VIMSIA Joins Open eBooks Inititative!

Screenshot of open ebooks app

Open eBooks is a new nationwide program with the goal of putting popular and award winning digital books into the hands of in-need children for free.  Because the USVI is considered a rural territory under federal guidelines, our students qualify for this program.

Every student will receive a note with instructions and access codes.  This program is currently accessible only through android or apple apps used on tablets and phones.

Ms. Schlesinger has gone to elementary and PGIA classrooms to introduce the program to the students.  Younger students will also have access to encourage family reading.

For more information, go to openeBooks.net.

Please email kschlesinger@vimsia.org with any questions.

Happy Reading!

Bon Voyage as Ms. Keating heads back to Ireland

Ms. Keating displays the gift her students made for her as part of their going away party on Tuesday.

It has been so lovely having Ms. Keating, who retired a few years back after 35 years in the Lower Elementary classroom, back on campus for the past several months.  We are so grateful that she was able to help us out by heading up Ms. Serje's classroom during her leave.  We love you Ms. Keating.  You are forever woven into the fabric of VIMSIA.  

It Feels Like Carnival

Ms. Hanna Upps Primary Class gets in the spirit of Carnival.  Wishing all our families a Happy and Safe Carnival!  

For the love of Spanish!

As students in Dean Vázquez's Upper Elementary Spanish class wrap up a unit on nutrition, they prepare displays, illustrating their knowledge.  Students are interested, engaged, and working collaboratively for the love of Español!

Art is a Verb! This Friday evening - Join us!!

Are YOU ready for Art is a Verb?!  Any guess what this student is cutting out of wood?  Come to Art is a Verb THIS FRIDAY @ 6pm to see if your guess is correct!  

Ms. Ferguson and her PGIA Art students cordially invite you all to our 3rd Annual "Art is a Verb" interdisciplinary art show.  

All proceeds go to the PGIA Arts Department for productions, costumes and art projects.  Feel free to share this poster with friends, family & our community.

Concession stand will be open for light refreshments.  

Spotlight: Ms. Zakers honored at Excellence in Education Ball!

Congratulations to Ms. Gloria Zakers, our PGIA Director.  Ms. Zakers is being honored along with seven other Virgin Island educators at the Classes of the 70's First Reunion Ball - whose theme is "Showcasing Excellence in Education".

The Ball will be this Saturday, May 7 at Frenchman's Reef.  Cocktails, dinner and dancing with Spectrum Band.  Tickets are $75 and are available for sale with Ms. Paul in the front office.

Kudos, Ms. Zakers, for this well-deserved honor.  

Shakespeare is Alive at VIMSIA

On Friday, April 15, VIMSIA was the location to be at for the annual Vento Shakespeare Workshops and Festival. This event, presented by Pistarkle Theatre, strives to educate, engage and entertain students on the literary works of Shakespeare. With over 130 students from schools around the islands the VIMSIA campus was filled with love, laughter, and dramatic deaths as each group brought their own spin to the Bard’s words.

VIMSIA entered three different acts for the festival – “Taming of the Shrew” performed by the 8th grade; another group consisted of our drama enrichment students under the direction of Ms. Pamela New presenting “King Lear”; and our third was an independent monologue by 10th grader Darby, “Edmund" in King Lear.

Our 8th graders won an award for best supporting ensemble and Darby won an award for her monologue. All our students worked for months to create their presentations and we are so proud of them all!

ELEMENTARY TRACK AND FIELD TEAM FINISHED THEIR SEASON!

The Girls and Boys Elementary Track & Field Teams finished their season this past Tuesday. The girls team placed 2nd and the boys placed 3rd in the island's elementary league. Participating teams on island were Abraham, Antilles, Dober, Lockhart, Ulla Muller, Montessori, Gomez and Homeschoolers.  Students that medaled were: 

Girls: 

N'Jheri Matthew 2nd 4x100 meter relay, 1st 100 meter dash, 1st 200 meter dash

Cassidy Caines 2nd place 4x100 meter relay

Isabella Supinski 2nd place 4x100 meter relay, 3rd place 100 meter dash

Lindsay Barr 2nd place 4x100 meter relay

Nyala Burke 2nd place 4x100 meter relay, 2nd place 200 meter dash 

Kaia Anspacher 2nd place 4x100 meter relay, 2nd place 800 meter, 2nd place 400 meter dash

Ava Jayne Parfitt 3rd place 800 meter run 

Azaera Toussaint 2nd place 4x100 meter relay, 3rd place Standing Broad Jump

Tianna Davis 2nd 4x100 meter relay, 2nd place Standing Broad Jump

Boys: 

Adian Griffth 3rd place 4x100 meter dash 

Diego Villegas 3rd place 4x100 meter relay, 1st place Standing Broad Jump

Lennon Richman 1st place Javelin throw

Ka'eo Brown 3rd place 4x100 meter relay, 3rd place Shot put

Amir Ottley 3rd place 4x100 meter relay

Christopher Griffith 2nd place 800 meter run

This is the first time any elementary Montessori Track team ever placed in the team competition.  Congrats to all students involved in VI Montessori's Track and Field! 

A "Going out" with Ms. Keating, Ms. Hess and Ms. Santiago

On Friday, April 15, our lower elementary students from Ms. Keating and Ms. Hess’ class had a “Going Out” trip to Vessup Beach. After hiking down to their final location, they enjoyed lunch under the shade of the National Park trees, spying objects in the water from the dock, and participating in individual and team-building activities. From the joy on the student’s faces when they returned and from the photos below, it was a fun afternoon for all!

