Friday, October 31

Dear Parents,

Welcome back! I trust that all of our families had a wonderful break! 

Today is Halloween, a yearly celebration observed in a number of countries on October 31.  Typical festive Halloween activities include trick-or-treating (children walk around their neighborhood, knock on the door and receive a candy from the homeowner), attending costume parties, decorating homes, carving pumpkins into jack-o’-lanterns, and bobbing for apples. 

In keeping with tradition, the elementary students brought their costumes to school and paraded around the school, receiving a small candy at various points along the route. Children were dressed as princesses, action heroes, animals, and cartoon characters to name just a few. Thank you, parents, for organizing your child’s costume! You can view some photos from our parade here.

                                               Source: http://www.coolchaser.com/graphics/tag/happy%20halloween

Compassion in the Elementary School

This week the elementary school was in compassion mode!  Students, teachers, and parents from grades KG, 1, and 3 took on the responsibility of supporting the SAISA swim competition by volunteering to make up welcome baskets which included treats, snacks, and well-wishes for all students competing at the meet from near and far.  Their efforts, teamed up with the PCA, high School parent community, Korean community, and Japanese community, demonstrated the breath of life in our school’s mission of compassion.  We wish all the competitors a successful meet and are so happy to help because even the littlest ones can be of service to our school. Thanks to everyone who practiced compassion and helped out!

 

Courtesy of Margaret Rajan

Parent Coffee with the ES Administration

Our third Parent Coffee with the ES Administration will be held on Tuesday, November11th from 8:45 to 9:45 in the elementary school cafeteria. Our topic is ”Third Culture Kids" (global kids) - TCK's.  The counselors, Mr. George and Ms. Geetha and I, will lead a presentation and discussion around how to best support your child and family as you negotiate living away from your home culture. We know that kids growing up outside their home culture is both an exciting and challenging adventure. Our presentation will define exactly what is a TCK and what parents and kids can do to maximize the experience. We do look forward to this discussion with you.

Lunch Menu and Order Form for November

Please place your online orders using the AISC pay-online site or using the online order link for which you can pay at the cash counter before 7th November.

Lunch menu       Lunch order form 

Yearbook photo order

Students photos have been uploaded into the All School Moodle webpage for viewing and ordering. Please see order form and details here.

Middle School Play

Come support the cast and crew of the upcoming Middle School musical!  With its poignant story and catchy Caribbean-flavored score, Once On This Island is a highly original theatrical adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s popular fairy tale, The Little Mermaid.   

Through almost non-stop song and dance, this full-hearted musical tells the story of Ti Moune, a peasant girl who rescues and falls in love with Daniel, a wealthy boy from the other side of her island. When Daniel is returned to his people, the fantastical gods who rule the island guide Ti Moune on a quest that will test the strength of her love against the powerful forces of prejudice, hatred, and even death. 

The show runs November 6 at 5:00 PM and November 7th at 7:00 PM.  Tickets will be on sale beginning Wednesday, October 29th before and after school near the main reception.  Tickets are 250 rupees each. The show is suitable for all ages!

Read Alouds in the CIC

This week, the ES/MS CIC hosted a read aloud for our Korean students in lower elementary. Next week, we will host a read aloud for our Japanese students in preschool to grade 1 from 3:45 to 4:15 on November 4th.

This will be a fun event for children to hear stories in Japanese. This is an optional activity. Please note that if a child comes, it is also necessary for the parent to come for supervision. If you have any questions, please email Jeremy Willette.

In closing, this will be a very busy weekend at AISC as we are hosting SAISA events. Thank you to all the parents who are hosting students from out-of-town and/or volunteering their time to assist here at school.

Have a great weekend,

Kevin Hall
Elementary School Prinicpal

October 17, 2014

Dear Parents,

Thank you to the many parents and family members who came to the upper elementary school assembly on Thursday. As Celebrate India Month comes to a close, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to our Indian Studies teachers, Ms. Anu and Ms. Bindu, for a successful few weeks of learning and celebration. Thank you to the PCA for organizing the rangoli workshops earlier this week, and Meena Rao for teaching yoga to our upper elementary students.

This week, we held two parent information sessions on standards-based grading and reporting. Close to 90 parents attended these sessions. Some parents asked if I would share the presentation. Please click here to access the presentation. 

I mentioned during the meeting that the school will no longer send home paper-based report cards (paper-based report cards will be issued when a family leaves AISC). Parents will have to logon to our student management system, known as Skyward, to access report cards. In the near future, parents will receive an email from Skyward that will require action. This email will provide you with instructions on how access your child's report card. When you receive this email, login to Skyward and change your password. There will be screenshots to help you through this process. If you have any difficulties, please email itsupport@aisch.org.

