Parent Action/Education Advocacy

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Middle School Parents: The ELA state test is the first week of April. Time to make a decision about opting out (refusing the test) or opting in (taking it). If you want to opt out, please let the school know at your earliest convenience. This will allow staff to plan how many classrooms are needed for the tests, how to assign teachers (whether for regular instruction or for test monitoring). 

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Parent Action/Education Advocacy

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MIDDLE SCHOOL PARENTS: The state tests are just a few weeks away, which means it's time to decide whether you will have your child take them or refuse. Like all schools in New York State, ICE is required to administer the tests. However, unlike most other schools, our school does not include any test prep in the curriculum and encourages parents to be informed about testing issues. (Here's what families can face elsewhere.) We will not tell you "the tests are shorter" (something you may have heard if you have children at other elementary or middle schools) without also saying, "but still, on average, 45 questions longer than they were just a few years ago." We will not say the tests "inform instruction" because teachers here do not use the results. At all. 
 

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PTA Meeting/Parent Workshop

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On Wednesday, parents filled room 518, which had been fortified for the occasion with extra tables and chairs. Principal Pete Karp and science teacher Kristen Bonnici talked about the quantity and nature of student assignments, specified how the complexity of those assignments progressed as students got older, and pointed out how having teachers teach both middle school and high school grades helped them to tweak assignments and curriculum--because they have the benefit of being able to look both backwards and forwards. 

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Special PTA Meeting: March 16 at 6:00PM - Refreshments Available

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Join us

Wednesday March 16th at 6 PM

Room 518
for a very special PTA meeting featuring Pete, teachers, & you!

Refreshments available.


Our high school students don't take (most) Regents exams.

85% of last year's middle school students refused the NY State tests.

In the absence of these instruments,

How does ICE calculate evidence of student learning? 

This will not be a lecture or a Powerpoint, but a hands-on interactive session and discussion where we parents and guardians will do some of the work ourselves, under the guidance of Pete and the teachers present.  We will be looking at how this assessment evolves on the continuum between middle school and college.  


Parents from all grades welcome.

New families are especially encouraged to attend.

Parent Action/Education Advocacy

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Parents from the ICE Parent Action Committee (ICE PAC) were in the cafeteria during parent teacher conferences with test refusal letters. If you took one, but didn't sign on the spot, please consider doing so now. Signed letters can be sent with your child to the advisory teacher, who will hand it on, or given directly to Pete or Mark. If you are a middle school parent who did not get a letter, ICE PAC will be sending them out via class lists in the near future. 

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