Dear Parents and Students,
It has been a wonderful first week of classes! Students and teachers alike are very excited about being back together. Students had a successful start to school this week as they met for a 2-day orientation with their Advisors. During this time they worked on Raptor Runway to learn about the new learning management system, Schoology, and in the last two days they have continued to connect in Advisory. The week started with an all Middle School Assembly and then a grade-level social and ended the week with a Games day. Enjoy some photos below:
Parent Coffees:
We had our first Parent Coffee of the year on August 5th for sixth grade parents. It was a wonderful opportunity to hear from Ms. Gretchen Galaty regarding the transition that students go through as they move from Elementary School to Middle School. We also heard from Mr. Ryan McFarland regarding students activities and the myriad ways students can become involved in the AISC community. Parents, also received an overview from the MS Principal regarding our online schedule, assessment and Parent Back to School Night. In case you missed the presentation, here are the slides from that session.
Thanks to those who attended the recent MS parent introduction to Schoology. The Tech Team felt that the Coffee was highly successful and based on their analysis, we can see that many parents have been able to access the system and begin to learn the new interface for learning and feedback. As a MS parent you have received an email from “AISC TECH TEAM” with your username and password, login information, and some links to parent resources. Here is a link to the slides used during the parent information session: AISC Intro to Schoology for Parents. If you encounter any problems, have any questions, or want to share your success with us, please be in touch: itsupport@aischennai.org
On Tuesday, August 10th there will be a coffee for seventh and eighth grade parents. We hope to see as many parent next Tuesday as we did this Thursday! The link for that meeting is here and the Meeting ID is 969 2624 2965 and the Passcode is MS.
Questions from the Sixth Grade Parent Coffee:
During the Sixth Grade Parent Coffee we received the following questions from parents:
Why change to schoology?
This was answered by Dr. Clinton in the Introduction to Schoology and can be summarized this way: Schoology is a much more robust Learning Management System (LMS).Please be in touch with itsupport@aischennai.org for more details.
When can we see/be sent/access the curriculum that will be covered in each subject?
This will be shared with parents on Schoology and at Back to School Night.
Are the kids being recorded or the content the teacher is presenting?
The recording will be gallery view, and shared screen content if the teacher shares the screen. The classes are recorded and available for the class in a Schoology folder. See the Head of School Notes for more information.
Home Tutors:
Some parents have asked us for help finding home tutors. The school will do what we can to help identify potential home tutor candidates and provide you with other home tutor resources. If you would like more information, please contact Lynn Schneider, the ES Principal (slynn@aischennai.org).
Parent Back to School Night:
Our Parent Back to School Night is scheduled for August 19th. This is a chance for parents to meet the Principal and learn more about the Middle School program. This will also be a time for parents to meet with Grade Level Teams. At this meeting parents meet with their child(ren)’s Advisor and learn about this important partnership. Teachers will also provide a video introduction to them and their courses which parents will be able to watch with their children. This is a wonderful opportunity for parents to get to know teachers, as well as engage with the content from classes and the Advisory program on a more personal level. More information on timings and links will be forthcoming.
Lunch Bunch Launch:
On Friday, August 13 we will have an all Middle School Assembly. In this assembly we will launch a new program this year called “Lunch Bunch”. Lunch Bunch is a 20 minute meet up with three middle school students and the principal. This will take place on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 12:20 to 12:40 PM. During this time students and the principal will first make connections to support the community and then will share feedback. The goal of this program is to establish connections in the online environment and students are free to eat their lunch at this time. Please stay tuned for more details and a concurrent parent program.
Daily Attendance:
We will take student attendance daily through a check-in form sent to students from the Middle School office. Students are expected to respond to the form daily to register their attendance. The MS office will follow up with students and parents if students do not complete the form within a 24 hour period.
Activities for Middle School Students
If you're new to Middle School or to AISC, the activities that are available to Middle School students can be confusing. They fall into the following types:
ASAs - Our Arts, Sports and Activities (formerly known as After School Activities) have 4 seasons, and the first one starts on Monday! Information about what activities are available is here and the signup form is here. Information about these come out here in the principal's note
ASIAC activities - These are the events that we conduct with the American School Bombay and American Embassy School in Delhi. During this year we'll start with virtual activities and see where the year leads us. Currently we plan on having music, e-sports, quiz team, and leadership but there may be many other activities. Watch the MS Daily Bulletin which is mailed to students each morning for how to sign up and participate. We'll have more information in the coming weeks.
Clubs and Activities - Catches a lot of other things, which also appear in the student's daily email. This may be the Model United Nations program, the school newspaper, the theater production, assembly team or any other club that's done largely within our own community.
I look forward to seeing 7th and 8th grade parents this week as I continue to get to know all of you! Have a great week,
Jennifer Bertram
Middle School Principal