In Touch & In Tune

First Day Flowers

In the beginning, our first board chair grew beautiful zinnias. So he thought it would be nice as all children entered to give them a flower. These flowers then went to the classrooms and into a vase symbolizing the children in the class, coming together to create a beautiful arrangement. As time went on others brought in flowers from their garden to add to the zinnias, which created the annual tradition of First Day Flowers. ~ June Morrone, IDCS Founder

IDEA

What is I.D.E.A.?

The Integrated Day Education Alliance is a parent/caregiver organization similar to the PTA or PTOs you might see at other schools. IDEA sponsors fun and educational events throughout the school year. All of the money raised by IDEA fundraisers goes to classroom expenses, field trips, IDEA supplies, 8th grade graduation, annual picnic, last day of school pizza party, and events.

How do I get involved?

Britton Wilson, is our IDEA Chairperson for the 2024-2025 school year. You can reach out to Britton via email at [email protected] or join one of our IDEA meetings where future events and fundraisers are discussed and decided (see schedule below).

Events

Part of IDEA is planning fun, educational, and informative events for IDCS families to attend. The events include a Back to School night in September, a Hot Fudge and Fiction night in October, Caring & Sharing/Bread Feast in collaboration with IDCS staff in November, a spring event, the Annual IDCS Picnic in June, and the last day of school Pizza Party.

Planning Meetings

Don't forget to join our IDEA Planning Meetings this school year! Planning meetings take place virtually on the 3rd Monday of the month at 6:00 p.m. The full schedule and link to join the virtual meeting can be found on our Events Calendar HERE.

Fundraisers

IDEA plans and runs a variety of fundraisers to support IDCS throughout the year:

School Store: Ongoing, funds raised go into the general IDEA fund.

Mums: September, funds raised go into the general IDEA fund.

Picture Day: September, funds raised go towards providing each student a free yearbook in June.

Pies: October/November, funds raised go into the general IDEA fund.

Basket Raffle: April, funds raised go into the general IDEA fund.

Butter Braids: Spring, funds raised go into the general IDEA fund.

Want more info?

Visit idcs.org/idea/

History of the Bread Feast

History of the Bread Feast

The IDCS Bread Feast is a tradition that originated with the Integrated Day program at the Buckingham Elementary School. It was started by a teacher who brought the idea from another school as a way to foster a stronger sense of community among classes.

Bread is an item that is common to all cultures and dates back many years. Originally the feast was only a celebration of bread. With nutrition concerns, it has now expanded to include fruit. Food allergies are talked about and taken into consideration. Many of the classes either bake bread or study the science and history of bread. Over time the classes have read and written about it as well.

This event is held towards the end of the first marking period to celebrate the hard work done by all. It is set up so that children can mix and eat with siblings or learning buddies. Leftovers have always been donated to the soup kitchen.

The Bread Feast now includes Caring and Sharing which is a schoolwide service learning day with children working on a variety of short term projects that benefit the community. Caring and Sharing had previously been held at night but was moved to the day time so that more students could become involved. Ideas for the projects are identified by the students after class discussions.