Friday March 26

Dear Parents and Students, 

Thank you for connecting with us this week at our parent coffee and for our Student Parent Teacher Conferences Thursday and Friday. At this week’s parent coffee, I shared the details of what reorienting MS students to campus will look like WHEN we have a reopening date. The slides from the coffee are here and a video of the coffee is here. WHEN we have a date to re-open, further details and information will follow. 

Mid-Semester Progress Reports
Note that mid-semester progress reports were uploaded Wednesday to PowerSchool and are available for you to view. Here are text and video instructions to access the report:

TEXT instructions to view your child's MS Report 

VIDEO instructions to view your child's MS Report

 

The AISC Times
We, the Student Staff of The AISC Times, are pleased to share the March 2021 MS Newspaper. This is the first all-student-led newspaper, and we hope you enjoy it! Thank you to Ms. O and all of our student writers and contributors!

 

Course Selection Process for 2021-22
Students currently in grades six and seven will select their electives courses for the next school year on April 5. Please take some time this next week to review the courses with your child. This elective course form will be available in the student daily bulletin starting on Monday, March 29. Students will choose four electives courses they are interested in during their advisory period on April 5. Efforts will be made for students to get one of their top two choices in their schedule. However, please be aware that all course combinations are not available for all students. Please understand that any of the four courses chosen may appear in your child’s schedule for next school year. 

 

RISE Recap
On Wednesday we gathered to hear our RISE speaker, Paul Chappell speak about peace literacy. Thank you to our middle school student voices forum for suggesting Mr. Chappell as a speaker for this middle/high school event. A special thank you to Melchi for starting off the event by introducing Mr. Chappell to the audience. His view of peace as peace literacy, introduced a new paradigm for looking at peace to the audience, “Peace is not the absence of war…peace is the presence of justice….” Mr. Chapelle likens peace literacy to a skillset, just like mathematics or any other subject area: it is a skill that can be learned and developed. For more about Mr. Chappelle and his work, visit: https://www.peaceliteracy.org.

 

Calendar Update: Polling Day -- Tuesday, April 6^th – No School
Tuesday, April 6^th has been declared a Polling Day for elections in Tamil Nadu. AISC will be closed virtually and on-campus for all classes, activities and meetings. 

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 Friday until Monday at 10:00am and can be picked up curbside at the ES entrance on Wednesdays between 8:30am - 3:30pm. 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.  

Library staff will practice all health and safety protocols while gathering your books. Upon return, books and the canvas bags that are distributed will be sanitized.  

We encourage families to check the library catalog before requesting specific titles to ensure that they are available. Please let Babs know on bbarbara@aischennai.org know if you have any questions.

 

Have a great weekend!

Jessica Pechhold
Middle School Principal

Friday March 12

Dear Parents and Students, 

Today we start our spring break! We also are marking one year of online learning for our middle school. We have come a long way since our first days online in March 2020. Parent and student feedback has helped to shape our current online program. Parent support for student learning at home and the middle school program is one reason why we continue to learn, grow and even thrive in new ways online. Student resilience and flexibility has enabled us to adapt, innovate, and retain our middle school culture.  Our teachers dedication and collaboration ensures that our online program continues to promote academic growth through times that continue to challenge us.

Calendar Update: Polling Day -- Tuesday, April 6^th – No School
Tuesday, April 6^th has been declared a Polling Day for elections in Tamil Nadu. AISC will be closed virtually and on-campus for all classes, activities and meetings.  

Reopening Readiness 
As you will have read in Mr. Hoover’s notes last week, we remain poised to open when granted permission. Please continue to check email over the spring break so that you aware of updates for our reopening for the middle school. If you have not already done so, please review the forms that are needed WHEN students are permitted to return to campus.

Here’s what you will need to do once your child’s grade level has permission to return:

1. Complete this Permission Signature Form. Parents MUST give permission to their child to return to campus. This is a government SOP requirement. By completing this signature page, you indicate your willingness and interest to send your child to campus. 
2. Before attending classes on campus, we ask that the Health Office receive updated medical forms. These can be completed by a parent. All students will need this form completed and submitted. Additional forms are needed only for students that take prescribed medication during the day while on campus and for students that have allergies or asthma. Just click the relevant links and complete the portions needed and then click the top green button to have it submitted. No need to email a copy, no printing needed either. 
3. Attest to your Child(ren)’s Health. AISC has partnered with the educational software company ParentLocker to offer a way for us to monitor student, faculty, and staff health and wellness. Using this app, parents will attest daily to the health safety of their children. All faculty, staff and parents on behalf of their children will need to do this each day once we are back on campus. You received directions and permissions regarding this app on January 5th by direct email. Need help? Email cgreg@aischennai.org. 
4. Check the RaptorSafe website. As we continue to prepare for our return to campus, we have launched an informational web page on what to expect when we can be back at our beloved oasis. At-A-Glance Details Include 

• Overview information of our health and safety campus protocols;
• One-stop resource for community members and prospective parents;
• Will evolve as local government directives and our own protocols develop further;
• Clear emphasis on personal and community responsibility to protect each other;
• CDC/WHO health and wellbeing resources made available;
• Campus signage and posters available for download.  

