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In This Issue
Message from the Principal
Earn $500 Now
Article Headline
School Supplies
Student and Family Handbook
Student Farecards
Advisory Classes
Meet Lanette Bacchus
Word of the Week
Quick Links
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Coming up at IDEA:

 

September 16: Professional development (NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS)

September 16: Back to school night

October 9: Family conferences

October 14: Columbus Day (NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS)

October 16: PSAT for grades 10 & 11/ SAT for grade 12

October 22 & 23: Interim testing

October 22: School pictures

October 26: ACT for grades 11 & 12


   


Welcome Back to School: Message from the Principal

 

Welcome to the 2013-2014 school year! I hope you had a great summer and that students and their families are ready to return to the business of learning. Our dedicated staff has been working hard to prepare for another amazing school year, building on the success and accomplishments of last year.  

 

This will be my first year as principal of IDEA, and I am thrilled at the opportunity to work together with you to help our students not only reach, but exceed their educational goals. I am a lifelong educator inspired by a steadfast commitment to students and families, a love of learning, and the ability to solve problems. I have been a classroom teacher and a dean, and I am excited about my new role as principal. I am eager to foster and maintain lasting relationships with every member of the IDEA community. Please introduce yourself to me in the days and weeks ahead and know that you can always contact me at [email protected] or 202-399-4750 if you want to talk about your student.

 

The IDEA team is proud to welcome several new additions to our staff:

  • Ms. Lannette Bacchus, Director of Academics
  • Mr. Joseph Green, Director of Development
  • Ms. Germaine Smith, Special Education Lead Teacher
  • Ms. Katherine Sun, Special Education Math Teacher
  • Ms. Christina Cook, English Teacher and Library Manager
  • Mr. Jonas Minino, Spanish Teacher
  • Ms. Brandie Crump, Math Teacher
  • Mr. Sharif Talib, Math Teacher
  • Ms. Charlet Allen, Administrative Assistant
>>READ MORE>>
Earn $500 When You Refer a New Student to IDEA!

IDEA still has a few seats available for new students. When current students refer a new student to IDEA during September and that new student enrolls, the current student will receive $500. Newly enrolled students will receive $75 toward the purchase of IDEA school uniforms. Our current students are our best ambassadors to the community. Recruit your friends, family members, neighbors, or anyone you know who values a great education and wants to join our community.
Come to Back to School Night September 16 from 6-8pm

We are excited to invite parents, families, and friends to visit IDEA PCS on September 16 from 6-8 pm for our Back to School Night. This is a wonderful opportunity for families to tour the school, meet teachers and administrators, and to see firsthand what makes IDEA a unique school with a great deal to offer Washington, DC high school students.  

Building a strong school-to-home connection is important to us and we encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity to see the school your child attends every day. Throughout the night, you will hear from all of our dedicated staff about how IDEA graduates are prepared to pursue the path of their dreams, whether that's college, a career in technology, the military, or some combination of those.

Future IDEA families: IDEA is still enrolling students, so if you are interested in finding out more about what the school has to offer your high school student, Back to School Night is the perfect time for you to learn more about the school!

 

School Supply Lists Available on IDEA website

It's important for students to come to class prepared to learn every day, which includes having the right tools to do their work. If you haven't already, buy your school supplies now! You can download lists by grade level on IDEA's website at http://www.ideapcs.org/for-students-families/supplies.  

 

Read Your Student and Family Handbook to Get Locker

Our newly updated IDEA Student and Family Handbook tells you everything you need to know about policies and procedures at IDEA. Students must review the handbook, sign the agreement at the end, and return it to school to receive a locker assignment. Students will receive printed copies of the handbook [WHEN?]. Or you can download a copy here.
 
Apply Now for Student Metrocards to Receive Discount; RIDE FREE ON METROBUS!

IDEA students who take Metro to school are eligible to receive discounted farecards from WMATA. The DC Department of Transportation has created a new program that enables any student participating in the School Transit Subsidy Program to RIDE FREE ON METROBUS between the hours of 5:30am to 9am and 2pm to 8pm on weekdays only. To be eligible, students must show their DC One Card or Student Travel Card to the bus driver. Later this fall, charter school students will transition from the Student Travel Card to the DC One Card only.  

