Upper School Families,
As we reflect on where we have been as an organization and look to our future, we want to hear from you on how things are going and identify where our opportunities for growth are in the coming year. IC Imagine has partnered with educational experts, Leaders Building Leaders (LBL), to assist in launching a series of stakeholder (parent, staff, and high school student) surveys. The goal of these surveys is to establish a current reality of our school’s success so we can create a long term goal of improvement. As of now, we have a 7% response rate. Our goal is for a minimum of 75% of our parents to complete this survey, which should not take more than 10 minutes of your time, and the results will be invaluable to us. See the parent survey below.
Parent Survey- CLICK HERE This survey will close on Wednesday, September 27.
All students in 10th grade will be taking either the PreACT or the NC CCRAA on Wednesday 10.25. This test will take place on campus starting at 8:15am. Parents and students will receive more details about this after break but those impacted should mark your calendars.
Save the date for the Fall Festival on October 20th, from 5-7pm. This is an event for the whole IC Imagine community. We still need around 100 volunteers. If we don’t have volunteers this event cannot happen. Click here to learn more.
A few friendly reminders:
All Health Assessment Forms, Birth Certificates, and updated Immunization Records(K,7,12) need to be turned in by October 15th.
If you have any questions about transportation, early dismissal or pick up please contact the front desk or student services at studentservices@icimagine.org
To report an absence or any questions about attendance please email attendance@icimagine.org
ELA Department Highlight:
Mrs. Ingram:
English 2 is finishing up their memoir unit and starting their summative.
AP Lit has finished their 1st unit on short fiction and beginning a poetry unit.
English 111 is outlining their personal narrative "How I See the World" and will begin their 1st draft next week
Mr. Impeduglia
English IV students have begun the first task of their Senior Project: embarking on a journey of Career Exploration! Each student has chosen a career of interest and meticulously collected research on that field. The unit will culminate in an essay that synthesizes their findings and offers a reflection on what they have personally learned from this experience. From the future actors, lawyers, engineers, and hair stylists, it is exciting to see students and weigh the pros and cons of every available opportunity.
Speech and Debate I students have been rigorously honing the art (and science) of public speaking. They have developed and delivered presentations on a range of topics beginning with "Overcoming Fear in Public Speaking" and moving on to approved topics of their choice. Some of my favorite informative speeches from this unit were on Invisible Disabilities, Giraffes, ADHD, and Weight Lifting. Next, they will be learning and practicing persuasive speeches, so be extra careful if anyone tries to sell you a bridge in the next few weeks!
English II students have been diving into an all-too-familiar topic for teenagers: Rebellion. After unraveling a few fictional mysteries to start the year, students consulted writer Lucy Tan, psychologist Dr. Carl Pickhardt, and poet Khalil Gibran to broach the question "what does it truly mean to grow up?". This year's Sophomore class has done an outstanding job connecting each text to their own experience as they practice essay writing in a relevant context.
Mr. Hannah:
English 2 Honors
We started off the year by digging into Mesopotamia and Sumeria to analyze the epic poem, Gilgamesh. Through their analysis, students created elegies with the use of imagery and also wrote a CERT paragraph around a theme of their choice from the work. Students then learned background about the Mayan culture before reading a story from the Popol Vuh called "The Wooden People." We were able to then compare the flood stories from both texts and see what those different cultures valued in terms of religion and everyday life. The sophomores have done an amazing job thus far digging into the content. We are also dedicating fifteen minutes to grammar and vocabulary instruction during the class period. On Wednesdays, students read a novel of their choice and then write in their choice journals. We hope to continue to create readers at IC Imagine. Moving forward, we will begin our House of Memories Project and begin to focus on Night by Elie Wiesel.
English 1
Students have been great in their first few weeks of high school. Our first unit covers short stories and how authors use particular literary elements to create a piece of literature. So far, we have focused on plot and pace in The Most Dangerous Game and point of view and characterization in The Scarlet Ibis. Students have created maps to show their understanding of the plot in the first story and will be writing their first formal CERT paragraph for the second story. On Wednesdays, students read a novel of their choice and then write in their choice journals. We hope to continue to create readers at IC Imagine. We will continue with short stories before moving onto The Odyssey, a classical epic poem.
Book Donations!
Let me take any books that you want to get rid of off of your hands. I would love for you to donate books to help build a classroom library. If you have anything, please send it with your student. Thanks in advance!
Mrs. Ski
English III:
This year in American Literature, we will be traveling through time, starting at the very beginnings of our country and ending in modern times. Through literature, our ultimate question to answer this year will be: “What is the American Dream?”
In class, we just finished our first unit on Native American literature. We read creation, trickster, monster and hero myths, wrote original myths, and made inferences about Native American culture. A class favorite was learning about the super creepy monster, the Wendigo!
We have now started our second unit: Puritan literature. Over the next weeks, our focus will be on Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible and examining the Salem witch trials!
Journalism:
Journalism is off to an amazing start! This year, our class will have two major foci: 1. To learn the essentials of print and broadcast Journalism and 2. Function like an actual newsroom. So far this year, we have been successful on both fronts. In class (1), we have learned how to find a newsworthy story, learned the essentials of interviewing, and are now working on writing leads, headlines, and hard news articles. As a newsroom (2), we have taken over the @ICI_Upper_School instagram account and have been posting daily! Check us out for the latest announcements, news, and fun out of the Upper School.
Yearbook:
Yearbook has accomplished so much already this year! Charged with creating the school’s entire book from scratch, so far this year they have learned the major components necessary to create a successful yearbook, have learned advanced photography skills, have created a very detailed theme for this year’s book (including specific fonts, colors, design elements, and feel), and have met with a professional graphic designer to finalize the cover.
Next up, students will be learning the Yearbook software program and then will begin working with their individual sections to design and create the Yearbook!
Note From our Mental Health Team:
We thank you and your family for being our valued partners as we work together to educate the children in our community. Building our social-emotional learning skills is an important goal for our school this year. Such skills are inextricably connected to student achievement, well-being, and creating thriving communities for all. Students and teachers regularly participate in discussions to better understand these concepts and to reflect on how they perceive these skills in themselves.
Over the course of this past week, we have been asking for your child to reflect on their own mindsets and approaches to learning via an online survey completed here at school. The survey content asks students to self-reflect on self awareness, self management, social awareness, supportive relationships, and well-being.
Students are given this survey at the beginning and end of each school year. Their responses provide invaluable insights into their experiences and how we can improve and adapt our school to their needs. The individual responses to these surveys will be completely confidential. As with last year, we are partnering with a third-party vendor, Panorama, to support us in administering these surveys.
Have a great Fall Break!
Upper School Principals