23 November

Dear Middle School Parents,

Research has shown that reading is one indicator of success in school and learning. With technology nowadays, reading comes in many different forms: books, magazines, newspapers, online articles and blogs. In a study with boys and books, they researched the financial gains in European men who were born before information on the internet proliferated and here is what they found: “The researchers were surprised to find that, among kids who benefited from an extra year of school, those who grew up with more than 10 non-school books (that is, books they weren’t forced to read) at home eventually doubled that lifetime earning advantage, to 21%.” It confirms that children, not just boys, who read on their own because they are curious and knowledge-seeking, thus leading to success and have greater financial gains. It’s also the extra year of school that was a great surprise for me, which I have always thought that children only have 18 years to be children so allow them to take advantage of and enjoy their childhood in school before university.

With the holidays coming up, please remember to check out books from the CICs for your children or buy them when you travel back to your home country. We encourage students to read in English and their mother tongue. Here are the reading lists from the last two summers, which have the title, short description and genre for each book: Summer Reading List 2016 & Summer Reading List 2015.

ASIAC Season 2 Sport

With the first season of ASIAC Soccer coming to a close very soon. Two new sports and three different teams will have their information sessions in December. Practice will begin on Monday at 6:30am after the winter break. Here are the information sessions:

Boys and Girls Volleyball Information Session Date/Time: Tuesday, 13 December @Lunch Location: Breezeway Conference Room (next to iHub) Boys Volleyball Coaches - Ms. Michelle May &                                                Mr. Suresh Girls Volleyball Coaches - Ms. Pepper McFarland &                                                Ms. Sobha Daniel

Tennis Information Session Date/Time: Wednesday, 14 December @Lunch Location: Room 4124 Coaches - Ms. Rebekah Lopata &                   Ms. Lauren Schneider

We have several events coming up in December so please mark your calendar to join us and support the middle school students:

• Thursday, 1 December at 2:30pm: MS Band Concert
• Saturday, 3 December from 9:00 - 12:30: Strategic Planning Futures Summit
• Tuesday, 6 December at 2:30 MS Choir and Strings Concert
• Friday, 9 December: MS Winter Party from 4:30-6:00pm and Cabaret at 6:30pm.
• Friday and Saturday, 9-10 December: ASIAC Soccer Tournament

ASIAC Housing Request from Ron Thomson

In just two weeks time, we will be hosting the 2016 ASIAC Soccer Tournament from 9-10 December. We need your help in finding homes for our visiting athletes from AES and ASB. We have 40 boys and 40 girls to house from Thursday, December 8 through Sunday, December 11. Please let us know by contacting Ms. Sally Victor at vsally@aischennai.org. Thank you in advance for your hospitality.

Hour of Code

Hour of code will be celebrated December 5-9. According to code.org, "There are over 8,079 events around the world in over 180 countries. To date, over 100 million students have participated, and girls in particular are being given a greater opportunity to learn programming than ever before." Last year, students in grades 1-4 participated in Hour of Code. We are hoping to get even more participation this year. During hour of code, students will participate at their pace in online tutorials learning the basics of computer programming. Learning to program requires students to use thinking skills, pay attention to details, patience, the ability to predict an outcome and much more. Bill Gates states, "Learning to write programs stretches your mind, and helps you think better, creates a way of thinking about things that I think is helpful in all domains.”

Have a great long weekend.

Sincerely,

Alan Phan & Andrew Ranson

Middle School Administration

18 November

Dear Middle School Parents,

You should have received the email with the instructions to access the first trimester report. Please take the time to thoroughly look through the trimester report and read the student reflection from your child and feedback from the teachers. It should provide you with more information of what your child is doing well and what s/he needs to work on for the next trimester. Should you have any questions about any of the classes, please feel free to contact the subject teacher.

Fun Middle School Videos

Sometimes parents wonder what students do during Week Without Walls and our other trips. Here is a glimpse into WWW and the ISTA Trip. Click on the links below to see the videos.

• ISTA Video
• WWoW Videos
• Grade 6
• Grade 7
• Grade 8

Monthly Middle School Curriculum Update

As part of our efforts to communicate with parents and to keep them informed of what students are studying in the Middle School, please find the link above with a brief description of what students are currently studying in each subject area.

