30 October

Dear Middle School Parents,

In honor of Celebrating India Month, Diwali Mela on Saturday and Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday earlier in the month. Here is a great article: Gandhi's 10 Rules for Changing the World, where it emphasizes change starting with oneself, the need for persistence and that we’re all human. “The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world's problems.” -- Mahatma Gandhi

Join us at the Diwali Mela on Saturday!

To find out more about what Diwali is, go to this link with the information from the X-Change Culture Club from High School.

Living the Mission

Embracing confidence, creativity, courage and compassion, Middle School students proudly represented their peers at the CHEMUN Conference. They did an amazing job that two MS students received awards out of all of all the HS students: Adam Ludwig received Honorable Mention for the Disarmament & Security Council committee and Luis Zink was given Best Delegate for the Economic & Social Committee. One of the boys from the first year of MS MUN was honorable mention of Special Conference: SangHyeok Lee. Congratulations to the first MS MUN Team at CHEMUN and to their sponsors for preparing the group so well: Ms. Pepper McFarland, Ms. Michelle May and Mr. Ross Connelly.

November Early Release

In order to support continuous professional learning and development for AISC faculty members, there are seven Early Release Wednesdays on the calendar this year. On November 4, we will have our third Early Release Wednesday. As a reminder, students will be released at 1:30 p.m. and are expected to depart campus in a timely and organized fashion. We appreciate your patience. In preparation, please plan on allowing longer time for entry and exit to the school at release time.  Please also remember that there will only be sandwiches served on this day. If students want a hot lunch, please remember to pack one from home.

Special Middle School Coffee

Topic: How to Read a Standards-Based Trimester Report

Date, Time and Location: Thursday, 5 November @8:45 in Hall of Light

We will go over in details of how to look at a report card, help parents understand the various components of it and how to access it on Skyward. Please come and bring a friend.

All Middle School Students and Parents are cordially invited to the High School Band and Choir Fall Concert next week. Featuring original works by Wolfgang Mozart, Wayne Shorter and William Latham, and mind-bending covers of works by Maroon 5, Beatles, and music from the hit movie Frozen, this concert will send you out to Diwali Vacation on a musical high! Join us on Thursday, November 5 for the Fall Concert.

Middle School Coffee

Topic: Essential Life Skills for Adolescents by Ms. Jen Gold, MS Counselor

Date, Time and Location: Tuesday, 17 November @8:45 in Hall of Light

Come to the parent coffee and learn about some of the essential life skills that we can be cultivating in our adolescents. Fostering developing skills now in areas such as stress management, perspective taking, self control, and resiliency, among others, is important for our children so that they are prepared for the demands of life beyond Middle School. Join other Middle School parents in learning about these life skills and discussing ways to encourage their development at home.

Have a nice weekend.

Alan Phan

Middle School Principal

23 October

Dear Middle School Parents,

Congratulations to all the swimmers who are heading off to the SAISA Swim Meet in Muscat, Oman next week. Here are all of our Middle Schoolers:

10-12 Boys	10-12 Girls	13-14 Boys
YeJune (Ted) Chang Benjamin Jacob Youhei Honda JaeHoon Jeong Max Jacobson	Hanna Sano Taehee Kim Yeobin Lee Rin Miura Kennedy Porter Seohyun Park	Sang Won Kim Yasuyuki Masuda

Recognition of Students

Thank you to the Middle School students that were involved in selection of the new Director of Teaching and Learning: Seongsik Yoon, Sophia Kitsopanidis, Meghana Rachamadugu, MinJae Kim, Reuben Nielsen, Dobin Kim. All three candidates were very impressed by the thoughtfulness of your questions and the confidence in your delivery. Your feedback on the candidates was instrumental in the decision and we were very proud of the way you represented our school. (From DTL Search Committee)

Yearbook Photos Ready for Review and Order

Parents and students can now review the recent yearbook photos by clicking on the "Yearbook Photos 2015-16" link from the All School Page in Moodle. You may access Moodle using User ID -guest and the password - raptors15.

Families interested in ordering photos should complete and return this Form by November 7th. Prints will be ready for pick up after December 11th.  

Heads Up

The Student Activities Club is preparing a frightfully fun Middle School HalloweenParty on Friday, October 30 from 5:00 – 6:30pm. Tell your children to dress up and come for a fun night.

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

Who runs these events? At the Middle School, students who have joined the Student 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 this year? Typically there is a Pool Party, a Halloween party, a Winter Party, a Friendship Party, a School Spirit Week, a Movie Night, and an 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 grade-level reps 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.

