September 24th

 Dear Parents and Students,

We hope that you enjoy the upcoming Fall Break and that you take some time with your family to relax and rest. Finding balance in our lives is such an important aspect of wellbeing. This break is a great opportunity to pause.

Here is the calendar of upcoming events:

Date	Event		Details
September 25- October 3	FALL BREAK
September 27- October 1	Fall Jump		See Athletics and Activities blog
October 7 & 8	MS Vision for a Learner Days
October 8	ASA S2 Registration Begins		See Athletics and Activities blog
October 11	PCA Monthly Meeting 2:00-3:00 p.m.		See PCA blog for more information
October 12	MS Parent Coffee re: Schoology & student presentations on VfL Days		Zoom link here
October 12	Inspiration Conversation 4:00-4:30 p.m.		Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 971 8034 3916 Passcode: AISC
October 13	Board of Directors’ Meeting 5:00 p.m.

Advisory:

In Advisory the past two week's the student's have engaged in lessons and sharings about their individual learning profiles.  They explored and answered three questions:  1.  What does it mean to be a learner? 2.  How do I learn new things? 3.  What do I do with teacher feedback?  When you have a moment, ask your child to share some of their thoughts about themselves as a learner.  

 

A resource that may be of interest is a free online parenting class offered on Coursera by Yale University, Everyday Parenting:  The ABCs of Child Rearing. This was recommended by international school counselors at the International School Counselor Association.

 

Parent Teacher Conferences

Our MS Parent Teacher Conferences will be held on October 21st from 4:00pm - 7:00pm and on October 22nd from 8:00am - 4:00pm.  An email with sign-up information for conferences will be coming to you after Break in which we will explain the sign up process for conferences.

VFL Days - Updates

VFL Orientation will take place on Thursday, October 7. In this lesson, teachers will introduce students to the topics they will cover over the two day VfL experience.

On Friday, October 8 students will be with their groups again and will be diving into their subjects more fully.  Both of these days will allow students to interact with the Vision for a Learner traits while having fun at the same time. The Vision for a Learner Traits are:

• Leaders

• Collaborators

• Innovators

• Explorers

• Thinkers

• Ethical

• Versatile

• Empathetic

• Resilient

• Reflective

 

Parents will have a chance to hear from 6 students at the Parent Coffee on October 12th at 8:45 am Zoom link here. Students will talk about their activities, reflections and how these activities relate to the Vision for a Learner Traits.

 

 

Have a great Fall Break,

 

Jennifer Bertram

Middle School Principal

September 17th

Dear Parents and Students,

As we wrap up this Spirit Week, it has been wonderful to get into the “spirit” of AISC through the week as we came together as a community. On Wednesday, we held our first hybrid MS Faculty meeting and once again, it was that togetherness that sustained us and our collective spirits. Enjoy pictures of our MS SPIRIT with our students and Advisors!

Here is the calendar of upcoming events:

Date	Event		Details
September 25- October 3	FALL BREAK
September 27- October 1	Fall Jump		See Athletics and Activities blog
October 7 & 8	MS Vision for a Learner Days
October 8	ASA S2 Registration Begins		See Athletics and Activities blog
October 11	PCA Monthly Meeting 2:00-3:00 p.m.		See PCA blog for more information
October 12	MS Parent Coffee		Zoom link here
October 12	Inspiration Conversation 4:00-4:30 p.m.		Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 971 8034 3916 Passcode: AISC
October 13	Board of Directors’ Meeting 5:00 p.m.

Attendance:

As you know, we are now collecting student attendance by block. You will have also started to receive messages about your child’s absences in blocks. Please contact Ms. Aziz at msoffice@aischennai.org if you have any questions or concerns.

We have also asked students to resume the use of the the blue form or planned absence form in order to plan for anticipated absences. Students may use this video to understand how the blue form needs to be filled out online. 

 

Arts, Sports & Activities (ASA) - Virtual Fall Camp '21:

If you are interested in having your child(ren)  engage in FREE virtual activities for Virtual Fall Camp, please fill out the Registration Form before Friday, September 25.  Virtual Fall Camp will be a 5-day program that begins on Monday, September 27, and run through Friday, October 1, 2021.

For more information, please email Monicka (dmonicka@aischennai.org)

Thank you!

Athletics & Activities Team

Parent Coffee:

Thank you to all the parents who attended the Parent Coffee regarding Attendance on Sept 14th. We had a great response from parents on questions related to our new Attendance procedures as well as support for 6th grade students, as well as Middle School students in general. In case you missed it, here is the link to the Presentation. 

 

New Arrivals in the ES/MS Library:

A portion of our new print books have arrived, so please feel free to browse the titles and check out those that interest you! Families/students can check out books with this form and staff can use this one. Let Ms. Babs know if you have any questions.

