27 November

Dear Middle School Parents,

Happy Thanksgiving to all families who celebrate this holiday. It is a time to spend it with friends and family. I hope that you will get to spend time with them over this break.

2013 ASIAC Soccer Tournament 6 - 7 December

Come and cheer on our athletes this Friday and Saturday as we will be hosting the 2013 ASIAC Soccer Tournament. We have many boys and girls joining us from The American School of Bombay, The American Embassy School of New Delhi and The Abacus School in Chennai.

For more information, go to the AISC home page, click on the Community Life tab and scroll all the way down to the bottom then click on the Activities/Athletics tab. Once you have done that click on the words Click Here and this will take you to our website: Activities & Athletics.

Withdrawing Students

Any students that are withdrawing will need to contact Ms. Aziz in the middle school office a minimum of two weeks prior to the withdrawal date to ensure all necessary documents can be compiled in a timely manner. Records from AISC are usually required by the next school. However, it takes us some time to prepare these records. Please note that the report cards for the first semester will not be ready until Friday, 17 January. If you need records before then, please see Ms. Aziz immediately next week.

High School Principal Candidate

There will be two other parent meetings with the next two High School Principal Candidates. Both meetings will take place the week we come back from the break. In order to give proper feedback on all three candidates, we encourage you to attend and meet the next two candidates.

Tuesday, 3  December at 8:45 in the Cafeteria: Mr. Robert Doyle

Wednesday, 4  December at 8:45 in the Cafeteria: Ms. Tina Santilli

Week Without Walls (WWW) Photos

Because we had a short week this week and we have thousands of photos from the two trips, we are still organizing them. Once they are up, we will share them with you. Thank you for your patience.

AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL-CHENNAI

MUSIC CONCERT UNIFORM

The neat, uniform appearance of Band and Choir members contributes greatly to the formality of the event. Looking sharp increases our students’ pride of accomplishment and the audience’s perception of the ensemble. Students that will be participating in the MS music program must wear special clothing for concerts consisting of a pair of full-length black dress pants, black dress shoes (no sandals), black socks and black belt. These pants and shoes can be purchased locally at Bata and other stores. Ask for school uniform pants and shoes.

In no case will black jeans, tights, skirts, shorts/pedal pushers, or sandals be an acceptable onstage attire.

A black music shirt purchased from the school store rounds off the concert outfit. This is a special, semi-formal shirt with our school’s official music logo. Any student who already possesses an AISC Music logo polo shirt may use it again.

The polo shirt will be available for Rs.400/- in the iHub store beginning on the 21st of November 2013.

          Boys                                        Girls

AISC Middle School Band and Choir - looking good, sounding great!

Have a great mini-break.

Alan Phan

Middle School Principal

22 November

Dear Middle School Parents,

Many of the teachers have been away for this week on the Week without Walls (WWW) with the students. They gave up their time with their friends and family to be with our students. When you have a moment, please remember to thank them for their time and dedication.

Grade 8: Jason Hicks, Heidi Sager, Surekha Shetty, Ryan Sager, Brett Thomsen, Ross Connelly, Laura Klecker, Paula Peters-Frampton, Cristian Luca, and Flor Martin

Grade 7: Suman Malhotra,Vinitha Rajkumar, Ramu Indrasimhan, Brooke Johnson, Pepper McFarland, Seth Hills,  Aneesh Kalode Rajan, Tucky Fussell, Diane Reid, and Bill Hoffman

Here are some things they did…

Grade 8

The Grade 8 group had their amazing Week Without Walls experience in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Some of the highlights included: rappelling down a 30 meter wall, kayaking in the local lake,  an orienteering activity where students learned to use an electronic GPS in addition to the traditional compass,  team building experiences that gave the students the opportunity to show their leadership skills, and some local cultural experiences such as discussing and looking at examples of Warli art with a local Warli artist. Students were also treated to a Tarapa dance performance by the Warli people and some were even able to take part in the traditional circle dance.

