28 March

Dear Middle School Parents,

Congratulations to all the 8th graders! There were some incredibly complex science projects at the Science Fair. The teachers and I were very impressed with the research and work they have done.

Progress Reports
Please note that the mid-semester progress report were given to students today. These grades and comments are meant to give parents an indication of how students are doing currently. If there are concerns, parents can always meet with teachers throughout the year; to make an appointment with one of the teachers, please contact Ms. Aziz in the Middle School Office.

FRIDAYS@5 Presents the documentary film “Blood Brother”

Friday, April 11 (at 5:00 p.m. in the AISC Auditorium)

Winner of two Sundance Film Festival awards in 2013, this documentary was filmed on location just outside of Chennai in an orphanage for children living with HIV and AIDS.

Blood Brother tells the story of Rocky Bratt, a young man traveling in India who comes to volunteer at the orphanage.  What happens next is a chronicle of the pain and the struggle of the children to survive both the stigma of HIV/AIDS and the disease itself, how strangers can become family, and how dedication to service comes to transform both Rocky and the children’s lives. Rocky will join us for the screening at AISC  and afterward he will engage attending community members in a dialogue about the film, the children, and his life with them.

This film deals with mature subject matter, and while each family must decide what is suitable for their children, we feel this film is most appropriate for students in, or above, 8th grade. Middle school students will not be admitted alone without express consent of parents given to MS Principal, Alan Phan. This event is not appropriate for Elementary Students. 

We would like to invite parents and older students to see this film together as a family.  While the issues the film raises of disease, loss, and grief are hard hitting, the film itself is incredibly well made and a story about lives being lived just next to ours, is a testament to the power of love, perseverance and hope. When we consider our core values and the aspirations of our Mission -- courage, confidence, compassion, and creativity -- we see this film as a vital work of art.

As our community continues our conversation on the significance of service learning and the meaningful relationships we are creating beyond our school, we feel this film speaks to that theme as well.  

We look forward to seeing you there!

Looking Ahead

Calling your attention to the Grade 7 Yard Sale! This is an annual event that the Grade 7 students have been doing for the past few years. The money will go to charity. More information will follow after the Spring Break. 

In the meantime, think about spring cleaning literally and donate some of your unwanted items. You can either donate any reusable in good condition or buy a table space for Rs. 1000 to sell your own products. Mark your calendar for 14 and 15 May, 2014.

ASA NEWS…BASKETBALL

Our middle school ASA boys and girls played a 20-minutes practice game with the visiting team – Railways Mixed Higher Secondary School. Our boys’ team beat the visiting team: 24 points - 18 points. Our girls’ team lost to the visiting team: 10 points -16 points. The match gave our students a unique opportunity to try out the fundamental basketball skills that they learnt in the ASA classes, in an actual game scenario. Our team played really well exhibiting amazing team skills, the way the passed the ball around among the teammates before going for the basketball was commendable.

Please note that we will not have After School Activities (Soccer/Drama/MathCounts) this Saturday – March 29, 2014. All ASAs will resume April 7, 2014, onwards.

Other Notice:

As school is closed for the Spring Break, please note that the pool will be closed from Saturday March 29 thru Friday, April 4.  It will reopen on Saturday, April 5.

Have a great Spring Break!!

Alan Phan

Middle School Principal

21 March

Dear Middle School Parents,

We appreciate the participation of all the parents at this week’s Middle School Coffee to learn about the Service Learning Program. Thank you for giving us feedback on the draft purpose statement. We will continue to solicit feedback from parents. There will be two more sessions this school year in a World Cafe format where you can give us your feedback on April 16 and 29 at 3:45-4:45 in the Cafeteria.

Peer Mediation Program: “Students helping students”

Students, who have been nominated by their peers and have decided to take part in the program, are currently off campus for a two day training on March 21st and 22nd. After their training, students will be speaking to their peers more about it during advisory and once the word is out, the new Peer Mediation program will be launched the week of April 22nd. Encourage your children to seek out one of the Peer Mentors should they have a conflict and would like to resolve it through a third party.

6th grade

Arunveer Kahlon       Natsumi Shindo

Reuben Neilsen         Bhavni Joshi

Manav Chakrvarthy     Min Jeong Park

7th grade

Tarun Krishna           Shridula Harinath

Siddesh Vijayakumar    Hana Sivakumar

Minha Park              Medhya Dwaraknath

Grade 6 Celebration of Reading

Next week on Wednesday, 26 March between 11:50 to 12:50, you will see the 6th graders and teachers all around campus reading for enjoyment.

Grade 8 Science Fair

Students have been working on the NESA Virtual Science Fair for the past couple of months. They have written their hypothesis, created procedure and listed the materials.  Most of the work has done at home with their teammates, but some of the testing has been done under the guidance of the teachers. In addition to working with the teachers here in school, they have been collaborating with professors at universities who has been guiding them through this process virtually.

They are putting on the final touches and finishing up their projects this week and next week. This project will culminate in the Science Fair, which will take place on Thursday and Friday, 27-28 March. Parents can visit on Thursday, 27 March between 8:30 - 10:15 and 1:35-3:30 in the BBT.

