ICE PAC

As reported previously in this newsletter, President-elect Trump has chosen Betsy DeVos as his pick for federal Secretary of Education. DeVos's pro-privatization, anti-public-education views have sparked growing resistance to her nomination. Just this week the Buffalo PTA wrote a letter condemning her and a Board of Education on Long Island passed a resolution--expected to be copied by other districts--opposing her confirmation. We need all hands on deck for this one. You too can speak up to protect public education. Here's what you

Read More

12th Grade Literature Panels Thanks Volunteers

It is that time of year again when our seniors complete their final graduation requirement in Literature.  You are invited to join teachers and students as panelists for student comparative literary criticism thesis presentations.  Your participation in these milestone events is one reason why they are so pivotal for our graduating students.

On Wednesday, December 14th there will be two panel sessions:

Read More

Malaysia Talent Show

In what promises to be an annual tradition, the inaugural ICE Talent Show benefitting the Malaysia trip was well-attended and a resounding success.

Drama, magic, bands, a cappella singers, gymnastics, dancing, standup comedy, lip syncing, and lots of singers … who knew the depth and range of ICE student talent?   Performers’ ability to work through some technical issues without loss of composure demonstrated the confidence our students possess.

Ashley and Tatiana did a fine job of emceeing, as did Athena and Tatiana in an impromptu song from their Subway Moon work.  Proceeds benefit the Malaysia trip.

ICE Fairway Partnership

‘Tis the season to eat!  Planning your holiday meal?  Use your discount cards!  Share with family and friends and earn money for ICE.  Consider shopping at Fairway when bringing and donating food to future ICE events!

Don’t have a discount card yet? Cards will be available at PTA Meetings as well as all other school-wide events in the coming months.

For more information see ICE-Fairway Partners.

 

That Spring Fling Thing

New to ICE?  Already embedded in ICE culture?  The Spring Fling needs you!

The Spring Fling is ICE’s premier fundraiser, but this doesn’t happen by chance and proves the adage “many hands make light work.”

This year, life has happened for many in the dedicated core who have been shepherding this event for the past several years, and most of the core has elected to step down from their role, leaving just a few veteran Spring Flingers.  It’s never too early to begin planning

Read More

Girls Who Code Club

High school Girls Who Code (GWC) will be starting up this month!  If you have a daughter who is interested and who did not sign up last week, please pass the link Girls Who Code Sign Up Form on to her

This year, Kevin from BuzzFeed returns as our instructor as we work in small groups to learn, hack, and build.  The ICE community will also be invited to check out our work at an ICE-style Maker Faire in June.  Coders at all levels are welcome!

We do not currently have a middle school Girls Who Code club, but if your 6-8th grade daughter is interested, she could complete the form too.  If we have enough interest, we may be able to start a middle school GWC club!

For those who weren’t at Town Meeting before the break, here are the links to four hysterical videos on why girls can’t/don’t/won’t code … GWC 1, GWC 2, GWC 3, GWC 4

No Barriers Travel Opportunities

As many families know, ICE is in the third year of a four-year partnership with No Barriers, a non-profit organization out of Fort Collins, CO. No Barriers is offering two exciting open enrollment expeditions in July 2017 and is accepting applications from any students within the age ranges.

These open enrollment expeditions are in addition to the Costa Rica trip that No Barriers offers exclusively to ICE 10th and 11th grade students. There are 10 full scholarships available for the ICE

Read More

ICE Parent Advocacy Committee

Important developments for public school parents on both the national and state level.

National: President-elect Trump has announced that Betsy DeVos will be his pick for federal Secretary of Education. DeVos, who donated $9.2 million to Trump's campaign, has ZERO experience in public education; she has been neither a student, a parent, a teacher, nor an administrator in public schools. What she has done, aided by her family's enormous wealth (the

Read More

David Beats Goliath in Girls' PSAL Soccer Championship

David DID beat Goliath!  ICE's impenetrable defense held off MLK for a full 96 minutes before junior Jolene Lower scored the winning golden goal off of a corner kick rebound!  The 2nd seeded Polar Bears defeated a top seeded Knights squad from MLK 1 to 0 and brought home the first ever soccer championship for ICE.  If you want to watch the game, you can catch it at PSAL Championship; the winning goal starts at 2:10!

If you’d like to see photos from the big win, you can see them at http://www.iceschoolnyc.org/sports/.  The password to see the photos is "jenniferdahlstrom" without spaces and all lowercase.

9th and 10th grade girls should keep their eyes open for JV soccer in the spring!

GO ICE!

College Courses for Juniors

Baruch & BMCC offer college credit courses free of charge to ICE students.  Students may take a class twice a week after school at Baruch/ or take a 3 hour class once a week on Saturday at BMCC.

If you missed the meeting with Jennifer Wells on Friday, and are interested in applying for a college class at Baruch or BMCC, contact her at Jwells1028@gmail.com.  Applications are due for both programs.

ICE Parent Action/Education Advocacy Committee

Just a few more days left to tell NY State Ed Department what you think about the (allegedly) revised Common Core learning standards. Public comment period ends Nov 14. Comment on individual standards or email (for more general feedback) standards@nysed.gov. Wondering what others are thinking about these revisions? Read this http://tinyurl.com/hqtxyoq! And here is a letter signed by hundreds of early childhood educators regarding the K-2 standards.

How will a Trump presidency affect public schools? Expect more funds to be diverted to vouchers and charters and maybe Ben Carson or Chris Christie (!) as Secretary of Education. More in this Politico article.

College Courses for Juniors

There will be a meeting right after school on Monday, November 7  in the College Office for Juniors interested in taking a college course next semester.  I.C.E. has partnerships with New York University, Baruch College and Borough of Manhattan Community College.  

Students taking an NYU class must be Honors/Exceeds level students.

Shout Out to Picture Day Volunteers

Our ICE Photo Day for 6, 7, 8, 10 & 11th grades was a beautiful & creative success!  Annette Tacconelli, our fearless Picture Day Coordinator thanks the amazing ICE parent & grandparent volunteers who helped with flow, smiles, coordination and fun.  YOU make ICE PTA events happen!

Gratitude and applause to:

Sandra Tharas, Sharon Ullman, Racheal Serrano, Sarah Wilson, Melisa Kehlman, Lisa Roades, Elysha Hoffman, Gbemi Rhuday-Perkovichl, Kristen Couse, Dina Rabiner

**The next round of photos (9th & 12th grade plus retakes) is scheduled for Friday, November 18th.**

Tango with Matt Grubler

Matt Grubler is starting a TANGO CLUB on Thursdays from 3-4p in room 514.  Prior to beginning his academic teaching career, Matt used to teach tango classes with Strictly Tango NYC and performed regularly at events and shows around the city.  Matt wants to share this interesting and fun dance with ICE students, and eventually, have them perform at an ICE Town Meeting.

Spring Fling Committee

Planning for ICE's premier fundraiser begins in November.  Our committee is forming to secure auction items, food donations and lots of general event activities.

Many hands make light work ... get those volunteer hours in, meet other amazing parents in the ICE community and have fun doing it!  If party planning is your forte, email Lisa at lisableyer@earthlink.net.