Dear AISC Middle School Families,
The start of the 2016-2017 school year is fast approaching with the first day of school on Thursday, 4 August. We have been busy preparing the school and the classrooms, and looking forward to welcoming all the students to a new school year.
New Student Orientation
We will welcome middle school students and their parents who are new to the AISC community at an orientation session on Wednesday, August 3, from 10:00 to 1:00 beginning in the Middle School Library/CIC. After an initial introduction, the students will meet with the counselors and student ambassadors to learn more about the school and what to expect on the first day of classes. The parents will stay behind for a Q&A session with the middle school administrators. Students will also have a lunch and time in the pool so please remember to bring a bathing suit.
Student Schedules: All middle school students will start their first day with an advisory period, where they will receive their schedule. When they arrive to school, there will be panels up at the entrance of the school where they will see this list of advisory groups. Students will need to report to that room first thing in the morning.
Looking Ahead at Parent Coffees
The first coffees will following the same format as last year with a slight change. We will hold one for Grade 6 parents and a combined Grade 7 and 8. All MS Coffees will take place in the Hall of Light at 8:45:
Grade 6: Wednesday, August 10
Grade 7 & 8: Friday, August 12
Bring-Your-Own-Technology (BYOT) Program
All Middle School students are required to bring in a laptop that meets a minimum set of specifications to support student learning. If you have any questions regarding the specification Students may choose between a laptop with either the Mac or Windows operating system. In order to configure the devices, we ask that students bring their own device on these days:
- Thursday, 4 August: New students
- Monday, 8 August: Grade 6 All Returning Students
- Tuesday, 9 August: Grade 7 & 8 Grade 6 Returning students with new laptops
Please remember to set your operating system language to English in order for our IT department to configure devices.
Introducing New Teachers
We welcome a new class of teachers to AISC this year. They all have come from other international schools before Chennai. Here is a brief introduction of the new faculty members:
Name
|
Position
|
Previous Post
|
Heather Hall
|
MS Art
|
Cayman Islands
|
James Dowling
|
K-12 PE Associate Teacher
|
Zurich
|
James Knoebber
|
Grade 8 Social Studies
|
Cayman Islands
|
Jason Kennedy
|
MS Band and Strings
|
Hong Kong
|
Leena Thomas
|
Grade 8 EAL
|
Dubai
|
Lydia Okutoro-Seck
|
Grade 6 Language Arts
|
Kuwait
|
Roger Bodary
|
MS/HS Design Technology
|
Doha
|
We also welcome Kathryn Ahuja who will be teaching Grade 6 EAL, Grade 8 EAL and EAP. She taught in the elementary school for the past four years and now moving to the middle school this year.
I would like to take this opportunity to introduce our new Associate Principal, Andrew Ranson, who was the Grade 8 Social Studies teacher last year. His office will be next to mine in the MS Office. He will be joining me in the MS Coffees so you will get to know him better this year.
A Note from the Athletic Director - Student Health Forms
Welcome to the 2016/2017 school year. I hope all of you had a fantastic summer break and are ready for the new school year. As a quick reminder, all AISC returning students are required to complete the "Student Health Form" and "Physical Exam Form" by the beginning of this school year. This form was sent to each of you in the final version of Principal's Notes last June.
Any student wishing to participate in ASIAC Table Tennis or Badminton and SAISA Swimming must have this form returned to the school by no later than Tuesday, August 16, 2016. Students that have not returned these forms by this deadline, will not be permitted to practice or participate.
The links to the Health Form and Physical Exam Form are as provided for your convenience. We appreciate your cooperation with this matter.
Have a great weekend and see you next week!
Sincerely,
Alan Phan & Andrew Ranson