Friday, February 28

Dear Parents,

Thank you for your gestures of gratitude this week as a part of our PCA Faculty Appreciation Day on Tuesday. Your partnership and support is part of the success of our program. Your attendance at school events, participation in middle school events, and support of co-curricular programs reinforces our commitment to educating the whole child and cultivating lifelong learners who are globally-minded citizens. Thank you! On behalf of our faculty, it is a pleasure to work with a warm and supportive parent community! 

This weekend, please support our volleyball and tennis athletes competing in ASIAC volleyball and tennis on campus. 

Quick Links

We have added links to our sidebar to provide you some documents and reference links that are commonly requested and referenced. Please see the content and forms linked to the right at your convenience. 

Withdrawing Students

If your child is withdrawing before the end of the semester, please be aware of the time needed to process the withdraw/transfer certificate. You can access the form by clicking on the link “Request to Issue Transfer Certificate/Past Records.” You can also stop by the office to pick up a paper copy. Please be aware of the following points when requesting documents or a transfer certificate:

·      The office requires 5 working days notice in order to process transfer certificate request.

·      Transfer certificate and/or past records will be issued on the student’s last day at school provided all school materials and fees are accounted for.

·      One copy of the documents will be issued by the school. Extra copies can be made by family and brought to office for school stamp, if needed.

After School Supervision

Students who stay after school should be under the direct supervision of a teacher, coach or parent. If you are waiting for a sibling, friend or parent, the library is open until 4:30 Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. The iHub is open until after school hours. Students should not be using other spaces on campus unsupervised. 

Students should depart campus immediately after classes on Wednesdays and early release days. Please see our handbook on page 22 for more information. 

Celebration of Learning, March 4

Join us for the second of three Middle School Celebrations of Learning on Wednesday, March 4, from 2:15 to 3:30pm in the Main Gymnasium. Celebrations of Learning are the opportunities that students have to make short presentations to an audience of students, parents, teachers, and other community members about what they are learning that may not appear as a final product elsewhere. Presentations are short -- only a few minutes long -- and are composed by the students themselves around a theme. The theme on March 4 is “First Drafts”; students will share a first draft from the year and what they have learned since crafting it.

SAISA Track & Field Photos

Here are the photos from this event.

Password: raptors2019
Please respect our students' privacy and keep these photo albums for your own viewing. 

ASIAC Badminton Season Details

From Coaches Suresh & Sobha:

Welcome to the 2020 ASIAC Badminton season! Our season will begin on Monday March 2nd, 2020 and will continue through May 6th, 2020. Practices will be on Mondays / Wednesdays / Fridays morning at 6:30 - 8.00 am. Bring your own racquet if you have one. Team selection will be early because the ASIAC team will be sharing space with the SAISA team on some mornings. Those who are interested kindly sign up the link: ASIAC BADMINTON 2020.

Class of 2024/Current Grade 8 Students & Parents:

From HS Counselors Ms. McGlamery & Mr. Laposky:

It is time to start thinking about and planning for high school! The high school counselors are excited to meet with you and begin this process. Please note the following information sessions and timeline. 

On Tuesday, March 3rd, the HS counselors will host information sessions for parents regarding course registration for 8th graders moving into high school at AISC. The meetings will take place at 8:45 am and at 5:30 pm in the Hall of Light. 

On the same day, the HS counselors will meet with all 8th grade students during their Advisory period to share course registration information. The course registration process will be outlined at these meetings. Please see the attached document (Course Registration for Current Eighth Grade) for a peek at what to expect. If questions arise, please feel free to reach out to one of the high school counselors for clarification and support. 

Josiah Laposky -- ljosiah@aischennai.org

Susannah McGlamery -- msusannah@aischennai.org

We look forward to welcoming the Class of 2024 into the high school in August! 

 

Join us on Friday, March 6th for this year's edition of Cabaret.

Cabaret is a very special event as it features largely student-led performances that have been conceptualized and designed by the students performing on stage. Do come to join us in celebrating this fantastic student talent on display!

SAVE THE DATE!