Food Service Update

The response of students and teachers to several new menu items has been good.  The Salad of the Day in the Elementary Cafeteria and in the iHub are proving to be popular.  Sales of the vegetable juices are increasing as well.  We are expanding our offerings of  whole fruit to  include imported plums, grapes, and pears. Remember that we are also offering imported apples and oranges and local bananas.  We are now popping our own popcorn in order to meet our nutritional guidelines, and the sales have been brisk.

Food services at AISC are always in continual improvement. Should you have questions, suggestions or concerns, please contact Food Service Manager Prakash Shanmugam (sprakash@aisch.org), Elementary Associate Principal Lori Newman (nlori@aisch.org) or Secondary Associate Principal Jason Hicks (hjason@aisch.org). If you have not had the chance to have a meal in the I Hub or Secondary Cafeteria, please join us. We would love to hear your feedback about the food at AISC.

Indian Meal

As we continue to celebrate India Month, on Thursday, October 29th, all students and staff will be served an Indian lunch. The menu served will be Jeera and Peas Pulao, Carrot and Beans Poriyal, Chicken Tikka, Poori, Channa, Jalebi, Vadagam, Dairy/Juice. Students who prefer home lunch may bring their meal from home.

See you at the Diwali Mela on Saturday!

Have a wonderful weekend.

Alan Phan

Middle School Principal

16 October

Dear Middle School Parents,

Student-Parent-Teacher conferences are very valuable times where we have all three stakeholders meeting at the same time. We appreciate the high turnout at these conferences, which shows that support we are getting from parents. This triad is the key to student success and we truly appreciate the parent involvement. Thank you and we look forward to your continued support.

Last weekend, I came across a great NY Times Parenting Blog that talks about how to help your teenager navigate their social media lives. They will give you “Seven Ways Parents Can Help 13-Year-Olds Start Their Social Media Lives Right.”

India Week

Middle School will be celebrating India this week. Please encourage your children to come dressed up in their Indian clothing, especially on Tuesday when we have a special India Month Assembly. Let’s show off some Middle School India Week school spirit.

Homework Club Invitation

Parents and students, come to Homework Club for extra help. Homework Club is free and a great place to do homework after school. Homework Club is a helpful place to get your work organized and a very useful place to get some additional writing and reading help on your difficult assignments. Come to Homework Club and get your work completed so you’re free at night to enjoy your evening. Homework club is held on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday in Room 3120 from 3:35pm - 4:30pm. Please see Mr. Brian in Room 3116 or email him hbrian@aisch.org, if you have any questions.

Middle School Coffee: Postponed to November

Topic: Essential Life Skills for Adolescents by Ms. Jen Gold, MS Counselor

Date, Time and Location: Tuesday, 17 November @8:45 in Hall of Light

Come to the parent coffee and learn about some of the essential life skills that we can be cultivating in our adolescents. Fostering developing skills now in areas such as stress management, perspective taking, self control, and resiliency, among others, is important for our children so that they are prepared for the demands of life beyond Middle School. Join other Middle School parents in learning about these life skills and discussing ways to encourage their development at home.

Meeting the Director of Teaching and Learning Candidates

In place of the Middle School Coffee, parents are invited to meet the three Director of Teaching and Learning Candidates on Tuesday, 20 October at 8:30 - 10:00 in the BBT with 3o minutes with each candidates. Feel free to check the candidates' dossiers on Moodle in the DTL folder.

Parents will have the opportunity to listen to each candidate answer the same pre-selected questions following this schedule:

8:30 to 9:00 - Dan Love

9:00 to 9:30 - Jerry Maraia

9:30 to 10:00 - Rebecca Caudill

Please come, listen, and share your feedback.

Grade 7 Week Without Walls Parent Meeting

We will have an informational meeting on Wednesday, 21 October at 2:30 in BBT. Teachers will provide some details about the trip regarding the activities, location, flight and accommodation.

You are Invited to the High School Celebration of Learning!

The high school is excited to announce that they will host their first ever Celebration of Learning on Thursday, October 22nd between 10:00 am and 12:00 pm in the Gym.  All members of the community are invited!

What is a Celebration of Learning? It is a fair in which high school students will host 14 different booths highlighting their learning from in different classes. Each booth will display an essential question addressed in class and students will be on hand to guide you through their displayed work. For example, have you ever wondered if listening to music while studying improves your memory? Or how to identify rhetorical arguments in written texts? Or how graphical representations can tell the story of a particular data set? Well, now you can find out the answers to these questions and many more by attending the Celebration of Learning! Please join us!

Have a nice weekend.

Alan Phan

Middle School Principal

9 October

Dear Middle School Parents,

There have always been a lot of study tips out there. I came across these research-based Study Tips that  I thought it would be good to share some to you and your children. The video is short and has some great tips.

