31 January

Dear Middle School Parents,

Starting this past Monday to the 7th of February, the Performing Arts Department has welcomed back Cohdi Harrell to the school as our 2014 Guest Artist.  

Cohdi worked with our students at the inception of Theatre Arts program last year with great success, while also performing an original piece mixing modern dance and aerial work (static trapeze and rope) during a school wide assembly.

This year, Cohdi has been assisting in MS and HS classes, introducing principles of circus skills and physical theatre in relation to drama and dance studies. Focusing on tools to develop physical and energetic awareness, Cohdi's work uses acrobatics, object manipulation, and character building exercises to encourage students to start thinking and moving with a broader range of depth and motion in regard to theatre and physical performance. His focus with our students includes:

Acrobatics: balance, coordination, tumbling, pyramid building, creating environment with bodies.

Rhythm: body percussion

Object manipulation: working with everyday objects and circus props

Conception: creating imagery above ground

Clowning: Character development and individualized expression

As with Kathryn Claire's residence last year, on February 7th at 5 pm, the FAC Main Stage Theatre will present an original performance piece by Cohdi Harrell as part of our ongoing Fridays@5 series.

AISC is overjoyed to welcome Cohdi back as 2014's Performing Arts Department guest artist!

Girl Scout Brownie Troop

The Girl Scout Brownie Troop at AISC has been working on an Environmental Services project this month.  Their aim has been to help the environment by providing the school community with recycling resources-- primarily bags and services of the Paperman.  You can learn more at their booth.  The girls will be available Friday, January 31 in the main entrance before school and after school in the elementary play area.  If you pre0-ordered a bag, please pick up at either of these times.

Movie Night at 4:00 in FAC Theatre

Tonight, student will be staying back for their first movie night in the theatre. The movie will end around 6:00. Please remember to pick up your children promptly. If you cannot come on time, please be sure to call the school to inform us.

Soccer Camp, 8 - 9 February

Next weekend, students will participate in the U90 Soccer Camp here on campus. As this will take quite a bit of their time, please plan accordingly if students have assignments that are due the following week. We would like them to enjoy the weekend training and stay on top of their academics.

Academic Corner

In connection with Cohdi Harrell in school for this week and next week as the 2014 Guest Artist in Performing Arts Department. We will spotlight the theatre classes for this week.

All the theatre students are working with Cohdi for two weeks. He is a physical theatre and circus artist who uses body movement to create performances for the stage. Right now they have started with basic techniques such as energetic/physical awareness of self and others on stage, different styles of rolling and floor movement, and the basics of balancing objects (practiced with peacock feathers!). They are also practicing on working with others with rods and creating human structures. Ask your children about it.

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24 January

Dear Middle School Parents,

We have a number of activities coming up in the next few weeks, Movie Night next Friday and the Friendship Party on the 14th of February. We also are sending small group of students to a couple of important events:

AMIS Honor Band in Shanghai (11-17 February)

We are sending two Grade 7 students: Sae Shimada and Suzu Toyonaga and two Grade 8 students: Hana Suzuki and Ui Hyun Cho. We are thrilled to have them represent AISC.

Math Counts in Mumbai (13-16 February)

We are also sending students to represent us at the American School of Bombay:

Grade 6: Reuben Nielsen

Grade 7: Haegun Cho, Tarun Krishna and Siddesh Vijayakumar

Grade 8: Shreyas Saxena, Uday Saharia, Vikram Sivakumar and Sang Hyeok Lee

The Winter Concert is here! Come hear your friends in the high school Symphonic Band and Concert Band tear it up this afternoon, from 4-5, in the auditorium. Admission is free. And on your way up to the concert, check out the high school art show on display in the ground-floor atrium. Cool clay sculptures and awesome sound sculptures in one place. Today, in the auditorium, 4-5pm!

The following is a reminder for returning parents and information for new parents to the school.

Frequently Asked Questions about the Middle School Social Events for Students:

Who runs these events? At the Middle School, students who have joined the Activities Club work with three advisors (Ms. Jaya, Ms. Lakshmi, and Mrs. Hall) on a weekly basis to plan various social events throughout the year.

What are the events for the rest of this year? Friendship Party, Movie Night, and End of Year party.