Our Middle School STEAM Festival will take place on Wednesday, March 25! All are welcome to attend to come and see our creative design solutions. Our focus is on the inquiry process itself, highlighting the importance of several aspects such as developing intriguing questions, using thoughtful planning, and building and refining our design ideas. Students are presenting trans-disciplinary projects spanning several classes, such as Science, Math, Social Studies, Language Arts, Design Technology and Art classes.  The festival is a celebration of student design, creativity, and problem-solving! Attendees can come to see displays, watch presentations, and ask questions to learn more about the projects of our Middle School Engineers.

Date: March 25

Time: 1:10- 3:00

Locations: Rec gym (G6), Main Gym (G7), CIC (G8)

Guests will be provided with a map, a list of participants, a schedule of events, and a set of feedback prompts for presenters. In the meantime, be sure to ask your son or daughter to tell you all about their project! 

Have a great weekend,

Jessica Pechhold

Middle School Principal 

Friday, February 21

Dear Parents,

Thank you to many of you who have been on campus this week for our parent coffee and for supporting our athletes at the SAISA track event we are hosting! Thank you to many of you who are hosting athletes from the region. Our seventh grade students engaged in learning off campus this week when they visited the Water Matters Smithsonian exhibition. This exhibition is timely for us as seventh graders study water resource management in Chennai for their STEAM projects. If you are interested in visiting Water Matters, the event runs through the end of the month. More information can be found on the US Consulate Chennai events link.  

Parent coffee presentation

Thank you to all parents who joined us to learn more about our math program and changes to our eighth grade math course for the 2020-21 school year. Starting next year, we will have one eighth grade math course. Students will no longer be recommended for Grade 8 IM1 or Grade 8 Math. All students will take our new Grade 8 math course, which prepares students for IM1 or IM2 in the high school. A special thank you to Ms. Lakshmi Saravanan and Mr. Ryan Sager for their presentation and sample math lesson at the coffee. 

You can review the details of this change in the slides from the parent coffee. The outline for the new Grade 8 Math course is here for your review. 

Make-Up Work Guidelines

When students are absent for school trips, our teachers will be following these guidelines to ensure that students can manage assignments and assessments they may have missed while away. If you have questions about your child’s make-up work, please contact the teacher directly.

• Teachers will provide students with opportunities to complete assignments. Options for assignments due before the event or a few days after the event help students manage their learning.
• If students miss an assessment, teachers will allow students to make up assessments during class time. Teachers will contact parents directly if there is a compelling reason for students to make up an assessment or assignment before/after school hours or during lunch. Students should not be asked to make up an assignment or assessment before 8:00am or after 4:00pm unless there is an agreement between the teacher and parent that this is necessary. 

Spirit Week

We want you, the students, staff & community of AISC to show your school spirit by making some small acts of random kindness throughout the week.

Do you have the courage to try something new?

Do you have the compassion to tell someone you care?

Do you have the confidence to speak with someone you don’t know?

Do you have the creativity to show kindness in a new way?

Monday - Random acts of kindness. Examples include: Open the door for someone, Buy someone their favorite snack, Help carry something for your friend or teacher.

Tuesday - Wear an AISC shirt with Raptor pride!

Wednesday - Be kind to the environment:  Don’t buy one time use plastic items; Reduce, Reuse and Recycle; Throw your trash in bins; See litter on the floor? Pick it up!

Thursday - Compliment cards: Write a nice message on the paper provided for a friend or teacher, Remind someone of why they are important to you, Tell someone that you appreciate their work.

Friday – “Air” 5 Friday! Give an “air” high 5 to new people who you haven’t talked to before; Give an “air” high 5 to your friends, classmates and teachers.

Early Release

This coming Wednesday we will have an Early Release Wednesday. Students are expected to depart campus in a timely and organized fashion upon dismissal at 2:00 pm. We appreciate your patience with traffic on these days as all three sections are picking up students at the same time. In preparation, please plan on allowing longer time for entry and exit to the school at release time. For our Middle and High School students, hot lunch will be served. Please note that the iHub will be open to provide an air conditioned waiting space until 2:40 pm in case drivers are delayed. Food services in the iHub will close at 1:50 pm.

MS Spring Party

Our spring party is Friday, February 28 from 4:30-6:00pm on campus. This event falls while we are hosting ASIAC Tennis and Volleyball. Students from visiting schools (AES and ASB) will be invited to join as well. Please remind your child that if they choose to go to the spring party, they must stay the duration of the event. 

