Dear Parents and Students,
Students
ended this week participating in a wellbeing day. Today’s wellbeing day took on
a different format than past days. See below for more information and examples
of what students and teachers have posted about wellbeing related to today’s
themes. More information about our wellbeing day can also be found in last
week’s notes under the Parent Coffee section. This coming week, we look forward
to immersing ourselves in STEAM. Students will be participating in a STEAM
module in their core classes (Language Arts, Social Studies, Science and Math)
to compete their projects, prepare presentations and reflect on their
experience. You will be able to view
students’ STEAM projects during STEAM Fest on Wednesday, March 3. Stay tuned
for more details!
Wellbeing Day
Today, middle school
students stepped away from their regularly scheduled classes to focus on their
connectivity and wellbeing. The four themes of focus in connection time were: Positive
Emotions, Relationships, Accomplishments, and Meaning and Purpose. During their
independent work time students were encouraged to put down their technology and
set an intention to build these areas of wellbeing. Please take a moment
to enjoy the postings on this wellbeing padlet demonstrating some of the activities our students and teachers
engaged in.
Attendance Notifications
Starting Monday, February 22, the MS
office will send home attendance notifications to parents one time per week.
Currently, the office sends daily notification to parents and students when
students do not complete the daily check-in form to register their attendance.
Starting Monday, only students will be contacted daily when they do not
complete the daily check-in form. Parents will receive an email at the end of
the week to confirm absences if students have not responded to the email
reminders from the MS office to register their attendance.
Incoming MS Principal Conversations
Incoming Middle School Principal, Ms. Jennifer Bertram, will host conversations for middle school parents on Thursday, March 4 at 5:30 p.m. and Friday, March 5 at 12:00 p.m. These sessions are intended to give interested 2021-2022 middle school parents and Ms. Bertram the opportunity to begin to get to know one another. Please see a letter from Ms. Bertram and the zoom links below:
Dear Middle School AISC Parents,
I am excited about the possibility of getting to know you and the AISC community over the next few months. My family and I are looking forward to moving from Bangladesh to Chennai and learning all about a new culture. We’ve enjoyed our time in Dhaka and my children have even visited AISC as part of the SAISA Sports League. It is wonderful to have these connections already with Track & Field and Volleyball. I feel very fortunate to have visited AISC back in February 2016 as part of the Middle School NESA Conference. There have been many changes made to the AISC campus since then, but I was struck by the lovely green and tropical feel of the campus. I was also inspired by the keynote presentation of Mr. Sugata Mitra and his hopeful vision for education as he described it in the “Hole in the Wall experiment.” I came away from the visit to Chennai recharged, and thankful to be working with such a talented group of people both in Dhaka and in the NESA region.
Throughout my five years in Dhaka, I have remained connected to both the SAISA organization through my childrens’ and students’ activities, and also the NESA network. It is through this organization that I was able to meet Jessica Pechhold and learn about the Middle School at AISC further. I am impressed by the Middle School initiatives like those in the areas of STEAM and Service Learning and it will be wonderful to experience these firsthand. In our time together in the upcoming weeks, we will have a chance to meet and get to know each other over Zoom. I am very interested in hearing about your perspective on the AISC community and what impresses you and makes AISC special. I am eager to learn about what you and your children value and how that relates to the school community. By sharing our ideas, we can begin to envisage what our partnership and time together will entail.
I look forward to embarking on this journey with you.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Bertram
The two sessions will be identical giving MS parents the opportunity to choose either one that works best for their schedule.
Thursday, March 4 at 5:30 p.m.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88559376233?pwd=ODlCZTlMcm94eXBnRm5PUmV2eVpXZz09
Meeting ID: 885 5937 6233
Passcode: AISCMS
Friday, March 5 at 12:00 p.m.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84847067541?pwd=cGNDUURIVFoxbE4yWEpIWGhrc1Z5QT09
Meeting ID: 848 4706 7541
Passcode: AISCMS
Supply Pick Up: Reminder
Geometry
kits for all MS students as well as art (grades 6-8) and robotics (grade 7)
kits for students enrolled in these classes are available for pick up. If you
did not pick up your supplies last week, stop by
AISC’s campus any time to pick up your materials. Your materials are in a bag
labelled with your Last Name, First Name and Grade Level. A driver may
pick up your supplies. Please make sure he has your Last Name, First
Name and Grade Level to pick up the correct package. Pull into the main
gate and you will be directed to the pick up area outside of the main entry. An
ASIC staff member will keep a record of your pick up.
