Message from the Principal—Joyce Halsey 

As we conclude a highly successful year in the ICS high school, I would like to thank each student and parent for your enthusiasm and efforts. We have accomplished a lot as individuals and collectively, and focusing on learning has helped us all work together productively. A special thank you to members of the Student Council and the ICS Honor Society, two student leadership groups who made real contributions to our school. From the dozens of Student Council-organized activities (including a great end-of-year barbecue on Thursday) to our assemblies where student recognition and performances became a regular part of who we are, our students have made so many positive contributions to the life of the school.

Thursday's "ICS Cares" service learning day also reinforced an area of learning that we will continue to develop next year. Service learning is more than just community service, in how students are guided to develop and apply their own learning while addressing a need or a social injustice in a positive way. Our plan is to eventually develop this learning as part of our academic curriculum.

Our accreditation agency in the United States, Middle States Association, challenges schools to add service learning to their curriculum by offering an additional “credential.” THE MSA SERVICE LEARNING CREDENTIAL explains what we are aiming toward as we develop our service learning program at ICS. “The school supports a carefully planned, ongoing program that integrates service to the community into the academic curriculum. Regularly implemented projects engage students in meaningful activities designed to provide real life experiences for the skills, knowledge, and values found throughout the school’s curriculum. Through a cycle of recognition of community need, action, reflection, and assessment, students are empowered to take educational risks. Civic responsibility and citizenship are goals of the program, along with the development of social, emotional, and cognitive learning and understanding. Critical thinking, problem solving, and collaborative skills are cornerstones of all projects. The service learning program effectively involves students as active participants in planning, implementing and evaluating projects that meet genuine needs of the community.”