FRIDAYS@5 Presents the documentary film “Blood Brother,” Friday, April 11 (at 5:00 p.m. in the AISC Auditorium)

Winner of two Sundance Film Festival awards in 2013, this documentary was filmed on location just outside of Chennai in an orphanage for children living with HIV and AIDS.

Blood Brother tells the story of Rocky Bratt, a young man traveling in India who comes to volunteer at the orphanage.  What happens next is a chronicle of the pain and the struggle of the children to survive both the stigma of HIV/AIDS and the disease itself, how strangers can become family, and how dedication to service comes to transform both Rocky and the children’s lives. Rocky will join us for the screening at AISC  and afterward he will engage attending community members in a dialogue about the film, the children, and his life with them.

This film deals with mature subject matter, and while each family must decide what is suitable for their children, we feel this film is most appropriate for students in, or above, 8th grade. Middle school students will not be admitted alone without express consent of parents given to MS Principal, Alan Phan.

We would like to invite parents and older students to see this film together as a family.  While the issues the film raises of disease, loss, and grief are hard hitting, the film itself is incredibly well made and a story about lives being lived just next to ours, is a testament to the power of love, perseverance and hope. When we consider our core values and the aspirations of our Mission -- courage, confidence, compassion, and creativity -- we see this film as a vital work of art.

As our community continues our conversation on the significance of service learning and the meaningful relationships we are creating beyond our school, we feel this film speaks to that theme as well.  

We look forward to seeing you there!

As school is closed for the Spring Break, please note that the pool will be closed from Saturday March 29 thru Friday, April 4.  It will reopen on Saturday, April 5.

Have a good weekend.

Alan Phan

Middle School Principal

Please click here for this week's menu.

14 March

Dear Middle School Parents,

As we are approaching the hot weather, please remember to send a bottle of water with your child to school every day.  Remind him/her to finish it by the end of the school day and especially to drink prior to, during, and after physical activity or prolonged period out in the sun. Did you know that by the time you feel thirsty your body is already becoming dehydrated?  Children must not use thirst as the sign for need for fluids. Do not wait until you are thirsty! Tell your child this over and over and over again.

Middle School Coffee 18 March at 8:45 in BBT

The next middle coffee will be dedicated to the Service Learning Task Force to give you an update on the program and where we are at this point. The presenters will talk about service versus service learning and what it might look like in the Middle School in the future.

Model United Nations (MUN) Parent Meeting

MUN is an extracurricular activity where students assume the roles of countries and organisations represented in the United Nations in specific committees. The aims of an MUN conference are to encourage debate and sharing of views between students from different schools and of different ethnicities. The ultimate goal is to promote awareness of international relations and issues in young people, and to inspire global mindedness and an understanding to the problems of the world and how to combat them, whilst providing an atmosphere where students can progress in their communication skills and open mindedness. This would allow students an insight to further their understanding and learning of politics in a global and international manner.

There will be a parent meeting on 19 March at 3:45 in the BBT for all delegates who will be traveling to Taipei in April. We will provide details of the trip and answer any questions you may have.

Peer Mediation Program: “Students helping students”

Peer Mediation is a conflict resolution process that provides students the opportunity to talk and effectively resolve their conflicts among themselves.  Conflicts between students are a normal part of daily life.  Conflicts that are most common in school include name-calling, rumors, threats, and relationships or friendship issues.  Peer mediators conduct the mediation process.  Peer Mediation works to develop a place where students can talk out their differences and come to a peaceful solution.

The training for Peer Mediators will enable students to learn communication, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills and how to apply those skills in the six-step mediation process. Students will be traveling off campus for a two day training on March 21st and 22nd. The new Peer Mediation program will be launched the week of April 22nd.

Congratulations to our Peer Mediators! They have been nominated by their peers. The following students will be Peer Mediators for the following school year 2014-15.

6th grade

Arunveer Kahlon       Natsumi Shindo

Reuben Neilsen         Bhavni Joshi

Manav Chakrvarthy     Min Jeong Park

7th grade

Tarun Krishna           Shridula Harinath

Siddesh Vijayakumar    Hana Sivakumar

Minha Park              Medhya Dwaraknath

Grade 8 Science Fair

Students have been working on the NESA Virtual Science Fair. Students have been learning to write their hypothesis, creating procedure and coming up with their list of materials.  Most of the work is being 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 also collaborate with professors at universities who has been 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.

This project will culminate in the Science Fair, which will take place on Thursday and Friday, 27-28 March. Parents can visit on Thursday, 27 March between 8:30 - 10:15 and 1:35-3:30.

Academic Corner

In Grade 6, students have recently finished our unit on ancient Egypt, where students created a flip book project to showcase their learning. They are currently learning about ancient India, where the focus is on geography, early civilizations, and the origins of Hinduism and Buddhism. Students will compare and contrast major empires and rulers of ancient India. The unit will end with a exploration of the religious, artistic, and scientific contributions that have influenced our modern world. They will continue to place emphasis on developing strong note-taking skills, in addition to answering historical/essential questions with strong supporting details and topic/thesis sentences. Students use the Grade 6 Humanities blog to build their knowledge and make connections between what they are reading and learning in class: http://martinhumanities.com/.