 

New Graphic Novels

New Picture Books

New Novels

New Nonfiction (Informational and Poetry)

New Biographies

New Early Readers

 

What is Sacred? - a Portal Project Conversation - Thursday, September 23rd:

The first Portal Project dialogue will take place on Thursday, September 23rd at 4:30 pm on Zoom. Students, parents and faculty are invited to attend and explore "What is sacred" at AISC now and into the future!  Not only will the dialogue be enjoyable in its own right, but participants will help generate data used in our ongoing futures planning process! 

Click here to add the link directly to your google calendar or here for the Zoom link if you use a different calendar service. 

 

 

Have a great weekend,

 

Jennifer Bertram

Middle School Principal

September 9th

Dear Parents and Students,

This week students took the MAP test in Reading Test, Math, Language Usage, and Science. Most students were able to finish their tests in the time allotted and those who were not, will be finishing next week. We will contact the students with dates and times to finish the tests. Special thanks to our MS teachers and assistants, Mr. Galaty and the IT department who helped to make this testing session successful.

We hope students, teachers and families enjoy the long weekend and get some well deserved rest!

Upcoming Dates:

• Sept. 14th: Parent Coffee @ 8:45 in two parts:

• How can attendance lead to academic success?

• What are the burning questions for 6th grade parents?

• Link to Zoom Meeting

Meeting ID: 976 7864 2973

Passcode: 417882

• Sept. 17th: UN International Peace Day

Attendance:

In Middle School and at AISC, we talk a lot about engagement! We know that if a student is engaged in classes, learning happens. We also know that being part of a community of learners is an important part of the learning process. In an attempt to support our students as best we can in the virtual setting, we are going to be recording attendance for students for each block. We want to make sure that we are keeping track of students in a way that best supports their learning and engagement in classes.  As a result, we are asking you to please inform the msoffice@aischennai.org or sazizunnisa@aischennai.org if your son/daughter will be absent from a class. Absences on the report cards will be listed in terms of missed blocks rather than missed days, as was previously stated.

Teachers will be updating attendance records for all their students every block and we will be collecting information on absences and communicating that to teachers daily. We will also be communicating with you as parents when your child is absent.

Parent Coffee:

On September 14th @8:45 am we will try a different method for our Parent Coffee (Link to Zoom Meeting) and divide it into two parts. The first part of the Parent Coffee is an important one where we will discuss the importance of prioritizing attendance so that students will achieve higher levels of academic success. We will share tips, but also outline the changes we have made to our attendance policy this year to support students and their engagement in academics.

The second part of the Parent Coffee is especially for 6th grade parents. We are hoping to hear from 6th grade parents about outstanding questions about our Middle School program. These questions may have surfaced now that we have been in school for some weeks. Please send any questions to bejennifer@aischennai.org and we will be sure to address your concerns.

 

SAVE THE DATE: UN International Day of Peace Virtual Assembly and Parade of Nations (Friday, September 17)

 

AISC is celebrating the UN International Day of Peace with our annual Assembly and Parade of Nations! With student speakers and participants from Elementary to High School, we are excited to continue bringing shared community experiences to you virtually. So mark your calendars and help us celebrate our diversity and commitment to our collective future.

When: Friday, September 17, 2:45–3:15 p.m. IST

Where: Join Zoom Meeting

Meeting ID: 927 2546 4576

Passcode: AISC

A MUN Impact Event: UN76 Discussion following the Parade of Nations

 

Join the HS MUN Impact club in a discussion about the prevalent issues of the world, as they take a deeper dive into inequalities and global changes. We hope that through this discussion we will be able to further the UN Day theme and find ways to recover from what has occurred in the world recently and create a sustainable and equitable future.

Topic: UN76 Discussion

Time: Friday, September 17, 4:15–5:00 p.m. IST (soon after the UN Day Virtual Assembly)

Where: Join Zoom Meeting

Meeting ID: 929 4874 4863

Passcode: 819864

PCA International Community Celebrations: September 17 Onwards

One of the highlights of the AISC annual calendar is the PCA International Day Picnic. In partnership with the PCA and many Country Coordinators that represent our diverse community, International Day is a true celebration of AISC’s cultural identity.

This year, soon after our UN Day Virtual Assembly, the PCA will be launching an International Community Celebration webpage, complete with country-specific activities and pre-recorded content for you to celebrate our internationalism. And there are exciting prizes to be won! Visit the PCA Blog for more details.

Spirit Week:

We look forward to Spirit Week next week and we hope that MS students will be able to participate in the FUN! Remember that on Tuesday - our “crew” color is mango or ORANGE! We look forward to the MS students and faculty having fun and showing their enthusiasm for AISC!

Have a great weekend,

 

Jennifer Bertram

Middle School Principal