Skittles (LGBTQ Club @ ICE) Organizes a Queer Prom Called the Ball 

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The Ball is Skittles’s effort to make the LGBTQ community at ICE feel like they are in fact part of a community. We want to make a space that deconstructs the harmful/toxic traditions that historically leave out queer folks from Middle/High school dances such as; bringing dates, paired heteronormative dance expectations etc. We want to center those folks by celebrating LGBTQ culture as well as the folks in our community who identify as queer while not excluding allies and other folks on the spectrum from joining .

As we are planning, we have created a list of needs/wants, and space is a top priority. It would be great if there was someone in the ICE community who has or knows of a space that could be donated to our cause, but we are also willing to look for our own space. In both scenarios, financial support would be wonderful from the PTA. With the costs we have looked into so far, including; decorations, a DJ, and potentially space, we are looking to raise overall in the ballpark of $5000. We have a gofundme and are looking to other schools as well to be involved in the process and help us make this happen but would love support from the ICE community. Thank you for your contributions and consideration.

Letter from Pete December 7, 2017

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Dear ICE families -

I hope that you all are well and looking forward to the next phase of the holiday season, including the Winter Break from school. As we approach the holidays our 12th grade students lives are all getting busier and more exciting. Our first round of Literature Panels falls this Wednesday with round 2 next week. I hope that you will join us in evaluating our student's hard work, and participating in what makes the ICE community unique from the vast majority of schools nationwide. Our students' ownership of their work, and the evidence of their efforts to revise and improve their thinking is clearly on display in panel presentations, and if you have not seen a panel, please do come. I also want to mention that our students are hearing from colleges, and we already have many proud kids accepted into schools such as Ithaca College, SUNY Binghamton, Bard College and many others. I also want to congratulate the first of several possible POSSE foundation scholarship winners. An ICE 12th grade student has received a full scholarship to Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, our first of 3 POSSE finalists. More details to come.

While I am celebrating the accomplishments of ICE students, I want to give a special shout out to a group of students who call themselves the ICE anti-sexual harassment club. These students have crafted a mission statement and policy for ICE to adopt with regard to a uniform response to all forms of sexual harassment that are witnessed or reported at ICE. Their thinking is crystal clear and they call upon us to create safe and discrete ways for students to report what they know to adults. I'm sure you are all paying close attention to the near constant breaking news as men in power are being accused and admitting to inappropriate and abusive behaviors that include rape and other crimes. At ICE our staff has begun a conversation in response to our students' policy work, and we will make the conversation a school-wide effort in the new year with the leadership and guidance from our thoughtful kids. I plan to host a conversation with parents about all forms of sexual harassment and assault in order to make sure the ICE community is safe for all, and responsive when safety and comfort are compromised. It is also essential that our kids think critically about the onslaught of information in order to make sound decisions about their own behavior. If the current events teach us anything I hope it is that sexual harassment and assault remain pervasive in our society, and we have a duty to think deeply about what all of this means for us and our children. I hope that you will join me and the PTA in the near future, and I am proud that our students have put so much thought into making ICE a safer community for all.

My best to you all -

Pete

ICE 7th-11th Grade Stomping Ground Photo Order Errors

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ICE 7th-11th Grade Stomping Ground Photo Order Errors

Stomping Ground made a mistake on some of your student photo orders. Several of you received the wrong Advisory Group picture in your orders. This would apply ONLY to orders ALREADY received.

IF you are one of these folks, please do the following:

Contact Stomping Ground by email. Please include the school and student name AND an explanation of the problem (i.e.:  received wrong Advisory Group Picture in our order package.  We are in Advisory #______!). Please copy Annette Tacconelli for our PTA records. You can also call at (212) 995-9379 ext 1.

Stomping Ground has agreed to send corrected Advisory Group photos to any affected families to ICE by 12/19/17 date. These envelopes will be distributed to your student via Advisory.

Thank you very much for all your patience and please know that your ICE PTA has been fiercely advocating for greater service and attention from Stomping Ground.