Friday, February 28, 2014

Dear Parents,

Thank you to our wonderful parents, students and teachers who made our student led conferences a rewarding experience for all. Thank you to our caring teacher assistants who looked after children in the drop-off rooms. We know from the online conference scheduler that 95% of our families registered for a conference. However, a few conferences were scheduled directly between the teacher and parent, so the actual percentage is higher. Again, thank you! We would like to collect feedback about your conference experience. Could I kindly ask that you complete this survey by next Friday? 

March Lunch Menu and Order Form

Lunch order form - March 2014

Lunch menu - March 2014

Please place your orders online by today and pay on or before March 07, 2014.

Local Track and Field Meet

I would like to recognize the following grade 5 students who participated in a local track meet Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium: Hidetaka, Futa, Mekhi, Jeremy, Kunal, Fleur, Benjamin, Megan, Ahmad, Luca and Leonardo. Since mid-January, these athletes have been waking up very early every Tuesday and Thursday morning to attend track practice. They also have an opportunity to qualify to participate in the South Asia Inter-School Association or SAISA Track and Field Meet which will be held at AISC in March. Special thanks to Oz who has been a very helpful volunteer these past few weeks!

A note from from Mr. Thomson, Athletic Director: On behalf of the Athletic and P.E. department, I would like to congratulate all of our awesome Track and Field athletes for a great job at the Track Meet this past Tuesday and Wednesday. I felt like a proud Papa watching all of our teams compete to the best of their abilities. The old expression, "leave it all on the track and give it your best" was definitely the theme of these two days. Well done!

Parent Coffee with the ES Administration: Topics for the Remainder of the School Year

Our next parent coffee will be held on Tuesday, March 11th from 8:45 to 9:45 in the FAC Cafeteria. Our Literacy Coach, Ms. Megan McCrindle, will lead a presentation on early childhood literacy. This session will be of interest to parents who have children in our PS 3+, PS 4+ and Kindergarten classes. 

The April parent coffee is scheduled for the 15th. I will be out-of-town that day, so the coffee will have to be rescheduled. I will communicate the new date once I have it confirmed. The topic of our April coffee is standards-based grading and reporting. As many of you know, the elementary school will launch a new report card next fall. In this session, we will talk about the the philosophy behind standards-based grading and reporting and why standards-based grading/reporting is best practice for student learning.

Our final parent coffee of the school year will be held on Tuesday, May 13th. This is a recently added parent coffee; it is not printed in the community calendar. During this session, members from the Service Learning Task Force will present an overview of their work to date, and our plans for the future. In our 2013-2018 Strategic Plan, there are three “Final End Results” devoted to service learning. As a reminder, these end results are: 

(1) AISC has identified a philosophy and designed a service learning structure that empowers students to serve their local and global communities.

(2) AISC has a strong service learning structure where students are engaged and immersed in service opportunities building authentic local connections and greater global understanding. 

(3) AISC has established a culture of service where students are intrinsically motivated to transfer academic knowledge allowing them to create experiences that improve the lives of others. To achieve these end results, we require our students to engage in community service learning.

Have a great weekend and see you next month! It is hard to believe that March is here!

Kevin Hall

Elementary School Principal

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Dear Parents,

India Week just keeps getting better and better each year! I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ms. Anu and Ms. Bindu for coordinating all of the activities this week. So many people came together to make this week possible that I am afraid that I would miss someone if I listed everyone’s names. So, a big thank you to all the teachers, teacher assistants, custodial and support staff who made the week possible. Of course, I extend my heartfelt appreciation to all 500+ students who made this a special week for us all. I have received so many positive comments about your artwork and performances. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, here are several pictures from the week which speak volumes. Enjoy!

Student-Led Conferences

Please remember to sign up for the conferences on 27 or 28 February with your child's teachers.  You have until Wednesday at 12 noon to sign-up.  The specialist teacher sign-up sheets were sent home today. Please return to your child's teacher or to the Elementary School Reception by Wednesday. There are no classes for students on Friday.

