July 11, 2023

Titan Tuesday is a weekly newsletter sent to students, parents, faculty, and staff throughout the school year. The goal is to include updates and reminders in one place to make the information as easy to access as possible. Titan Tuesday will also spotlight different students each week and celebrate the accomplishments of our Titan Community. This special "Summer Edition" of Titan Tuesday includes important information as we prepare for the school year. Once classes resume, Titan Tuesday will resume its weekly schedule. Please note that move-in information will be sent out by Student Life in the upcoming weeks.

IMSA is happy to announce that Dr. Angela Rowley has been appointed Interim Principal and Chief Academic Officer for the 2023-2024 academic year. Dr. Rowley has served as the Director of Statewide Educator Innovation at IMSA since 2018.  

Dr. Rowley is an experienced school administrator and published educator specializing in curriculum and instruction, cultural competency, and educator professional development. She has earned an Illinois Superintendent License, an Illinois General Administrative License for teacher growth and development, and several K-12 teaching credentials.

Prior to coming to IMSA, Dr. Rowley served as principal of Fred Rogers Magnet Academy, where she created and opened a new STEM magnet school, designed the STEM-focused curriculum, and received over $1 million in grant funding. She cares deeply about developing relationships and supporting faculty and students.

Earlier in her career, Dr. Rowley worked at IMSA as a Resident Counselor, Hall Coordinator, and Admissions Counselor. Thus, she profoundly understands our academic and residential education program.

We are thankful for Dr. Rowley’s continued exceptional work at IMSA and look forward to benefiting from her leadership this coming school year.

LiveSafe allows IMSA to immediately connect with students directly in cases of emergency situations such as severe weather, school closures, safety drills, and more. This safety tool also allows community members to report incidents and emergencies.

Other important safety and security resources are available including SafeWalk, a feature in which users can invite contacts to virtually follow their progress on a walk to ensure they reach their destination safely. This app is a primary means of relaying important communication to our IMSA community.

The LiveSafe app is available in the Apple Store or Google Play.

All prescription and non-prescription medications should be turned in and recorded by the Health Office at move-in to assure there aren't any medication interactions. Some medications will need to be kept in the health office for distribution. Unauthorized medication found in a room will be referred for disciplinary action.

Examples of medications that a student may keep in their room after they are recorded in a student's health record include short-term antibiotics, antihistamines, over-the-counter medications, oral contraceptive pills, vitamins, herbal supplements, eye or ear drops, insulin, and emergency medications (epinephrine, albuterol, glucagon, etc.).

Please limit all over-the-counter medications in a student’s room to a bottle with no more than 50 tabs/caps.  

Any prescription medications held in the Health Office will require a physician's authorization form.  We ask that you bring three empty, labeled bottles from the pharmacy for each prescription medication, or use a pill packet prescription service if possible. There is no charge for empty bottles through the pharmacy if you let them know it is for a residential school. These will be used to distribute weekend doses of medication.

If your student uses an inhaler, please use a permanent marker to write their name on it. Putting a clear piece of tape over the writing will prevent the name from rubbing off. We find many inhalers around the building and want to ensure that they get returned to their owners.

Please reach out to the Health Office at 630-907-5008 or email nurse@imsa.edu with any questions. 

Seniors Parents (Class of 2024)   

Proof of one dose of a meningitis vaccine is required for the 12th grade. This dose must be administered on or after the student's 16th birthday. Your student will not be allowed to move onto campus without completing these requirements. 

Please check PowerSchool to see if your student has completed this requirement. If the documentation is missing, PowerSchool will be marked as "incomplete." Once we receive the documentation, we will change this to complete. All documentation is due to the Health Office by August 1, 2023

Note - Meningitis B vaccine is not required for high school but may be required for college. This vaccine is not the same as the required Meningitis vaccine. 

Junior Parents (Class of 2025)

Please check PowerSchool forms to ensure that you have completed all health form requirements. If your forms are marked as incomplete, you have been notified of what is needed to complete the records via email. Completed forms need to be turned in to the health office by August 1, 2023. Your student will not be allowed to move onto campus without completing these requirements. 

Sophomore Parents (Class of 2026)

A certificate of Child Health Health Examination form is due by August 1, 2023. The physical date must be on or after May 1, 2023. REMEMBER to complete the top part of the second page. This is the health history section and includes allergies, medications, health questions, a signature, and the date. If this is not complete, the form will be returned to you. Your student will not be allowed to move onto campus without completing these requirements. 

Please check PowerSchool forms to verify that the records have been received and are complete.  We will update PowerSchool once a week on Friday starting July 14, 2023. 

If the forms in PowerSchool are marked as "incomplete", you will receive an email with what needs to be completed. This physical is valid for IHSA sporting activities if the doctor indicates this at the bottom of the form. A sports form is not required.

Parents of Junior and Senior Athletes

A sports physical is required for all IHSA sporting events.  IHSA pre-participation physicals are valid for 13 months. This must be on file and valid at the start of the athletic season. Physical may be uploaded into PowerSchool forms or may be emailed to nurse@imsa.edu. 

Other forms to be completed if applicable to your student:

Asthma Action Plan - if your student has asthma and uses an inhaler on a daily or frequent basis.

Food Allergy Emergency Plan Form - if your student has a food allergy that requires Benadryl or an Epi-pen.

Seizure Plan - Any student with a medical diagnosis of seizures or epilepsy

Diabetic Plan - Any student who has a medical diagnosis of diabetes.

Headache Plan - Any student with a medical diagnosis of migraines. The plan is written by the physician according to the individual's needs.

Please reach out to the Health Office at 630-907-5008 or email nurse@imsa.edu with any questions. 

