Dear Parents,
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then visiting the school in person must equal about a million. Take advantage of this opportunity to see the world your child inhabits every day by coming to Back to School Night on Thursday, August 21 from 4:00 pm to 5:20. This is one of the best ways to begin to build that all-important home-school connection. The purpose of this event is to give you an opportunity to meet your child’s teachers and learn more about the curriculum and classroom routines. Following is the schedule:
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then visiting the school in person must equal about a million. Take advantage of this opportunity to see the world your child inhabits every day by coming to Back to School Night on Thursday, August 21 from 4:00 pm to 5:20. This is one of the best ways to begin to build that all-important home-school connection. The purpose of this event is to give you an opportunity to meet your child’s teachers and learn more about the curriculum and classroom routines. Following is the schedule:
4:00
to 4:20: Teacher presentations (your child’s teacher will let you know where
the presentation will take place).
4:20
to 4:30: Transition time
4:30
to 4:50: Visit your child’s classroom
4:50
to 5:00: Transition time
5:00
to 5:20: Teacher presentations (this presentation will be a repeat of the 4:00
to 4:20 presentation)
Looking
at the above schedule, if you had two children, for example in grades 1 and 4, a parent could attend one presentation at 4:00 and the second presentation
at 5:00. You could then drop in to see each child’s classroom from 4:30 to
4:50. If there are three children in your family, mom can attend one session at
4:00 while dad attends the 5:00 pm session. This will allow both parents to
attend the second session. Specialist teachers will not be leading
presentations, but will be available to meet with parents. Prior to August 21,
your child’s teacher will let you know the room number of their presentations,
and where the specialist teachers will be located.
Since
this event begins at 4:00 pm, there is not enough time for families to take
children home and then return to school. Plus, many children will be involved
in ASAs until 4:30. We will provide playground supervision from 3:45 to 5:20.
Students have access to the plaza, playground, soccer field and elementary
school cafeteria only and will not be allowed in the hallways outside
classrooms. Parents are asked to meet their children on the playground
immediately following Back to School Night.
You
will have an opportunity to ask the teacher questions. However, this is not a
time to discuss your child's individual needs or progress. Save such
conversations for a little later, when the teacher knows your child better and
can talk with you one-on-one.
Meetings
with Teachers
We want to encourage communication between parents and teachers. If you would like to meet with one of your child’s teachers, please contact him or her by email to set up a time to meet. Alternatively, you can contact Ms. Hazel (bhazel@aisch.org) or Ms. Cheryl (fcheryl@aisch.org) in the Elementary School Principal’s Office to schedule an appointment. Please keep in mind that our teachers have time set aside before and during the school day for planning and preparing lessons and for assessing student progress. This time is very valuable to them and to the quality of our instructional program. Unscheduled meetings can make it difficult for teachers to be prepared for their classes and hence can have a negative impact on the learning experience for the students. Thank you for your cooperation.
We want to encourage communication between parents and teachers. If you would like to meet with one of your child’s teachers, please contact him or her by email to set up a time to meet. Alternatively, you can contact Ms. Hazel (bhazel@aisch.org) or Ms. Cheryl (fcheryl@aisch.org) in the Elementary School Principal’s Office to schedule an appointment. Please keep in mind that our teachers have time set aside before and during the school day for planning and preparing lessons and for assessing student progress. This time is very valuable to them and to the quality of our instructional program. Unscheduled meetings can make it difficult for teachers to be prepared for their classes and hence can have a negative impact on the learning experience for the students. Thank you for your cooperation.
School
Pictures
Each
year, a photographer comes to the school to take pictures of every student. We
will use one picture for the 2014-15 yearbook. Parents will have the option of
buying a picture package. School
pictures will be taken over three days, August 25, 26 and 27, with August 28
being a make-up date for any student who was away the day his/her photo was to
be taken. Next week, I will publish the three-day photo schedule so that you
will know which day you child’s photo will be taken.
Badges
for Domestic Staff/Drivers
As
you may know, we have been focusing on Child Protection procedures here since
2012. We have a Child Protection Manual (CPM) and we have Board Policy that
holds us accountable for having appropriate systems and procedures in place to
assure the safeguarding of your children. (Please see our CPM in Information
and Reminders link on the Head of School’s blog.) Over the past year, we have
been focusing on many aspects of shoring up our safety and security systems.
With
regard to community access to campus inside the turnstiles, we require
background checks for all members of staff and ASA instructors. A staff member
or parent must accompany vendors and campus guests at all times.
We
have also focused on collecting data on, tracking, and managing the access to
campus by nannies and drivers – in 2013-2104, 195 drivers and nannies had
access to campus.
Historically,
nannies and drivers have had access to campus for three main reasons:
1.
Drop
off and pick up.
2.
Delivering
forgotten items from home or lunches.
3.
Supervision
of children on playground after school.
