Thursday, 25 January 2018

25 January

Dear Middle School Parents,

We have a busy week next week with two parent coffees for grade 8 parents, a book club, student-parent-teacher conferences, celebration of learning, hosting an international festival and sending students to another international festival.

Hosting Students for AMIS Festival - From Ryan McFarland, Activities and Athletics Director
The Athletic and Activities office is still looking for homes to provide accommodation to visitors for the AMIS Honor Choir event. It is from January 31-February 4th and we're hosting students from schools in China, South Africa, Israel, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, the United Emirates, and India. We still need about 20 students to be housed. If you're able to help (see what we need from you below) please fill out this form. If you have already filled out the form you do not need to again.  

As far as hosting responsibilities go, we house students in groups of 2 or more. They should have a bedroom that they can share with the others from their school. We can provide thick sleeping pads if you don't have enough beds (though students often share a bed).  Each day you need to provide breakfast and just twice need to provide dinner. Finally, they need to get back and forth to the school each day. We can provide a schedule to those that have offered to house. If transportation is any difficulty, we can arrange school transport too.

Thank you very much for considering opening your home to the students that will be visiting AISC!

AP/IB Information Session for Grade 8th, 9th and 10th Grade Parents
On Tuesday, January 30th, Mike Malone, the High School AP/IB Coordinator will host a parent information coffee to explain, in broad strokes, about the Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs and course offerings in the High School. The coffee will be in the BBT from 10:00 - 11:00 am. All interested parents are invited to attend.

The high school administration will hold a more in-depth presentation to Grade 8 parents in the spring for the course registration process: HS Course Registration Overview.  

Grade 8 parents welcome!
High School Presentation about Standards Based Assessment and Reporting
Last semester the High School gave an overview presentation of standards based assessment and reporting for the 2018/19 school year and beyond. You are welcome to watch this abridged version of the presentation to get an overview of the system.  The second presentation in the SBAR series will take place on Thursday, February 1st from 8:45 - 10:00 am in the BBT and all Grade 8 parents are welcome to attend. This presentation will explore the three achievement reporting strands, the reporting scale and give parents a sense of how final marks will be determined. Mr. Basnight and Ms. Daryn, two high school teachers, will be on hand to share practical examples from their classes.

Parent Book Group Information from the MS Counselor - Reminder
Based on the parent survey, our Parent Book Group book for this school year will be Brainstorm: The Power and Purpose of the Teenage Brain by Daniel Siegel. It is available to purchase on amazon.in or on kindle if you have an amazon.com account.

Our chosen meeting format, also based on the parent survey, will be to meet for four sessions. All English language levels are welcome! The book is divided into four parts so we will read one part for each week. I look forward to seeing many of you there! Happy Reading!
  • Wednesday Jan 31st at 8:45 (Part I)
  • Wednesday, Feb 7th at 8:45 (Part II)
  • Wednesday, Feb 14th at 8:45 (Part III)
  • Wednesday, Feb 21st at 8:45 (Part IV)

Celebration of Learning
While you are on campus for conferences, please stop by the MS CIC on Thursday, 1 February from 10:00-12:00pm to see some of the presentations by our students.

What is a Celebration of Learning? It is a fair in which middle school students will host 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.
  • What do the selected artifacts show about what you learned and how you learned?
  • Describe the Learner traits that you think your artifact(s) connect to.
  • How is this experience connected to the trait?

AISC is proud to host the 2018 AMIS Middle School Mixed Honor Choir Festival from February 1-3. The Association for Music in International Schools "AMIS" is dedicated to the promotion of excellence in music education throughout international schools worldwide and sponsors a variety of annual music festivals. 88 students will participate in this festival from 12 different schools across 3 continents. We are grateful for our incredible community that has come together to support the Arts and make such an event possible and we look forward to welcoming our guests to our beautiful country and campus. Please mark your calendars for the Gala Concert on Saturday, February 3, 5PM. We welcome the whole community to join us as it is sure to be a performance you will not want to miss!


American International School Chennai
American School of the Hague
American Community School of Abu Dhabi
International School of Beijing
Kodaikanal International School
American International School Johannesburg
Saudi Aramco Expatriate Schools
Walworth Barbour American International School
Concordia International School Shanghai
American School of Bombay
Shanghai American School Pudong Campus
Clara Bouvier d'Yvoire
Noa Daryn
Madhulika Kaushik
Jiyoung Kim
Taehee Kim
Sohee Kim
Samira Mani
Palani Rajan
Vel Rajan
Gyubo Shim
Gregor Stallkamp

International Schools Theatre Association (ISTA)
Our students will be departing next week to head to Bangkok Patana School to join students from eight other international schools to participate in the ISTA Festival.  This year’s festival theme:
What is a haunting? How do we know something is there? Why do we tell stories that scare us? Belief in ghosts in Thai culture is both popular and enduring. There are many different categories of ghosts and most Thai people have spirit houses outside their homes that they present food and incense to as offerings to the spirits that reside nearby. The festival focuses on the most famous ghost story in Thailand – the legend of Mae Nak. We will use this story as a springboard to inquire into cultural beliefs in the unseen and the idea of spirits. Read more at:  https://ista.co.uk/event/bangkok-ms/#gpeMQj1ZemWFjJyr.99
Congratulations to all the students who will be representing AISC:
Participating Schools
The KAUST School, Saudi Arabia
Dulwich College Singapore
American International School Chennai
Jakarta Intercultural School
International School Manila
King George V School
Overseas School of Colombo
Taipei American School
Bangkok Patana School
Chloe Bridgeland
Sophie Charpentier
Edward J. Doherty
Owen Gold
Thea Kristensen
Enora  Portzamparc   
Diya Reddy  
Amara Sao-Laikha
Haruna Taniguchi   
Dhivya Vijay
Praseedha Vinukonda
Luca Weik    
Riley Welbes  

