October Newsletter

*We apologize for getting this month's newsletter out so late. The local wildfires and subsequent school closure threw us a little off schedule. A printed version of the newsletter will be in student folders by the end of the week.

Curriculum
The children are learning about Community Helpers (fire fighters, doctors, nurses, police officers etc) and Fall activities. They continue to practice friendship, sharing and using kind words (this may take all year)

During November the Pumpkin Patch will convert into a Vegetable and Fruit Market to compliment our study of foods, and nutrition. It will also lead into into our annual Thanksgiving Celebration of "Stone Soup."

Chancellor Fox Visits ICNS
Chancellor Fox visited ICNS for the first time on Monday, October 15^th. She toured our entire facility and observed the children playing in small groups. She showed great interest in the world map indicating where each of our families comes from – illustrating how international we really are. Prior to her visit, Chancellor Fox was briefed on the history, structure, and needs of ICNS and we hope that her visit helps to speed up our relocation. Our relocation group continues to meet on a weekly basis and will follow up on the Chancellor’s visit this week. We will continue to keep our parents informed as progress is made in this area. Again, we are confident that ICNS will find a wonderful location within the next few months.

Thank you to all of the families who helped with the special weekend cleanup in preparation of Chancellor Fox’s visit. The school looked beautiful.

ICNS Scholarship/Reduced Tuition Opportunity
ICNS is seeking a parent to assist Connie with administrative duties for ten hours per week in exchange for reduced tuition. Duties will include, but will not be limited to the following:

• Answering the telephone
• Checking, filtering, and responding to email messages
• Data entry
• Office Supply Management
  
• Filing
• Photocopying
• Light bookkeeping

The director and the board will interview interested parties. Please contact Connie Justice for more information.

Fall Festival
Due to the fires, we have postponed our Fall Festival until this Friday (November 2nd) from 4:30 to 7:30. The Fundraising and Social Committees have been working hard to provide all of our families with a fun-filled night to remember. We hope that you and your family will join in the fun.

Late Tuition Notice
Your child’s tuition is due on the first of each month and is considered late after the 5^th.

At our last meeting, the board voted to institute a late fee for late tuition. Beginning November 2007, tuition received between the 6^th and the 10^th of the month will result in a $5 late fee. Tuition received on or after the 11^th, will result in a $25 late fee. Checks should be made payable to ICNS and may be placed in the tuition envelope located outside the director’s office.

Parking
At the October Friends of the International Center board meeting, the board thanked ICNS’ families for remembering to use the 10-minute loading zone for pick-ups and drop-offs instead of parking in the International Center parking lot. Please remember that ICNS parking, other than cooping parents, teachers, and staff is prohibited in the International Center parking lot and double parking is never allowed. The Friends of the International Center stressed that this is most important on the first Thursday and the second Tuesday of each month when they hold monthly meetings.

Checking Files
lease remember to check your child’s file folder when you pick up each day.

ICNS Blog
Please visit the ICNS blog for the latest news and information about our school. Recent posts include pictures from the firefighters’ visit, information about the Fundraiser at Dream Dinners, and a post (with pictures) about our beautiful garden.

http://icnsblog.blogspot.com/

Important Upcoming Dates
November 2, 2007 Fall Festival at ICNS 4:30-7:30 bring your friends
November 12, 2007 Veteran's Day -School Closed
November 21, 2007 Stone Soup- School Wide celebration - more details to follow.
November 22, 2007 Thanksgiving Day- School Closed
November 23, 2007 Thanksgiving Holiday- School Closed

School will Reopen on Monday

We're happy to announce that school will reopen tomorrow morning (Monday, October 29th). We are looking forward to see everyone.

-Stephanie Palomo Schmidt

Another offer of support

In case anyone needs a place to stay, we just received this message from Emma Johnson.

Hi,

Oscar and I are leaving town until Sunday. However, Andy, Oscar's dad,
will still be here and working at the La Jolla Playhouse. We do have an
extra bedroom if there are any ICNS families who need a place to stay.
The air quality here isn't great (we are right by the university) but
we do have a comfortable double bed, wireless internet, and plenty of
toys and books. If you need somewhere to stay, call Andy at (619)
991-0083

-Emma

School Closed for the Remainder of the Week

School will be closed for the remainder of the week. We hope to reopen on Monday, October 29^th. Please check your email and this blog for the latest updates.

We’d also like to know how everyone is doing. If you are able, please post a note in the comments to let us know how are you are, if you’ve been evacuated, what you might know about ICNS families that are unable to post, etc. We hope that everyone is doing well in spite of the craziness caused by these fires.

On a related note, I just received this message from Christina Augsburger (Julian’s mom)

I just wanted to see if any ICNS families needed help due to the fire. We live in North Park and the air quality is somewhat better than up by school, I imagine. I don't know if any of the families live in the evacuation areas, but you can post at the ICNS blog that if anyone needs anything, they can send me an email at:

csaugsburger@gmx.at

I could watch a few kids at my house if someone needs some help with childcare.

At the moment it looks like some people are going to camp out in our backyard, so I can't offer to take anyone else in, but I suppose anything helps!

