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Opening Minds to Lifelong Learning!

Ayanna

4th Grade

Dear Mustang Parents,

Thank you for helping your child be “ready to learn” on a daily basis. We

appreciate all that you are doing at home to encourage your child to be an

active participant in his or her learning by completing homework daily, read-

ing every night, staying organized for daily work, talking with your child about what he or she

is learning each day, and getting plenty of sleep each night.

We will hold our Curriculum Night for parents and students Wednesday, September 28 from

5:00-6:30. This is a time that you will have a chance to go into your child’s classroom and see

what standards the teachers have been covering. We hope you will take this opportunity and

visit! See our flyer for details.

The Irwin staff is looking forward to a great working relationship with our PTO Board. We

are excited about the many activities and events that are being coordinated for our students!

We have our Book Fair coming up next week so come out support the PTO.

Have a Great Idea?????

Please share your thoughts and great ideas with our Continuous School Improvement Team.

We welcome any school wide improvement ideas that move us toward continued student

achievement.

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Opening Minds to Lifelong Learning

Page 2

Important Dates

September 26-30: PTO Book Fair

September 28: Curriculum Night 5:00-6:30

October 7: No School (CSI Day for Teachers)

October 10: No School (Columbus Day)

October 18: Picture Day

October 21: No School (CCRSM PD for Teachers)

October 28: No School (Teacher Workday)

From the Principal’s Desk

Miriam Breece, Principal

Page 3 Seasonal Influenza Vaccine

SEASONAL INFLUENZA VACCINE NOW REQUIRED TO ATTEND DODEA SCHOOLS

The annual seasonal influenza vaccine has been added to the list of required immunizations for

students attending DoDEA schools, following guidance and recommendations provided by the

Centers of Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices

and the Department of Defense Joint Military Medical Services regulation on immunizations.

The annual seasonal influenza vaccine is the best defense against influenza. The military com-

munity is a highly transient one, which increases the potential for exposure and the spread of

infectious diseases such as influenza. Reducing the spread of preventable infections in schools

and the military community, improves students’ health, safety and attendance. Improved

health and safety reduces absenteeism, a reduction in absenteeism improves student academic

achievement.

The requirement goes into effect starting this school year (Fall 2016) and will be a required

vaccine for all students for every school year. Students will not be dis-enrolled from schools if

the vaccine is not available at the MTFs or the MTFs cannot administer the vaccine before

December 1, 2016. DoDEA will work with the MTFs to ensure students can receive the vaccine

when it becomes available and the MTFs can provide the service.

Parents may contact their local Military Treatment Facility immunization clinic or school nurse

for more information.

Page 4

Opening Minds to Lifelong Learning Page 5

Interrelated and Integrated Model of Instruction

Kari Dahl, Staff Development Teacher

At Irwin Intermediate School, our mission is to educate, engage, and empow-

er each student to succeed in a dynamic world. In order to set our students

up for success, they need to master more than just the curriculum

standards. Our students need to be able to work collaboratively with others,

communicate effectively, access and analyze information, and think

creatively. Irwin Intermediate School has implemented the Interrelated and

Integrated Instructional Model (I & I Model) for the 2016-2017 school year,

to ensure that our students master the curriculum standards and 21st Century skills.

The I & I Model provides two blocks of instructional time that are connected

by a driving question. During the Interrelated Block, students are taught the

DoDEA curriculum standards in a traditional classroom setting. Students learn

Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies standards through whole

class instruction, small group lessons, and learning centers. In the Integrated

Block of Instruction, students apply the skills and content they learn during

the Interrelated Block through Project Based Learning units. These teacher-

created PBL units allow the students to dive deeper into the standards and make real-world

connections. Our grade level teams developed the following driving questions for Unit 1:

More information on the I & I Model will be provided at Curriculum Night on

Wednesday, September 28th at 5:00.

2nd Grade

How can we, as explorers, share

information we have discovered about Fort

Bragg to help other students become

familiar with the Fort Bragg community?

3rd Grade

How can we, as American citizens,

exercise our rights and responsibilities

in order to improve our community?

4th Grade

How can I, as a political candidate,

educate and influence voters on a

current issue?

5th Grade

How can we, as colonists, create a

colony and develop a government that

will best represent us?

Tips for Starting the School Year Successfully!

Whether your child is beginning school at Irwin Intermediate School for the first time, or returning to

school after a summer of fun, it is totally normal to have some difficulty with the transition. Here are

some ideas for how you can help prepare to make the transition back to school as smooth as possible.

Get lots of rest – Setting up a regular bedtime and wake-up routine will help cut down on stress and is

crucial to prepare your child for success.