 

Student Cohorts From March 29
When middle school students are permitted to return to campus, they will be on campus all together after March 29 as we depart from the Mango-Blue split grouping to section-based (MS/HS) on-campus cohorts. To make that happen, we will spread students out into some high school classes and use our cadre of Hybrid Classroom Facilitators to assist teachers and assure adult presence in all classrooms. Part of our orientation to campus will be orienting all MS students with the rooms on their schedule.  

Classroom social distancing norms are remaining unchanged.   

Also note that…
Middle and high school students will not be on campus at the same time. Once middle school returns to campus, we will shift to high school attending school on campus two days a week (usually Monday and Tuesday) and middle school attending school on campus two days a week (usually Thursday and Friday). Everyone will study virtually mid-week in five-day weeks, which will help facilitate deep cleaning between sectional cohorts.  

March Parent Coffee
Our March Parent Coffee has been reschedule to Monday March 22 from 12:30-1:20. At the coffee, current plans for MS student return to campus, our hybrid learning plans, and details of student orientation sessions will be shared. Here is the meeting information: 

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88275008966?pwd=Qi84azdQa0Z1NkFXcTF0cFBBU2g3Zz09 

Meeting ID: 882 7500 8966
Passcode: 319790 

 

Student Parent Teacher Conferences
Student Parent Teacher Conferences are scheduled for Thursday and Friday March 25 & 26. The focus of the conference is on the Mid-Semester Progress Report and student growth. 

Please see the email from the MS office earlier this week for the link to schedule conferences. Scheduling for parent conferences closes on Tuesday, March 23. If you are having difficulty scheduling conferences, please contact Ms. Aziz: msoffice@asichennai.org. 

Conferences are from 8:00am-4:00pm on Thursday and Friday. These will be independent work days for students so they can continue their studies when they are not in conferences. 

Should middle school students be able to return to campus on Thursday and Friday, conferences will be rescheduled, as our efforts will be focused on orienting students to campus. 

 

Mid-Semester Progress Reports

Mid-Semester Progress Reports will be available to access on Power School on Wednesday, March 24. Reports will be available in PowerSchool. Here are text and video instructions to access the report:

TEXT instructions to view your child's MS Report 

VIDEO instructions to view your child's MS Report

The mid-semester report provides parents and students with an update on students’ progress the first half of the semester. Learning Habits and reporting standards for which there is sufficient evidence at this point in the semester are reported on. A more comprehensive report including on all reporting standards and teacher comments will be issued in June. 

Parents Logging into PS
Today is the mid-point of a learning module for students and the mid-point of the semester. 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.

 

HS/MS RISE: A New Paradigm for Peace with Paul K. Chappell (March 24, 2:45 p.m.)

 

We’re pleased to welcome Paul K. Chappell, Peace Literacy Educator and war veteran, to join us at our annual 12th RISE on Wednesday, March 24, 2:45 p.m. Paul will talk to us about his New Paradigm for Peace, which aims to educate people to be as well-trained in waging peace as soldiers are in waging war. As Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, says: Captain Paul Chappell has given us a crucial look at war and peace from the unique perspective of a soldier, and his new ideas show us why world peace is both necessary and possible in the 21st century.

 

Watch a short video here where Middle Schoolers tell us of their experience with Paul at last year’s GLOMUN conference.

 

WHAT IS RISE?
Open to parents and Middle and High Schoolers, RISE (Resilience, Innovation, Service, and Entertainment) brings innovative thinkers to our school to enrich our discourse and exposure on global issues related to our Mission and Core Values.  

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 Friday until Monday at 10:00am and can be picked up curbside at the ES entrance on Wednesdays between 8:30am - 3:30pm. 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.  

Library staff will practice all health and safety protocols while gathering your books. Upon return, books and the canvas bags that are distributed will be sanitized.  

We encourage families to check the library catalog before requesting specific titles to ensure that they are available. Please let Babs know on bbarbara@aischennai.org know if you have any questions.

 

ASA Season 3 Showcase

Check out all of the learning and enjoyment students gained by participating in Season 3 ASA’s on the Season 3 Showcase Document!  (click on the raptors to see the links for each activity).

 

ASA Season 4

If you are interested in having your child(ren) of all ages engage in FREE virtual activities for Season 4, please check out the Athletics & Activities Blog for more information and complete the Registration Form.  ASA Season 4 will begin Monday, March 22nd and will run through May 29th. 

