IvyNotes

November 6, 2022

A Note from the Director

Dear families,

A reminder that Tuesday is a professional day so there is no school for students. On Friday, you should have received an important announcement about an update to program and model names at Ivymount School. CLICK HERE to see the announcement if you missed it.

Ivymount School and the Ivymount Organization continue to evolve along with those we serve, so we're excited to move forward with program and model names that reflect our neurodiverse community. Our programs will introduce and discuss the name changes with your students. As we said in our announcement, please get in touch with your student's program director if you have questions.

November is one of our favorite months at Ivymount as we celebrate and invest in our culture of kindness during IvyCares Month. Scroll down to see the first of many monthly activities and lessons.

We shared stories around National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) in October. Check out a video below to hear meaningful remarks from a 12-year Jobsite partner about how our students have changed their business for the better.

For high school and post-high school families, a reminder that Ivymount and SEEC will host an informational session about Project SEARCH on November 10. Click Here to read the flyer.

Finally, we're looking forward to seeing some of you at our Ivymount Foundation Gala Kickoff Planning Event this Wednesday, November 9. The Gala is our largest fundraiser, supporting the staff training, professional development, technology, and more that help your students succeed at Ivymount School and beyond. We appreciate all help in planning this event. If you would like to attend the first meeting or be involved in the future, RSVP HERE.

Sincerely,

Susan Holt

NEWS YOU NEED RIGHT NOW!

Ivymount School

Dates to Remember

Tuesday, November 8

Professional Day

Thursday, November 10

Project SEARCH Information Session

Friday, November 11

OSSE Not Transporting DC Students

IvyCares Month - What Does It Mean?

Every November we celebrate and invest in our commitment to ensuring a culture of kindness through our IvyCares Initiative. Through IvyCares month, we celebrate caring as a priority by creating opportunities for our students, staff, and our community to:

Reflect on the positive impact our actions can have on others

Practice gratitude and kindness to others

Show care and kindness for ourselves

Value our relationships with each other and invest in these friendships and partnerships

Embrace diversity by appreciating qualities and experiences that are different from our own and celebrating our individual differences

Expand our circle of care by taking steps to make positive changes in our community

Through IvyCares, together we are establishing traditions that contribute to our positive, diverse, and inclusive culture.

Students Celebrate IvyCares

Aspire middle school students in room 237 are creating identity presentations to celebrate their individual differences and embrace the diversity in their class during IvyCares Month. This week each student created and shared a presentation about what makes them unique. These presentations were important for understanding the diversity within the classroom and celebrating the strengths and needs of all the students. They also help add to the students' “friendship files,” or background information students have and keep to use during peer interactions.

Aspire elementary students in room 236 are creating Gratitude Journals for the month of November. Each morning, they fill out a new page, listing people and things they are grateful for. They each also answer a question about gratitude. Students are listing family, friends, and teachers, and being very thoughtful about their answers to the questions! We look forward to continuing gratitude and kindness throughout the month of November.

Art Project Gets Active

As a part of Halloween celebrations on Monday, room parents for 234 and 236 organized an exciting craft activity! They started by putting 20 canvases together to create one big canvas that students would be working on together. Then, they had students throw paint-filled eggshells at the canvas to create a fun collage of colors! Once dried, the canvases were taken apart, and used individually to create spooky Halloween scenes! Students were given "spider webs," stickers, eyeballs, ghosts, and many other fun arts and crafts materials to create any kind of scene they wanted! Thank you for a creative and fun-filled event, room parents!

Jobsite Partner Encourages Others

We spoke to Ken Karbeling, General Manager at American Reprographics, Inc. in Rockville about the invaluable partnership between Ivymount students and community jobsites. Watch our interview with Ken to hear what it’s like to practice workplace inclusivity and how Ivymount students make a difference on the job each week. To partners like American Reprographics and all our Ivymount community: thank you for recognizing the importance of disability employment awareness and for making these partnerships possible!

PTA NEWS AND UPDATES

The PTA Needs You!

Are you looking for a way to connect with other Ivymount families? Or are you looking for a volunteer opportunity that helps students and staff? The Ivymount School PTA needs you!

We are looking for parents/guardians who can help us with fundraisers and planning our next free family event. We use the funds we raise to support events open to all Ivymount families and the teacher appreciation events that we host for our dedicated, hard-working staff.

There are four volunteer opportunities currently available:

Annual Online Boon Supply Fundraiser Coordinator

The Boon Supply fundraiser is one of the PTA’s biggest sources of funds. Boon Supply sells an array of eco-friendly everyday products, from which the PTA receives 40 percent of all sales. We need a volunteer who can draft social media messages and occasionally email the regional Boon Supply coordinator. The online sale runs from early November through mid-December, so this is only a 6-week commitment.

Online Spirit Wear Coordinator

We are looking for a volunteer who can coordinate with a vendor to promote, open and close the sale of Ivymount Spirit Wear with the refreshed Ivymount logo. The sale will open for about a month, 2-3 times during the school year.

Restaurant Fundraiser Coordinator

We need a volunteer or two who can coordinate with local restaurants for two “Ivymount Nights” from which a percentage of the sales go to the PTA. This involves only a few hours' commitment over the course of a month in advance of each “Ivymount Night.” There is scheduling flexibility if there is a time of the year that works best for you.

PTA Family Event Chair or Co-Chairs

We are in the planning stages of the next PTA family event. We are looking for volunteers interested in helping to organize a fun event.

ALL PARENTS/GUARDIANS CAN HELP:

No prior experience needed
Perfect opportunity for parents/guardians whose children recently started at Ivymount to meet other Ivymount families
Great way for long-time Ivymount parents and guardians to get involved too
Minimal time requirement
Can be done in the evening or at a time that is convenient for you
Most of the work can be done from home

If you are looking for a way to get involved, or have questions about any of these opportunities, email PTA President Cindy Gottfried at ckgottfried@gmail.com.

Thank you!