Striving for Excellence
January 2025
Post COVID, there was a shift in the consistency of school attendance in schools across America. We saw increases in chronic absenteeism, which led to decreased academic achievement. It is our mission in the Iowa City Community School District to ensure we are doing everything we can to provide all students with the best academic and extracurricular opportunities possible.
Below are some facts posted by the Department of Education:
-Absenteeism in the first month of school can predict poor attendance throughout the school year.
-Half of the students who miss 2-4 days in September go on to miss more than a month of school throughout the year.
- Absenteeism and its ill effects start early.
- Poor attendance can influence whether children read proficiently by the end of 3rd grade.
- Research shows that missing 10% of the school year, or 18 days, negatively affects student academic performance.
- When students improve their attendance rates, they improve their academics.
If you are experiencing barriers which prevent your child’s daily attendance, please do not hesitate to reach out to our School Family Advocate, Sarah Siddig, to request support at siddig.sarah@iowacityschools.org or calling at 319-688-1140.
We closely monitor temperatures, wind chills and other aspects of the weather to determine inside or outside recesses. We are asking for your help in sending your student to school with plenty of warm clothes, preferably snowpants, appropriate for outside time. Our students go out for a quick 15 to 20 minute recess break.
- please label your child's snowpants, mittens, etc. so that they don't get lost, and if they do, they are easily identified upon return to the Lucas MPR (MulitPurpose Room).
- we do go outside if the windchill temp is above 0. Even if the morning temp is below zero, if it warms up, we'll go out later in the day, so sending winter snowpants, boots, hats, etc., is always a good idea.
- boots and snowpants are always needed if you would like to donate/contribute.
-throwing snowballs is not allowed.
Thank you for your cooperation in helping us keep your children safe.
January 20th is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day! This is a federal holiday marking the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and is observed on the third Monday of January each year. January was chosen because of Dr. King's birthday, and the closeness to the anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, which is celebrated on January 1st.
Soon after Dr. King's assassination in 1968, a growing movement called for a commemorative holiday to be created in his memory. President Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law in 1983, but it wasn't until 2000 that all 50 states officially observed the date.
What is MLK Day?
On this date, we honor the work of Dr. King by looking back at his achievements, as well as the many others that have contributed to the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a social activist, a Baptist minister, and a key figure in the American civil rights movement from the mid-1950s until his assassination in 1968.
To learn more about the life and work of Dr. King, click here.
How Do We Celebrate?
ICCSD commemorates this important holiday by creating lessons, hosting events, and inviting guest speakers to our schools as we examine the history of the civil rights movement, and the work that still needs to be done.
The life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. cannot be contained to a single day. The message he preached should be carried with us every month of the year.
January 27th is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. This day marks the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, one of the largest concentration camps in World War II. This day was designated by the United Nations General Assembly, to honor the 6 million Jewish victims of the Holocaust, and missions of other victims of Nazism.
This is also a day to promote Holocaust education, and to take a stand against antisemitism and bigotry. We would like to wrap around our students, families, staff, and community members who are Jewish, are of Jewish decent, and any who have felt the impact of the Holocaust.
If you're interested in learning more, please watch the 2023 International Holocaust Remembrance Day Commemoration below, and explore the resources below:
