ICS PTSA NEWSLETTER

October 7, 2025

See the ICS Calendar for more upcoming event dates.

2025 MEMBERSHIP DRIVE - MAKE A DONATION NOW!

The annual PTSA membership Drive has begun. So far we have raised $42,375, which is only 53% of our $80,000 goal.

The ICS PTSA relies on family and matching contributions for, well … EVERYTHING! 

Please join the PTSA and donate to help us keep and grow the programs that drew your family to ICS!

As a reminder, the suggested donation amount is $225 per family per school year, but any amount helps. Click here to donate. 

Grades that reach a 75% membership rate by November 15th will earn a pizza party!🍕

Grades that reach 65% membership will earn a donut party!🍩

Current membership levels are:

THANK YOU to all families who have donated already; your contributions are reflected in the current totals.* Please email treasurer@icsptsa.org if you have any questions or would like to verify your donation was received and counted.

*Note for those donating through Benevity (commonly used by Microsoft and other employers’ portals), there is a 30–45-day delay before we receive notification of your donation/matching funds.

REFLECTIONS 2025-26 - CALLING FOR ENTRIES

THEME: "I Belong"

DUE DATE: Nov 6, 2025 11:59pm 

SUBMISSION PROCESS: Will be announced in the future weeks, along with a pre-populated Student Entry form.

A student may submit an entry in any of six categories:

• Literature: Works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, prose, drama, short stories and lyrics.
• Music Composition: Original musical composition, with or without words.
• Photography: Color or black and white, included techniques: photogram, negative sandwich, and multiple exposure.
• Visual Arts: Drawing, painting in tempera, oil, acrylic, watercolor & computer generated art, two-dimensional collage & mixed media, printmaking. LWPTSA council is not accepting 3D art. *Please no stretched canvas more that ¾ in. and please no framed art.*
• Film/Video: Original works, with or without sound, of animation, narrative, documentary, experimental or music video/film.
• Choreography/Dance: Originally choreographed dance composition.

Questions: reflections@icsptsa.org

PTSA-SPONSORED CLUBS STARTING NOW - STAY TUNED!

Our PTSA Clubs are starting this week and next week! Each club has its own start date, so please keep an eye on any news from advisors. You can join the WhatsApp groups to get the most updated information for all of them (requirements, starting dates, goals, upcoming events, etc.). We’re excited for another great year of clubs, activities, and opportunities for students to get involved! 

Please see the table below for the complete list of 2025-2026 PTSA Clubs:

FREE COLLEGE ESSAY WORKSHOPS

The College Essay Workshop pairs students with trained coaches for one-on-one essay and personal statement support. This is a free program thanks to the LWPTSA and LWSF.

There are different ways to get support:

Virtual: Check availability and schedule a Zoom session via SignUp Genius.

Coaching Support Via Email: Email your essays to cewoffline@lwptsa.net and receive a 48-hour turnaround - give it a try! Please include the prompt you're writing for, target word count, the high school you attend, and any other pertinent info.

Questions? Email college.essay@LWPTSA.net.

ICS COUNSELING TEAM NEEDS FAMILY PERSPECTIVE

We hope that everyone’s fall is going well! The counseling team has put together a brief survey to get your perspective on what types of support your students may need, and the types of support we offer families. We would greatly appreciate it if you could take a few minutes to fill this out for us. Your perspective is important to us, and it helps us better serve your students and you. Please click on the appropriate survey for your family below.

High School Survey

Middle School Survey

Thank you for taking the time to fill this out!  Your ICS Counseling Team - Ms. Zavala and Ms. Nguyen.

SUPPORT ICS FAMILIES BY CONTRIBUTING TO INVEST ED!

We appreciate the support that the ICS PTSA community provides to our ICS families. One area where we are currently seeing the biggest need is Invest Ed. Invest Ed allows us to buy needed supplies, clothing, & other resources for individual students, such as coats, glasses, inhalers, shoes, ASB cards, folders, notebooks, water bottles, hygiene kits, athletic programs, school events, school fees, etc.

If this is an area you are interested in helping support for ICS, please click InvestED - International Community School to donate. Please make sure you select International Community School so the donation is able to directly help our community. Feel free to also share this link with any community members; it does not have to be only ICS families. Thank you for your generosity!

OUTDOOR COMMUNITY FALL GARDENING EVENT

Our first gardening event ("Weed & Mulch") for the 2025/2026 school year will be held on Saturday, October 25th from 9 - 11 AM. 

Parents and ICS students are welcome. This is a great way to earn 2 volunteer hours and make an immediate positive impact on campus! Sign up here. For questions, email jhuybregts@icsptsa.org.

PLAN AHEAD FOR FOCUS WEEK


SAVE THE DATE! Focus Week is May 18 – 21. Tracks will need male and female day and overnight chaperones. If you plan to volunteer, please block your calendar NOW and submit your leave request for May 16-23. Preparing now is not a guarantee of selection*, but is a necessary condition to being eligible if you need to get time off well in advance.

This is also a good time to update your volunteer application if it might expire before May. See the District Volunteer Application.

*Please note: The school selects volunteers for Focus Week. The PTSA assists the school with volunteer recruitment.

LUNCH ROOM VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

With the change in start time for the school, the entire student population has a single lunch block. Due to this, we need volunteers to support the lunchroom every day. This is a great way to help at school and earn volunteer hours!

Sign up here for as many spots as you would like. All volunteers must be LWSD-approved.  Thank you!