1/25/2024

Dear IVA High Community,

As the Fall semester comes to a close, I wanted to express my gratitude for your continued support and involvement in your child's education.

IVA High is committed to fostering curious minds and an empowered community. Once again, we remain impressed by the innovative thinking displayed by our faculty and students. Their unique ideas, problem-solving, and commitment to being a good person has resulted in learning that matters, on campus and in the world. 

Report cards with final semester grades will be sent home by the 2nd week of February. IVA High staff recognizes that grades only capture a portion of your child's learning; therefore teachers invest in writing individualized comments. Please take the time to read through each comment to provide a holistic look at your child's academic and character development through a virtue education lens.

This semester, we emphasized reflection and growth. We witnessed remarkable progress in your child's development. I am confident our learners will continue to raise the bar in the Spring. Be sure to save the date for EOL on April 25th when students will demonstrate their dynamic learning experiences.

We have some exciting new projects including:

• designing and building our first garden
• a shift from studying environmental biological functions to internal systems
• how imperialism and colonization affect nations
• understanding the history of mass incarceration through logic and arguments
• Black History Month celebrations sponsored by Different Shades of Brown Club
• studying plays through the lens of justice, people and cultures around the world

Thank you once again for your partnership in your child's educational journey! On to the next semester!

Warm regards,

Summer Sanders

Campus Updates

LBCC Spring Dual Enrollment

Fall semester dual enrollment courses are officially in the books! We are excited to announce that 95% of our students enrolled in our dual enrollment courses received a C or better! Students embarked on their first college courses and excelled. We are so proud of our IVA High students who engaged in intellectual courage and tenacity. These students are building their college transcript while working towards their high school diploma. Truly amazing!

The spring semester brings two more college courses - Career Exploration and Introduction to Broadcasting. If you or your student is interested in learning more about our dual enrollment program, please contact Mrs. Briceno at makenna.briceno@ivahigh.org. 

Art Class - Skyrocket Education Partnership   

We are excited to announce our partnership with Skyrocket Education to bring a visual arts class to IVA High! Skyrocket Education strives to serve schools with diverse and low-economic student populations through a variety of programs including specialized student instruction in CTE subjects and art. 

Meet Art Teacher Emily Vielma

Ms. Emily is an art teacher with Skyrocket Education and has previously taught art at Opportunities for Learning. In her class, our 9th grade students have created artistic About Me collages, mindfulness Zentangle drawings, and lastly jelli prints! Ms. Emily values students being able to connect to their communities and themselves through the art that they create. We are so excited to have Ms. Emily with us at IVA High!

Final Project Highlights

STEM Final Projects

College and Career

Using the information that students learned during the first semester of College and Career Readiness, students are creating a presentation that informs 9th-11th grade students about post high school options, financial aid, IVA High graduation requirements, and the college application process. Students built  surveys and administered them to other classes to gather valuable insight about what students know and don't know about college. The data then informed what content to emphasize in their presentations!

History Final Project

In World History, students are engaging with these essential questions: How did the Haitian Revolution or Latin American Revolution attempt to solve the problems of each society? Were these problems actually solved or do they continue in present day? 

In this unit, students learned about the Haitian and Latin American revolutions for independence. They chose one concept or question to be answered through art or a presentation.

In the Community

Long Beach Youth Poet Laureate Program 

The City of Long Beach is accepting applications for its next Youth Poet Laureate for poets aged 13-18. The application period opened on January 15, 2024 and closes on February 29, 2024: CLICK HERE TO APPLY!

The Youth Poet Laureate is a title for young individuals excelling in poetry and spoken word, actively contributing to community advocacy. The selected student will receive a $1,500 scholarship. 

Financial Aid Workshop @ LBCC

LB Representative and The Boys and Girls Club are hosting a financial aid workshop for college financial aid at LBCC this Saturday, January 27 from 9:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. The one hour workshops with financial aid experts and volunteers help families through the FAFSA and CADAA process. Parents must attend the workshops with students! REGISTER HERE

Music Club Performance on 2nd Street

Congrats to IVA High's Music Club for their outstanding performance on 2nd Street! Jazz Angels partners with IVA High to provide a music program for interested students. The club meets on Monday's after school and any students are welcome to attend!

Enrollment Update

IVA High is currently enrolling students going into 9th through 12th grade for next school year! Spread the word, invite your friends and family to learn more. 

There is still time to enroll for the spring, and the application for the 2024-2025 school year is now open! Families can access our application on our website.Private tours are available! Please email info@ivahigh.org if interested in enrollment or a tour.