Grade 7

The Grade 7 group spent their fantastic Week Without Walls experience in the Indian state of Karnataka. Some of the highlights included: an early morning bird walk with beautiful weather, sightings of fresh tiger foot prints and for some an actual tiger sighting! Students spent time at a local school sharing performances, and back at the resort students were entertained by participating in a talent show. There were also some great swim sessions, team building activities, and orienteering as well.  A cultural show, campfire, and marshmallow toasting rounded off the last night. On the way to the train station on the last day, students had the opportunity to visit a Tibetan settlement and to visit the Tibetan monastery. An incredible India experience!

Pictures for these trips will be posted on Moodle next week.

Pictures from the Middle School Play

Please click on the following link to see the Middle School Play.

http://aiscgallery.smugmug.com/AISCMSRobinHoodPlay/n-3CLjt

Middle School Coffee Tuesday, 26th November at 8:45 in the BBT

Please join us on Tuesday, 26th November at 8:45 in the BBT. As we are hitting the midway mark of the year, I would like to reflect on the first half of the school year and give parents an opportunity to ask any questions that are still lingering out there. Ms. Kim Bane, Director of Teaching and Learning and Mr. Kevin Crouch, Director of Technology, will join in helping me answer any questions you may have. Here are some of the topics we will cover:  Inclusion Teaching, BYOT Suggestions, Curriculum for MS Students, E-Portfolios, Student Grading/Progress Assessments and MORE.  

High School Principal Candidate Tuesday, 26th November at 8:45 in the Cafeteria

For Grade 8 parents, the Middle School Coffee will be a conflict with the  parent meeting with the first  High School Principal Candidate, Ms. Joelle Basnight. If you are planning on seeing all three candidates I would encourage you to attend this important meeting and send your questions with a friend to the Middle School Coffee.

From the After School Activities (ASA) Office:

ASA - ROBOTICS

ASA will be offering Robotics for semester 2 (January 27 - May 23, 2014,) on all Wednesdays.

Students who would be interested in assisting the instructor - Ms. Jayanthi Sethuraman are welcome and may please express their interest by emailing: Ms. Sripriya (ASA Coordinator) at vsripriya@aisch.org , and cc  Ms.Ramya (ASA Secretary) at bramya@aisch.org.  

You will not only get community service hours but also a rich experience of teaching.  This teaching experience will also add on credit to your college applications. Last date for applying would be December 6, 2013.

Have a great weekend.

Alan Phan

Middle School Principal

15 November

Dear Middle School Parents,

It has been great to see so many parents at the Three-Way Conferences. We appreciate the keen interest in your child’s progress in the school. As mentioned last week, please remember the advice of Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, from the Harvard Family Research Group, and not just focus on academic performance, but look at the growth the student is making.

The first Middle School theatre production was a huge success last night. I hope you can join us at this evening’s performance. You will be guaranteed to laugh and be in awed of the talent we have in the Middle School.

I would like to take this opportunity to recognize Ms. Diane Reid and her team for a great Middle School theatre production. It was great to see students in such a different role on stage. Ms. Diane would like to thank the following people:

Costume Team	Sha Patel (leader of costume team, first volunteer, handsewn costumes) Sarah Naidoo (costumes, props acquisition, general support) Carolina Pattichis (costumes) Harjinder Kahlon (costumes) Sharmilee Bach Nielsen (costumes, accessories, hair, and makeup)
Costume Organization and Maintenance	Bill Hoffman and Donna Fava
Publicity, Ticket Sales, and General Show Support	Rachel Griffiths
Assistant Director	Maxie Lankalingam (high school senior)
Prop Design and Construction	Laura Klecker
Headshot Photography	Debra Good Thomsen

Week Without Walls (WWW) Departure Time

Because the travel time is sensitive, we need everyone to be on time as we do not want to miss any connections. Please be sure to bring your child here by the time indicated below.

Grade 8: Monday, 18 November at 5:15am

Grade 7: Tuesday, 19 November at 3:30am

Middle School Coffee

The next coffee will be held on Tuesday, 26th November. As we are hitting the midway mark of the year, I would like to reflect on the first half of the school year and give parents an opportunity to ask any questions that are still lingering out there. Ms. Kim Bane, Director of Teaching and Learning and Mr. Kevin Crouch, Director of Technology, will join in helping me answer any questions you may have. Please come prepare with some questions. If you would like to send me the questions first, we would appreciate it.