What do the students do at these parties? A disc jockey plays middle school appropriate music and students socialize together. There is pizza, popcorn, chips, and drinks. Students are supervised by middle school teacher volunteers.

What can parents do to help? For the parties we ask parents to supply some baked goods such as cupcakes, cookies, or easily served sweet or savory snacks. We kindly request that these are finger foods that are easily served and are in small portions. Please do not include nuts in any of the food items and clearly label any item that is non-veg. The Class moms usually send out a request for these and follow up reminders. (No baked goods are needed for the Pool Party)

Is there a cost for these events?  Students in the Club sell tickets the week of the event. The tickets are usually 200Rs in advance, 250Rs at the door. Student must pay with cash- students cannot use the school's smart cards for this. The money is spent on the refreshments, the disc jockey, the decorations, and any additional costs related to the events (movie rental, lighting, etc)

Can my child leave at any time? We are responsible for supervising your child during the event, therefore, please communicate in writing to the Principal before the event if your child needs to leave early for any reason.

Where can I pick up my child after the party? Students are dismissed from the party and are required to leave by the main gate. Please pick up your child there promptly. The timings for the events are published in the Community calendar. (The Pool Party timings are from 4:00 to 6:00)

Can my child bring a friend who is not a student at AISC or a younger/older sibling? As this is a middle school event and because we need to have a complete list of all students attending the event for security/safety reasons, these events are only open to middle school students enrolled at AISC.

Thank you for your understanding.

Academic Corner

The goal of the Academic Corner is to keep parents informed of what students are studying in school. We encourage parents to ask their children about these topics they are learning. Ask them to explain it to you, this will help reinforce their learning. Please remember to be non-judgmental and ask probing open questions so they can explain it to you.

Grade 8 students are starting to plan for the NESA Virtual Science Fair. Students have been learning to write their hypothesis, creating procedure and coming up with their list of materials. Once they have all those approved, they begin testing their experiments. Most of the work will be done at home with their teammates, but some of the testing will be under the guidance of the teachers. In addition to working with the teachers here in school, they learning how to write appropriate emails and how to communicate with professors at universities who will be guiding them through this process virtually. If your child was here in Grade 5, they had a similar Virtual Science Fair a few years back.

After the introduction will be done for the Virtual Science Fair, Grade 8 students will be starting their Energy Unit. In Grade 7, they are currently in Cell Processes unit. They have covered Photosynthesis / Cell Respiration. They are wrapping up Mitosis, entering Meiosis and Heredity next. In Grade 6, they are studying Earth's History - exploring the geologic time scale, learning about fossils (and how they provide evidence of earth's history), and studying the early origins of life. After Earth’s History, they will study Plate Tectonics.

Have a good weekend.

Alan Phan

Middle School Principal

17 January

Dear Middle School Parents,

The semester report card has been issued to students today . Please take the time to go through the report card and read the teachers’ comments. Please remember to praise for the good work being done and also focus on how they can grow in each subject. Should you child need help, there is a big support network here at school; teachers available to help students before school, during lunch and after school. Students only need to communicate and set up appointments with teachers to get the support. Additionally, there is Homework Club every Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays where students can get help each week.

Don’t forget to join us  at the “Jan Jamboree” on Saturday, January 18, 2013 from 2 – 5 pm on the AISCH Soccer Field. This event is for AISCH families and guests.

There will be a Rs 200 Entry Fee for ES and MS Students. NO entry fee for Adults and HS age students!

Come and enjoy the food and drinks on sale, get the chance of winning exciting prizes in the Raffle, see the kids have a great time and spend a fun afternoon with family and friends.

Middle School Coffee

Tuesday, 21st January at 8:45 in Hall of Light

The next coffee will be held on Tuesday, 21st January. To start off the new semester, Mr. Brian present to parents different ways for parents to help their children to be more efficient, organized and successful when studying at home. It will be a presentation with lots of handouts and he will also review ways to positively reinforce students for their effort, persistence and self-monitoring.

Hey Middle School students and parents!

The High School Bands will give their Winter Concert on Friday, 24 January 2014 at 4:00pm. The show will include the Concert Band and the Symphonic Band performing works by guru band composers Ralph Vaughan-Williams, Percy Grainger, Leroy Anderson and more! And it gets better: this will be the band's last performance in Chennai before eighteen of our young musicians go on tour to Dhaka, Bangladesh for the SAISA Music Festival. You can hear the festival repertoire before the festival!

