Thursday November 26

 Dear Students and Parents,

 

Today is American Thanksgiving, a day that inspires reflection and expressions of gratitude. I would like to thank our parents for your support of our students and our program; our students for your commitment and resilience during our time online; and our teachers for their dedication and care for our students’ academic growth and wellbeing. Our student-teacher-parent partnerships keep us connected and thriving as a community! I am grateful that throughout this school year, we have been able to connect, learn, and grow together in new and exciting ways, even as we are challenged by our circumstances. I wish you a safe, healthy, and relaxing weekend. 

 

 

 

Resuming Virtual Learning

As stated in the community message on Wednesday, November 25, we will resume online learning Monday, November 30, unless otherwise communicated. 

 

SEVAI Showcase

SEVAI Showcase, our first Celebration of Learning of the school year has launched! Learn more about this virtual event in this introductory video: 

Please take some time to browse the SEVAI Showcase site view all student projects, learn more about our community partners, and see a range of student products, presentations and testimonials to experience service learning in the middle school.

 

 

Second Semester Withdrawals

If you child will not be continuing at AISC in the second semester, please complete the “Request to Issue Transfer Certificate/Past Records” form linked in the Quick Links section of the blog in the sidebar. Please complete this form and submit it to the MS office msoffice@aicschennai.org. 

 

Returning/Departing Chennai

If your family is returning to Chennai or leaving Chennai for the holiday break, please contact the middle school office msoffice@aischennai.org for changes in your time zone. 

 

 

Have a great weekend,

 

Jessica Pechhold

Middle School Principal 

 

Friday November 20

 Dear Parents and Students,

 

This week students have completed SEVAI projects, part of a two week module for students to participate in our service learning program. During the SEVAI module, students have worked in small groups with a community partner of their choice to develop self-awareness, create mutually respectful relationships, develop empathy and a growth mindset, and apply their own problem-solving skills to address a community need. More about SEVAI is coming this Wednesday when we release our SEVAI showcase! See more below. 

 

Parent Coffee Links

Thanks to everyone who joined me, Ms. Galaty, Dr. Clinton and Ms. Janani for our parent coffee about changes to our Standards Based Assessment and Reporting system that you will see on the semester report card. We also shared ways use PowerSchool as a tool to facilitate communication between you and your child about his/her progress in classes. If you could not make the coffee and would like to know more about these changes, you can access the recording of the coffee and the slides with all of the content. 

 

SEVAI Showcase

On Wednesday, November 25 we will release SEVAI Showcase, our Celebration of Learning focused on students sharing their service learning experience. Students will be sharing their projects in advisories, and you will be able to access the showcase space via a link sent to you via direct email. This year, our SEVAI showcase will take the form of a website, thanks to Ms. Gemma Adderley, our Experiential Learning Project Developer. On the site, you will be able to learn about SEVAI, watch student interviews and reflections related to their projects, and view all student projects. Here is what students are saying about their SEVAI experience:

 

Parents Logging into PS 

Today is the end of a learning module of the year for students. Each module is two weeks in length. The mid-point and end of the module are bench marks for students to complete assignments. If you have not logged into PowerSchool to check your child’s progress over the past weeks, ask your child to log in and show you their assignments and gradebook. You can log into PowerSchool here and visit our Parent and Student resources in the Digital Skills Academy for directions on how to access and navigate PS. 

 

When you log in with your child, he/she can also share with you the feedback received and content of the modules. 

 

Second Semester Withdrawals

If you child will not be continuing at AISC in the second semester, please complete the “Request to Issue Transfer Certificate/Past Records” form linked in the Quick Links section of the blog in the sidebar. Please complete this form and submit it to the MS office msoffice@aicschennai.org. 

 

Returning/Departing Chennai

If your family is returning to Chennai or leaving Chennai for the holiday break, please contact the middle school office msoffice@aischennai.org for changes in your time zone. 

 

 

Have a great weekend,

 

Jessica Pechhold

Middle School Principal

Thursday November 12

 Dear Parents and Students,

 

Happy Diwali! I hope you find some time this weekend to take a break, enjoy the holiday and this beautiful monsoon season that is upon us! This weekend is an ideal time for students to take a break from their studies and screens. Students have been working intensely throughout the semester, and this break is well deserved! 

