Presenting the Class of 2024

It’s graduation week! All are invited to join us under the Solar Awning this Sunday, May 26th at 1pm for the official ceremony.

The Class of 2024 has very exciting and diverse post-secondary plans. Collectively, their pursuits will take them to both domestic and international universities, into the trades and to exploration through travel. From service projects to athletic accomplishments to excellence in academics, everyone in this class has contributed to our island community in unique and impactful ways. Half of this class has been a part of VIMSIA since a level of Montessori, and many of them participated in the Turkey End Session during their junior year.

In addition to their individual accomplishments, this graduating class has been instrumental in building and fostering a strong sense of community at VIMSIA and in St. Thomas. This class has developed a special sense of unity, having persevered through IrMaria and the pandemic during their time in the PGIA. Their impact will be felt for many years to come and the legacy they are leaving behind is deeply inspiring.

Class of 2024 - We love you and are so proud of you!

“What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson

Meet the Senior: Alivia Arroyo

Alivia Arroyo

“I think that the IB was the defining factor in me receiving this scholarship, because I’ve done well in it and universities know how difficult it is.”

In this new addition to the Volt, the Student Media Team will be contributing articles chosen, researched, and written by the students. This week, we sat down with Alivia Arroyo, one of our excelling seniors, to share her story.

by Natasha Webster and the VIMSIA Student Media Team

Although it’s only December, VIMSIA senior Alivia Arroyo has already been accepted and signed with Nova South Eastern University in Florida. Alivia received the Dean Scholarship, granting her a full ride to the college.

“I think that the IB was the defining factor in me receiving this scholarship, because I’ve done well in it and universities know how difficult it is,” she says.

In college, Alivia plans to major in Public Health to eventually become an ultra-sound tech. She mentioned how her IB Biology class has furthered her interest in this.

In addition to college applications, Alivia is somehow ahead in the intense workload of the IB classes. Whereas recent graduates and current students alike agree that their senior year was/is the most challenging year time-management-wise of their lives thus far, Alivia is ahead on all of her deadlines. “She is one of the most self-motivated, productive people I have ever met. She gets everything done and somehow still has time for other things,” says a fellow classmate.

Not only is managing college and the IB successfully an outstanding accomplishment, but Alivia balances the intense workload with a committed sport and job. She plays on the 18 Under Elite Volleyball traveling team for Island Mixx, and when school volleyball was in session, she led the team to claim first place in the inter-island championship team. Lastly, she also works at Ocean Surfari as a sales associate on the weekends.

So how does she do it all?

“At the beginning of the year, I was stressed, because I didn’t have a plan and I knew that things were just going to get more difficult. I know I get stressed easily and I have a lot going on, so I forced myself to make a plan and stick to it,” Alivia explains.

When asked what she recommends to be able to balance everything during senior year, Alivia shared her advice of creating lists, calendars, and reminders, but most importantly, “know yourself, because everybody handles stress differently. Once you balance your school work, life will be much less stressful”.

Volts Wednesday was a Smashing Success!

On August 31, PGIA staff and students hit the ground running (often literally) with “Volts Wednesdays” - a new and expanded version of PGIA’s enrichment Wednesday program. The PGIA team has grown the program to cover a full day of Professional Development, student clubs, community mentorships, and more. It was an amazing day of community building, academic support and extension for students, and learners exploring and pursuing their passions and interests with teachers and community members.

We kicked the day off with advisory, where small groups of students met with a teacher who serves as their academic advisor and mentor.

Our Student Life Blocks included incredible learning outside the typical classroom setting with courses like:

Jazz Ensemble

Business, Economics, and Investment

Personal Fitness

Robotics

Yoga and Mindfulness

Coding and Game Design

Photography

Tech Team

Yearbook

Our 11th and 12th grade students were able to spend part of their day receiving extra support for their higher level classes.

Student Quotes

“I really liked the assembly and my advisory. Honestly, the whole day was really cool and just felt like a break but while still learning something. (11th grade student)” 

“CPR & First aid class was amazing for me (10th grade student).”

“I loved study hall because it gave me more time to review my work (10th grade student).”

“I loved diversity club because I made a new friend and she shared a lot of my passions (7th grade student).”

“I really loved when we were discussing our ideas for the student café as well as the crochet and knitting club. (9th grade student)”

“I loved doing the fitness club and I loved meeting new students (11th grade student).”

“I loved Mr. Fisher rapping, all of my student life blocks, the amount of school spirit and friendliness that we haven't seen in a while, and being able to come to school later. (9th grade student)”

“I loved doing the fitness club and I loved meeting new students (11th grade student).”

“I loved hanging out with friends and having a break from the every day school life. I also loved learning about things that I’m interested in like mechanics. (10th grade student)”

“My advisory was my favorite class since it was simple and relaxed. I enjoyed the break from the stresses of school. (11th grade student)”

“My favorite part was being a Montessori Mentor and working with kids from Primary (9th grade student).”

