December
17 - Advent / Christmas Program, 7:00 p.m., St. Michael Hall
18 - ½ Day; ICS Christmas Celebrations: Grades 3 - 8 at PK's Playzone (see below for details); PreK - Grade 2 at ICS for Winter Wonderland; NO AFTERCARE AVAILABLE
21 – 31 - NO SCHOOL – Christmas Break
January
1 - 4 - NO SCHOOL - Christmas Break
5 - Classes resume (*please note this is a Tuesday)
January
1 - 4 - NO SCHOOL - Christmas Break
5 - Classes resume (*please note this is a Tuesday)
6 - School Mass (8:30 a.m.), with Warm-up to Worship in SMH at 8:00 a.m.
8 - Geography Bee, St. Michael Hall, 8:30 a.m.
13 - School Mass with Households, 8:30 a.m., Incarnation Catholic Church
15 - End of Quarter 2 / Semester 1
18 - No School - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
20 - School Mass (8:30 a.m.), with Warm-up to Worship in SMH at 8:00 a.m.
21 - Family Supper with ICS Households; ICS Family Meeting, 7:00 p.m., St. Michael Hall
23 - ICS Family Meeting, 9:00 a.m., St. Michael Hall
25 - ICS - Culver's Spirit Night
27 - School Mass (8:30 a.m.), with Warm-up to Worship in SMH at 8:00 a.m.
29 - Friday Morning Assembly, 8:30 a.m., St. Michael Hall - Kick-off to Catholic School's Week 2016
For a comprehensive look at all of the many activities we have planned for this school year, please visit our ICS Calendar Page.
Prayers
We pray for our Advent - Christmas Music Program this evening. May the Lessons and Carols help to bring us closer to each other as a school community and closer to Christ.
We pray for all ICS families for a blessed Christmas! May the celebration of the birth of our Savior ignite our hearts with love for Him and each other!
We continue to pray for the Torres family's (Sarah and Sophia) grandmother who is in the hospital. May God usher to her healing and strength.
We also once again lift up in prayer the Wybel family (Mia) as her grandfather is sick in the hospital. Please grant Mia's grandfather a full recovery, Lord.
Natalie Robles' grandfather is also in the hospital and is still in need of our thoughts and prayers. May Natalie's grandfather get better soon.
Have a prayer request? Send it to icsmzele@icstampa.org.
Hope Will Rise
Our year-long school theme, Hope Will Rise, was created by the ICS Class of 2016 (our current 8th graders). The students selected the scripture above, "Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction and persevere in prayer" (Romans 12:12), as words to inspire and motivate our school community throughout the course of the year.
May these words inspire your Advent journeys and may it help move our entire school community closer together and closer to Christ. This past Friday, ICS students consecrated themselves to our Holy Mother Mary as they prayed the Rosary. In doing so, they rejoiced in hope (imagine the excitement of the Angel Gabriel in telling Mary she was with child!), endured in affliction (we prayed the Sorrowful mysteries) and persevered in prayer (students from PreK4 - Grade 8 actively and reverently participated in this time of prayer!).
Rejoice in HOPE, endure in affliction and persevere in prayer (Romans 12:12).
May these words inspire your Advent journeys and may it help move our entire school community closer together and closer to Christ. This past Friday, ICS students consecrated themselves to our Holy Mother Mary as they prayed the Rosary. In doing so, they rejoiced in hope (imagine the excitement of the Angel Gabriel in telling Mary she was with child!), endured in affliction (we prayed the Sorrowful mysteries) and persevered in prayer (students from PreK4 - Grade 8 actively and reverently participated in this time of prayer!).
Rejoice in HOPE, endure in affliction and persevere in prayer (Romans 12:12).
ICS Advent - Christmas Music Program
Remember that our Advent / Christmas Music Program is scheduled for tonight, Thursday December 17 at 7:00 p.m. in St. Michael Hall. Please see below for these important details about the show:
1. Students should arrive back to school this evening by 6:15 p.m. Students should report to their Homerooms upon arriving at school.
2. Kindergarten, First and Second Graders should wear their "Christmas best" clothing. Students in grades 3 - 8 should wear solid white on top and solid black on bottom.
3. The show will start promptly at 7:00 p.m.
The ICS Advent Program will once again take the form of "Lessons and Carols"(for details, visit here: http://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/events/chapel-services/nine-lessons.html). This scriptural based musical program is set to be an AMAZING night of Christmas spirit!
The entire event should take less than 60 minutes. After their performances, students will report back to their Homerooms. For security reasons, parents / families should go to their student's homeroom to pick them up after the conclusion of the Advent Program. Students will not be released to parents from the stage.
We will be video streaming the performance into the Media Center for Kindergarten, First and Second graders to be able to see the performance of the older students. Therefore, parents are asked to wait until the conclusion of the performance to get their children. There is no intermission. Thank you in advance for helping us to maintain the reverence and spirit of this performance.
ICS Students are AMAZING
Congratulations to the following students who were recognized at last Friday's Morning Assembly for their good deeds:
Red Ticket Winners
Natalie Robles, Grade 8
Sebastian Mike, Grade
Sofia Lopez, K
Sophia Diana, K
St. Sebastian Student-Athlete of the Month Award Winners
Molly Caballero, Grade 8
Emanuel Saunders, K
Great job, Irish!
ICS Alumni are AMAZING, too!
George Morgan, ICS Class of 2014, was named to the All Star cast at the District 9 Thespians Performance Assessment and One-Act Festival at the University of South Florida. George is currently a junior at Jesuit High School. Congratulations, George! ICS is so proud of you!