In Grade 7, students are wrapping up the Disintegration Unit, which will conclude with some project based learning (students get 9 choices to complete a compare and contrast project). They also have two interdisciplinary essays that will be completed for language arts and social studies. One will be an on-demand essay, and another will be a formal argumentative essay integrating the writing skills from LA and content concepts from SS. The argumentative writing is based on the idea of whether or not feudalism is a good system or a bad one.  Some informational writings that they are doing will be about comparing and contrasting European and Japanese feudalism, as well as explaining the introduction of plague in Europe and its disastrous effects.

In Grade 8, students have just finished a short investigation into the form and function of the U.S. Constitution.  Students were encouraged to transfer those understandings to the government of their nation of citizenship in a Tic-Tac-Toe activity.  They are now exploring the causes of the U.S. Civil War by looking at the socioeconomic differences of Northern and Southern states.  Slavery and the issue of states' rights will be explored in upcoming weeks.  In addition to reading informational texts, the will examine speeches of four famous Americans given between 1820 and 1860 in order to better understand the root causes of the U.S. Civil War.

High School Play: Into the Woods

“The cow as white as milk,

The cape as red as blood,

The hair as yellow as corn,

The slipper as pure as gold.”

Will the baker and his wife find the four special objects to reverse the horrible witch’s curse?  Will Jack sell the cow and buy food for his poor family?  Will Cinderella’s handsome prince find her? And Little Red Riding Hood!  Will she safely make it to her granny’s cottage in the woods... or will she fall prey to the devious, yet charming, wolf?

Come to the high school production of Stephen Sondheim’s musical, Into the Woods, to find out what happens to some of your favorite fairy tale characters who cross paths in this spirited musical!

Shows are Friday, March 21st, at 5:00 PM, and Saturday, March 22nd, at 7:00 PM.  Tickets are on sale before and after school near the front entrance and during the day with Ms. Sonia in the main reception.  Tickets are available in three sections: Director’s Circle (rs. 500), Orchestra (rs. 300), and Mezzanine (rs. 100).  Support our creative and courageous student actors by joining us “in the woods.”

Have a great weekend.

Alan Phan

Middle School Principal

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7 March

Dear Middle School Parents,

The National Honors Society is conducting a food and sanitary items drive for The Little Sisters of the Poor, an organisation dedicated to help the elderly. This old-age home requires basic necessities that are not available to them and the following items are recommended for donation:

Food: Such as Wheat Flour, Rice,  Dal

Sanitary Items: Such as Band-aids, Garbage Bags, Soap/Sanitizers

Boxes will be present near the locker area for each grade from March 10th to 21st. Please help them assist the elderly!

Grade 6 WWW Photos

We have posted some photos on our Moodle site: Grade 6 WWW Photos

Ayyanar Horse Project by Mr. Aneesh

A short introductory video (trailer) of Ayyanar Horse Project. I hope you will enjoy and understand the process of making the huge sculpture.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SE_y3ToAqkU&feature=youtu.be

Athletics News

We have students away this weekend at the ASIAC Volleyball and Tennis Tournament in New Delhi. We wish them the best of luck and hope they have a great tournament.

Next week, we will be hosting the SAISA Track and Field Tournament starting on Wednesday, 12 March to Friday, 14 March. We will have our athletes and around 180 Athletes from four others school. Please come and cheer for all the athletes.

Calling all Middle School Swimmers!!!

Wow, the swimming  skills you have been developing in PE class can now be put to good use!!!! Have you thought about joining ASIAC Swimming???  Sign-ups will be held in the cafeteria during lunch on Friday, March 7 and Monday, March 10. Practices will be 4 days per week (Mon. Tues. Thurs. Fri. Mornings) and begin Monday, March 17. The tournament is in Mumbai this year!!!

If you have any questions, see Coach Tommy, Coach Scott Larson or Coach Donna.

ASA - ADVANCED SOCCER CLUB TOURNAMENT

Saturday - March 8, 2014

Venue: AISC Campus

Time: 8.00 am – 1.00 pm

Competing Grades: 5-7

Participating schools for the tournament:

• ASA ADVANCED SOCCER CLUB TEAM
• LADY ANDAL MATRICULATION SCHOOL
• ABACUS MONTESSORI SCHOOL
• GATEWAY INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
• ST. MICHAELS ACADEMY
• ST. PATRICKS HIGHER SECONDARY SCHOOL
• CHRIST CHURCH ANGLO-INDIAN HIGHER SECONDARY SCHOOL

Looking ahead: International Theatre Festival

From the 24 to 27 April, AISC will welcome six schools from across the world to come to Chennai for an international theatre festival.

We will be joined by:

• Busan International Foreign School
• Dulwich College, Shanghai
• French International School, Hong Kong
• Green School, Bali
• International School of Kuala Lumpur
• International School of Penang

Have a fantastic weekend.

Alan Phan

Middle School Principal

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