ICS PTSA NEWSLETTER

December 11 2022

See the ICS Calendar for more upcoming event dates.

FOCUS WEEK INFORMATION MEETING



Mr. O’Donnell and Margaret Kinney will host a Focus Week meeting on Teams on Tuesday, December 13, 2022, 6:00 pm. The following items will be addressed: 

1. Brief history of Focus Week.

2. Current considerations, guidelines, and policies. 

3. Plan to update and move forward (more information about the parent/teacher/student committee). 

4. Trips hosted by teachers outside the sponsorship of LWSD.  

5. Questions. 

After the meeting they will send a summary and a FAQ for those who can’t attend.  

Click here to join the meeting 

SUMMER INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL

FOR HIGH SCHOOL

With the district's decision to disallow international travel during focus week, Mrs. Jackson and Mr. Plank are planning trips for high school students this summer. There will be information meetings Monday, December 12th:

Japan: Ms. Jackson's room 156 at 6:30 pm (contact email: ljacksonics@gmail.com)

Greece: Mr. Plank’s room 149 at 7 pm (contact email pplank89@gmail.com)

These trips are in no way affiliated with ICS or the Lake Washington School District.

Greece is the cradle of Western civilization, and ICS students have studied Greek history, philosophy, and literature. The 10-day trip includes four days in Athens, a multi-night cruise on the Aegean, and visits to Rhodes, Santorini and Patmos, among other places.

Students will need to reserve a place and sign up on the Explorica website before December 21st to secure the price. We realize that this time of year or the cost will not be feasible for many. To find out more details about the trip and to register, go to www.explorica.com/Plank-8484. If you are interested in attending, you'll need to register. The tour ID is Plank-8484 (need to include the hyphen). There are different payment options, and you don’t have to full price in order to register. There is also a $100 discount if you use the promo code Travel100.

Dates: June 29 to July 8, registration deadline Dec. 21

Cost: $4600 (with Travel100 code discount and depending on the number of students)

Eligibility: current grades 10-12

Number of students: 20-30 with 2-3 adult chaperones and a local guide

Japan on Foot is a unique walking exploration of Japan, its history and culture. We will explore the Nakasendo Highway, or "road through the central mountains." Once a main thoroughfare of feudal Japan, today the Nakasendo winds through scenic countryside and villages. Students will have some fascinating insights into the feudal Japan, the samurai, and also urban and village life today. We will stay in beautiful historic inns, sleeping in tatami mat rooms and eating traditional Japanese food sitting on tatami floors. We will be welcomed by Japanese innkeepers and people who will share culture with us, like folk singing, woodblock printmaking, and tea ceremonies. Students will have opportunities to bathe in wooden baths and hot springs. We will learn why the Nakasendo existed and about the great Shogun leader Tokugawa Ieyasu, whose dynasty ruled Japan for over 260 years. Students will read translated Japanese literature and study Japanese woodblock art in preparation for our trip. This trip also provides a physical challenge in its mountainous daily walks of between 4 and 10 miles. Our luggage will be transported to our destination each day with students responsible for carrying just day-packs.

Dates: June 28 or 29 to July 6 or 7 (TBD)

Cost: $4000-$4500 (tbd, depending on airfare and number of students)

Flights: Seatac to Nagoya Chubu Airport

Eligibility: current grades 9-12 at ICS

Number of students: 16-20 with 2 adult chaperones and a local guide

YEARBOOK CLUB

Hello ICS Senior Parents!

It’s around that time of year, senior students begin submitting their portrait pages and parents order senior ads to be featured in the yearbook! For more information read the following posts…

Link for senior ads: https://www.jostens.com/apps/store/ybAdDesigner/1273166/-/20221018111518080134/CATALOG_SHOP/

Link to upload senior portraits: https://lwsd-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/s-naddanki_lwsd_org/ElV9gTgSB9xKnEdqvJ6LYwIBe3qpRXVMoCeBeJtMJTlKUg?e=poGKzB

 FROM THE SKI BUS CLUB

If you would like to participate in the ICS Ski Bus program, please fill out the sign-up form. Information previously covered in the Info night can be found here.