 

Parent Coffee

Our November parent coffee is Tuesday, November 17 from 8:45 to 9:45. The session will be recorded and uploaded to next week’s blog. The topics covered will be updates to our Standards Based Assessment and Reporting System and parent access to PowerSchool. We will be sharing what to expect on the semester report card as we continue to refine how we communicate about student learning. Dr. Greg Clinton, Technology Coordinator, will also be sharing how you can access PowerSchool to stay up to date on your child’s performance. Here is the zoom link for the meeting:

 

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7923550247?pwd=ZGZ2eUxld1F5OU5ucGZLRGVZRkZuZz09

 

Meeting ID: 792 355 0247

Passcode: K50Rpk

 

 

SEVAI 

This week students started a two week module for their SEVAI projects. Students are working on planning their projects during their World Language, Health/Physical Education, and electives courses. Students have selected projects from a menu and will be working in groups with teachers facilitators to develop and complete their projects. This year, we are excited to share that we will recognize student learning through SEVAI on our report card. Students will be assessed on their Learning Habits throughout the SEVAI module as well as the SEVAI learning targets. The SEVAI learning targets are shared below. Students will be sharing their learning during our SEVAI Showcase, our first learning celebration of the year taking place on Wednesday, November 25. More coming in next week’s blog about accessing the showcase! 

 

Returning/Departing Chennai

If your family is returning to Chennai or leaving Chennai for the holiday break, please contact the middle school office msoffice@aischennai.org for changes in your time zone. 

 

 

Have a great weekend,

 

Jessica Pechhold

Middle School Principal 

 

Friday November 6

 Dear Parents and Students,

 

Next week all middle school students will be engaged in SEVAI projects. SEVAI is our service learning program in the middle school. SEVAI is has been built into to our modules, and all student will participate instead of participating in their electives, PE and World Languages courses. Students will be attending connection times during these blocks as usual. The content and activities will be related to SEVAI. Students have selected projects from a menu and will be working in groups with teachers facilitators to develop and complete their projects. Today at assembly we kicked off SEVAI by asking students to share what they are most excited about for SEVAI. See their photos throughout this week’s blog. For more about SEVAI and its learning targets, see October 23’s post. 

 

AISC Times

Our middle school newspaper, The AISC Times, October edition is published! Thank you to Ms. O and the newspaper staff for another outstanding edition. 

 

Returning/Departing Chennai

If your family is returning to Chennai or leaving Chennai for the holiday break, please contact the middle school office msoffice@aischennai.org.

 

Connection Time Change

Starting Monday, November 9, all Connection Times will be scheduled during the first 30 minutes of each class block. Students will be notified of this change in each class and through calendar appointments. Schedules and planners have been updated to reflect this change starting on November 9. Connection Times are as follows:

 

9:00-9:30am

10:20-10:50am (advisory)

11:00-11:30am

12:50-1:20pm

2:15-2:45pm

Updated Documents:

Student Daily Schedule

Student Daily Planner

 

Logging into PowerSchool

Today is the end of our sixth learning module of the year for students. Each module is two weeks in length. The mid-point and end of the module are bench marks for students to complete assignments. If you have not logged into PowerSchool to check your child’s progress over the past weeks, ask your child to log in and show you their assignments and gradebook. You can log into PowerSchool here and visit our Parent and Student resources in the Digital Skills Academy for directions on how to access and navigate PS. 

Library Logo Contest Winners

Thank you to the 116 elementary, middle, and high school students who created a design for the library logo contest. Our 15 judges (teachers, librarians, students, administrators, and parents) had a difficult time choosing between so many creative options, but in the end, the following logo was chosen as AISC's new library logo. Congratulations to fourth grader, Rizlene Velasco, for creating the winning design!

 

The other two finalists from middle and high school can be seen below. Congratulations to Jiyun Yang in grade seven and Hera Kwak in grade eleven!

            

 

Have a great weekend,

Jessica Pechhold

Middle School Principal