Early Release

On Wednesday, 23rd November, we will have another Early Release Day. Students are expected to depart campus in a timely and organized fashion. We appreciate your patience with traffic on these days. In preparation, please plan on allowing longer time for entry and exit to the school at release time. For our Middle School students, hot lunch will be served.

Thank You MS Delegation - You Made CHEMUN X Better

The CHEMUN Leadership team applauds the MS Delegation for its outstanding performance at  the tenth Chennai Model United Nations held at AISC on November 4-6. From the sounding of the first gavel, MS students drafted resolutions, sought signatories, lobbied in unmoderated caucuses and made amendments with students from 28 other HS in India and the UAE.

Although the members MS Delegation were the youngest at the conference, Lisa Martin, head of the THIMUN foundation-Qatar, remarked on their level of performance, their poise and confidence when speaking and negotiating. Ms. Lisa Martin also remarked that she have seen many MUN conferences, and this is one of the best she’s visited. This would not have been possible without the involvement of our MS Delegation and the hard work and support of their advisors, Ms. Pepper, Ms Lucy and Mr. Ross. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

We have several events coming up in December so please mark your calendar to join us and support the middle school students:

• Thursday, 1 December at 2:30pm: MS Band Concert
• Saturday, 3 December from 9:00 - 12:30: Strategic Planning Futures Summit
• Tuesday, 6 December at 2:30: MS Choir and Strings Concert.
• Wednesday, 7 December: Early Dismissal
• Friday, 9 December: MS Winter Party from 5:00-6:00pm and Cabaret at 6:30pm.
• Friday and Saturday, 9-10 December: ASIAC Soccer Tournament

ASIAC Housing Request from Ron Thomson

In just three weeks time, we will be hosting the 2016 ASIAC Soccer Tournament. We need your help in finding homes for our visiting athletes from AES and ASB. We have 40 boys and 40 girls to house from Thursday, December 8 through Sunday, Dececember 11. Please reply to our housing director Ms. Sally Victor at vsally@aischennai.org if you can help us out. Thank you in advance for your hospitality.

Have a great weekend.

Sincerely,

Alan Phan & Andrew Ranson

Middle School Administration

11 November

Dear Middle School Parents,

I am continuously impressed by the caliber of our students. Below are two examples of our students, extending their learning beyond the classroom and school day. The world is their stage and they are fulling taking advantage of it.

Back in September we asked students this prompt from The New York Times:  If I Were President … of My Club, My Class, My College, My Country to send — in words, drawings or pictures — what you would do if you were in charge. On the eve of the elections, we want to know your concerns, and hopes, for the future. Would you make college free? Ban drinking? Build a safe space, or a wall around campus? Why, and what would that look like?

You will be pleased to know that we have two middle school submissions that made it into the New York Times. Click on here to see the rest of the article and what other students had to say:

HYEWON CHOI, American International School Chennai (India), sixth grade:

If I were the president of the world, I would first prevent girls from marrying at a young age. One of the reason I want to prevent girls from marrying at a young age is because the girls who are marrying quickly are not able to spend their childhood and they have to stay inside the house. And the second reason is that it is violating the international Declaration of Human Rights article 16, which says that men and women have right to marry. So if I were the president of the world, I would prevent more creation of child brides.

JINWON CHOI, American International School Chennai (India), sixth grade:

By looking at Malala [Yousafzai], I got to learn about lots of women not getting education in Pakistan and also other countries. I want to fix this problem. Human Rights article 26 says that everyone has their rights to have education, just being a woman doesn’t changes that. Some people think that women should stay at their house and do housework while men gets to study and get jobs. Well, it’s WRONG! Men and women are same humans who only has different gender. So if I become the president, I want to fix the discrimination between girls and boys.

AMIS MS Honors Band Festival

AMIS results have come out.  Out of many challengers to earn a coveted spot at the festival, Finn Wohltmann has earned a place in this year's Asian MS Honors Band Festival that will be held at the International School of Manila in March 2016.  Congratulations to Finn, and all other students who worked hard and learnt the audition music passionately, and have the courage to record and submit it!

First Trimester Report

The First Trimester Report will be open in Skyward next week. When it is available, please take this opportunity to have a conversation with your child(ren) regarding their progress thus far in the first trimester. If you need any support in reading the Trimester Report, please come to the next MS Parent Coffee when we will go over our philosophy of standards-based reporting and walk you through the trimester report.