From our Athletics Director-Mr. Ron Thomson

With the 2013 ASIAC Soccer Tournament coming rapidly upon us on December 6-7th, please remember  to visit the Athletic Website, which is up and running and we have a lot of information regarding the sports programs here at AISC. So if you want to find practice schedules, game schedules, ASIAC results, live streaming or the weekly notes from my desk, please go to the web site and surf away!

Reminder: We are requesting that each family house a minimum of two athletes for 2013 ASIAC Soccer Tournament. Please contact our director of housing and athletic secretary Sally Victor at extension 1303 to volunteer for hosting as well as attaining information regarding housing.

Remember to get there, go to the AISC home page, click on the Community Life tab and scroll all the way down to the bottom then click on the Activities/Athletics tab. Once you have done that click on the words Click Here and this will take you to our website: Activities & Athletics.

Have a great weekend.

Alan Phan

Middle School Principal

8 November

Dear Middle School Parents,

In preparation for the Three-Way Conferences on Thursday and Friday of next week,  please remember to bring your child’s report card, come with questions and be sure that your child attends to the conferences. Mr. Rob Martin, Grade 6 Humanities Teacher, shared an article with me and the author Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, from the Harvard Family Research Group,

“believes children should be present at parent-teacher conferences — after all, she argues, they’re the only ones who know completely what’s going on both at home and at school.“Children can be wonderful authorities, very wise, very honest, very candid, very insightful about what their experience is,” Lawrence-Lightfoot said during a PBS NewsHour piece. “And that’s a valuable perspective to have in a parent/teacher conference.”

She also suggests “to stress the importance of using conferences to talk about ‘whole child’ skills, interests, and growth,” she said. “Not just focusing on information related to academic performance.”

We also have the Middle School Theatre production on the same two days. If your conferences are on Thursday, please attend the production on Friday or the other way around. Below is an announcement from the from the Director of the production, Ms. Diane Reid.

AISC’S Middle School Theatre Production

The Somewhat True Tale of Robin Hood

Thursday 14 November & Friday 15 November at 5:30 in FAC Theatre

It sure is hard to be humble when you're a swashbuckling, egocentric super-hero. But our gallant guy-in-green tries his best as he swaggers through The Somewhat True Tale of Robin Hood, a frantically funny retelling of the classic story.

The legendary legend, in his never-ending quest to aid the needy, encounters a lovely damsel-in-distress, an ever-scheming sheriff, a greedy bad-guy monarch with a fan club of fawning ladies, a good-natured "Town's Guy" who manages to make his way into every scene, and a band of Merry Men whose collective IQs equal six.

Join us for an irreverent jaunt through Sherwood Forest that you won't soon forget! Tickets will go on sale Monday 11 November.

Note: The show plot and humor is suitable material for students in upper elementary and older. Show time is approximately 1.5 hours.

Please contact Rachel Griffiths at 8754593507 or at rtgriffiths@btinternet.com for more information.

Week Without Walls

Grade 8 and 7 students will be going on their WWW during the week of 18-22 November and 19-22 November, respectively. Please be sure that ALL the forms have been turned in. If you have any questions regarding the trip, please remember to contact the teachers before departure.

Vision and Hearing Screening Next Week

It is important that students get the vision and hearing screening each year. Please be sure that your child here at school for these two days. If you need to make an appointment for anything, please keep these times in mind. We appreciate your support and cooperation.

Tuesday, 12 November	Wednesday, 13 November
8:45 Grade 6 10:20 Grade 6 12:05 Grade 7 2:30 Make Up	8:30 Grade 8 9:45 Grade 7 11:30 Grade 8 13:00 Grade 8 14:30 Make Up

NESA Virtual Science Fair from Ms. Shobhana Radhakrishnan

It was the fourth time for AISC. The entire fifth grade was invited and a lot of parents responded favorably. We had eight teams with about three kids on each team. The basic rule for the science fair was that the entry must have a problem that could be solved experimentally with measurably results. College students were advisors and e-mentors for our students.

The entire activity was conducted after school hours, and the parents were a great inspiration and support to the kids. As it progressed, the children became more involved, focused, motivated, and as many of them said “We just love science now”. The whole activity lasted from November 2012 to May 2013.

Research teams opened their e-diaries, college advisors collaborated with members of the research team. The teams got the go-ahead from their e-mentors, submitted three interim reports, and finally posted the conclusion to the experiment.