NASA Visits VIMSIA May 9

VIMSIA is proud to host a group of six NASA scientists and engineers for a Student Science Day during our regular school hours.  Students will see and experience great science and tech throughout the day courtesy of our NASA guests.  Topics to be covered include: Environmental Engineering, Applied Physics, Medical Science, Structural Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Software Development and Computer Science.

Register for events and/or read more about NASA's visit and how they will be reaching out to USVI students and educators during the first week of May.

VIMSIA Wins Participation award and more at the Rotary Sunrise Triathlon

Saturday morning, April 9th, many of our VI Montessori and Peter Gruber International Academy students participated in the annual Rotary Sunrise Triathlon held at Magen’s Bay. The event, which hosts swimming, biking and running as the competitive events, had over 140 students starting their morning at the beach.

VIMSIA students joined the fun as individuals or as team participants and all did a fantastic job. The VIMSIA winners for the different age groups are listed below:

Age Group 12-15

Individual Boys: 1st Place Taber Helton 26:50; 2nd Place Teagan Kappel 33.13

Relay Teams: 3rd Place Max Wilson, Diego Viegas, Amir Ottley 29:03

Age Group 9-11

Individual Girls: 1st Place Kaia Anspacher 12:23; 2nd Place Gabriela Brunt 13:32

Relay Teams: 1st Place Thomas Brunt, Christian Belcher, Chris Griffith 12:43; 3rd Place Paschal Bryan, Rohan Nagi, Ka’eo Brown 13:40

Age Group 5-8

Individual Girls: 1st Place Sofia Kappel 8:23

Relay Teams: 1st Place Santiago Brunt, Alex Brunt, Andy Bornn 6:59; 3rd Place Fiona Dodson, Aurora Rodriquez, Mariana Brunt 8:01

VIMSIA's Chess Team takes 9th Place at National Tournament

VIMSIA students Amir, Aidan, Kinze and Chris competed at the U.S. Chess Federation National Championships over the weekend.  As a team, these two 4th years and two 6th years were competing against Middle and High School teams from around the country.  There were 1,460 players at the event. The VIMSIA team competed against about 30 teams that were in their section.  They came in with a solid 9th place - with trophies awarded up to the top ten finishers.  Looks like we are going to need that big  trophy case!  Way to go Volts.  Interesting factoid - these four students are also USVI Territorial Soccer Champs.  IB Learning trait = "Well Balanced", and so many more!  

 Kudos to our Chess-letes and thanks to Mr. Allen, Mr. Wilkinson and Mr. Gever for being there for them.

Shout out to 5th year Annabelle , who was also to attend but was unable to make the event due to travel difficulties - you'll get 'em next time Annabelle!

Celebration of Literacy

Hannah Ballas, Darby Williams, Aashish Ramchand, and Jako Ethridge, four PGIA students volunteered this past Wednesday, March 30th to read to Grade 6 students at BCB Middle School in celebration of Literacy Week. 

Congratulations to Radiance Peets!

The St. Thomas Virgin Islands Coalition for Drug Free Youth announced its first ever "My Voice – Our Community" poster and jingle competition last month. This competition was designed to give youth in St. Thomas the opportunity to demonstrate their voices and opinions, to make a difference, and have a positive effect on reducing the use and abuse of drugs and alcohol. The competition provided a platform through which youth and schools had a unique and educational way of expressing being drug-free. Across St. Thomas, several students joined in promoting a positive message by creating audio jingles and posters that expressed how to make a difference in reducing the abuse of drugs (marijuana) and alcohol.

We offer huge congratulations to Radiance Peets for winning first place in her age category, 15 to 17 year olds, and representing our school. We are so proud of you!

Chess Tournament Update

The St. Thomas/St. John Chess Club members are in the midst of their first day of competition at the U.S. Chess Federation Scholastic Nationals in Atlanta.  

Mr. Gever is sending us updates as they come in.  Looks like a good first round for Chris.

There are 38 states with close to 1500 students participating!  

One more round today, 3 rounds tomorrow and 2 on Sunday.  We will try to keep you posted!  

Bon Voyage - Chess Athletes Off to Atlanta

Bon voyage and bon chance to our St. Thomas - St. John Youth Scholastic Chess Club members that are off to Atlanta Georgia this morning for the U.S. Chess Federation National Championships.  

17 V.I. students, five of whom are VIMSIA students, will be participating in the event.  VIMSIA will also be representing the V.I. in the team competition.  Kinze, Amir, Aiden, Chris and Annabelle - Upper Elementary students, will be testing their skills against other chess players from around the country.  Huge kudos to Sinclair Wilkinson and VIMSIA Coach Darryl Allen for mentoring these students and providing this great opportunity.  We will keep you posted on results! 

Daily News Post

"It Takes a Village" - Thank You Enrichment Volunteers

PGIA Enrichment happens every Wednesday afternoon.  Ms. Helen is able to coordinate talented volunteers from our community to work with our students' doing something they can all feel passionate about.  

"It takes a village to raise a child"    and we are so blessed here at VIMSIA with our amazing village!  Thank you so much to our volunteers.

Mr. Richard Berry who runs the PGIA Organic Garden

Ms. Pamela New from UVI - Reader's Theater / Shakespeare

Mr. Clay Jones of sevenminusseven -Photography

Master Edward Scott - Martial Arts

Mr. Fong and Ms. Schlesinger - Coding Plus Plus

Ms. Tess - Yearbook

Ms. Francis - VI Culture

Thank you and we love you all!

Montessori Students Speak in United Nations General Assembly

Two of our VIMSIA students were called upon to speak at Montessori Model United Nations last week.

Some Spanish Exchange Students See Snow for the First Time!

Lots of great new experiences for our PGIA students abroad at the Casvi School in Madrid.  One of which, at least for Kira and Aviella, was seeing snow for the first time!