ICS Christmas Celebrations - Friday December 18
Students in Grades 3 - 8 are invited to attend a Christmas Celebration on December 18 at PK's Playzone and Grille. Cost is $10 and includes unlimited access to their 6 zones, a slice of pizza and soda. For more details about PK's, please visit their website: http://www.pkplayzone.com. The facility is located a few minutes west of ICS on Hillsborough Avenue. Drop-off and pick-up on Friday December 18 will take place at PK's. Forms, permission slips and payment is required for attendance.
Drop-off for the event will begin at PK's at 8:30 a.m. Pick-up will occur at PK's between 11:00 and 11:30 a.m.
Remember that there is no aftercare available on 12/18/15.
Dress for 12/18 is ICS Incarnation Irish Spirit Day attire. Instead of an ICS top, students are permitted to wear a Christmas shirt; bottoms should follow Spirit Day regulations. Please consult the ICS School Handbook (pg. 73) for details.
Parents with Level II background screening will be admitted and granted access to PK's zones free of charge. ICS faculty and staff will also be on hand to supervise students.
*PreK - Grade 2:
Students in PreK through Grade 2 are invited to attend a Christmas Celebration on December 18 at ICS. This "Winter Wonderland" will be a morning filled arts and crafts, games, songs and snacks!
Drop-off for the Winter Wonderland will occur at ICS between 8:00 and 8:30 a.m. in the ICS Pavilion lot.
Pick-up for the Winter Wonderland will occur at ICS at 11:30 a.m. in the ICS Pavilion lot.
Dress for 12/18 is ICS Incarnation Irish Spirit Day attire. Instead of an ICS top, students are permitted to wear a Christmas shirt; bottoms should follow Spirit Day regulations. Please consult the ICS School Handbook (pg. 73) for details.
Remember that there is no aftercare available on Friday 12/18/15.
Please note:
Friday December 18 is a 1/2 day of school devoted to building authentic Christian community and fellowship. As such, this is the day for any Homeroom level Christmas party at either PK's or ICS, respectively.
Remember, there is no aftercare on 12/18/15!
ICS Student Council
Today is your final chance to help our ICS Student Council in their Lightning Tickets Raffle.
The winner of the raffle will receive tickets to the Tampa Bay Lightning games on December 28 vs. Montreal. The two (2) game tickets are valued at $95.00 each. ICS thanks Culver's for donating the tickets.
The winning ticket will be pulled immediately preceding our ICS Advent Christmas Program (December 17) tonight. Tickets will be available for sale up until 6:55 p.m. You do not need to be present to claim your prize.
If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Stahl: icssstah@icstampa.org.
ICS Family Meetings
Please note the dates above for mandatory meetings for all ICS families - Thursday January 21 and Saturday January 23. Two sessions are available so that you can coordinate your schedules and be sure to attend. Childcare for ICS students will also be available to help make it even easier for your family to attend.
At ICS, we truly desire to partner with you so as to offer your sons and daughters the best possible Catholic education. This meeting will present three practical and essential strategies for parents and families to participate in this partnership with ICS. We look forward to seeing you at either of these meetings. For more details, please contact Mr. Zelenka: icsmzele@icstampa.org.
ICS Week of Code
Last week, ICS students from all grade levels participated in the Hour of Code. The Hour of Code is a world-wide, week-long event focused on promoting computer programming. For more details, watch this short video:
Many thanks to Mrs. Carrier and Ms. Roy for their efforts to coordinate and execute this school-wide event!
ICS Dynamic Learning: Environment
As a follow-up to our fundraising effort to outfit ICS classrooms with Dynamic Learning equipment, "Bouncy Bands" have been installed and in use across the ICS campus for about one month. In response to the effect, one teacher remarked:
I didn't really notice it with the first couple of students that had them. But the past few that have, WOW! It definitely kept them to time on task for longer periods of time. The most recent students are ones that are out of their seat...moving around...often! When they had their bouncy bands...I did not talk to them those days, I realized, about staying in their seat to work.
ICS Irish Athletics
Upon our return from break the Irish Athletic department will welcome the official start of Boys' Basketball and Girls' Flag Football.
Please contact Coach Garofolo either via email: garofolov@icstampa.org, or phone: (813)884-4502 for more information about sports for our ICS student-athletes!
Go Irish!
Christmas Tree Sale
It's not too late to buy your Christmas tree from our Christmas Tree lot! Remember that ICS is the direct beneficiary of this fundraiser!
No Morning or Aftercare on Friday December 18
Due to the unconventional nature of Friday's events and the beginning of Christmas vacation there is NO MORNING or NO AFTERCARE available on Friday December 18.
PreK - Grade 2 students can get dropped off at ICS between 8:00 and 8:30 a.m.
Grade 3 - 8 students can get dropped off at PK's Playzone after 8:30 a.m.
Pick-up for PreK - Grade 2 is at 11:30 a.m.
Pick-up for Grades 3 - 8 is between 11:00 - 11:30 a.m. (ICS must be out of PK's by 11:30!).
Merry Christmas
On behalf of Fr. Michael Suszynski, our ICC Pastor, and the ICS Faculty and Staff, I want to wish our entire school community a very Merry Christmas! Students have focused on the true meaning of Christmas. May Jesus come into your hearts, homes and our world this Christmas. May the presence of friends and family be more of a focus than the presents under the tree. May you make time for prayer and Mass in the midst all of the many commitments of the season. May you fight for joy and may you find it and spread it this Christmas and always!
Merry Christmas!
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| Projects from ICS students' Hour of Code. |
IN KEEPING WITH OUR TRADITION, WE AT INCARNATION CATHOLIC SCHOOL:
Inspire disciples of Christ,
Challenge each individual to be a life-long learner, and
Strive to live our Catholic faith through service to each other and the community.