Celebration of Learning March 4

Join us for the second of three Middle School Celebrations of Learning on Wednesday, March 4, from 2:15 to 3:30pm in the Main Gymnasium. Celebrations of Learning are the opportunities that students have to make short presentations to an audience of students, parents, teachers, and other community members about what they are learning that may not appear as a final product elsewhere. Presentations are short -- only a few minutes long -- and are composed by the students themselves around a theme. The theme on March 4 is “First Drafts”; students will share a first draft from the year and what they have learned since crafting it.

Have a great weekend,

Jessica Pechhold

Middle School Principal

Friday, February 14

Dear Parents,

This past two weeks have been examples of thriving in the middle school. Congratulations to our MathCounts team for coming in first as a team in the regional competition hosted at AISC last week! Our students involved in ISTA designed and performed artistic interpretations related to the theme of “southbound.” As a bonus, all of our theatre students had the opportunity to spend time with our ISTA visiting performers in their theatre classes. This week, our students were busy taking action with our greater Chennai community through our SEVAI field day. Back on campus, students are getting deeper into their STEAM projects. It is certainly an exiciting and busy time in the middle school! 

Event Photo Albums

ISTA: Here are the photos from this event.

Password: raptors2019

Math Counts: Here are the photos from this event.

Password: raptors2019

Please respect the privacy of our students and keep these photo albums for your own viewing. 

Parent Coffee

This Tuesday the topic for our MS parent coffee will be changes to our Math 8 courses. We will be sharing planned changes to the courses to better meet the needs of our students and review the articulation of math courses from middle school to high school. Mr. Ryan Sager, eighth grade math teacher, and Ms. Lakshmi Saravanan, seventh grade math teacher, will be co-presenting and sharing differentiated math activities for everyone to try!  

ASA Season 3  Program Descriptions and Registration (February 24 - May 30)

This pre-registration information will be used to fill classes, but submitting the form does not mean a definite spot. We will send an email confirmation during  the week of February 17th. Here is the  Registration Form.  for all ASAs. Payments for activities will be requested at the end of the second week of the ASA. There is a fee for any ASA attended past the second week.

MS G6-G8 Descriptions

Swimming Levels: Click here to look up swim levels that students should enroll in. 

*Please note that outstanding balances from previous seasons may lead to a delay or denial of an  ASA registration for Season 3. 

Eighth Grade Course Registration Reminder

On March 3, eighth grade students will be receiving their ninth grade course registration forms.  Details and steps in the High School Course Registration process can be found here: G8 Course Registration/Transition Overview.

Documentary Screening of Batman and BillOn Monday, February 17 at 3:45 pm, we will be presenting the documentary, "Batman and Bill," which is based on our visiting author's book, "Bill the Boy Wonder." This documentary tells the story of Bill Finger, the uncredited creator of Batman. Following the screening, we will have a Q&A with the author, Marc Tyler Nobleman. Teachers, staff, parents, and students from grade three and up are invited to attend, but please note that all students in ES are required to attend with a parent and that parent will be required to stay with the child for the entire time. While the film doesn't contain any objectionable content, parents should know that the run time is over 90 minutes and the intended audience is not young children.

AISC Libraries Book Swap

The AISC Libraries want to celebrate Earth Week with the community by organizing a way to reuse your previously loved books! If you have any gently used books at home (in any language and/or genre) that you'd like to donate, please bring them to the ES/MS or HS Library. We will accept books for babies, toddlers, children, teens, or adults, as long as they are in good condition. For every two books that are donated, you will receive a ticket for one free book at the Book Swap! Please contact Barbara Bowman at bbarbara@aischennai.org if you have any questions. 

Have a great weekend,

Jessica Pechhold

Middle School Principal

Friday February 7

Dear Parents,

This week we are delighted to be hosting the Regional MathCounts competition and the MS ISTA Festival. We are welcoming schools from Mumbai, Delhi, Cairo, Amman and Columbo. A special thank you to all families who have volunteered to host. Without your cooperation, these events would not be possible. ISTA, MathCounts and our other MS co-curricular events that bring together diverse groups of students from India and our region are key to developing rich learning experiences for our students and support our commitment to international-mindedness. A special thank you to our MS Theatre Teacher Rachel McCallum, our Activities and Athletics Director Ryan McFarland, and our MathCounts coaches Jayme Garwych and Kala Ganeshan for their coordination of these events. 