Spring Break Camp

If you are interested in having your child(ren) of all ages engage in FREE virtual activities for Spring Camp, please check out the Athletics & Activities Blog for more information and fill out the Registration Form.  Spring Break Camp will begin Monday, March 15th and run through Friday, March 19th. Registration will close on Sunday, March 14th at 12:00 pm.

 

Have a relaxing spring break!

Jessica Pechhold
Middle School Principal

 

Friday March 5

Dear Students and Parents, 

This week our students showed courage and confidence as they shared performances. Our sixth grade theatre class shared their production of “Island of the Misfit Toys.” Thank you to Mr. Luna for his direction of the production and the entire class for their creativity! Thirty-five students presented individually or with a partner during our live STEAM presentations on Wednesday. Students presented to groups of students from all three grade levels, teachers and parents. All pre-recorded student presentations are available on our STEAM Fest Website. Thank you to all of the parents who joined us for the event! A special thank you to Mr. Mike Simmons, Ms. Emily Cordz and Ms. Rebekah Lopata for their efforts to coordinate STEAM at each grade level.

Student Parent Teacher Conferences
Student Parent Teacher Conferences will be Thursday and Friday, March 25 & 26 from 8:00am-4:00pm. On Monday, you will receive an email with the links to sign up on using the online scheduling system. Conferences will focus on debriefing students’ mid-semester progress report and learning habits. Students will also reflect on their growth from the first semester. Progress reports will be published March 24. 

Grade 8 High School Course Registration
This week the high school introduced the grade 9 program to the grade 8 students.  On March 12 the course selection form is due for all grade 8 students.  Parents and students can review the HS Curriculum Guide to learn more about the course descriptions and the high school program. Also, we ask you review the Grade 8 Student Course Selection Form with your children. These are in a shared Advisory folder, to which the students have access. Students must choose their first choice course and an alternate choice request. Both parents and students must digitally sign (type name) on the form in order for it to be completed and submitted to the high school.    

You can also access the presentation explaining the course selection process here.

 

MUN Impact: My Freedom Day

-From MUN Impact Club

“AISC’s MUN Impact club will be participating in CNN’s #MyFreedomDay movement from March 8th to 11th. We, as MUN Impact, have a ton of activities to help spread awareness on the issue of Modern Day Slavery and to celebrate freedom. We are also working with Kranti, an organization that works to help bring girls out of the red-light district of Mumbai and become agents of change. We will be hosting a talk with them on Thursday, and we hope to see you there. Please take the opportunity to celebrate the movement with us by participating in the activity on the poster below! If you have any questions, please email glekhana22@aischennai.org.

You can access the banner here with all the links to the activities we have planned: Link

 

This is the zoom link for the Kranti Talk, and we hope both parents and students will join us:

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86180090271

Meeting ID: 861 8009 0271

No Password required.” 

Made with Visme

 

 

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 Friday until Monday at 10:00am and can be picked up curbside at the ES entrance on Wednesdays between 8:30am - 3:30pm. 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.  

Library staff will practice all health and safety protocols while gathering your books. Upon return, books and the canvas bags that are distributed will be sanitized.  

We encourage families to check the library catalog before requesting specific titles to ensure that they are available. Please let Babs know on bbarbara@aischennai.org know if you have any questions. 

 

ASA Season 4

If you are interested in having your child(ren) of all ages engage in FREE virtual activities for Season 4, please check out the Athletics & Activities Blog for more information and complete the Registration Form.  ASA Season 4 will begin Monday, March 22nd and will run through May 29th. 

 

Spring Break Camp

If you are interested in having your child(ren) of all ages engage in FREE virtual activities for Spring Camp, please check out the Athletics & Activities Blog for more information and fill out the Registration Form.  Spring Break Camp will begin Monday, March 15th and run through Friday, March 19th. 

 

HS/MS RISE: A New Paradigm for Peace with Paul K. Chappell (March 24, 2:45 p.m.)

 

We’re pleased to welcome Paul K. Chappell, Peace Literacy Educator and war veteran, to join us at our annual 12th RISE on Wednesday, March 24, 2:45 p.m. Paul will talk to us about his New Paradigm for Peace, which aims to educate people to be as well-trained in waging peace as soldiers are in waging war. As Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, says: Captain Paul Chappell has given us a crucial look at war and peace from the unique perspective of a soldier, and his new ideas show us why world peace is both necessary and possible in the 21st century.

 

Watch a short video here where Middle Schoolers tell us of their experience with Paul at last year’s GLOMUN conference.

 

WHAT IS RISE? Open to parents and Middle and High Schoolers, RISE (Resilience, Innovation, Service, and Entertainment) brings innovative thinkers to our school to enrich our discourse and exposure on global issues related to our Mission and Core Values.

 

 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: MONDAY, MARCH 8

· 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. 

 

Have a great weekend, 

Jessica Pechhold
Middle School Principal