Conference Sign up link

Lunch Menu & Pre-Order Form: March 3 to 28

Lunch order form - March 2014

Lunch Menu - March 2014

Please place your orders online by February 28 and pay on or before March 07, 2014.

Announcement from the Music Department

The music at AISC just keeps getting bigger and better all the time! We have a very special concert coming on February 28, featuring some special guests that elementary music parents (and their students) won't want to miss. Join us as the top band, orchestra and choir from Kodaikanal International School (KIS) sweep through the AISC Auditorium on their annual South Indian tour. The KIS ensembles are well respected for their energetic and detailed performances, and are supported by a staff of private tutors in instruments and voice. And at the very same concert, representing AISC, our very own high school Concert Band and Symphonic Band will challenge a head-to-head matchup of musical might with our esteemed guests. Parents and students will enjoy the beautiful sounds of these groups, and get a good idea of what to expect as they advance into AISC's middle and high school music programs. This concert is especially appropriate for Grade 5 parents and students, who will choose their grade 6 courses later in the spring.

The show is Friday, February 28 at 4:30pm in the AISC Auditorium. No tickets are necessary, but get your seat early as the auditorium is expected to be full. All elementary school parents are invited, and all elementary students are welcome to attend with their parent(s).

ASA News

TEDEdClub 

We are honored to join TED in helping our students find their voices and share their message with the world. Here at AISC, we believe that we should develop our children's ability to make a difference in their world. The TEDEdClub  is based primarily off of the TED style presentations and talks. TEDEdClub gives our students a voice and a platform to do this.  Students will have the opportunity to connect with other students from all over the world to support, stimulate, and celebrate their ideas.  Students will develop public speaking skills and presentation literacy so their ideas can be easily seen, understood, and acted upon. At the completion of the program, interested students will have the opportunity to speak in front of a live audience at a TED Youth Conference.  As of now, we are offering this program to all interested in grades 5-8.  If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Ms. Danieta Morgan at mdanieta@aisch.org. 

Logistical information:

Start date: To be announced after registration

Time: 3.30 – 4.30 pm

Day: Tuesdays 

Grade Level: 5-8

Registration: At the ASA office (MC-1B). Last day for registration is Monday (February 24, 2014)

There will be no ASAs on:

• Staff Development day: February 21, 2014

• Parent Teacher Conference days: February 27 & 28, 2014

        

Please note that all Saturday ASAs (Swimming, Soccer and Drama) will be conducted as scheduled.

All ASAs will resume on March 3, 2014.

Have a great weekend,

Kevin Hall

Elementary School Principal

February 14, 2014

Dear Parents,

On Monday morning, we held a special all-school assembly on the soccer field to mark the beginning of Celebrate AISC Week.  During this assembly, we introduced the seven local artists who are a part of the Ayyanar Horse Project.  We were also treated to a performance by twelve Thappattam dancers.

Throughout this week and next, students in visual arts classes will participate in a traditional figure sculpting process indigenous to Tamil Nadu. Students will have the opportunity to work with our visiting local artists to construct large and small Ayyanar horse and elephant sculptures. Thank you to the AISC Visual Arts Department for organizing this experience.

Artists are working in three separate locations around the school. You are welcome to visit their work stations. Below is a picture of the horse that is being made in the elementary school area.

You can follow the progress of the artists by visiting high school art teacher Ed Doherty’s blog: http://ejdoherty.blogspot.in/ (If this doesn’t open directly, cut and paste the address into a URL window.)

Throughout this celebratory week, students and parents voluntarily wrote reasons why they love AISC. Please take a few moments to read their responses, which are posted on a board outside of the elementary school cafeteria.

Today, we asked everyone to celebrate our school by wearing AISC colors - blue and white.  We invited staff, parents and students to meet on the soccer field at 8:20 for a school-wide photo!

India Week!

Our students are excited about India Week which runs from Monday, February 17th to Thursday, February 20th.