Talk about it – Talk to your child about why school is important. The more you show how much you value

education, the more your child will see the importance of making school a priority.

Involve your child in daily routines – Let your child pick out his or her clothing the night before,

choose the spot for the backpack, or help make lunch for the next day. Giving your child small

things to be responsible for now will help him or her become more independent later!

Set a regular schedule for completing homework – Helping your child with homework and making it a

priority is an effective way to show interest in what he or she is learning at school.

Communicate – Talk to your child’s teacher to alert him or her about any changes that may impact your

child at school. The teacher can also alert you to anything that may be happening with your child!

School Success is everyone’s responsibility!

Page 6 Opening Minds to Lifelong Learning

Counselor’s Corner

Dr. George Small, School Counselor

Scholastic Reading Counts! is an independent reading program for grades

K–12 which combines reading practice and software-based reading

assessment. The purpose of the Reading Counts program is to help

students develop vocabulary skills, become better readers, and develop a

life-long love of reading. Classroom teachers will be emailing Reading

Counts flyers to the parents of all students. Stop by the Information

Center if you need another flyer or to ask questions about this program.

Reading Counts

Caramy Taylor, Information Specialist

Opening Minds to Lifelong Learning Page 7

I am your student's Physical Education instructor. We're off to a good start of 2016-17 school year.

I would like to ask that you remind your students when they have Physical Education they will need to

wear tennis shoes that have laces or Velcro. This is a safety rule as floors are slippery and tennis shoes

protect the ankles. There are MANY types of tennis shoes. I recommend the ones made for sports.

Students are encouraged to bring water bottles with only water in them. We go outside as much as

possible and often water is appreciated.

Our school operates on an A,B,C,D,E schedule for Specials. P.E. is considered a Special. It's tempting

to think that A Day = Monday, but in fact, it does not always. We skip a holiday, workday or “no school”

day and resume our Specials rotations the next school day. Since there's no school on Monday, Sept.

7th, so Tues., Sept 8th is A Day. The best way for the students to remember when they have P.E. is to

remember what they had for Specials the day before. For instance... "The day after Music I have P.E."

If your student can not participate in P.E. please send a note. I will be happy to make other arrange-

ments for that day. Students with asthma should please let me know if they are having difficulties.

Please feel free to contact me. My email address is: vera.morgan@am.dodea.edu. I'm available on the

phone after 3:00 p.m.

PE News

Coach Morgan, Physical Education teacher

Gotta Keep Reading!

Beginning Tuesday, September 13, 2016, the Irwin Library Information Center

will be open each Tuesday and Thursday after school. We will be open from

dismissal until 3:45p.m. Parents and children are encouraged to visit us often to

read together, select and check out books, have children do Reading Counts quizzes,

use our many digital resources, and complete any of our many learning centers.

At dismissal time, pick up your child in front of the school from his or her classroom teacher. Come to

the side door of the Information Center. You are to come directly into the Information Center and

not go through the main school door. Since it is after school, you do not need to sign in at the school

office. Students may not enter without a parent. Younger children are welcome as long as parents

keep their younger children physically with them at all times. Parents may check out up to 10 books at

a time. In order to check out books, stop by the Information Center to fill out a parent account

form. It will take us 24 hours to open your account and get you in our system. We look forward to

seeing you soon!

Irwin Information Center

Caramy Taylor, Information Specialist

Page 8 Opening Minds to Lifelong Learning

Here at Irwin, we talk to our students about the “Important P’s” when using our digital resources and

technology: Passwords, Privacy, Permissions, Photographs, and Personal Brand. Students and teachers

alike are enthusiastic when it comes to learning digitally and creatively; that also comes with a global

responsibility! We started our school year off with lessons surrounding the

topics of that responsibility and our role as positive digital citizens. 5th

grade students are demonstrating those skills with creative public ser-vice

announcements to share with our Mustangs community! Ask YOUR stu-dent

how they can be a role model in digital citizenship.

The MBN (Mustangs Broadcasting Network) would like to invite you to sub-

scribe to our channel! We are a student-led; student-created school news

team and broadcast LIVE daily at 8:30am. Tune in...you won’t be disap-

pointed!

21st Century & Digital Learning!

Christine Giusto-Weibl, Educational Technology Specialist

Digital Learning & PBL (Project Based Learning) is an embedded approach here at Irwin! All classes have the integration and technology

collaboration with the school’s “ET”. 5th grade classes also receive a specially

allotted time to create, collaborate, critically think and communicate on

projects, often published for the school’s community and to better prepare them

for College & Career Readiness! Come check us out and see our products when you‛re visiting the school.