Amid great excitement school winners were announced; two forums were created by the project manager and Rounds II and III of the virtual judging began.  Students were required to answer five questions left by the Facilitator.  ENTER JUDGES! Judges entered the research site to access online site, research report, and the 5 questions.  Winners were announced – Top Five Teams who would enter Champion’s League.

FINALS – Five judges reviewed Top Five Sites.

Final Results Announced – The Winner was Team 1 consisting of Vinay S. Sriram, Reuben Rehan Neilsen, and Domenic Wilbur for their project on “BIOGAS” from AISChennai.

The beautiful rolling trophy – a fitting testimony to dedication and hard work- is back again at AISC after three years.  

Thanksgiving Celebration

The Westin on Velachery Road is hosting a Thanksgiving buffet on Thursday, November 28th and has agreed to provide a special offer and buffet time for the members of AISC and our friends. Please plan on arriving between 12:30 and 1:00to enjoy a welcome drink and visit with friends. We will proceed with the “Carving of the Turkey” at 1:00 pm and open the buffet at that time. This will be a ticketed event and tickets will be on sale before and after school outside the main reception Monday, November 11th through Wednesday, November 20th.

Special Buffet Offer (inclusive of all taxes):

Adult ticket including “drinks” – 2200 Rs.

Adult ticket without  – 1800 Rs.

Child ticket ages 6 – 12 years – 900 Rs.

Children 5 years and under are free

Please note the following are included in your ticket price:

1. Lucky draw with gifts from the hotel including a) Free Room night stay at the Westin for 2 people b) Brunch for 2 adults and 2 kids at Seasonal Tastes c) Dinner for 2 adults and 2 kids at Seasonal Tastes) Spa Treatments, and more
2. Kids arts and crafts session, Sony Playstation, kids play zone, etc.
3. Complimentary use of the swimming pool from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm on Thanksgiving Day for those that wish to come early or stay late
4. Pre-Packaged “left-over” box including turkey meat with cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy at a very nominal price.

From our Athletics Director-Mr. Ron Thomson

Athletes of the Month of October

On behalf of The American International School – Chennai and the Athletic Department we would like to congratulate the October Athletes of the Month. These athletes were nominated by their coaches for their outstanding efforts in their respective sports then selected by the panel consisting of the head coaches and myself.

The recipients of this award are: Heewon Hwang for participation in M.S. Table Tennis, Katrina Nielsen for participation in SAISA Swimming, Dakota Kuhn for participation in SAISA Volleyball and Emma Berg for participation in SAISA Volleyball. These fine young athletes have all demonstrated and modelled the attributes of competitive spirit, hard work and dedication to one’s sport, leadership and the sportsmanship that we seek in all of our student/athletes.

Congratulations, we are very proud of you!

2013 ASIAC Soccer Tournament

On December 6-7th, we will be hosting the 2013 ASIAC Soccer Tournament. We have 48 boys and girls joining us from The American School of Bombay and 48 boys and girls from The American Embassy School of New Delhi. We need the AISC community to pitch in and help find housing for all of these student/athletes.

We are requesting that each family house a minimum of two athletes. Please contact our director of housing and athletic secretary Sally Victor at extension 1303 to volunteer for hosting as well as attaining information regarding housing.

Thank you for all of your help with our upcoming tournament.

SAISA Track & Field Update

I wanted to update you on a change of venue that recently occurred for our season three sporting events. Due to a major renovation project at the American International School of Dhaka, they will not be able to host the 2014 SAISA Track & Field Meet this coming March 11-15th as planned. They requested that we switch the tournaments, to which we agreed. As a result, we will be hosting the 2014 SAISA Track & Field Meet and AISD will host the 2014 SAISA Boys Basketball Tournament.

By helping one of our SAISA member schools in this way we can assure that all the SAISA Track & Field Athletes have a properly-run and rewarding meet. We are excited about hosting the Track & Field Meet this year and look forward to the excitement and community building that hosting a meet with 300 athletes can do for our school identity and pride.

If you have any questions or concerns about this please feel free to contact me at tronald@aisch.org.

Thanks again for your understanding.

See you at the Diwali Celebration this Saturday.

Alan Phan

Middle School Principal