 

Here's what to do:

  1. Obtain an application from the IDEA main office or download the student metro card application here.
  2. Complete the application.
  3. Submit the completed application to the IDEA main office. IDEA staff will process it for you.
  4. IDEA will distribute the Student Travel Card when it arrives.
  5. Use the Student Travel Card to ride the bus for free. OR 
  6. Take the Student Travel card to the Metro Center or Anacostia station to purchase the discounted farecard, which costs $30 per month. Students must purchase new farecards each month.

You can learn more about WMATA's student farecard program here.  

 

The Deanwood Metro station is on the orange line, located two blocks from the school. The bus route that comes nearest to the school is U4 and drops students off half a block from the school.

 

Advisory Periods Prepare Students for School and Life

IDEA has restructured our advisory period this year, transforming advisory into a graded class centered around "family" teams that will help students learn what they need to do to succeed in school and after graduation.

 

Each grade level will focus on skills and topics specific to the grades. Ninth and 10th grade advisories will focus on intervention for English and math, social skills, school success skills, and study skills. Eleventh and 12th grade advisories will focus on preparing for the PSAT, SAT, and ACT. These students will take test prep classes during their advisory periods and plan for their futures after high school. Seniors will work on applying to college and finding financial aid and scholarships.

 

All students will engage in community service--a graduation requirement at IDEA-and may receive help finding or succeeding in volunteer opportunities through their advisories.

 

>>READ MORE>>

 

Meet Lanette Bacchus, IDEA's New Director of Academics

 

Ms. Bacchus is new to IDEA this year as our director of academics. A Deanwood resident, she is responsible for IDEA's curriculum, professional development, and assessments. Learn about her background and educational philosophy and talk to her anytime you have questions about what and how IDEA is teaching our students. Contact her at [email protected] or 202-399-4750 ext. 212.

 

What's New at IDEA This Year

This year we are shifting our curriculum to think about subjects beyond knowledge to application. Instead of just getting information, students are engaging in more of a process. They are internalizing and questioning what they're learning. We are teaching them to examine how what they're learning connects to their everyday lives, and how to evaluate their own thinking and abilities.

 

At IDEA we are helping students move from basic to advanced. For example, traditionally students in a math class might have received a worksheet with numbers and would be asked to solve an equation. Now we will present a problem and ask, 'how do you figure this out without me telling you all the numbers?' We are taking thinking to a higher level that's required by the real world, where you don't always get all the information. You have to know how to find and use resources.

 

Our faculty is also emphasizing reading and literacy across every subject, especially in science and social studies, for which the Common Core State Standards (national standards that IDEA are now following) http://www.corestandards.org/ has requirements. Reading in science and social studies is informational texts, which sometimes students struggle with, so we use a lot of strategies to help them comprehend what they're reading and know how to write about it.

 

Academic Supports Available at IDEA

Students at IDEA will be able to access Saturday academies and tutoring this year whenever they need extra help. Students can refer themselves for academic support, or their parents or teachers can request that they receive extra help.

 

Saturday academies will be help Saturdays from 8am to 11am. Breakfast will be provided at 8am and a snack will be provided during a mid-morning break. Students may participate in Saturday academies for a quarter, a semester, or all year, depending on teachers' recommendations.

 

Tutoring is available on an as-needed basis from 4pm to 4:30 on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, or Fridays.

 

>>READ MORE>>
Can You Define Diffident, Plaudits, or Scintillate? Word of the Week Expands Vocabulary and Offers Extra Credit

Every Monday of the school year, a new vocabulary word appears on the home page of IDEA's website (scroll down and look at the right-hand column) and our Facebook page. If you write a sentence in a Facebook comment that correctly uses the word, or write a sentence that correctly uses the word and turn it in to your English teacher, you will receive extra credit! Ask your English teacher for details. How can you say no to extra credit? Enrich your vocabulary by learning all the previous words of the week, available here.