Please use email contact of Boris Baryshnikov or Katherine Crowley regarding Ski Bus Info

SAT PREP COURSE FOR ICS

Juniors, Sophomores and Freshmen!!!

The scores for PSAT are available on the college board website at this time. Do you want to sign up for SAT Prep Course at ICS? PrepNW will offer SAT Prep course at ICS (in-person) this school year again. This class is open to students in grade 11, 10 and 9. Sign up for the class as soon as possible or before December 20th, 2022. 

This Winter SAT class will meet in ICS (room location TBD) on most Mondays: 3:00pm-5:00pm from 1/10 through 3/7 and Remote Practice Tests will be on Saturdays: 9:00 AM – 12:15 PM, 12/18, 1/29, 2/12, 2/26 (see flyer for more details). Register for the class by Dec. 20th, 2022. Price: $499/student. For more details see flyer. Please note the registration window was extended till December 20th and Freshmen as well as Sophomores are welcome to join Juniors for this class. 

FROM PTSA

Hello ICS Parents,

Great thanks to all the families who have donated to ICS PTSA.

A gentle reminder to families who have donated: Please submit your donation matching to International Community School PTSA 2 8 89 [Tax ID/EIN Number: 911801111].

Requesting a matching gift or volunteer grant is normally a five-minute process that must be initiated by you or your spouse, the donor/volunteer. You can do this by filling out and submitting through an electronic submission process or a paper match form provided by your employer.

If your company needs a donation receipt, you can send a receipt request to ICS PTSA Treasurers (treasurer@icsptsa.org)

Many companies have matching gift programs. Some, such as Microsoft and Google, do matching gift through an organization called Benevity; some do it on their own.

For questions regarding your company's programs, please contact your employer's HR or community giving department. Much of the necessary information is also available on your company's intranet.

If you have any questions, please email matchfundadmin@icsptsa.org

Thank you!

VOLUNTEERING

Focus Week Committee is up and running

Focus Week Committee parent members are:

• Linda Yang (6th), Karthik Swaminathan (6th), Mary Oemig (6th). Mary will be co-chair for Middle School.
• Jeanie Kleinpeter (9th), 

We are still missing parent volunteers from 7th, 8^th and 10^th grade. Please email president@icsptsa.org if you want to join the Focus Week Committee

Volunteers Needed for Curriculum support

We need volunteers for the following roles in Curriculum support.

Community Education - We need one more chair or committee member. You will organize two or three events for ICS families, including the popular College Counselor Roundtable.

Scholarships - We need an additional committee member to work with the Scholarship chair. The Scholarship committee member will manage the scholarship process, including updating and sending out application forms, recruiting external judges, scoring, and notifying applicants with the results.

Grants - We need one chair or committee member to cover the grant application review and approval.

If you are interested, please reach out to Lei Kou.

REPEATED ARTICLES

Volunteers Needed for ICS FBLA’s donut fundraiser

ICS FBLA is looking for parent volunteers for 3 Mondays (11/28, 12/5 and 12/12) from 7:00-7:30 AM (just before school) to help out with our donut fundraiser.

The location will be in front of Ms. White’s room, which is under the FBLA banner. Parents would be handling cash transactions and sales, and can earn volunteer hours from this activity.

Parents, if you're interested, please email icsfbla@outlook.com and we will give you more details.

2023 Art Day

2023 Art Day which will be on Jan 30 2023.

We have 18 classes planned for Art Day this year. More details will be shared in the coming weeks. 

Hawaiian Lei Class is looking for a volunteer to lead the class. Please reach out to sujanakar.reddy@gmail.com if you are interested. 

Below is the schedule for Art day. 

ICS National Honor Society

NHS Tutoring is back! This year, ICS National Honor Society is offering drop-in tutoring every Monday from 2:30-3:00PM after school and every Wednesday from 12:25-12:55PM during lunch in Ms. Sullivan's room. All grades are welcome to stop by and our members can help you with any subject.

NHS is also offering individual tutoring for those who want to work more consistently with one designated tutor. Please email icsnhs@outlook.com with the subjects you want help on and we will pair you with one of our amazing tutors!