The High School Bands would like to extend a special VIP invitation to Middle School students and parents. Wouldn't you like to hear what high school is all about? Come check it out! Admission is free, and the concert is appropriate for students in grades 5-12, or grades 1-4 with parent supervision. Parents of all ages are welcome!

Cary Stewart

Band Director

Academic Corner

For this portion of the Principal’s Notes, we will focus on a curricular area that students are studying in school. Because we cannot include everything, we will include an area of focus each week as we would like to keep parents in the loop of learning that takes place in school. This coming week, we will focus on Language Arts (English) in collaboration with our Visiting Author Week.

The visiting author, Mr. John Coy, will be here all of next week working with  students on their writing. In the Middle School, he will work with Grade 8 students about the art of “Writing a Young Adult Novel” and how they can incorporate that into their Fantasy Writing Unit.  In Grade 6 and 7, students will learn the power of “Revision: Seeing Your Story Again.” The 7th graders will use the new skills in their Historical Argumentative Writing Unit and the 6th graders in their Narrative Journals (Non-Fiction) of Ancient Egypt Unit. Please take the time to talk to your child about their experience with visiting author.  

Have a good weekend.

Alan Phan

Middle School Principal

10 January

Dear Parents,

Happy New Year! We hope you had a fantastic break. We are now back in the full swing of the second semester. Teachers are wrapping up the grades for the first semester; they will be given to students next week.

Semester Report Card

The semester report card will be issued next Friday to students. Teachers have been working with students throughout the semester to help students achieve their best. Please remember to praise for the good work being done and also focus on how they can grow in each subject.

With guidance from their teachers, students have reflected on their learning and documenting their work. Students have been given time in class to create their portfolios with the reflections of their learning. It is completely student-driven and student-created. We encourage you to ask your children to share their e-portfolios with you. As we are half-way through the year, students should have a number of posts in their e-portfolio.

Middle School Coffee

The next coffee will be held on Tuesday, 21st January. To start off the new semester, Mr. Brian present to parents different ways for parents to help their children to be more efficient, organized and successful when studying at home. It will be a hands-on presentation with lots of handouts and he will also review ways to positively reinforce students for their effort, persistence and self-monitoring.

January Jamboree

Dear Parents,

As one of its community building projects, the High School Student Council is organizing the “Jan Jamboree” on Saturday, January 18, 2013 from 2 – 5 pm on the AISCH Soccer Field. This event is for AISCH families and guests.

There will be a Rs 200 Entry Fee for ES and MS Students. This is because once they enter the Jamboree, they will have unlimited, free of charge access to the over 20 games and activities organized by HS Students, their “Big brothers and Sisters” ex. Cookie Decorating, T-Shirt Decorating (extra charge for cost price of t-shirt), Obstacle Course, Face Painting, Sponge Throw, Splash, Beat the Keeper, T1 Car Racing, Bouncy Castle, Balance Beam Pillow Fight, Lime and Spoon Race, Pin the Tail on the Raptor etc.

NO entry fee for Adults and HS age students! Come and enjoy the food and drinks on sale, get the chance of winning exciting prizes in the Raffle, see the kids have a great time and spend a fun afternoon with family and friends.

Funds raised through this event will be used to support a variety of community service clubs and projects.

We truly hope you will be able to join us as a family for this wonderful event!

AISC High School Student Council

From our Athletics Department

Soccer Camp Reminder

Before the winter holiday, we passed on the registration information for our upcoming U90 Soccer Camp on Feb. 8-9th. Please find the attached flyer for each camp. If you registered already then save your registration information as you will not have to do it again. Parents you can continue to register on the same link as was previously sent. We hope to see many of you at this fine camp.

Links:

ID camp:  https://www.regonline.com/Register/Checkin.aspx?EventID=1328887

U14:  https://www.regonline.com/Register/Checkin.aspx?EventID=1328888

U10-12:  https://www.regonline.com/Register/Checkin.aspx?EventID=1328890

Have a good weekend.

Alan Phan

Middle School Principal