor Run and collect data on the various plant species observed. We wanted to know, how do we affect our local waterways, and how do they affect us? In October, thirty lucky students got to take a field trip to Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve along the Potomac River. There, the students were led on nature walks by volunteers of Friends of Dyke Marsh and on row boat tours of the the Marsh by employees and volunteers of the Alexandria Seaport Foundation to collect water quality data. When they returned from their tours, students were able to help National Park Service personnel re-pot some native plant seedlings to be planted in the park later when they've grown. Also in October, our new teachers had the opportunity to visit more INPS schools in New York City. We are so fortunate to have these times to collaborate with our peers at Flushing International, Prospect Heights, and Brooklyn International. In this picture, you can see Mr. Hammond, Ms. Harvey, and Ms. Casey enjoying an evening in Manhattan. On October 16, the Builders Team had a special treat. Each of the Builders students got to participate in three events: a special presentation by fellow recent immigrants attending college at George Mason University, a lesson on the basics of American Football by Mr. Hammond, and a series of fun relay races with Mr. Munson and Mr. Fontenot. On November 20, Mr. Wynne and Mr. Munson helped organize a student versus staff soccer game. There must have been 100 students there, and they did a great job. The staff got creamed! In January, students in the biology/ecology classes took some time to plant native aquatic plant seedlings. The students will grow these in the classroom for the National Park Service, and then on April 25, plant similar native aquatic plant species near the Potomac River at Roaches Run Waterfowl Sanctuary.
Before we can tell you everything that's new and exciting in the International Academy right now, we want to share some of our favorite moments from our very first school year together from September 2012 to June 2013. Our first team of teachers and our first class of freshmen had some great times and great experiences. Here is a picture of Ms. Deady, Ms. Janiga, and Mr. Munson on the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City. Almost all of our teachers got to visit other INPS (Internationals Network for Public Schools) Schools in New York for professional development. The teachers were able to observe classes in INPS schools that have been open for ten years or more, which was a great learning experience. One thing we learned: we're doing a pretty good job, ourselves! In the winter, all of our students got to travel to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. after learning about the Holocaust while reading "Number the Stars" in their English classes with Ms. Jackson and Ms. Block. It was a moving experience for everyone, and one we will not forget anytime soon. In the spring, we all traveled back to Washington, D.C. for another field trip - this time to the National Museum of Natural History. On this field trip, students were able to see examples of evidence for evolution as they learned about in their biology classes with Ms. Arscott and Mr. Parker. In the spring, some students went with Ms. Arscott and Ms. Beers to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. on a Saturday - just for fun! It was a beautiful day, and for some of the students, the metro ride alone was a novel experience! At the end of the year, we celebrated with an awards ceremony and dance party to which all of our students and their families were invited. It was so great to see some of our students recognized for their hard work. We also are building a pretty solid reputation as the most vivacious dancers in the school - that is true for both staff and students, by the way! Lest we forget, we also spent some time in our actual classrooms! Here are just a few pictures to show the kinds of work we did last year.
Welcome, and it's a pleasure to meet you! We are a year and a half old here at the International Academy, so it's about time we got a website! What do you think about our site? Is there any information you'd like to learn about us here that you couldn't find? Leave a comment or email [email protected] to provide that helpful feedback. This website is for YOU to learn about us.
Thank you! Leigh Arscott |