Pioneer Weekly Express 7
A Publication From the Principal's Desk
Principal's Message
I want to invite you to encourage your student(s) to participate in before school, after school, and Saturday tutorials. This FREE support can only help as we approach the final stretch of instruction. Tutorials happed Tues., Wed., and Thurs., at 7:30am, and until 5:00pm. On Saturday we meet from 8:30am until 11. You don't want to miss this opportunity for extra support.
Last but not least, thank you to everyone who made last weeks events such a success--- Our 2/22 2 minute dance party & Taco Tuesday, The 6th grade Olympics, the 8th grade Presentations of Learning, and the Spirit Night at Culvers. It was definitely a busy week!
Let's make it another great week!
--Mrs. Gregory
Connect Special Guests!
Are you interested in bringing your passion or career to Innovation during our connect time? We'd love to have you! Send an email to CrystalGregory@johnston.k12.nc.us for more details.
Picture Day! March 3
School Picture day is coming to Innovation Academy. Get your smiles ready! Our school will take spring pictures on Thursday, March 03! Your students should have brought home a flier last week that shares more details. These pictures are to be pre paid. You can send in a exact payment or visit mylifetouch.com and use School ID EVTWW627P.
PTA Meeting- 2/28 @5:30pm
Taco Tuesday!
Leading With The Heart
Bus Transportation
Weekly Tutorials! Happening Now!
We are so excited about our new Tutorial options for students called Pioneer Power Hour. Tutorial and academic support sessions are held every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday both before and after school. Transportation MUST be provided in order for students to stay after school. You can register at any time...and then just show up!
You can complete registration online at: https://bit.ly/PioneerPH. For more information, Please contact Crystal Gregory, Principal, at CrystalGregory@johnston.k12.nc.us.
This weeks happenings around campus
7th Graders get IN THE ZONE with their independent reading novels.
Amor overheard a conversation about getting another student a pencil who did not have a pencil to take a test. He asked him if he had some at home and the student said “no.” Amor showed up with a whole pack of pencils for another student in his class! Compassion. Amor means love. And he showed that!
Presentations of Learning
This week has been a busy week full of so much growth for our third year Pioneers! They stepped out of their comfort zones & shared the narrative of their learning to their families, peers and community leaders! A special shout-out to these fearless learners as they advocated for themselves as learners in the classroom at IASC!
Fir1st year Pioneers competed in various Olympic events on Friday. It was so much fun!
Emily Braswell is a former Pioneer. She is excited to share and invite our current Pioneers to participate in the Pi Day 5k in memory of her sister Taylor and her battle with CF. There was a great turn out from IA the last time the run took place. Details are included below. See Mrs. Ham in the 8th grade hall for more information.
Event Flyer HERE
Registration Form HERE
Did Some One Say SHOUT OUT???
- Wayne Williams
- Layla Hamm
- Dominique Barrett
- Olivia Smith
- Katherine Rowland
- Cristian Ramirez
- Mrs. Gear
Please Join PTA
Our PTA has some great things planned for the rest of the year!
Stay informed and find out how you can help with upcoming events like dances, spirit nights, and appreciation weeks by becoming a member today!
Membership is only $8 per person. We accept payment through Memberhub, PayPal or with cash/check.
Memberhub: https://innovationacademy.memberhub.com/store
Paypal: paypal.me/iapta
Cash or Check payable to Innovation Academy PTA in our office mailbox
Be sure to note your name, your student's name, and name of your student's advisor. Also, let us know if there's something specific you'd like to help with.
Grade Level Updates
Year 1 / 6th Grade
Olympics: The final scores have been calculated, and the winning team will be announced on Monday!
ELA: I have to begin by celebrating this group of 6th grade Pioneers. Last week, they engaged in a Mock Trial for the first time. These students absolutely blew my, already high, expectations out of the water. They worked hard during preparation, came to the Mock Trial prepared, and executed their roles brilliantly. I’m sure you already know this, but your kids are something special! I am so proud of all of them.
This week, students will complete their final assessment for the Mythology Unit on Monday. This MasteryConnect assessment will cover RL.6.1 (inferences), RL.6.2 (summary and theme), and RL.6.3 (plot and character changes).
Additionally, we begin the “Modern Technology” unit and an argumentative writing project which will culminate in the creation of a podcast episode with a peer. The Essential Question students will engage with is as follows: “Is technology more helpful or harmful to society?” They will read a variety of texts and genres during this unit with a focus on Informational Text.
Math: Last week we began topic 4 which is focused on representing and solving equations and inequalities. Our essential question for this topic is, what procedures can be used to write and solve equations and inequalities. We will start using inverse operations to solve for variables. Our focus standards for the week are 6.EE.4, 6.EE.5, 6.EE.6., and 6.EE.7.
Social Studies: Students have thoroughly enjoyed our Greece unit including a fun and academically-engaging Olympics competition. We are eagerly starting our unit on Rome this coming week which will focus on the UN Global Goal of Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure. This week, we will launch our learning by focusing on Rome’s geography throughout its empire and the origins of Rome - both factual and mythical. Students will also complete their first Checkpoint Quiz this week for this unit.
Science:
In Science, students are working on learning about our solar system and what makes our planet so unique! (6.E.1.2) Students participated in the amazing space race where they learned about each planet outdoors! Students will then begin on a current events project where they explore something that is happening currently in the aerospace field for our 6.E.1.3 standard!
