Middle School Principal’s Notes: 9 February

Dear Middle School Parents,

Over the weekend, I read another great parenting article: “Silent Tragedy: Every Parent Who cares about the Future of His/Her Child Should Read This.” As with many articles, it contains great suggestions that you can do immediately and see their effects in your children. Please do share it with me if you try any of the suggestions at home and let me know how it goes.

End of Second Trimester Heads Up

Our second trimester will come to an end on Friday, 23 February. Please remind your children to turn in all the assignments in a timely manner. Once the trimester reports are ready, we will send out instructions on how to access them in PowerSchool in March.

AMIS MS Honors Band Festival

Out of many challengers to earn a coveted spot at the festival, Finn Wohltmann has earned a place in this year's AMIS Asian Middle School Honor Band Festival, which is held at the United Nations International School in Hanoi this weekend. This is the second year in a row that Finn has qualified for AMIS Band. Congratulations to Finn who worked hard to earn this honor.

FCD Prevention Specialist on campus February 26 - March 2

As part of our health education program and ongoing commitment to prevention and wellness, each year we invite a trained prevention specialist from FCD Prevention Works to join our community. FCD is a non-profit organization that provides substance abuse prevention education for schools. Their mission is to:

● Encourage and support the non-use of alcohol and other illegal or illicit drugs during the growing years

● Empower young people to make healthy, responsible choices regarding alcohol and other drug use

● Teach students and adults how to recognize the early warning signs of substance abuse and to intervene appropriately

● Educate students, parents, teachers and administrators on the physiological and psychological effects of alcohol and other drugs

The prevention specialist will be meeting with students in Grades 6-8 during the week of February 26 - March 2. Their aim is to provide students with the knowledge, understanding, and skills they need to make intelligent, healthy choices about alcohol and other drug use. During that time, they will meet with Grade 7 and 8 students their PE/Health classes and Grade 6 students will meet them as a whole group.

Save the Date - Middle/High School Parent Coffee

*Please Note The Change of Date for this Coffee*

The FCD prevention specialist will also present a parent workshop on Thursday, March 1st at 8:45 am in the Madras Hall. We wanted to give parents a chance, at the start of the FCD visit, to listen to the facilitator so that they can more easily engage their children in conversations about the topic while it is also being discussed at school. Some of the topics the facilitator will discuss with parents include:

● Effective ways to communicate with your child about alcohol/drug use

● Up-to-date facts about current alcohol/drug use and trends

● What to say about your own experiences with alcohol and/or drug experimentation

● How to spot early warning signs of trouble and effective ways to respond

● The importance of communication among community members

This program presents a perfect opportunity for discussing alcohol and other drug-related issues with your children. Parent involvement is crucial to efforts to reduce the risks that teenagers face and in the commitment to keeping children safe. We hope to see you on March 1st. If you would like further information, go to www.fcd.org.

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.

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, Feb 14th at 8:45 (Part III)

● Wednesday, Feb 21st at 8:45 (Part IV)

Here are some photos from this past weekend…

AMIS Mixed Honor Choir

Here is the link to all the beautiful pictures (password: raptors17)