MS Parent Coffee

The next middle school coffee will take place on Tuesday, 15 November at 8:45 in the Hall of Light. Please come to the session where we will talk to you about how teachers communicate student progress with parents, go through the Skyward gradebook and go over the report card. Please be sure to come to this important session and bring a friend with you.

Early Release

On Wednesday, 23rd November, we will have another Early Release Day. Students are expected to depart campus in a timely and organized fashion. We appreciate your patience with traffic on these days. In preparation, please plan on allowing longer time for entry and exit to the school at release time. For our Middle School students, hot lunch will be served.

Interested in Joining Track and Field Later?

The SAISA season begins on February 13th. To prepare for the season ahead of time, Ms. Holly Younglove is offering an optional Running Club 2x a week starting now. If you are interested in coming out for the team or want to learn more about running, jumping or throwing. Sign up on this Track & Field Interest Form and you will receive an email with more information about the upcoming Track and Field Club pre-season optional practices. Contact Coach Younglove yholly@aischennai.org if you have any questions.

Have a great weekend.

Sincerely,

Alan Phan & Andrew Ranson

Middle School Administration

4 November

Dear Middle School Parents,

There is never a dull moment in our school. Our High School Chennai Model United Nations (CHEMUN) Conference begins today. For the second year in a row, we will have a delegation of AISC middle school students. I am always amazed with our middle school students and their ability to live the mission showing courage and confidence to partake in a highly regarded event with much older students . Congratulations to the following delegates for being selected to represent our proud middle school. Please click on this link for further details of what country and committee they represent.

Amelie Dowling Arjun Chakravarthy Celia Malone Daehyeon Song Declan Li-Carney E-Shane Chew Jaehyeok Kim Lekhana Gogineni Luis Zink

Minki Kim Prannoy Thakore Seongsik (Johnny) Yoon Srivatsan Ramaswamy Varun Krishna Woonji Lee Yewon Lee YoungIn Song

Scholastic Book Fair

Get lots of great new books! AISC is holding its next Scholastic Book Fair on November 7-9 in the FAC Atrium (8:00-4:30 on Monday and Tuesday, 8:00-3:30 on Wednesday). Please stop by and check out some of the wonderful books on sale! You will find books available for students in elementary and middle school. There are nonfiction and fiction books with many different genres, series, and fun topics you will enjoy!

Please contact Mr. Jet at wjeremy@aischennai.org if you have any questions. We look forward to seeing you at the book fair!

International Schools Theatre Association (ISTA)

Congratulations to all the students selected to go to International Schools Theatre Association (ISTA) in  Colombo, Sri Lanka from 11-13 November. The theme of this year’s festival is Creating Karma. From the ISTA website about Sri Lanka: “Sri Lanka is a country that maintains total respect for its traditions, rituals and beliefs. Believing strongly in auspicious days, karma and superstition. Sometimes waiting years for the right day to come along before doing something significant. This is a festival that will explore tradition and ritual. Asking: how can we intrinsically link ancient belief into the modern world? With a visit to one of the largest, most sacred and beautiful temples in the country to explore ceremony, superstition and stories from the past that might then inspire our pieces of theatre.” Students will depart on Thursday, 10 November and arrive back home on Monday, 14 November.

Grade 7                                             Thea Kristensen Chloe Bridgeland                                           Noa Daryn Diya Reddy Haruna Tanuguchi

Grade 8 Weronika Strzelczyk Celia Malone Sriya  Venepally   Rin Miura Prannoy Thakore Srivatsan Ramaswamy Conner Browne Sai Reddy

Thank you in advance to Mr. Gareth Huxtable for making this happen.

MS Parent Coffee

The next middle school coffee will take place on Tuesday, 15 November at 8:45 in the Hall of Light. Please come to the session where we will talk to you about how teachers communicate student progress with parents, go through the Skyward gradebook and go over the report card. Please be sure to come to this important session and bring a friend.

Yearbook Photos Ready for Review and Order Final Reminder

Parents and students can now review the recent yearbook photos by clicking on  "Yearbook Photos 2016-17"  from the All School Page in Moodle. You may access Moodle using User ID -guest and the password - raptors16.

Families interested in ordering photos should complete and return this Order Form  by November 7th. Payment may be done at the cashier's office. Please submit the completed form  to the HS office.

Prints will be ready for pick up after December 5th.  

Have a great weekend.

Sincerely,

Alan Phan & Andrew Ranson

Middle School Administration