Message tuesday

Auction packets:  If you missed the auction meeting last week, please be sure to stop by and pick up your packet at Mrs. Ohme's desk (unless, of course, you chose to opt out).  We already have some wonderful procurements coming in (the Jenn Farm in Coupeville donated a stay for the first time ever!  Thank them if you happen to know them!). 

Thank you for doing this as early as possible!  Last year parents did a fantastic job of helping us not have a log-jam of items to enter the last week.

Who will YOU invite?  Mrs. Ohme has more tickets or can sell you a complete table at a per ticket discount.   Think of someone who would be inspired by the mission of ICA and might be willing to give to see it accomplished.  

See You at the Pole!  - Tomorrow morning (Wednesday) 8:45-9:00 am our secondary students will be participating in a national event called "See You at the Pole".  Thousands of junior high and high school students across the country will be meeting at their school's flag pole before school to pray for their friends who don't know Jesus yet, for their schools and for our nation.  Beginning at 8:45 our secondary students will be doing the same on the basketball court with Mrs. Miller.  We are so thankful that we have the freedom in our country to meet and pray publicly.  What a blessing!  Parents are welcome to join us.

​Brenda

 
As parents I know you probably think regularly about the safety of your students.  Since they spend so many of their waking hours at school, school safety is important to you as it is to me and the staff here at ICA.  Most of the safety precautions we take here you would probably never know about, so I thought it would be good to let you know some of the things we have done to help make ICA a secure space.

Although we hear quite a lot about school shootings, it seems,  If you look at the numbers, it's extremely unlikely that a student would be involved in this type of event.  Though I don't necessarily agree with all the conclusions they come to, the Washington post published an article a year or so ago that might may allay some fears if numbers speak to you.  Often our emotions don't really care about the statistics, so at least let me tell you some of the safety practices we now have in place at ICA.

• Locked down building:  Although the courtyard doors are open during morning drop-off (8:30-9:45), the rest of the day everyone coming into the building goes through one door by the school office  which is locked and monitored all day by either Mrs. Ohme or another staff member.
• Emergency Response:  We have an emergency response manual which covers just about every type of emergency we could have that we read over in detail at our fall staff orientation .  We talk about what to do in each situation.including an inside intruder verses and outside intruder incident.   Also throughout the year at times we talk through tabletop scenarios at staff meetings and what our response would be.  These are often very somber sessions for our staff as we realize we could sometime be called on to do put ourselves in harm's way.  Each staff member is ready to defend our students if it ever became necessary. 
• Safety Specialist:  My husband, Dareld, has attended different security training events and regularly keeps us updated on best safety practices for schools from law enforcement agencies across the nation. 
• Student Preparation: 
  • We don't do full lock-down drills with students as it seems it would incite more anxiety than is necessary in their lives, teachers do instruct students on getting into the most sheltered place in their room - trying to make it more of a game for the younger students.  
  • We do have fire drills once a month as well as earthquake drills 2-3 times throughout the year.  We participate in the Great Washington Shakeout Drill each September
• Communication:
  • A few years ago we installed the intercom system, which allows teachers to directly communicate with my office via a button in their classroom.  I can talk back and forth immediately to all classrooms. 
  • We have about 8-10 two way radios on the playground and in offices that are monitored during the school day should any situation arise that needs immediate help (Yesterday it was a pig on the playground - which was rather amusing, but with Mrs. Schultz's expert help, we managed to get the intruder to leave the grounds. )
  • Every classroom has an emergency bucket with two-way radios which we practice using every time we have a fire and/or earthquake drill.  The bucket also includes class lists with contact phone numbers and several items that would be helpful in an emergency situation.

We don't take school safety lightly and have thoughtfully put in place practices that hopefully reduce our vulnerability.
Best of all, we pray for safety regularly as a staff, as I'm sure many of you do.  We do everything we reasonably can to be safe, and then trust that God will help us in any circumstances that may arise, and we refuse to live in fear. 

We hope to see you this evening for Back to School Night.  This is an opportunity to learn about the expectation and classroom practices that will help your child succeed at ICA this year.  Each teacher will conduct their presentation at 6:30 and again at 7:15.  This is an informational meeting.  If you would like to talk with the teacher specifically about your student, they would be glad to set up a meeting time at a later date.  Students do not attend this event.

It would be helpful to the staff if everyone could read over the ICA dress code below if you haven't recently. (taken from the family handbook page 10 and 11.)  Although we don't require daily uniforms, we do believe students' dress influences their mindset for learning.  Please help be sure your students are ready to learn every day!  

Dress and Appearance

The expectation for student's dress at ICA is "clean, neat, and modest". 

For girls that means tank tops, spaghetti strap shirts or dresses, and off-the-shoulder tops are not appropriate.  Shirts should cover both the stomach and adequately cover the chest and shoulders.  Skirts should be of a modest length that is within a few inches of the knee. 

For boys that means no tank tops, and pants and shorts must fit well enough to cover undergarments. 

For all:             Pants worn must be Chino/Khaki-type pants or jeans.  No sweat pants or athletic pants.  Girls in 3rd grade and up may wear leggings only when worn with a skirt or a dress.  Length of skirt/dress should be no shorter than half way between crotch and knees.  Shoes must be worn at all times.  (Flip-flops and sandals without straps around the back of the foot are not allowed.)  All clothing is to be without rips, tears, or holes.  Clothing with words, pictures or logos must be appropriate.  If you're not sure, it's probably not appropriate.  No billed hats are to be worn in the building.  Hoods on hoodies should not be worn while in the building.
For our Preschool students, please have them dress in comfortable clothing that fits properly.  Two complete changes of clothing, including socks, are to be kept at the school.  Any borrowed clothing must be laundered and returned to school.  Coats, hats, gloves, and warm clothing are to be worn during the cooler months.  We do go outside to play even if it is cold.

Body piercing (other than ears) and tattoos are discouraged.

Teachers and Administration will have the final discretion on a student's attire.  If a student wears something the staff deems inappropriate, a teacher or administrator may DISCREETLY make them aware of the inappropriateness of their attire.  If the student continues to wear the clothing on another day, after being asked not to, parents will be called to bring appropriate clothing.