5 IHS Seniors Named Semifinalists in 2023 National Merit Scholarship Program
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced the names of approximately 16,000 semifinalists in the 2023 annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Among the semifinalists are 5 Ithaca High School seniors:
Wali Afridi
Divya Bhojraj
Mika Gazit
Boaz Ng
William Thomas
The semifinalists now have an opportunity to continue competing for National Merit Scholarships which will be awarded in the spring. Congratulations to these awesome scholars!
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ICSD Computer Science Collaborative Fosters Inclusive Computing Culture for All Students
The ICSD Computer Science (CS) Collaborative is comprised of a group of educators and students districtwide who gather quarterly to focus on expanding equitable, high-quality computer science learning opportunities for students, particularly those underrepresented in computing.
On December 5 (the first day of CS Education Week ), the Collaborative met in Upper York at IHS to celebrate the work created so far this year, engage in several computer science-focused stations, and share developments from throughout the district.
Northeast Elementary Library Media Specialist, Meg Hulburt, taught students to develop a 3-D Design using a program called Tinkercad . The students developed original ID badge holders to be 3-D printed and mailed back to them.
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Prioritizing Healthy Learners: School Meals Update
December 8, 2022
Dear ICSD Community,
At the start of the ‘22-’23 school year, we, unfortunately, reported the USDA’s decision to no longer provide free breakfast and lunch to all of our students. We realize that this policy (enacted during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic) was not only hugely popular, but incredibly helpful to all ICSD families. We understand that the return of this additional expense has been difficult for many, and our district does not take this lightly.
We have explored many different options that center access to healthy meals because we know that a learner's access to food directly impacts their education. First and foremost, as part of the Prohibition Against Meal Shaming , our district has, and will continue to provide a meal ...
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ICSD Honors Indigenous Excellence, Advocacy, and Empowerment Through Project-Based Learning
Native American Heritage Month serves as a crucial opportunity to acknowledge both the painful history of dispossession and violence that Indigenous Americans have experienced and the resilience and vitality of Indigenous communities past and present who persist against great odds.
ICSD campuses occupy the traditional lands of the Gayogohó:no, or Cayuga Nation . The Gayogohó:no are members of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, an alliance of six sovereign nations with a historic and contemporary presence on this land. The Confederacy precedes the establishment of the ICSD, New York State, and the United States of America.
Throughout the school year, Paul Heiland and Jill Kautz, American history teachers at Ithaca High School, focus their teaching on the recognition that ...
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IHS Robotics Team Launches a New Season
Article by Jennifer Zhao, 10th grader at Ithaca High School
Code Red Robotics of Ithaca High School has kicked off a new school year!
As part of the worldwide organization, FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), Code Red Robotics builds robots and participates in competitions. Typically, Code Red team members build a 125-pound robot during the course of two months every school year in accordance with that year’s theme and competition challenges.
This year, Code Red welcomed 49 new members, raising total membership to 85 student engineers.
Code Red Robotics is led by seven officers: Emerson Schryver, President; Annalise Thompson and Wali Afridi, Vice Presidents/Build Team Managers; Alex Elia, Community Outreach; Celene Sahoo, Treasurer; ...
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ICSD Pre-K Builds A Strong Foundation: Diverse, Inclusive, Play-Based Learning
Early childhood education is fundamental to the development of young learners. The ICSD’s Pre-K Program celebrates the joys and wonders of our diverse community of students.
The Program's approach to learning is grounded in an understanding that play is a child’s work; research is clear that play helps a child develop language, executive functions, mathematics, scientific thinking, and crucial social/emotional skills. The ICSD’s early childhood educators are committed to providing an inclusive school experience that recognizes and affirms the various backgrounds, abilities and interests of students, and recognizes that family partnerships only strengthen the Pre-K experience.
This summer, the ICSD’s Pre-K Summer ...
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Update on Busing
Dear ICSD Community,
We hope everyone is enjoying a happy, healthy start to the '22-'23 school year. As we near the end of September, we wanted to update our community regarding transportation.
The start of the school year always brings its fair share of challenges as we all adjust to new routines. Our bus drivers have a steep learning curve, as they work to learn new routes and new faces. As is the case most years, many of our bus drivers are not only new to the district, but new to Ithaca, and are learning to navigate new roads and landscapes.
Each year, we anticipate some lag time in pick-up and drop-off of our learners, and typically by the end of the first month of school, our buses are operating smoothly and on time. This school year ...
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Welcome Back, ICSD!
Dear Ithaca City School District Community,
The 2022-2023 school year is officially here! We are excited to welcome learners back into classrooms with a renewed sense of purpose and optimism. For the first time in two years, our students can return to school with increased flexibility regarding our operations around COVID-19. While we know that the pandemic continues to impact all of our lives in profound ways, we feel empowered in our ability to support everyone to achieve their full potential.
Key to this confident feeling is Learning Forward ICSD , which is the driving force behind our work as we begin the academic school year. Our three-year approach to academic and social-emotional learning helps us to center our work and provide an inclusive roadmap ...