Sincerely,

Alan Phan & Andrew Ranson
Middle School Administration



Friday, 19 January 2018

19 January

Dear Middle School Parents,

Welcome back to a new year. We have several events, including MS and HS parent coffees, coming up in the next couple of weeks. Please make a note of the dates and times.

MS Parent Coffee
With the request from many parents regarding more information about the programs and pathways in high school, Mr. Phan will provide a basic overall what is offered in the high school. Please join us next week, on  Tuesday, 23 January at 8:45 in the Hall of Light. There will be a follow up session next week for Grade 8 parents with the course offerings in HS.

Conferences
Conferences will take place on the afternoon of January 31st and all day February 1st. Ms. Aziz will send an email with the instructions to sign up on Monday morning.

One of the aspects of moving to a Standards-Based Grading and Reporting system is to separate the behavior from the academic achievement. Therefore, we will be giving feedback on student’s behavior using the four words with its description below to indicate how frequently they display these attributes. In addition to the feedback that students are getting from the assignment, students will use this information to guide their conversations with their parents and teachers during conferences. The guiding questions for this trimester are:
  • How have I progressed thus far this year?
  • How am I doing this trimester?
  • What was I doing that helped me find success in the first trimester?
  • In what areas of the Learning Habits could I continue to focus?  
Preparation
Student actively plans for learning activities, displays effective organization and manages their time well.
Engagement
Student actively participates in learning activities and is communicative about their thinking and learning.
Collaboration
Student works with all peers by showing respect and compassion in a diverse classroom environment.
A Growth Mindset
Student can thoughtfully self-asses and strives for continual improvement.  

Celebration of Learning
While you are on campus for conferences, please stop by the MS CIC on Thursday, 1 February from 10:00-12:00 pm to see some of the presentations by our students.

What is a Celebration of Learning? It is a fair in which middle school students will host 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.
  • What do the selected artifacts show about what you learned and how you learned?
  • Describe the Learner traits that you think your artifact(s) connect to.
  • How is this experience connected to the trait?

Calling all runners!!!
If you are interested in participating in Track and Field, or simply want to get in shape, come join us in the Auxillary Gym every Wednesday morning at 7AM to begin pre-season training. Please bring your running sneakers and a water bottle.

Pre-season training is optional. SAISA Track and Field will officially begin in mid-February.  Keep your eye on the daily bulletin for further announcements.

If you have any questions, please contact Coach Lindsay, dlindsay@aischennai.org.

Looking ahead…

AP/IB Information Session for Grade 8th, 9th and 10th Grade Parents
On Tuesday, January 30th, Mike Malone, the High School AP/IB Coordinator will host a parent information coffee to explain, in broad strokes, about the Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs and course offerings in the High School. The coffee will be in the BBT from 10:00 - 11:00 am. All interested parents are invited to attend.

The high school administration will hold a more in-depth presentation to Grade 8 parents in the spring for the course registration process: HS Course Registration Overview.  

Grade 8 parents welcome!
High School Presentation about Standards Based Assessment and Reporting
Last semester the High School gave an overview presentation of standards based assessment and reporting for the 2018/19 school year and beyond. You are welcome to watch this abridged version of the presentation to get an overview of the system.  The second presentation in the SBAR series will take place on Thursday, February 1st from 8:45 - 10:00 am in the BBT and all Grade 8 parents are welcome to attend. This presentation will explore the three achievement reporting strands, the reporting scale and give parents a sense of how final marks will be determined. Mr. Basnight and Ms. Daryn, two high school teachers, will be on hand to share practical examples from their classes.

AISC is proud to host the 2018 AMIS Middle School Mixed Honor Choir Festival from February 1-3. The Association for Music in International Schools "AMIS" is dedicated to the promotion of excellence in music education throughout international schools worldwide and sponsors a variety of annual music festivals. 88 students will participate in this festival from 12 different schools across 3 continents. We are grateful for our incredible community that has come together to support the Arts and make such an event possible and we look forward to welcoming our guests to our beautiful country and campus. Please mark your calendars for the Gala Concert on Saturday, February 3, 5PM. We welcome the whole community to join us as it is sure to be a performance you will not want to miss!

American International School Chennai
American School of the Hague
American Community School of Abu Dhabi
International School of Beijing
Kodaikanal International School
American International School Johannesburg
Saudi Aramco Expatriate Schools
Walworth Barbour American International School
Concordia International School Shanghai
American School of Bombay
Shanghai American School Pudong Campus
AISC Singers
Clara Bouvier d'Yvoire
Noa Daryn
Madhulika Kaushik
Jiyoung Kim
Taehee Kim
Sohee Kim
Samira Mani
Palani Rajan
Vel Rajan
Gyubo Shim
Gregor Stallkamp

Sincerely,

Alan Phan & Andrew Ranson
Middle School Administration