Lunch Menu and Order Form for November

Please place your online orders using the AISC pay-online site or using the online order link for which you can pay at the cash counter before 7th November.

Lunch menu       Lunch order form 

The Collaboration and Inquiry Center (CIC)'s New Saturday Hours are a Huge Success!

Our new hours have seen a great turnout of students, parents, and staff coming through the CIC's doors on Saturdays! Since September 6th, when Saturday hours first began, the CIC has received 63 visitors on average each Saturday. During that time, visitors have been able to come in and use the CIC for projects, reading, Internet, and book checkout (over 350 books on Saturdays so far). Our new hours are part of AISC's continued commitment to literacy and learning, and is a great way for students, staff, and parents to utilize our print and digital resources even more. This is a space open to all students in grades preschool to twelve, so come on in and enjoy the CIC!  

As a reminder, please note that we will be closed on student 3-day weekends and during school breaks (this includes closing the CIC on Saturday, October 18 and October 25 of Diwali break).  We look forward to welcoming you back on Saturdays beginning November 1st.

Here are a few CIC Saturday Reminders:

• We are open 8:30-12:30.

• Please sign-in on clipboards when coming to the CIC on Saturdays.  This will help us with supervision as well as collecting data on Saturday usage.

• Please enjoy food and drink outside the CIC.

• ES students must be accompanied by a parent on campus during non-school hours (ES school policy).  ES students should come to the CIC on Saturdays with a parent.

• MS and HS students should only be on campus during non-school hours when they are part of a school-organized activity or sport.  Saturdays in the CIC counts as a school-organized activity.  If students leave the CIC, but are not taking part in another school activity or sport, they should leave the AISC campus.

Thank you! If you have any questions, please email Jeremy Willette.

Read Alouds in the CIC

The ES/MS: CIC is hosting two special read alouds for students in lower elementary after vacation.

Tuesday, October 28, 3:45-4:15
Korean - Students in grades preschool to two

Tuesday, November 4, 3:45-4:15
Japanese - Students in grades preschool to one

This will be a fun event for children to hear stories in Korean and Japanese. This is an optional activity. Please note that if a child comes, it is also necessary for the parent to come for supervision. If you have any questions, please email Jeremy Willette .

MAP Test Results

September MAP test results, and an accompanying explanatory letter, were given to all students in grades 2-5 who sat for the tests. Please contact Ms. Cheryl or Ms. Hazel in the Elementary School Principal’s Office after the Fall Break if did not receive your child’s report.

After School Activities 

Please note that the following Saturday ASAs will resume after the Fall Break: Swim lessons, Math Counts and Soccer.

• Math Counts & Saturday Soccer classes will resume on November 1, 2014

• Saturday Swim lessons will resume on November 8, 2014

• Raptors swim club starts on November 3rd and ends December 19, 2014

Vision and Hearing Screening

Each year, we conduct a vision & hearing screening test for students in our Health Office. This will take place on October 29 – 31, 2014.

The hearing screening will be  conducted by the Madras ENT Research Foundation (P) Ltd., First Cross Street, II Main Road, R.A. Puram, Chennai.  Dr. Sudha Maheswari and her team will conduct this screening.

The vision screening will be done by “Dr. Agarwal’s Eye Hospital”, 19 Cathedral Road, Chennai. The team will be led by Dr. Sudha.

Teachers will choose a time to take their students to see the doctors. The Health Office will notify you if a doctor recommends any further assessment.

Halloween- October 31

If you look at the Community Calendar, you will see that on Friday, October 31 "Halloween Celebrations" is marked on the calendar. Your child's classroom teacher will share with you activities that are specific to the class. In general, there are class parties and students will parade around the school at a pre-determined time and receive a small candy at various points along the parade route. New parents will benefit from knowing that most children wear a costume, so this may be something to put on your Fall Break shopping list. We do ask that costumes not be too scary and that any weapons that are accessories to a costume stay at home.

Food Service Update

We are happy to share that we have had the highest sales ever last week, both in the ES and the MS/HS cafeterias. We had 210 pre-orders in the ES and around 200 in the MS/HS.  Thank you to all those who participated in this success!

We continue to work with TMFK to provide healthier food options for our students. Consistent with our effort to provide the right nutrition, we will begin to serve vegetables and fruit each day with all food options to our elementary students effective October 27.