ASIAC Band and Choir Festival

AISC is very excited to host the ASIAC Music Festival this year. The festival will culminate in a grand Gala Concert on Saturday, October 10th at 4pm. Everyone is invited! Admission is open and free. Please bring your friends and family to support over 110 young musicians from  from American Embassy School (AES), American School of Bombay (ASB) and our very own AISC students as they sing and play at this memorable event. You don't want to miss it!

Special Session Coffee: Standards-Based Report Card

Please join us in this special session on Monday, 12 October at 8:45 in the Hall of Light.  Mr. Jason Hicks and Mrs. Victoria Hall will be comparing traditional grading versus standards-based grading. Parents will have an opportunity to experience grading in this manner.

Student-Parent-Teacher Conferences

If you have not done so, please remember to sign up with this link. The conferences begin on Thursday from 4:00-7:00pm and 8:00-4:00pm on Friday.

Please remember that the conferences will be held in the teacher’s rooms and are scheduled for 10 minutes with a no passing time between conferences. Since there is no time between appointments, you may want to consider leaving a gap between appointments to allow time to get to the next appointment, especially if you are visiting the fine arts teachers.

• Please bring your child and their Student Learning Habits with you to the conferences.
• Please respect the needs of other parents and do not continue your discussion beyond the allotted time. If you feel you need additional time to speak with any of your child’s teachers you can schedule an appointment at a later date.
• Your child’s teachers will need to take short breaks from time to time. These will be posted on their conference schedule.

Middle School Coffee

Topic: Essential Life Skills for Adolescents by Ms. Jen Gold, MS Counselor

Date, Time and Location: Tuesday, 20 October @8:45 in Hall of Light

Come to the parent coffee and learn about some of the essential life skills that we can be cultivating in our adolescents. Fostering developing skills now in areas such as stress management, perspective taking, self control, and resiliency, among others, is important for our children so that they are prepared for the demands of life beyond Middle School. Join other Middle School parents in learning about these life skills and discussing ways to encourage their development at home.

Special Guest on Campus

This year Wilbur Sargunarj will return to AISC to work with our students and present at the RISE event on Friday, October 16, from 4:00-5:30 in the FAC Auditorium. Tickets will go on sale by the ES entrance and the main entrance before school and after school starting Monday, October 12. Adult tickets are 200 rupees and student tickets are 100 rupees.

Luckily, Wilbur will also be here at AISC for the week leading up to the RISE event, and students are able to work with him in a variety of ways. Please note participation is subject to teacher approval and in some cases an application process.

• MS students will have a chance to sign up for ASA: So You Want to Be A Youtuber? on Tuesday, October 13 from 3:45-4:45pm where Wilbur will discuss how he became an internet sensation, and he will talk about the lessons he's learned.
• MS students will also have a chance to sign up to make a video with Wilbur.

Middle School MUN

At this year’s CHEMUN, we will have Middle School MUN students for the first time. The following delegates will be representing the MS MUN team. Congratulations to these candidates.

Abhi Desai Adam Ludwig Anant Bajaj Bhavni Joshi Diya Kumar Luis Zink

Manav Chakravarthy Natsumi Shindo Prahalad Giridhar Soo Youn Hwang Srivatsan Ramaswamy Ye Won Lee

Food Service Update

From October 19th, Taj Madras Flight Kitchen will be replacing microwave popcorn with a healthier option fresh from a popcorn machine. This popcorn machine, offering a snack lower in both calories and fat, will be installed in the iHub; packages will also be available in the ES cafeteria.

Is your child enjoying the recent addition of veg/non veg salads and the vegetable juice of the day? They’re now available in the iHub and ES cafeteria, so please encourage your child to try these new items.

Food services at AISC are always in continual improvement. Should you have questions, suggestions or concerns, please contact Food Service Manager Prakash Shanmugam (sprakash@aisch.org), Elementary Associate Principal Lori Newman (nlori@aisch.org) or Secondary Associate Principal Jason Hicks (hjason@aisch.org). If you have not had the chance to have a meal in the I Hub or Secondary Cafeteria, please join us. We would love to hear your feedback about the food at AISC.

You are Invited to the High School Celebration of Learning!

The high school is excited to announce that they will host their first ever Celebration of Learning on Thursday, October 22nd between 10:00 am and 12:00 pm in the Gym.  All members of the community are invited!

What is a Celebration of Learning? It is a fair in which high school students will host 14 different booths highlighting their learning from in different classes. Each booth will display an essential question addressed in class and students will be on hand to guide you through their displayed work. For example, have you ever wondered if listening to music while studying improves your memory? Or how to identify rhetorical arguments in written texts? Or how graphical representations can tell the story of a particular data set? Well, now you can find out the answers to these questions and many more by attending the Celebration of Learning! Please join us!

Have a nice weekend.

Alan Phan

Middle School Principal