Real-World Career
Experiences for Grade 8!
The Advancement
Office, in partnership with the Middle School, is pleased to launch CareerX
opportunities for Grade 8 during Spring Break!
At-a-Glance Details
· See all the opportunities here.
· When is CareerX: March 15–19 (Spring Break)
· Organizations are categorized as: Sustainability, Photography,
Healthcare
· LAST DAY TO SIGN UP: FRIDAY, MARCH 5
· Sign Up Here!
· Watch a super-short video about CareerX and what students have
to say about it here!
What is CareerX?
CareerX provides students exposure
to real-world career experiences by matching their interests to partner
organizations. These are offered throughout the school year, during Fall,
Winter, Spring, and Summer Breaks. The Spring Break edition is from March
15–19, 2021.
What experiences are
on offer?
Students can choose
from three experiences for Spring Break. Learn more here.
What happens after my child signs up?
The Advancement Office
will arrange an introductory Zoom meeting between your child and the partner
organization before March 15. Representatives from Advancement will be
present to facilitate this meeting. The introductory meeting will help partners
tailor the experience to student interests and strengths. Once the CareerX
begins, students will communicate directly with their supervisor at the partner
organization over email and Zoom.
If you'd like to know more, please write to advancementdirector@aischennai.org.
MS Reopening Plan Summary
WHEN we are able to reopen, here
are broad points that describe what our return to campus will look like for
middle school students. Please note that there is no reopening date as of
now for middle school students. It is a choice for students to return to
campus. We will offer a virtual learning option for the remainder of the school
year.
- Middle school students will be divided
in two groups:
Mango: Students with last names A-K will come to school Monday & Tuesday Blue: Students with last names L-Z will come to school Thursday & Friday
- Grades 6, 7, and 8 will be phased in over two weeks. Students will be cohorted in advisory groups until all middle school students in all cohorts are reoriented to campus.
- The goal of these two weeks is to acclimate students to classrooms and the campus, practice new routines and attend to students’ wellbeing during this transition.
- When arriving on campus, students will report to advisory each day so that we can maintain social distancing before classes begin.
- Each day, students on campus will have additional contact time with their advisor from 8:45-9:00am for clarifications on procedures and information.·
Family Use of the AISC Libraries
AISC families are able to request books every week from our
libraries using this Google
form. Books can be ordered through the form from today until Monday at
9:00am and can be picked up curbside at the ES entrance on Wednesdays between
10:00am -1:00pm. Bags with the child's name
clearly marked on the front will be located inside the white cubbies. Patrons
are invited to take the bag that belongs to them without touching any other
materials. In addition, a book drop is positioned
curbside at the ES entrance, as well as the main entrance, for returned
books. We encourage families to return the books after two weeks, although
if a specific title is needed for a longer period, please contact Babs to implement
an extension.
All School Spirit week is February 22-26! Show how you live the AISC mission by demonstrating the 4 C’s throughout the week. Here are the details for each day and suggestions for how you can choose to participate.
Monday - Compassion:
Random acts of kindness. Examples include:
- make a snack for a family
member
- make a thank you card or
drawing for a friend or family member
- help
complete a chore/task at home
Tuesday - AISC Spirit : Wear
an AISC shirt, school colors or zoom background with Raptor pride!
Wednesday - Courage &
Confidence Day: Share a quote or story/read a quote or story that inspires
or demonstrates courage or confidence
Thursday - Compassion: Be
kind to the environment. Examples include:
· 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!
Friday- Creative Friday:
Show your own creativity: fun hair, DIY mask, your own original background,
creative clothing, or wacky make-up
Have
a great weekend,
Jessica
Pechhold
Middle
School Principal