All student fees and tuition payments should be made through MySchoolBucks. You can access MySchoolBucks through the Parent/Guardian PowerSchool account. Please contact Minerva Ratsamy in Student Affairs at mratsamy@imsa.edu if you have forgotten your parent PowerSchool login information.

• Accepted forms of online payment include electronic check, electronic savings withdrawals, or credit card.

• The entire yearly fee amount is due in full, on or before August 1, 2023.

• Installment payment option: IMSA also offers an installment payment plan option. If you choose the payment plan option the one-time non-refundable $50.00 Payment Plan fee will need to be paid on your Student’s account once the first partial payment is received. If you are paying in installments, you must complete and submit, 2023-2024 Financial Responsibility Agreement, to the Office of Business and Financial Services.

Student Fee Reduction Applications

Families that have already submitted an application as of June 30th, for a reduction in their 2023-2024 Student Fee, have been invoiced for the tier level that they qualified for. If you would like to apply for a reduction in your annual Student/Class fee and have not submitted a Student Fee Reduction application yet, please do so as soon as possible.

To apply for a reduction in your Student/Class fee for the 2023-2024 school year please return a fully completed application and all supporting documentation to the Office of Business and Financial Services as soon as possible.  Approved fee reductions on applications received on or before July 15 will be applied to the entire school year.

If you have questions about the Student Fee Reduction process please send an e-mail to adonohue@imsa.edu.

Per handouts distributed at summer orientation, incoming sophomores should purchase and read Brooke Gladstone's The Influencing Machine: Brooke Gladstone on the Media. The graphic novel explores the history of the news media and considers key topics including free speech, objectivity, bias, sensationalism, and "bothesidesism."

The reading will be a key part of the first weeks of Literary Explorations I in the fall. The English team encourages other members of the community interested in the topic to read the book and join the conversation, as well.

Student Spotlight

Aadi Desai '24, Anisha Kolambe '24, Justina Kostiv '24, Joshua Mu '25, and Shashi Salavath '25 will spend the month of July in China as the first group of IMSA students to participate in a fully-funded pre-college program through Westlake University. This highly competitive program allows students to travel to Shanghai, China for invaluable learning opportunities in biology, chemistry, and engineering. Students will also have unique cultural experiences that come with studying in a foreign country and meeting other top STEM students from around the world. We look forward to hearing about their adventures abroad!

Please complete the Academic Achievement Submission Form if you have been recently recognized in your field, published, or celebrated for your academic or professional achievements. If you have any questions, please get in touch with Jean Bigger at jean@imsa.edu or Alex Johnson at ajohnson2@imsa.edu.

This summer, over 60 students are participating in summer SIR research projects across 21 institutions. The SIR program also has two IMSA faculty members mentoring students continuing their on-campus projects from last year. Dr. Peter Dong is working with students researching particle physics projects, and Dr. Sheila Willie is mentoring a student working on a history investigation.

Besides these IMSA-based projects, we have students working with mentors at the following institutions:

• Carnegie Mellon University, Pennsylvania
• Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, India
• Middle Tennessee State University
• Saint Louis University, Missouri
• University of Kentucky
• Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital
• Illinois Institute of Technology
• Northern Illinois University
• Northwestern University, Evanston
• Northwestern, Feinberg School of Medicine
• University of Chicago
• University of Illinois at Chicago

In addition to summer SIR, PROMISE 2.0 also launched this month. PROMISE 2.0 introduces rising juniors and seniors to scientific research opportunities over the summer through the SIR program. This program consists of two groups of students: a drug discovery project group of 18 students working with IMSA faculty member, Dr. John Thurmond and a group of eight students mentored by various physics and math professors at Western Illinois University's Macomb campus.

During the summer, the SIR Department also assists over 140 current SIR students in the process of contacting potential mentors or deciding if they will continue their projects from last year. SIR begins meeting weekly in Mid-September, but students can enroll until mid-October to enroll.

Summer programs are in full swing in the Steven and Jamie Chen Center for Innovation & Inquiry (IN2)! Here are a few opportunities IMSA is hosting this summer:

• The TALENT Ignite Summer Camp teaches students from 6th-9th grade the fundamental concepts of entrepreneurship. The concepts taught include ideation, branding, market research, pitching, and much more. The camp culminates with a pitch competition judged by experienced entrepreneurs.  
• The Maker Summer Camp explores Computer-Aided Design (CAD), 3D Printing, Electronics, and an Introduction to Arduinos!
• IMSA Summer Internship program connects high school juniors and seniors to real-world learning experiences with business professionals, nonprofits, and entrepreneurial mentors to carry out an industry, business, or product-focused research project  

Opportunities for the Fall

• Business Internships: The Innovation Center is actively working on securing academic year internships. Rising juniors and seniors interested in the Internship program can register here. Organizations or businesses interested in hosting IMSA interns can complete this interest form. Questions can be directed to Sue Fricano, sfricano@imsa.edu
• Girls IN2 STEM Middle School Mentorship Program Fall Cohort is getting ready for this school year. IMSA students interested in serving as mentors can register here. If you know of any middle school students interested in participating, they can register here.
• The Entrepreneurship Program will hit the ground running with the fall competition season. IMSA students interested in competing can register here. Questions about entrepreneurship at IMSA can be directed to Steve Goldblatt at  sgoldblatt@imsa.edu

Free Resources Over the Summer

Mark Your Calendars! 

August 15 - Student Leader Move-In from 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 a.m.

August 16 - Sophomore Move-In from 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

August 17 - Junior Move-In from 9:00a.m. - 11:00a.m.

Senior Move-In from 1:00p.m. - 3:00p.m.

August 18 - Convocation

August 21 - First Day of Classes