Hope you are fine,

Chris

Fall Festival Postponed

Due to the fires, we've decided to postpone the ICNS Fall Festival by one week. The Fall Festival is tentatively rescheduled for Friday, November 2nd from 4:30 to 7:30. We hope that you will still be able to make this fun-filled event. We will keep you posted if we have to reschedule this event again.

Take care,

Stephanie Palomo Schmidt

School Canceled for Tuesday

Due to the surrounding fires and poor air quality, we've decided to keep the school closed on Tuesday. We hope that everyone in our ICNS family is safe and doing well. Again please check your email or the ICNS blog for the latest information.

Thank you,

Stephanie Palomo Schmidt

School Canceled Today

Dear ICNS families,

Due to air quality concerns, we have decided to cancel school today. We hope to reopen tomorrow. Please check your email and the ICNS blog for the latest update. We apologize if this causes an inconvenience to our families, but the health and safety of our students is our primary concern.

Stephanie Palomo Schmidt
ICNS Board President

October Garden News

Look outside in the children’s garden and you can see the work the gardening committee has just done. On October 7^th four families worked together to reorient the planting boxes so that they receive more sun, and to allow for larger gatherings in the garden (so we can better share planting, playing, singing, stories with the children in the garden space…). We’ve also planted seeds, as well as seedling plants that children started during the past few weeks.

A successful summer harvest of tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes and eggplant, and a few carrots and beans provided fresh delicious veggies for snacktime several times per week this summer. Now we are eagerly looking forward to our winter garden. We still have sweet pepper plants growing, and we’ve planted strawberries, two kinds of peas, two kinds of carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, spinach, lettuce, beets, kohlrabi and radishes. We hope some of them grow well and allow the children many more opportunities to experience the excitement—and delicious taste—of home-grown food. We will continue to plant seeds in seedling trays with the children every 1-2 weeks, providing more plants for the garden, as well as a very visible experiment in what happens when you plant seeds in soil and add water and sun.

If you coop—please compost! We moved the composter so that it is very convenient—just outside the garden door. Composting is like magic—all non-animal food waste (and dried leaves, woodchips, and other plant waste) is transformed into dark black crumbly earth with which we can replenish the soil. If you don’t know how to compost—just check out the “how to” signs in the kitchen. Take a couple of kids with you to dump the scraps. Slide open the door at the bottom and look at what is going on in there. Children can certainly learn to set aside the compostable scraps from their own food, particularly if adults model it for them.

When you are at the school—ask your kids to show you the garden. In addition to plants, you may find some interesting insects out there too. Also, check out the concrete slabs with children’s handprints—they were students of ICNS in the 1970s!

-Emma Johnson

Dream Dinners

The Dream Dinners fundraiser took place last Tuesday, but don’t worry if you missed it. If you visit Dream Dinners any time in October and tell them that you are there for the ICNS’ fundraiser, they will still donate some of the proceeds from your visit to our school.

My Dream Dinners experience was better than I imagined. First, I had a fabulous time with the other ICNS parents. Second, the three dinners that my family has eaten so far have been absolutely delicious. Finally, the meals were easy to prepare and the best part is that I didn’t have to prep the food or clean up after myself.

Thank you Isa Sabey for organizing this event and introducing me to Dream Dinners. I plan to return very soon.

-Stephanie Palomo Schmidt

Picture Day Reminder

Please remember that Thursday, October 18th (tomorrow) and Friday, October 19th are picture days at ICNS.

-Stephanie Palomo Schmidt

SDFD Visits ICNS!

A friendly crew of San Diego firefighters brought their fire engine to ICNS on Friday. It was quite an exciting day for our students, teachers, and parents.

Miss Sylvia directs students and parents.

Engine 35 turns the corner.

ICNS students take it all in.

The very tall firefighter models his gear.

Miss Connie tries on a fire fighter’s jacket.

Reuben and Nathan enjoy the inside of the fire engine.

-Stephanie Palomo Schmidt

Free Vacuum Filters

Since we have upgraded our vacuum cleaner (to one that works!) we have some leftover filters that someone from ICNS may be able to use. If you would like any of these items, please drop a note in the maintenance coordinator's box at school (outside Ms. Connie's door), and Chris will get back to you or place the filter in your child's cubby.

1 Kenmore Exhaust Replacement Filter HEPA Media

3 Vacuum Cleaner Belts (B-70) for Hoover Dial-A-Matic, GE Model U-8, or Kenmore Upright

3 Kenmore Electrostatic Champer Replacement Filter for Canister Vacuums

1 Vacuum Cleaner Bag, style F &G for Eureka Upright

Also please remember to check the vacuum bag when you are co-oping and change it as needed.

Thanks!

Christina (Julian's mom)

LA JOLLA FIRE DEPARTMENT TO VISIT ICNS

Dear Parents,

The La Jolla Fire Department will visit ICNS on Friday, October 12, 2007 at 9:30-10:30 a.m. All children are invited to attend.

If your child does not attend school on Friday mornings, you may bring your child to school to see the firefighters and their fire truck-but you must stay at school with your child.
I hope everyone will be able to attend.

Connie Justice

October Tuition Reminder

Tuition reminders have been printed and will be placed in each student's folder by the end of the week. For future reference, tuition is due on the first of each month and considered late by the fifth. Please make your check payable to ICNS and place it in the tuition folder location outside the director's office.

Thank you!

Stephanie Palomo Schmidt