Student Performances:

PS-Grade 2 Tuesday, 18th of February at 8.45
Grade 3-5 Thursday, 20th of February at 8.45

Students are encouraged to wear Indian clothes on the day of their performance. They are welcome to wear Indian clothes throughout the week.

During this week, students will attend demonstrations on dance, musical instruments and participate in a yoga activity. They will also have the opportunity to decorate their hands with Mehendi (Henna).

Student Artwork:

Students from PS –Grade 5 have actively engaged in creating artwork for India Week. Their colorful artwork will be displayed in and around FAC throughout the week. We look forward to seeing your art, students! Thanks to our art teachers - Mr.Joseph, Mr.Ken and Ms.Priya Kathare, and our art assistant, Ms. Rama.

Incredible India Photo Gallery:

Ms.Megan has created an ‘Incredible India Photo Gallery’ in which the photo contributions of our elementary students will be on display. Thank you to all students who participated in this project.

Indian Meal:

Students will be served an Indian Lunch, catered by our Taj Madras Flight Kitchen, on Thursday. The lunch will include poori, corn pulao, nutri and peas khorma, aloo bonda (potato snack), chicken tikka and jalebi (Indian sweet). Spices in the food will be minimal. Children who do not want this lunch as asked to bring a lunch from home on Thursday.

Student-Led Conferences: Our next round of student-led conferences will be held on Thursday, February 27th from 3:45 to 5:30 and on Friday, February 28th from 8:30 to 3:45. There are no classes on Friday.

Student-led conferences give students the opportunity to deepen their understanding of themselves as learners, build self-confidence and self-esteem, be empowered, foster pride and develop ownership of their goals and achievements and teach students the process of self-evaluation and reflection, thus enhancing their critical thinking skills. All of these benefits support our school mission and student learning objectives.

Each conference will last for 30 minutes. Parents and students are also requested to meet with a minimum of two specialist teachers. Early next week, we will send home a form, asking parents to indicate which specialist teachers they will visit.

You can now sign up for a conference by going to this website. Parents have until 12 noon on February 26th to sign-up for a conference.  Once you are logged in, you will see a list of teachers with a button next to each name. Click on the button for your child’s teacher and press continue at the bottom of the page. You will be asked to enter your child’s and your name, as well as your email address. When you have done that, you will see a list of available conference times. You may pick one conference time for each teacher. Repeat the process for the rest of your child’s teachers by using the link on the sidebar on the left. Once you have finished making your appointments, a confirmation will be sent to you via email. We have created a video which gives you step-by-step instructions in how to complete this process. To access this video, please click here.

School Photos 2013-2014:

We are pleased to announce the sale of photos from the January photo shoot for those students who did not get their photos taken in August. On the AISC All School Moodle page community members will find the order forms and links to the on-line photo albums.

Here is process by which you can access the photos on the Moodle page and place your order:

1. Download the School Photo Order Form from the Moodle page.

2. Click on the set of photos you wish to see and copy the image numbers of the photo(s) you want onto the order form.

3. Indicate which print package you want. Please note that the CD ROM is only available if you purchase one of the photo packages.

4. Take the completed order form and the correct payment to the cashier’s window near the main reception area and pay the required amount.

Please submit all requests for photos not later than February 28. We anticipate that the photos will be available for pickup by March 21.

Unfortunately, due to a change in photographers we are unable to provide prints for students whose photos were taken in August.

If you have any questions about the ordering process, please contact Ms. Cheryl or Ms. Hazel in the Elementary School Principal’s Office.

Reading and Homework: After School Activity – 4th and 5th Grade:

This semester, will continue our Reading and Homework ASA in the Elementary Library, every day from 3:45-4:30 pm. This ASA will give students an opportunity to work independently in a quiet area.  This is flexible in that students can come on the day(s) they choose between Mondays –Friday.

Logistical information:

• Pick up and drop: Elementary Cafeteria.
• Parents are requested to pick up at 4.30 pm.
• There will not be any formal sign up for this ASA.
• Teachers in charge : Ms. Jyothi Unni & Mr. LalPaul.