We
already have systems in place so that parents/guardians do not need to
accompany their children to classrooms and so that we can deliver children to
parents/guardians after school. Further, our personnel at the security desks
facilitate delivering lunches or forgotten items. Last year, we also put
guidelines in place to manage when nannies and drivers could be on campus and
where they could be while waiting or supervising.
This
was an incredible supervision challenge for us and pulled security staff away
from other duties to perform. In the interests of student safety and school
security generally, AISC is no longer in a position to supervise nannies and
drivers and allow them within the turnstiles. Over the next four weeks, not
immediately, AISC will phase out nanny/driver access to campus. Drivers and
nannies will be allowed in registered vehicles inside the vehicle gates and
will be able to pick up and drop off at the security desks.
We
recognize that for the 150+ families who engage nannie/driver access, this
flexibility may have become an important part of your family’s routine. We also
recognize that for some of you who have your patterns with your drivers and
nannies, this may seem like a weighty shift, but given recent child safety
issues locally and in international schools globally, this is a necessary move.
If
a driver or nanny requires an ID for the month of August, please follow this
process:
1.
For
returning families, please inform the security team if you have a returning
driver or domestic staff member who has previously been issued an ID. We cannot
assure admission to the campus without a confirmation from you. Email Umasekar
Mohan (securitymanager@aisch.org), Devendra Kushwaha (kdevendra@aisch.org) or
inform one of our security personnel at the Front Security Desk at your
earliest convenience.
2.
For
new families, nanny and driver ID badges will be issued for vehicle gate entry
only.
I
will be communicating nanny/driver pick up and drop off systems for all ES
students, which will start on Tuesday, September 2, early next week. If you
have a special situation and need information or support, please speak with me
directly.
Student
Handbook Signature Page
The
signature page was due today. Beginning next week, the office will begin
contacting families who have not turned it in; we expect a 100% rate of return.
The signature page is on page 57 of the Elementary School Handbook. We require
the signatures of your child (grade 3 and above) and a parent or legal
guardian.
Grade
4 Parents
We
are pleased to announce the launch of our optional Bring-Your-Own-Technology
(BYOT) program in Grade 4 this year.
Many of you have chosen to purchase a device or send an existing device
with your child to school this year.
Although Grade 4 students will have access to a personal PC laptop in
their classrooms, a variety of other
devices can enhance the learning experience for students. In addition, students bringing their own
technology can access the digital side of their learning after school and from
anywhere with an Internet connection.
This device may include a:
•
Laptop
(PC or Mac)
•
Tablet
(Android or iPad)
•
iPod
Touch
Students
may bring in their devices to school beginning Monday, August 18. We will configure devices on the day they are
brought in, however, parents may send a device with their child anytime after
this date. To enable the IT department
to properly configure the device, please disable all passwords temporarily on
that day and ensure the operating system is set to English.
Please
bring any questions you may have to the ES Back to School Night on Thursday
August 21.
Documents Attached Below
1. BYOT
Configuration Form (parent signature required)
Emergency Drill
Please note that we will have a fire drill on Thursday, August 21st at 1:45pm. If you are on campus, please follow these guidelines:
1. Parents (and their visitors) are responsible for obeying the instructions from security staff or school administration during an emergency situation.
2. Parents should allow the evacuation process of our students to proceed undisturbed.
3. The soccer field is the safe assembly area that is commonly designated during fire evacuation.
4. The soccer field has designated area indicated by a signboard for parent/visitors to assemble near the northwest corner of the field.
5. Parents/Visitors will not be permitted to move off campus while an emergency situation is in progress.
6. In an emergency situation, parents should not use the elevators.
ASA activities, both paid and faculty-led, will begin on Monday, August 18th. First semester activities run until December 19th.
Parent ID Badges
Beginning next week, parents can pick up their ID Badges from Security located near the Main Reception.
Have a great long weekend. Happy Indian Independence Day!
Please note that we will have a fire drill on Thursday, August 21st at 1:45pm. If you are on campus, please follow these guidelines:
1. Parents (and their visitors) are responsible for obeying the instructions from security staff or school administration during an emergency situation.
2. Parents should allow the evacuation process of our students to proceed undisturbed.
3. The soccer field is the safe assembly area that is commonly designated during fire evacuation.
4. The soccer field has designated area indicated by a signboard for parent/visitors to assemble near the northwest corner of the field.
5. Parents/Visitors will not be permitted to move off campus while an emergency situation is in progress.
6. In an emergency situation, parents should not use the elevators.
ASA Information
ASA activities, both paid and faculty-led, will begin on Monday, August 18th. First semester activities run until December 19th.
Parent ID Badges
Beginning next week, parents can pick up their ID Badges from Security located near the Main Reception.
Have a great long weekend. Happy Indian Independence Day!
Kevin
Hall
Elementary
School Principal