We are delighted that the recent introduction of beef, Korean and Thai dishes has been highly appreciated by our students. We are happy to introduce Japanese cuisine in our menu next month. In addition to what we currently offer in our Korean selection, we will be including more options like beef/chicken bulgogi. In the near future, we hope to strengthen this initiative further and extend our ethnic options to other cuisines.

Should you have any questions with regard to food service, please email Josephine Ronald.

Have a wonderful Fall Break!

Kevin Hall

Elementary School Principal

Friday, October 10, 2014

Dear Parents,

This week, we held our Lower Elementary Celebrate India Month assembly, and what a colorful and vibrant show it was! I hope you enjoy these photos. You will need to enter a password to access the photos. The password is raptors14. The Upper Elementary assembly will be held on Thursday, beginning at 8:45 in the FAC Auditorium.

Don’t forget that next Friday, we will be serving an Indian lunch catered by the Taj Madras Flight Kitchen. Lunch will be jeera pulao, vegetable makhini, poori, channa, aloo tikka, chicken tikka, jalebi, pappad and pickle. Spices in the food will be minimal. Please note that is the only food that will be served to students. If your child does not want this lunch, you are asked to send in a packed lunch from home. 

Standards-Based Grading and Reporting

Standards-based grading is a system of reporting student proficiency in a number of specific learning goals (or standards). The goal of this approach is to provide the teacher, student, and parent as accurate a picture as possible of the student’s learning and to encourage a dialogue about how the student can master the subject matter. Next month, we will launch our new standards-based report card.

Do you want to learn more about standards-based grading and reporting? I will be hosting a parent information session on Monday, October 13th in the ES Cafeteria for parents who have children in Kindergarten to Grade 2. On the following day, I will host another session, also in the ES Cafeteria, for parents who have children in Grades 3 to 5. Each presentation will be similar to the parent presentation we held this past spring. Both presentations begin at 8:45.

Grade 4 Parents of English Language Learners

The Grade 4 EAL teachers cordially invite you to attend an afternoon session with us to learn more about inclusion in the grade four classrooms.

Please join us at 2:00 on Wednesday, October 15 in room 3607.

We look forward to meeting with you!

Ms. Andrea Morris
Ms. Lauren Schneider
Ms. Deanna Doherty

Vision and Hearing Screening

Each year, we conduct a vision & hearing screening test for students in our Health Office. This will happen during the week of October 27 – 31, 2014.

The hearing screening will be  conducted by the Madras ENT Research Foundation (P) Ltd., First Cross Street, II Main Road, R.A. Puram, Chennai.  Dr. Sudha Maheswari and her team will conduct this screening.

The vision screening will be done by “Dr. Agarwal’s Eye Hospital”, 19 Cathedral Road, Chennai.  The team will be led by Dr. Sudha.

Teachers will choose a time to take their students to see the doctors. The Health Office will notify you if a doctor recommends any further assessment.

Halloween- October 31

If you look at the Community Calendar, you will see that on Friday, October 31 "Halloween Celebrations" is marked on the calendar. Soon, your child's classroom teacher will share with you activities that are specific to the class. In general, there are class parties and students will parade around the school and receive a small candy at various points along the parade route. New parents will benefit from knowing that most children wear a costume, so this may be something to put on your Fall Break shopping list. We do ask that costumes not be too scary and that any weapons that are accessories to a costume stay at home.

Hosting for SAISA Swimming

We need your help. In just about a month from now, we will be hosting SAISA Swimming. We have approximately 150 visiting students and still need to host 40 more students. We are asking our AISC Parent Community to help us make this happen.  If you can host 2 or more students please let Ron Thomson (tronald@aisch.org) know as soon as possible. As usual we can provide transportation for those willing to host 4 or more students. The dates we need to host our visiting SAISA Athletes are October 29th through November 2nd.

I hope to see you at the Diwali Mela tomorrow, beginning at 5 pm.

Have a great weekend,

Kevin Hall

Elementary School Principal

October 3, 2014

Dear Parents,

On October 1, we celebrated the beginning of Celebrate India Month with an assembly featuring dancers from a local dance school in Chennai. Students, parents and staff were treated to a 45 minute show which featured seven traditional dances from different areas of India. Here are some pictures from the assembly. You will be asked to enter a password. The password is raptors14. Enjoy!

Student performances during Celebrate India Month:

PS-Grade 2 Wednesday, October 8th at 8:45 in the FAC Theater

Grades 3-5 Thursday, October 16th at 8:45 in the FAC Theater

Students are encouraged to wear Indian clothing on the day of their performance, but this is not a mandatory requirement. 