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The ICSD Receives $420,000 Annual Grant to Fund Project Innovation: Cultivating Connections
The Ithaca City School District (ICSD) has been awarded a five-year grant at $420,000 a year to provide summer learning experiences for students. Project Innovation: Cultivating Connections serves over 325 elementary and middle school students. The program is open to all students with integrated support for those who receive special education and English as a New Language (ENL) services. Transportation, breakfast, and lunch are provided.
Project Innovation: Cultivating Connections aims to create an unparalleled learning experience for students and empowers them to be leaders in creating the programming and curriculum they need to succeed: "...the summer program centers students as partners in designing project-based units of studies where students grow their identities as scientists, ...
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Ithaca High School's Trumble Named Secondary Principal of the Year
Ithaca High School principal Jason Trumble will be named the Region 9 Secondary Principal of the Year by the School Administrators Association of New York State (SAANYS).
The prestigious award is given annually to a SAANYS member who has distinguished themselves as a middle or high school principal and who--
sets the pace, character, and quality of education for the children in their school;
is a practicing principal (of at least three years) who is committed to excellence;
has made a commitment to parents and the community; and
has shown evidence of outstanding contributions to the community and the educational process.
“Jason Trumble has demonstrated for decades ...
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IHS Senior Wins National Merit Scholarship
Simratpal (Sammy) Deol, a current senior at Ithaca High School, has been awarded a National Merit $2500 Scholarship.
Deol, who will major in biomedical sciences at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in the fall, is one of only 2,500 “Merit Scholars” named in the 2022 National Merit Scholarship Program. Not only was Deol selected to RIT's Honors Program, but he has also been accepted to the Upstate Accelerated Scholars (UAS) Program in conjunction with Upstate Medical University in Syracuse. Through UAS, Deol is guaranteed a spot at Upstate Medical University in Fall 2026, where he will pursue his medical degree.
"Since I dream of becoming a physician, I'm definitely excited to begin that ...
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Course Highlight: African America Studies at IHS
During the Fall 2021 semester, Ithaca High School ELA teacher Michael Reiff and then student-teacher Steven D’Alterio introduced a new senior elective, called African America Studies (AAS), in “hopes to toss sand in the gears of conformity.”
Guided largely by foundational texts like Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed and Gholdy Muhammad’s Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework , Reiff and D’Alterio sought to design a course that would empower students to--
deconstruct the language, histories, and narratives that surround us – which are often obscured, falsified, and whitewashed - and better understand why our individual and shared lives are the way they are;
reconstruct a different understanding of our country’s ...
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Opt-In to Receive Text Messages from the ICSD
March 21, 2022
Greetings ICSD Parents and Caregivers,
We hope this message finds you well! We are reaching out because we want to enhance our communication through text messaging. SchoolMessenger has the ability to send text messages about events, school closings, safety alerts, and more to your mobile device.
To participate in this service, please follow these three simple steps to ensure that you’re set up:
Verify that your wireless phone number is on file and listed as the first number in SchoolTool . To make changes--
contact your child's school secretary
OR
click on the 'request contact changes' icon and submit your request directly in the Parent Portal ( see screenshot below - click to enlarge ).
...
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South Hill First-Graders Call for Inclusive Band-Aids
First-grade students at South Hill Elementary successfully urged their school to supply diverse band-aids that represent and appreciate the many skin tones that exist among students and staff.
During Black Lives Matter at School week, one of Patricia Buhr’s first-graders asked her for a band-aid and remarked that the band-aid did not match their skin tone. This presented an opportunity for all of the students in Buhr’s class to discuss why the band-aids supplied at South Hill didn’t reflect the diversity that exists within the school and to consider how they could become agents of change.
The students crafted persuasive letters to the school nurse and principal advocating for diverse band-aids (see examples below) and, in doing so, helped make South Hill a more ...
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CS for Good Introduces Students to Computer Science from Equity Perspective
A new course at DeWitt Middle School is introducing all first-year students to foundational computer science (CS) concepts, with a specific focus on equity, collaboration, and the positive impacts of computing.
The course, CS for Good, is one that every 6th-grader must now take, along with DeWitt’s other “Pot of Gold” courses, which teach critical skills like paragraph writing and effective study habits. The idea for the course was pitched to ELA teacher Angela Levy -- who had previously served as a TOSA for Technology Integration for the district -- by DeWitt’s principal, Carlan Gray, and Master Educator for Inclusion, Tara Caiza. The hope was to further the CS for ALL initiative by providing an entry point to computer science for all students before they self-select ...
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Guidance on the Use of COVID-19 Antigen Test Kits
New York State has provided all school districts with antigen test kits. Each kit includes two tests. Outlined below is guidance about when an at-home COVID-19 test is recommended .
Test Yourself If...
Timing
You have any COVID-19 symptoms
Test immediately.
A negative antigen test does not rule out COVID-19 infection. To best detect infection, a negative antigen test should be repeated at least 48 hours apart (known as serial testing). Sometimes a follow-up laboratory molecular-based test (PCR) may be recommended to confirm an antigen test result.
You were exposed to someone with COVID-19
Test at least 5 days after your exposure.
If you test negative for COVID-19, ...
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