Ithaca City School District -

This year's Budget Vote and School Board Election will be held on Tuesday, May 21. Polls will be open from 12 noon until 9 p.m. To check your polling location and learn more about early mail and absentee ballots, visit ithacacityschools.org/vote!

On March 28, DeWitt Middle School held their talent show, "A Night Under the Stars". Talent shows encourage self-expression and self-motivation, build and develop self-confidence, and can play an important role in children's development. Way to go, performers! Thank you to our community for supporting them.

Last week, students at LACS and DeWitt Middle School shared part of their day with Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers, and Melinda Person, President of New York State United Teachers. The day fostered collaboration and celebration of the shared commitment to educational excellence and served to highlight the way our educators incorporate hands-on, real-life skills like cooking, interpersonal relationship-building, and student self-care into the curriculum. Read more about it here: https://www.ithacacityschools.org/article/1501987

✨ 🎥The second video in a series of superintendent interviews, "Sitting Down with Dr. Brown," is out now! Led by Ithaca High School 9th grader Gracelynn (Gracie) Lomax. 🎥✨ Gracie asks Dr. Brown about what it means to have a community of students look up to him, how he defines community, how he supports the cultivation of safe spaces for students and staff, and more. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQqgsJGoSvw

On February 7, kindergarteners at Fall Creek were thrilled to welcome their families into their classrooms to showcase all they are learning!

On January 26, Caroline Elementary students and families gathered in the cafeteria to listen to fourth graders present projects on the Haudenosaunee and to hear fifth graders sing in the chorus!

New ICSD story on Inclusive Learning! 🌟 Read about it here: https://www.ithacacityschools.org/article/1434018 “In pursuit of a more effective and inclusive approach to English Language Arts (ELA) instruction, second-grade teachers Hannah Zimar and Alex Graves at Fall Creek Elementary School have embraced the Integrated Co-Teaching (ICT) model.”

Enfield Elementary students recently completed a challenge to fill their community jar with pompoms, which earned them a roller skating party! 🛼🛼 Students were awarded a pompom when they demonstrated that they were taking care of themselves, taking care of each other, or taking care of the Enfield community as a whole 💙

On December 21, our Scholar Athlete Council sponsored the first-ever Women in Sports Panel in Kulp Auditorium! 12 ICSD grads shared their experiences as scholar-athletes at the collegiate level with current ICSD female-identifying athletes. It was an impactful experience for all who attended! Thank you to all of our alumni who participated in this event. We love it when our ICSD family comes home.

On December 19, Ithaca High School choirs performed in their winter concert! ☃️

At Caroline Elementary, the monthly all-school assembly this December featured the 6-Mile Dancers and a kindergarten play about our emotions! 🎶✨

Welcome back, ICSD! We hope you had a restorative winter recess and we’re so happy to see everyone again ❤️ Starting off 2024 with some great shots from the December 13 IHS Winter Orchestra concert 🎶 🎻

Don’t forget! Winter Recess begins tomorrow, December 22, and lasts through January 2. Wishing our ICSD community a safe and enjoyable break! ❄️

Steve Williams, Farm-to-Table teacher at DeWitt Middle School, is doing incredible work! 🚜 Read our newest article on how DeWitt’s students are growing food and growing community through local collaborations, community service, and a foundation in Black and Indigenous history, culture, and cuisine: https://www.ithacacityschools.org/article/1385493

Today’s spotlight shines on Christine Barley from Cayuga Heights Elementary! 💛 Christine enjoys spending time with her family, hiking, gardening, reading, and following her favorite sports teams. She grew up on a small farm in rural Central New York and she had many farm chores before school (including milking the cows!) Christine is inspired by young people - they demonstrate the capacity to love, learn and grow! Ms. Grainger, CHES principal, said, “Chris is a caring and driven life-long learner and educator. She has a unique ability to get to know each student and their families to best support their academic, social, and emotional growth.”

Ithaca High School’s Winter Band Concert drew crowds in from the cold last week! ❄️The performance featured student chamber ensembles, the IHS Concert Band, and the IHS Wind Ensemble! 🎶

Cornell Performing & Media Arts commissioned a group of Ithaca High School’s emerging artists, Creatives of Color, to design and create a 16' x 8' hip-hop/graffiti-related mural to serve as the backdrop of a performance by legendary B-Girl Ana "Rockafella" Garcia and DJ Ha-MEEN; the performance was part of a series called “The Wild Gather: On the Floor, Off the Screen, and Through the Body.” The artwork was completed with the assistance of several art classes with leadership from the Creatives of Color members. On Friday, December 1, the mural was unveiled at a Freestyle Cypher dance event at the Flex Theatre, followed by an artist talk led by Ana “Rockafella” Garcia and Ben Ortiz, curator of the Cornell Hip Hop Collection. Congratulations IHS student artists on this fantastic collaboration and achievement, and thank you, Cornell Performing & Media Arts!

Reminder: Starting TOMORROW, December 1, all ICSD students will receive free breakfast and lunch for the remainder of the school year! Learn more here: https://www.ithacacityschools.org/article/1337258

#LearningForwardICSD in action! South Hill Elementary is empowering students to be partners and leaders in their school with a newly created student council. Here are a few of the campaign signs that can be found in the halls of the school! #teamicsd

Did you check out our November e-Insider? Find the link here! https://mailchi.mp/icsd/icsd-e-insider-november-2023-2