Dear Middle School Parents,
Welcome back to a new year. We have several events, including MS and HS parent coffees, coming up in the next couple of weeks. Please make a note of the dates and times.
MS Parent Coffee
With the request from many parents regarding more information about the programs and pathways in high school, Mr. Phan will provide a basic overall what is offered in the high school. Please join us next week, on Tuesday, 23 January at 8:45 in the Hall of Light. There will be a follow up session next week for Grade 8 parents with the course offerings in HS.
Conferences
Conferences will take place on the afternoon of January 31st and all day February 1st. Ms. Aziz will send an email with the instructions to sign up on Monday morning.
One of the aspects of moving to a Standards-Based Grading and Reporting system is to separate the behavior from the academic achievement. Therefore, we will be giving feedback on student’s behavior using the four words with its description below to indicate how frequently they display these attributes. In addition to the feedback that students are getting from the assignment, students will use this information to guide their conversations with their parents and teachers during conferences. The guiding questions for this trimester are:
- How have I progressed thus far this year?
- How am I doing this trimester?
- What was I doing that helped me find success in the first trimester?
- In what areas of the Learning Habits could I continue to focus?
Preparation
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Student actively plans for learning activities, displays effective organization and manages their time well.
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Engagement
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Student actively participates in learning activities and is communicative about their thinking and learning.
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Collaboration
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Student works with all peers by showing respect and compassion in a diverse classroom environment.
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A Growth Mindset
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Student can thoughtfully self-asses and strives for continual improvement.
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Celebration of Learning
While you are on campus for conferences, please stop by the MS CIC on Thursday, 1 February from 10:00-12:00 pm to see some of the presentations by our students.
What is a Celebration of Learning? It is a fair in which middle school students will host different booths highlighting their learning from in different classes. Each booth will display an essential question addressed in class and students will be on hand to guide you through their displayed work.
- What do the selected artifacts show about what you learned and how you learned?
- Describe the Learner traits that you think your artifact(s) connect to.
- How is this experience connected to the trait?
Calling all runners!!!
If you are interested in participating in Track and Field, or simply want to get in shape, come join us in the Auxillary Gym every Wednesday morning at 7AM to begin pre-season training. Please bring your running sneakers and a water bottle.
Pre-season training is optional. SAISA Track and Field will officially begin in mid-February. Keep your eye on the daily bulletin for further announcements.
Looking ahead…
AP/IB Information Session for Grade 8th, 9th and 10th Grade Parents
On Tuesday, January 30th, Mike Malone, the High School AP/IB Coordinator will host a parent information coffee to explain, in broad strokes, about the Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs and course offerings in the High School. The coffee will be in the BBT from 10:00 - 11:00 am. All interested parents are invited to attend.
The high school administration will hold a more in-depth presentation to Grade 8 parents in the spring for the course registration process: HS Course Registration Overview.
Grade 8 parents welcome!
High School Presentation about Standards Based Assessment and Reporting
Last semester the High School gave an overview presentation of standards based assessment and reporting for the 2018/19 school year and beyond. You are welcome to watch this abridged version of the presentation to get an overview of the system. The second presentation in the SBAR series will take place on Thursday, February 1st from 8:45 - 10:00 am in the BBT and all Grade 8 parents are welcome to attend. This presentation will explore the three achievement reporting strands, the reporting scale and give parents a sense of how final marks will be determined. Mr. Basnight and Ms. Daryn, two high school teachers, will be on hand to share practical examples from their classes.
AISC is proud to host the 2018 AMIS Middle School Mixed Honor Choir Festival from February 1-3. The Association for Music in International Schools "AMIS" is dedicated to the promotion of excellence in music education throughout international schools worldwide and sponsors a variety of annual music festivals. 88 students will participate in this festival from 12 different schools across 3 continents. We are grateful for our incredible community that has come together to support the Arts and make such an event possible and we look forward to welcoming our guests to our beautiful country and campus. Please mark your calendars for the Gala Concert on Saturday, February 3, 5PM. We welcome the whole community to join us as it is sure to be a performance you will not want to miss!
American International School Chennai
American School of the Hague
American Community School of Abu Dhabi
International School of Beijing
Kodaikanal International School
American International School Johannesburg
Saudi Aramco Expatriate Schools
Walworth Barbour American International School
Concordia International School Shanghai
American School of Bombay
Shanghai American School Pudong Campus
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AISC Singers
Clara Bouvier d'Yvoire
Noa Daryn
Madhulika Kaushik
Jiyoung Kim
Taehee Kim
Sohee Kim
Samira Mani
Palani Rajan
Vel Rajan
Gyubo Shim
Gregor Stallkamp
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Sincerely,
Alan Phan & Andrew Ranson
Middle School Administration