TEDEdClub:

We are honored to join TED (Technology, Education, Design) in helping our students find their voices and share their message with the world. Here at AISC, we believe that we should develop our children's ability to make a difference in their world. The TEDEdClub  is based primarily off the TED style presentations and talks. TEDEdClub gives our students a voice and a platform to do this.  Students will have the opportunity to connect with other students from all over the world to support, stimulate, and celebrate their ideas.  Students will develop public speaking skills and presentation literacy so their ideas can be easily seen, understood, and acted upon. At the completion of the program, interested students will have the opportunity to speak in front of a live audience at a TED Youth Conference.  As of now, we are offering this program to all interested in grades 5-8.  If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Ms. Danieta Morgan at mdanieta@aisch.org.

Logistical information:

·  Start date: To be announced after registration

·  Time: 3.30 – 4.30 pm

·  Day: Tuesdays 

·  Grade Level: 5-8

·  Registration: At the ASA office (MC-1B), beginning next week.

Grade 1 Authors' Celebration:

On Monday, Grade 1 students held a non-fiction book authors' celebration in the library. Thank you, parents, for visiting; we had a great turnout. The students really enjoyed reading to you and the teachers!

Raptorthon

The High School PE teachers, Coach Donna and myself would like to invite students in grades 4 and 5 (and their parents, too) to take part in AISC's first ever Raptorthon.  The Raptorthon is a fun event that combines swimming and running. Participants will be required to swim 150 m, run 1600 m and jump back in the pool and swim another 150 m. You can enter the race as an individual or as a partnership where one person swims and the other runs.

The event will take place on Sunday, February 23rd from 7-10 a.m. The event fee is 300 rupees per individual and 600 rupees for a partnership. The money raised will be used to cover the cost of the event. Any remaining money will go towards a charity. After the race is complete there will be a potluck breakfast. Sign-ups for the potluck are included on the entry form. You can find more information by clicking the links in the sidebar.

The sign-up form is available here:  https://docs.google.com/a/aisch.org/forms/d/1AK6xtkayYwwJHsGnlY8RaM66AECLIEZNGQCkOfzb_rQ/edit

Have a great weekend,

Kevin Hall
Elementary School Principal

February 7, 2014

Dear Parents,

Next week is Celebrate AISC Week! We will kick off the week by welcoming a group of local artists with expertise in constructing large clay “Ayyanar” horses. Over the course of two weeks, our students will engage in the process as they observe, document, and participate in creating these monumental works of art.

Originating from Tamil Nadu, the terracotta clay horses act as guardians - standing as tall as 12 feet and placed prominently flanking the entrances of local temples and villages. By bringing Ayyanar horse artists for the first ever art residency program here on campus, we are creating a lifetime experience for our students to study the methods and techniques of this type of large scale clay construction directly from the local experts. It also reciprocates our involvement in local arts and culture within our community and host country.

This is a very special event and we encourage you to take the time, before and after instructional hours, to visit these stations and observe this amazing process. Thank you to the AISC Visual Arts Department for organizing this experience.  

On Friday, February 14th, we will celebrate our first ever all-school Spirit Day!  We ask everyone to celebrate our school by wearing AISC colors - blue and white.  All staff, parents and students are invited to meet on the soccer field at 8:20 for a school-wide photo! Remember, to wear BLUE and WHITE and to be on the field promptly at 8:20.

India Week:

Our students will soon begin preparing for the much awaited India Week. There will be two separate assemblies with student performances - one by the lower elementary and the other by the upper elementary. You are welcome to attend both. Performances will be in the FAC auditorium. Students are encouraged to wear Indian clothes on the day of their performance; it is not mandatory. Students are welcome to wear Indian clothes throughout the week.

Student Performances:

Pre-School-Grade 2: Tuesday, February 18 at 8:45 

Grades 3-5: Thursday, February 20 at 8:45

During this week, students will attend demonstrations on dance, musical instruments and participate in yoga activity. They will also have the opportunity to decorate their hands with Mehendi (henna). 

