VIMSIA Hour of Code

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To celebrate Computer Science Education Week. 9th and 10th grade students volunteered to lead Hour of Code activities with 7th grade, 8th grade, and upper elementary classes during third and fourth period on Wednesday, December 11. VIMSIA joined over 119,000 groups hosting Hour of Code events in 2019!

To give some background, the Hour of Code takes place each year during Computer Science Education Week. Learning computer science helps nurture problem-solving skills, logic and creativity, and the Hour of Code activities give an opportunity to practice the basics and help make coding skills more accessible.

Photo: A CyberPatriot - a Middle and High School Computer Science Program - practice session

Photo: A CyberPatriot - a Middle and High School Computer Science Program - practice session

Raffle Ticket High Sales Winners - 2019

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Congratulations to this year's top raffle ticket sellers, Michael Holt 53 books and Jayda Swim 38 books. Ms. Holt will receive $1,500 off of tuition next year and Ms. Swim will receive our second-place prize, $750 off tuition! Congratulations to our top sellers and to all of our families. Your diligent efforts produced a profit of $50,625 with 1,012.5 books sold.

Our raffle winners, 1st Place ticket #00075, 2nd Place ticket #00662, 3rd place 05380, and 4th place 02276 are all members of our VIMSIA family.

Thank you very much for your support.

Sincerely,

Mary Capellas, LVN Raffle Chair

Lower Elementary Educates about Pineapples

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Scarlett Jones, Aaliyah Howard, and Amelia Commissiong are educating our school community about pineapples! These students in Ms. Di Francesco's class have been learning about research techniques and sharing their findings with both Montessori and PGIA students. They used encyclopedias, dictionaries, support from our library and personal knowledge to put together a visual aid and written report about the tropical fruit. When asked why they chose pineapples, they said they were inspired by their teacher's necklace!

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PGIA Cyber Patriots Making their Mark!

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This year PGIA is fielding two teams in the Air Force Association's National Youth Cyber Defense Competition. Thousands of teams from all around the world compete online, securing virtual computer systems against hacking, malware, and all kinds of other vulnerabilities.

We know how important this is. Students are gaining real world, hard and soft skills.

In the first year, CyberPatriot teams rarely do well. There is a HUGE learning curve and it can be very frustrating for young people. The competition rounds are intense, last SIX hours, and require a lot of focus, teamwork, concentration and study. Our PGIA Middle School Team and High School Team have risen above all this.

Here's the good stuff. Our Middle School team has a real chance to qualify for the semifinals. Our High School team has placed at the GOLD TIER level (I still can't believe it, but it's true) and will try to get to semifinals as well - at this very tough level of competition. These are incredible accomplishments. I've never heard of first year teams reaching these levels.

Both teams competed against literally thousands of other teams. We have competed in two rounds of competition so far and have been holding regular practices. Our next round is this Saturday, December 7, and it is a MAKE or BREAK round which will determine our final placement in the competition. It will be tough going.

I am the proudest CyberPatriot coach ever!

High School Team

  • Mimi Boumedine

  • Ny'Kel Emanuel

  • Orin Hayes

  • Timothy Hayes

  • Alexander Pahlavan

Middle School Team

  • Krishiv Amarnani

  • Alessa Carty

  • Stanley Trotman\

  • Khalid Warrell

  • Amelie Zucker

Huge thanks to school admin for their constant support and instant response to any need! Huge thanks to Mr. Enright for getting us the best tech set-up possible! Huge thanks to Dr. Boumedine for serving as our technical mentor - he puts in a lot hours making sure we are ready for each round. Huge thanks to the families of the team members for their support - especially Mrs. Hayes for providing the amazing buffet for the teams!

Go Volts Go!

Mrs. Hoffart, Cyber Patriots Coach

Weizmann Travelers Initial Trip Report - November 26th

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After a long day of travel across the Atlantic, we arrived at the Weizmann Institute of Science outside of Tel-Aviv, Israel on Sunday evening. Our first 48 hours have been filled with science, from neurobiology to astronomy and everything in between. We simulated a moon walk and explored the physics of coupled swings, solar cookers, and rainbows at the Clore Garden of Science on our first morning, and then visited a research lab studying the effects of oxytocin and vasopressin on the behavior of mice and mole rats.

We spent the evening with astronomers, peering at the rings of Saturn and our nearest major galaxy, Andromeda, before getting some well-deserved rest. Throughout our second day we took part in several hands-on labs as we investigated the brain’s spatial awareness and ability to register change, experimented with properties of physics, including sound waves, and use liquid nitrogen to alter the state of different objects. We also toured the labs of researchers studying the regeneration of heart tissue and those seeking to understand pediatric cancers - all in one building!

Weizmann Travelers:
Tiffany Connor
Devonte Duncan
Celeste Hodge
Drake Nemeth
Toni Risker
Diego Zakers
and
Ms. Alex Silva

Ms. Boyle Reflects on World Children's Day - November 20th

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November 20th was a typically busy morning in the classroom. A morning of self-directed choices. Children displaying kindness, creativity, concentration, helpfulness, independence and joy. It’s as if I’m not even needed.

World Children’s Day was first established in 1954 as Universal Children's Day and is celebrated on 20 November each year to promote international togetherness, awareness among children worldwide, and improving children's welfare.

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Volt Soccer T-Shirts Now Available - LIMITED TIME

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VISMIA Soccer presents the very greatest in upper body apparel!

Do you want to be a self disciplined warrior that conquers all obstacles?
Do you wish to lift thousands of pounds over your head all while vanquishing evil?
The Volt '64 tee is here to start you on your journey.
Representing the birth year of the Virgin Islands Montessori school - the Volt '64 design will uplift and inspire. All proceeds go to VIMSIA's soccer program. Made by Jerzees- shirts are a 50/50 polycotton blend that will inspire victory.
Click HERE to order.
This order link will close on February 9th so get your order in today!

Volt '64 Short sleeve
[available in Royal Blue and Black]
$20

Volt '64 Long Sleeve
[available in Royal Blue and Black]
$25

VIMSIA Athletes Place in VI Territory XC Championships

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VIMSIA Athletes participated in the Territory’s Cross Country Championships on St. Croix last weekend.

Aidan Griffith took 2nd place for Varsity Boys and Maia Tolud placed 1st for Junior Varsity Girls.

Congratulations to our runners!

Thank you RuthAnn David for the wonderful photos!

Exploring Identity through English, Spanish and Art

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This week PGIA students explored the topic of identity in their English, Spanish, and Art classes.

Starting this lesson in English class, students composed poems and biographies, highlighting their personality traits. Then, using these writings, self portraits were created in Pre-DP Art and Phase III Spanish class. An emphasis was placed on incorporating symbolism and imagery to show characteristics through their artwork.

The Pre-DP Art students then swapped the pieces and wrote a description of the artist in español. Ms. Rodriguez's Phase III students then translated the description to English and compared it to the original ideas written in English class.

This lesson explores language, identity, descriptive words, symbols and imagery in written and visual languages and how we express our thoughts and emotions to an audience.

PGIA Diploma Program Dancers Board the Carnival Breeze

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On Tuesday students in the DP Dance program went on a field trip aboard the Carnival Breeze. They explored various career opportunities in entertainment, engineering, tourism and hospitality with Ms. Helen and Captain John Amaro.

PGIA Students Paint Smiling Faces

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Last Friday, PGIA students Sy Sebastian, Deja-Marie Simon and Bella Zakers volunteered with Ms. Ferguson to paint faces for kids at the Lattes in Paradise Halloween party in Red Hook.