Illing Insider

Happy Spring, Illing Families!

It feels like March (and the school year in general) has flown by and I would like to take this time to thank our staff and families who have been supporting our students all year.

April break is right around the corner, and as hard as it is to believe, the school year will almost be over by the time we get back.

A few things as we head into the break:

• The fourth quarter started last week and grades for quarter three will be available in about two weeks.
  

• Students will take a practice SBAC on May 3, with the official test starting on May 9. It is important that students come to school with their computers charged and in good working order, get a good night's sleep, have a good breakfast, and come ready to do their best. We will be building brain breaks and fun activities throughout the testing days to get students energized.
  
  

• Information on end-of-the-year activities will be available in May.

• And a friendly reminder that food deliveries are not allowed on school grounds.

We hope that students and families can use the April break to rest, relax, catch up with families and friends, and come back rejuvenated and healthy for a strong finish.

In partnership,

Principal Idelisa Torres

April is Autism Awareness Month and Illing eighth-grader Gabe Forde has something to tell you:

Illing counselor Tamar Perez and her son E.J., who is a seventh grader at Illing, were recently featured in the 'Humans of Manchester' series.

You'll find the gallery -- which now has more than 700 people in it -- on both Facebook and Instagram.

Click this link to watch the latest edition of the IMS News that includes stories on the National Junior Honor Society, spring sports, electives, a Team Princeton feature and a few shout outs.

Kingnell Burgos is being recognized for taking a stand and helping out a Dream Street student who was having a hard time getting around the building. Kingnell picked up the student’s bag and walked him to Dream St. Kingnell, shown at right with Mr. Dolphin, said that he just wanted to help and that a lot of the time people laugh at students who are special, so he decided to take a stand and help out.

CCSU: Benjamin Stokes, Elvin Perez Jr.; Cornell: Finnegan Johnson, Evelyn Derosier (Carryover from Feb), Samiyah McDonald; Dartmouth: Emma Shapard, Yeshua Santos; Dream St: Victor "Sammy" DeLeon, Keressa Young; Princeton: Adreana Dinnald, Juan Gil Morales; Syracuse: Aamnah Babar; Tufts: Victoria Budarz, Nicole Gwiazdowski; UConn: Shaira Iyog, Tiana Morgan; URI: Mira Dunbar, Griffin Viets; UA- TECH: Elijah Bucko.

CCSU: Gianna Koloski, Cooper Cormier; Cornell: Mahlik Lodge; Dartmouth: Santana Brooks,

Kamari Mullings; Dream Street: Olivia Richards; Princeton: Miles Barnett, Nana Osei Duah; Syracuse: Kaylin Austin, Ivan Burgos; Tufts: Gabriella Amaral, Grace Flamino; UConn: Nektaria Pergantis, Alexander Rastelli; URI: Maxine Rothman; UA- TECH: Anastasia Kobylanski.

During the Month of February, students learned about the important contributions of African-Americans to American History. During CREW, students where challenged with creating posters that celebrate the accomplishments of Black History Figures. Using collaboration and teamwork, students worked together to research, create and decorate posters during this school-wide competition. Posters were judged by staff members for categories like capturing important events through timelines and originality. All Crew classes did an amazing job, showing their creativity while honoring the legacy of Black History Figures. Congratulations to Mr. Rispoli, Mrs. Tupper, and Ms. Smith's Crew classes for winning the Black History Month Poster Contest.

Pre-order deadline is this Wednesday, April 12. Contact Mrs. Rogers with any questions.

Above, seventh grade scientists in Mr. Regan's class at Illing Middle School are learning about climates and convection currents, and below, Mr. Perrotti's Personal Finance class researched the banking industry and compared checking, CDs, and savings between banks and credit unions.

Clockwise from above left: Mrs. McClain's chorus students prepare for their townwide concert on Wednesday; Mrs. Uerz's Intro to Cooking class work on a raspberry coffee cake; Ms. Waterman's Crew class making posters for Autism Awareness month; seventh grade orchestra students rehearse for the townwide concert.

The combined Illing bands (above) and orchestras (below) demonstrated their skills at the townwide concerts last week at Bailey Auditorium. And on Wednesday, it will be the IMS chorus' turn to shine on the Bailey stage. We have lots of pics from last week's show here, and we will have more on Thursday from the chorus concert.

The Illing Middle School Drama Club will present HONK! Jr., The Musical Tale Of "The Ugly Duckling" on April 27, 28 and 29 at Bailey Auditorium.

Tickets are $5 for students and seniors; $10 for general admission - cash only and available at the door. Click the link for more info.

Student Council will be hostinfg a talent show at the end of May. It's a great opportunity for all students at Illing to have the opportunity to participate Sign-Up Forms are due by April 24th and auditions will be held on May 1 and 4.

In order to encourage students to be on time to classes during the day, assistant principals Mr. Carroll (above) and Mr. Dolphin (below), volunteered to get a pie in the face by students from the 7th and 8th grade teams who collectively had the lowest amount of tardies over a two-weeks strech..

Everyone had fun at the Unified basketball games last month. See the district fb page for more pictures from this amazing event.

More IMS Sports

Illing spring athletes have been outside practicing and will start playing for keeps on Tuesday, April 25 when the baseball and softball teams host Sage Park. The track & field teams will host Suffield at Manchester High on Thursday, April 27.

• Click this link for the complete Illing athletics spring schedule.
• The girls softball team is running an apparel fundraiser to raise to assist the program. Click the link and visit this year's apparel store that will be open until Friday April 14.
• Check the OneManchesterCT Athletics page on fb for lots more IMS sports pictures.
  

All students in our district are eligible to receive one breakfast meal and one lunch meal free of cost -- a benefit provided through the Community Eligibility Provision. which eliminates the burden of requiring households to complete income applications to determine if they qualify for free or reduced priced meals.

• Although each breakfast meal and lunch meal are free of cost, in the event your student chooses to purchase additional food items or a second meal, there is a cost associated with these purchases.
• Click here to see some examples of what the typical breakfast and lunch meal consists of along with some food items that would be considered extra and require your student to purchase them with either cash in hand or funds on their meal account.

REMINDER: Food deliveries are not allowed on school grounds.

Click here to read the flier in Spanish.

The school district and transportation provider First Student have launched FirstView, a bus tracking and parent communications app for your smartphone or desktop. The app lets you track where your child’s bus is in real-time and has a multi-stop view if you have multiple students on different buses. Click for details.