Tag: community

IPS Gives Back: City Harvest NYC

Our Location/Education Director, Monique Tabbs, meets with the Pre-K children about the IPS food drive with City Harvest NYC.

The holidays are the perfect time to teach young children about giving back to those in need, and IPS students are no exception.

Each year, the school community participates in food and toy collections to give to outreach organizations in New York City. Our Location/Education Director, Monique Tabbs, spearheads the November food collection in which the contributions are distributed in time for Thanksgiving. This year, IPS is working with City Harvest NYC, which is the city’s largest food rescue organization.

The Green Room children place their food donations into our City Harvest NYC basket.

To introduce the concept to the children, Monique visited our Green (3s), Pre-K (4s), and Junior K (4s/5s) classrooms to read them a story about giving. She tells the children about the goal, which is to collect food for people who do not have enough to eat. She encourages the children to bring in canned goods and other food items for donation. Each day during the food drive, Monique wheels her basket into each classroom and, if the children have brought in an item to donate, they place the can or box into her basket. The children are so excited to take part in this activity, and by actually “donating” the items themselves, a home/school connection is created.

Monique visits the Junior Kindergarten classroom to collect donations for City Harvest NYC.

In December, we are looking forward to partaking in a toy drive for those less fortunate in time for the holidays.

Thank you to all those who donated to this cause, which will help fellow New Yorkers!

Interested in learning more about our school? Visit our website to read more about our facilities, teachers, and specialty classes.

Celebrating the 2020-2021 School Year

What a year! Nine months ago, in September 2020, the teachers, students, and administration of The International Preschools entered the school year with a mixture of feelings, from hope to excitement to uncertainty. A lengthy list of protocols allowed for our school to remain open five days a week, for the entire school year.

The 76th Street Red Room’s “butterflies” enjoy some time together in Central Park before “flying off” to the Green Room!

And what a success it has been! With copious amounts of hand washing, sanitizing of materials, and the wearing of masks, IPS students were able to come to school safely to play, learn, and socialize. With support and trust from the IPS parent community, we were able to remain open during an uncertain time. With hard work and dedication from the IPS teachers and staff, an environment as similar as possible to the one that IPS children had known pre-pandemic came to be.

The Junior Kindergarten class at 86th Street strolls through nearby Carl Schurz Park, enjoying the time together…and the great outdoors of NYC!

As the last days of school come and go, many classes are commemorating the end of school with something that hasn’t happened all year: an in-person picnic for families, students, and teachers at Central Park (for the West 76th Street location) and Carl Schurz Park (for the East 86th Street location). For other classes, “Zoom parties” have been scheduled, so that parents, families, teachers, and students can come together to mark the end of a wonderful (albeit different) school year.

Thank you to all of the members of the IPS community for your dedication and support of our school!

Interested in learning more about the IPS community? Read about our play-based learning curriculum on the IPS website.

Already know everything you need to know about IPS? Apply online today!

Happy Holidays: Winter Solstice Curriculum 2020

Every December, The International Preschools celebrates the Winter Solstice with a month-long curriculum on light, dark, and how families around the world celebrate the holiday season. This year, our Winter Solstice festivities were held via Zoom, live from each individual classroom. Although we missed having our traditional international potlucks and our school-wide sing-along, the feelings of community and togetherness were still evident.

Currently, IPS is closed for the holiday break. Please enjoy some photos from our classrooms, commemorating the Winter Solstice, light/dark curriculum, and the 2020 holiday season. Happy Holidays!

  • Happy Winter Solstice 2020!
  • Posing in front of our collective thumbprint holiday light paintings.
  • Exploring shadows during our light/dark unit.
  • Light/dark contrast collages
  • Thumbprint holiday lights!
  • Making moon mobiles for our light/dark unit.
  • “A Starry Night” collaborative collage and painting
  • Collage using shiny, light-reflecting materials
  • Gingerbread people!
  • Daytime/Nighttime collage mural
  • Working on a light table
  • Creating a classroom sun for our light/dark unit
  • Black/white contrast drawing
  • Wearing our necklaces made of holiday lights!
  • Collage using shiny, light-reflecting materials
  • Star collages
  • Happy Holidays from the Red Room!

Inside a (Remote Learning) Classroom at IPS

A Pre-K class created the letter R (their “letter of the week”) using play dough during a recent Zoom session.

The International Preschools has entered its third week of remote learning.  Upon entering the classrooms, one might feel as if they are actually visiting a “brick and mortar” version of what you’d find at the 76th Street and 86th Street locations.  Our faculty has done a spectacular job of transmitting their teaching styles through technological devices while still keeping the student/teacher connections that make IPS so special.

When you enter an IPS remote learning classroom, you might see…

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IPS Remote Learning: Our (New) Adventure Begins!

Greetings via Zoom from 86th Street!

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, our play-based learning environment has taken on a new look.  After a two-week spring break, The International Preschools reopened on Monday, March 30th…online!  Every day, our Red (2s), Green (3s), Pre-K (4s), and Junior K (4s/5s) Rooms are logging into their technical devices and bringing the IPS curriculum into our (currently socially distant) homes.

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Looking Ahead: The IPS Spring Benefit

IPS parent Adrien Meyer was our auctioneer at the 2019 Spring Benefit.

The International Preschools’ annual Spring Benefit will take place on Friday, April 24, 2020 at the Yale Club here in midtown Manhattan.  Our Parents’ Association has already begun working on this exciting event.

Whether you’ve attended several benefits or never been to one, here’s a few reasons why you should join us this year…

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IPS Community Outreach: Ronald McDonald House

At The International Preschools, families support a variety of causes that serve our community throughout the year.  Currently, IPS is hosting a drive for Ronald McDonald House New York, which houses families whose children are receiving treatment for cancer.  The drive includes a collection of goods plus a special event that will take place on Saturday, May 18th.  Read on to find out more!

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Grandparents and Special Friends Day at The International Preschools

Green 1 students say hello to their visitors on Grandparents and Special Friends Day last year.

Throughout the year, The International Preschools hosts events for families and friends to come together and not only learn about our school, but to celebrate its supportive community.  Our Grandparents and Special Friends Day is an annual event where extended members of our students’ families and/or close friends are invited to spend some time inside of the classrooms.  This year, Grandparents and Special Friends Day will take place on Thursday, May 9th and Friday, May 10th. Read on to find out more about this special fete!

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76th Street Museum Night at The International Preschools

76 Pre-K 1 created a replica of the Empire State Building for their New York City-themed book study.

Families observing the Pre-K 3 exhibit at the 76th Street Museum Night.

On Tuesday, April 9th, The International Preschools’ 76th Street location hosted its second annual Museum Night for the Green Rooms (3s) and Pre-Kindergarten classes (4s).  Museum Night first took place in 2018, as a Green Room function. Families were invited to observe artwork, photos, and other projects created during each class’ curriculum theme.  Pizza was served and children were invited to dress up for this special evening celebration!

This year, our Pre-K classes joined the Green Rooms in displaying work from their winter author and book studies. Read on to find out more about this special event!

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