Year 2 / 7th Grade
7th Grade
OVERALL:
THE END OF THE QUARTER IS FRIDAY, MARCH 4th! Because the end of the quarter is approaching quickly, students will need to complete ALL missing assignments before WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2nd. Read below to discover how you can check on missing assignments for each subject.
ELA MISSING WORK:
PowerSchool will be updated by Monday, so you can check there for missing assignments. Text Ms. Taylor in REMIND for any questions or concerns
.
UPCOMING ELA:
Students should know which standards they need to reassess. Students should review these standards on their own and use my WEDNESDAY Connect time to retake the standards they need recess
Students worked on a project preassessment this week to review their knowledge and show their ability to analyze a fiction independent reading novel they’ve completed this quarter.
Next Monday, students will have a preassessment to gather data on the individual Literature Standards students need to focus on within our next Dystopian PBL unit.
The rest of the week will be spent analyzing this data individually in their journal as well as a review of academic vocabulary that they will be expected to understand within our next unit.
Social Studies:
Next week, we will culminate our celebration of Black History Month.
Concluding our study of the colonization of Africa is providing us a wonderful segue into the ages Industrialization and Imperialization
Science
This week students focused on finishing their cells unit by creating Protozoa wanted posters and then doing a collaborative gallery walk! They have also begun working on human body systems.
As we progress into next week, students will be taking their Cells Assessment in SchoolNet (7.L.1.1 & 7.L.1.2). They will also be continuing to learning about the Human Body Systems (7.L.1.3 & 7.L.1.4) via guided research and Ed Puzzles. The Human Body systems assessment will be on Friday, March 4th.
Looking ahead to the following week, we will extend our knowledge of the human body systems by examining diseases that effect different systems. We will also do a cross-curricular lesson that ties everything together by studying Henrietta Lacks!
Year 3 / 8th Grade
8th Grade
Science: We are currently focusing on our Biotechnology standard. We are almost through the entire curriculum! Woo Hoo! Science tutoring is offered for 8th graders with me on Tuesday afternoons and Thursday mornings. I am working with small groups in class and in connect groups. We can see the finish line and we are working hard to reach our goals!!
Math 8:
This week we have learned a lot about slope and how to interpret what it means in context of a problem. Students have made connections between slope and concepts from 7th grade like unit rates and constants of proportionality. We have begun exploring non proportional examples which will lead us to learning about slope-intercept form next week.
Math 1:
Students spent the early part of the week investigating linear inequalities and how to find their solutions. Next week we will wrap up this topic after we connect our new learning to systems of inequalities. Students will be assessed next week on this standard prior to the end of the quarter. They’re really doing great as a class with this material!
Social Studies
This week we have had the opportunity to dig deep into how innovation has impacted our society! We learned about the very first vaccines and the absurd practices that allowed human society to develop immunity! Did you know that the first vaccine originated from a cow?
We will continue into next week as we look at innovation and change throughout history. Through the analysis of a variety of voices throughout U.S. History we will have the chance to gain a well-rounded perspective about how change has impacted our world today!
Enhancements
Theatre Arts: Students will present their design portfolios with their peers this week!
21st Century Skills:
Students will finish their Autobiography Project next week!
Students are working in Google Docs to complete a short essay about themselves and working in Google Slides to create a map of their lives.
We’ll conclude the quarter with a glimpse at the future as we explore careers!
CTE: What a great week! Our 6th graders rocked Black History fliers on display now in the 7th grade hall and main hall outside of theater arts. They will complete Word Processing this week.
7th Grade did a great job presenting their google slides this week. We learned about some amazing people in our history. They will complete processing documents this week.
8th Grade: We are doing “I am an Entrepreneur” Project after completing their research into famous entrepreneurs. They will showcase their work on Friday in the 7th grade hall.
Let’s FINISH strong CTE!!
Clubs
Drama Club:
The next afterschool rehearsal for performers in Alice in Wonderland will be on March 18th from 4PM-6PM.
Chess & Games:
Mrs. Dauphinais has secured a donation of 6 full chess sets and a teaching board display from the U.S. Chess Trust! These should be arriving this week. Last week, we enjoyed a virtual chess tournament and loved seeing some new faces participating.
School of Rock is still going strong. We have added a keyboard, 3 guitars, and have demonstrated lots of innovation with bucket and yoga ball drums!
Movie Appreciation: We are looking at editing and special effects. Our new movie is the 2012 Oscar winner for best visual effects, Life of Pi. Be sure to ask your student about it!
Drawing Club: Our young artists will explore “Scribble Art” this week.
SGA:
SGA is looking forward to hosting our first school-wide meeting next week! We are looking forward to learning more from grade level representatives about the changes that they want to see in our school!
Upcoming Events
Feb 28, 2022
PTA Meeting
March 03, 2022
Spring Picture Day
March 14, 2022
Report Card Day
March 25, 2022
PTA Sponsored GLOW dance
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The Innovation Academy at South Campus
Crystal Gregory
Principal / Lead Learner
Email: CrystalGregory@johnston.k12.nc.us
Website: https://www.johnston.k12.nc.us/iasc
Location: 521 Martin Luther King Jr Dr, Smithfield, NC 27577, USA
Phone: 919-934-6481
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jocoia