Incredible India Photo Gallery:

Elementary photographers, this is your last chance to submit a picture to the Incredible India Photo Gallery that will be on display in the FAC Art Gallery during India Week.  We would love to see pictures from all elementary school students. Please turn in your photo of India (with name and class on the back) to the Elementary or Main Reception by Wednesday, February 12th.  Thank you for participating.

Indian Lunch

Students will be served an Indian Lunch catered by our Taj Madras Flight Kitchen on Thursday, February 20th. The lunch served will be Poori, Corn Pulao, Nutri & Peas Khorma, Aloo Bonda (potato snack), Chicken Tikka and Jalebi (Indian sweet). Spices in the food will be minimal. Parents who do not want their children to have this meal may kindly send a packed lunch from home.

Parent Coffee with the ES Administration: Please join us at 8:45 in the FAC Cafeteria on Tuesday, February 11. Our English as an Additional Language (EAL) Coordinator, Ms. Karen Sumaryono, and there members from her team, Ms. Deepa, Ms. Kaye and Ms. Kathryn, will lead a discussion about our EAL program. They will also talk about our co-teaching model. This session will be of particular interest to parents, who joined our community in January, who have children in our EAL program.

Looking ahead to our March parent coffee, Ms. Megan will lead a presentation on early childhood literacy. This session will be of interest to parents who have children in our 3 and 4 year old classes.

Girl Scout News: The Girl Scout Brownie Troop at AISC will be sponsoring a Valentine's Bake Sale next Friday, February 14th to support the Sisters of Charity by Mother Theresa.  This organization helps people with mental disabilities.  All proceeds will go to provide needed supplies to this charity.  The Scouts will be purchasing, packing and delivering these goods as part of their Community Service Activities. 

The sale will take place in the Elementary Cafeteria 3:30-4:30.  All items will be sold at Rs. 50 or Rs.100. Come prepared to treat yourself or your "sweetie" to some delicious goods.  The troop sends a big thank you to several Chennai hotels and restaurants for their generous donations which make the sale possible. The Scouts and Mother Theresa appreciate your contributions!

Raptorthon 2014

Attention all 4th and 5th Grade students!!!!  Are you looking for a fun and challenging activity that you can do alone or with a friend?  Are you a good runner? Is your friend a good swimmer? Are you a good runner and swimmer? Then sign up for the first AISC Raptorthon!!!  Swim 150m! Run 1 mile! Swim 150m, again! 

Date: Sunday, February 23, 2014

Time: 7:15AM-10AM

Where: AISC Pool and Field

Cost: Rs.300 for individuals, Rs.600 for a team of two (one swimmer and one runner)

Registration: Click the link below! There is more information on the registration form.

https://docs.google.com/a/aisch.org/forms/d/1AK6xtkayYwwJHsGnlY8RaM66AECLIEZNGQCkOfzb_rQ/edit

Your parents can sign up, too!!!! Make it a family event!!! Bring something to share for the potluck breakfast afterwards.

See Coach Donna if you have any questions!

Student-Led Conferences: We will host our second round of student-led conferences on Thursday, February 27th from 3:45 to 5:30 pm and all-day Friday, February 28th from 8:30 to 4:15. Please note that we will not have conferences on Monday, March 3rd. This is a school-day for children.

Reading and Homework After School Activity – 4th and 5th Grade:

This semester, will continue our Reading and Homework ASA in the Elementary Library, every day from 3:45-4:30 pm. This ASA will give students an opportunity to work independently in a quiet area.  This is flexible in that students can come on the day(s) they choose between Monday –Friday.

Logistical information:

• Pick up and drop: Elementary Cafeteria.
• Parents are requested to pick up at 4.30 pm.
• There will not be any formal sign up for this ASA.
• Teachers in charge : Ms.Jyothi Unni & Mr.LalPaul.

Have a great weekend!

Kevin Hall

Elementary School Principal