Community Calendar Change

February 14 is now a school day and will be an A4 day. 

SEVAI Day Wednesday February 12

This past week, students have been preparing for their second SEVAI field day of the year. Students are reminded to wear their SEVAI T-shirts on Wednesday, February 12. In this second field experience, students will be applying what they learned from their previous SEVAI day and will be putting their planning in action to help meet the needs of our community partners. More information about all of SEVAI projects can be accessed in our SEVAI menu. Students will be sharing their learning from their SEVAI projects at our Celebration of Learning April 29. 

Challenge Success Survey

As published in last week’s notes, we will be administering the Challenge success survey to MS students on Friday, February 14. From the Challenge Success website: “The Challenge Success Student Survey¹ is a 30-40 minute online survey for middle and high school students that measures perceptions of their academic engagement, connection to the school community, physical health and well-being, technology use, family norms, and how they use their time outside of school.” You can learn more about the survey here. 

Today you have received a message via email about passive consent. Passive consent means that you give permission for your child to take the survey if you do not return the form. If you return the form, we will ensure your child does not participate in the survey. Participation is voluntary for all students. Please contact Ms. Gold (gjennifer@aischennai.org) or Ms. Pechhold (pjessica@aischennai.org) if you have questions. More information about the survey administration is in the parent email. 

MathCounts Regionals at AISC 

MathCounts is a math competition amongst U.S. middle school students, and students from the State Department schools outside the U.S.  Regional competition is held in February. Eight of our students will be competing with students from the American schools in Jordan, Cairo, Delhi, Mumbai, and Colombo.

Sprint and Target Round competitions will take place on Friday morning. The team and countdown rounds of the competition will take place on Saturday morning. While the Friday competition rounds are not open to the public, the Saturday Countdown round is open for everyone. It is an exciting buzzer round with the top ten students selected from the earlier rounds, engaged in an intense problem-solving contest. Math department would like to invite students and parents to come and view the contest. The contest will start at 10.30 am on Saturday, February, 8^th.

Early Release

This coming Wednesday we will have an Early Release Wednesday. Students are expected to depart campus in a timely and organized fashion upon dismissal at 2:00 pm. We appreciate your patience with traffic on these days as all three sections are picking up students at the same time. In preparation, please plan on allowing longer time for entry and exit to the school at release time. For our Middle and High School students, hot lunch will be served. Please note that the iHub will be open to provide an air conditioned waiting space until 2:40 pm in case drivers are delayed. Food services in the iHub will close at 1:50 pm.

From EAL Department

Each year, AISC assesses student's English language proficiency with the online WIDA MODEL (Measure of Developing English Language) test. This year, testing will take place from 6-12 February. The EAL Department works tirelessly with all faculty and staff to minimize disruption during instructional time, (the complete test takes roughly 2.5 hours). If you have any questions regarding WIDA, please reach out to Sarah Sahr, ssarah@aischennai.org.

Eighth Grade Course Registration Reminder

On March 3, eighth grade students will be receiving their ninth grade course registration forms.  Details and steps in the High School Course Registration process can be found here: G8 Course Registration/Transition Overview.

Documentary Screening of Batman and BillOn Monday, February 17 at 3:45 pm, we will be presenting the documentary, "Batman and Bill," which is based on our visiting author's book, "Bill the Boy Wonder." This documentary tells the story of Bill Finger, the uncredited creator of Batman. Following the screening, we will have a Q&A with the author, Marc Tyler Nobleman. Teachers, staff, parents, and students from grade three and up are invited to attend, but please note that all students in ES are required to attend with a parent and that parent will be required to stay with the child for the entire time. While the film doesn't contain any objectionable content, parents should know that the run time is over 90 minutes and the intended audience is not young children.

AISC Libraries Book Swap

The AISC Libraries want to celebrate Earth Week with the community by organizing a way to reuse your previously loved books! If you have any gently used books at home (in any language and/or genre) that you'd like to donate, please bring them to the ES/MS or HS Library. We will accept books for babies, toddlers, children, teens, or adults, as long as they are in good condition. For every two books that are donated, you will receive a ticket for one free book at the Book Swap! Please contact Barbara Bowman at bbarbara@aischennai.org if you have any questions. 

Have a great weekend,

Jessica Pechhold

Middle School Principal