“I loved volleyball and Japanese club. I also loved study hall before classes started (6th grade student).”

Teacher Quotes

“I loved seeing all of PGIA together and connecting different students with each other.” 

“It was nice to shake things up, see the students do different things in more heterogeneous groups. It was also nice to spend time with my advisory students.”

“I loved being able to share my passion with students.”

“Assembly was great for community building.”

Spotlight Staff - Learning Support

We are so proud of our VIMSIA staff. We have 19 new hires this year, and it’s a great group! Please take a moment to check out all of our staff’s bios on the school website.

Each week, we will try to highlight at least one staff member for our blog and our Volt weekly newsletter. This week we would like to focus on our Learning and Emotional Support Team, Ms. Amy Bennett, Ms. Caroline Forbes and Ms. Emily Rowe.

Please click on the images below for a narrative of the support available from each of these staff members.

Ms. Amy Bennett, M.S. Ed - PGIA Learning Support Specialist

Ms. Caroline Forbes - Montessori Learning Support Specialist

Ms. Emily Rowe, MA, NCC - VIMSIA Emotional Support Counselor

Mitochondria are Still The Powerhouse of the Cell - Grade 11 Biology

The Grade 11 Biology students created a labeled model of a bacterial cell this week with their teacher Mr. Pozen.
After following two simple instructions: Create a model of a bacterial cell and of an animal cell and Explain how each of the organelles inside of the cell work together. The class then divided up the work, assigned each person to help with different parts of the lesson, and then taught each other about the 2 different types of cells.
Mr. Pozen says, “I love seeing what students create when they are given ownership in their learning.”

The Story of the Universe - Great Stories

The “Story of the Universe” is one of the first of the "Great Stories" told to Elementary students. The Great Stories are a series of lessons that lay the foundation for the exploration of all topics, with the first one laying the basis for Physics, Chemistry, Astronomy, and Geology.

Students in Ms. Hess’ class work on adding details to their volcano.

Theory of Knowledge Exhibitions

Grade 11 students recently carried out their Theory of Knowledge Exhibitions. The Theory of Knowledge Exhibition is an important assessment for the IB. Students take the concepts they have learned about knowledge itself and apply them to real-world situations. Each student chooses a prompt about knowledge and then connects it with 3 real-world objects to create arguments about how knowledge exists in our world. I am so proud of the kids and their innovative ideas about knowledge in the world around them. Discover how the imagined ideas of the elusive mermaid caused human exploration of the sea or how the inevitability of bias causes one to see time differently from a busy city street to a swaying hammock between two palm trees. These ideas open your mind!

End Session Begins

VIMSIA's End Session began Today!

End Session is a unique adventure in learning created specifically for our Peter Gruber International Academy students (7-11th Grade)

This year we are offering 8 amazing courses!

VI Nature Explorations

Wellness Retreat

Sustainable Farming

SCUBA

Joy of Sailing

Chemistry of Cooking

Activism & Creativity

STEAM Patterns & Problem Solving

Pop Up Science Fair!

PGIA hosted a pop up science fair and invited students from the Montessori Elementary classes to view their work.

Ms. Mattingley's Class - Spooning Work

"Today was our 3rd day of zoom lessons and the children's engagement and enthusiasm is blowing us away. We are so grateful to our parents for their support in setting up their children's environments at home and then allowing their children to do it for themselves. This is how the child begins to build their independence by doing it for themselves (even when it isn't perfect). Thank you Montessori parents, you are amazing!" - Ms. Mattingley

VIMSIA GIRLS GO CYBERSTART TEAM EARNS 1000 POINTS

The VIMSIA Girls Go CyberStart team competed Wednesday and Thursday in the national championships of the Girls Go CyberStart online cybersecurity competition.  The competition lasted a grueling 36 hours.  Yes, the team did take time to sleep!  Our team worked together, stayed in touch via text and Zoom, and learned so much through the process. A growth mind-set was definitely needed, and the team never gave up. 

As a first year team going to the national championships, we knew we would be up against difficult, unfamiliar challenges.  The team had to work hard for every point, applying deep thinking and creativity to solve the problems.  They earned 1000 points!  Results are unofficial until next week, but we will place closer to the middle of the pack than the top ten. Of course, just making it to any national level championship is an immense feat.  We are very proud of this team!

Next year we will be able to bring a more experienced group to this competition, and our goals will be high.

VIMSIA will also be fielding Middle and High School teams in a different online competition coming up next weekend - InteGirls.  This one involves solving online puzzles and will be challenging.  It is also an opportunity to learn a lot and build team relationships.  You can learn more about the InteGirls competition here:  www.integirls.org

Feel free to contact Mrs. Hoffart (rhoffart@vimsia.org) or Ms. Petrich (mpetrich@vimsia.org) for more information about InteGirls.