During this month, students will participate in various art and craft activities and yoga. They will also have the opportunity to decorate their hands with mehendi (henna). Additionally, students will watch a demonstration by a local potter and a glass blower. Students may bring Rs.50-Rs.100 if they wish to buy artifacts made by the glass blower. The upper elementary demonstration is on the October 7 and 8 while the lower elementary demonstration is on October 9 and 10. Parents who wish to purchase items from the glass blower may do so after-school.

Indian Meal on October 17

Students will be served an Indian Lunch catered by our Taj Madras Flight Kitchen on Friday, October 17. The lunch served will be jeera pulao, veg makhini, poori, channa, aloo tikka, chicken tikka, jalebi, pappad and pickle. Spices in the food will be minimal. Please note that is the only food that will be served to students. If your child does not want this lunch, you are asked to send in a packed lunch from home. 

Standards-Based Grading and Reporting

Standards-based grading is a system of reporting student proficiency in a number of specific learning goals (or standards). The goal of this approach is to provide the teacher, student, and parent as accurate a picture as possible of the student’s learning and to encourage a dialogue about how the student can master the subject matter. Next month, we will launch our new standards-based report card.

Do you want to learn more about standards-based grading and reporting? I will be hosting a parent information session on Monday, October 13th in the ES Cafeteria for parents who have children in Kindergarten to Grade 2. On the following day, I will host another session, also in the ES Cafeteria, for parents who have children in Grades 3 to 5. Each presentation will be similar to the parent presentation we held this past spring. 

Here is a short video on standards-based grading that I shared at previous sessions.

The Collaboration and Inquiry Center (CIC) Opens on Saturdays for Community Access to Resources

Because of our commitment to literacy and learning, we think this will be a fantastic way for students, parents, and staff to utilize our print and digital resources even more.  This will be a great opportunity to come in and exchange books, read, study, use the Internet, and work on collaborative projects. This is a space on Saturdays open to all students in grades preschool to twelve, so come on in and enjoy the CIC!

Hours and Dates

Hours: 8:30-12:30

Start Date: Saturday, September 6

End Date: Saturday, May 30

Saturday Closures: Please note that we will be closed on student 3-day weekends (January 24, February 22, and May 1) as well as Saturdays taking place during school vacations.

CIC Saturday Policy Reminders

Please sign-in on clipboards when coming to the CIC on Saturdays.  This will help us with supervision as well as collecting data on Saturday usage.

Please enjoy food and drink outside the CIC.

ES students must be accompanied by a parent on campus during non-school hours (ES school policy).  ES students should come to the CIC on Saturdays with a parent.

MS and HS students should only be on campus during non-school hours when they are part of a school-organized activity or sport.  Saturdays in the CIC counts as a school-organized activity.  If students leave the CIC, but are not taking part in another school activity or sport, they should leave the AISC campus.

We look forward to seeing you on Saturdays!

ASA Raptors Swim Club – Semester 1: October 27 - December 19, 2014

AISC students who are interested in improving their swimming strokes & technique are encouraged to try-out for the Swim Club. Please note that only proficient swimmers will be eligible. All students need to go through a selection process.

How to try out:

• Students will be asked to swim 25m freestyle and 25m backstroke with correct breathing and should not be afraid of deep water.

• Swimmers are requested to come prepared to the pool deck with your suit, goggles and cap or have your hair tied back.

• Elementary Parents are required to accompany their children.

• Parents will be informed of the student’s eligibility for the Swim Club.

Registration: By Selection only

Try-outs on October 14 & 16 from 3:30 - 4:30 pm

Days: Mondays & Wednesdays (Both days compulsory)

Grade level: 1-12

Cost: Rs. 3000/-

Payment date: October 17, 2014 at the ASA office MC-1B (8.30 am - 3.00 pm)

Food Service Update

We have been trying different menu options for both ES and MS/HS students. We had altered the ES menu this month and removed fish options as there were not many takers for fish. However, we have received feedback from a few parents to put back fish options in the menu and we will definitely do so next month. This month, we would like to highlight the following offerings:

• Our FAC Cafeteria will continue to have Dosa and Wrap counters. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are Dosa Days and Tuesdays and Thursdays are wrap days. We also have a sandwich bar in the I-Hub and FAC and ES cafeterias every day.

• TMFK has a soup counter daily in both the ES and FAC cafeterias.

• Thursday, October 9, the FAC cafeteria will have a live pasta counter.

• TMFK will serve Korean food on Mondays and Thursdays and Thai on Wednesdays. There will be a chicken and a beef option every day.

• The Parent MC Café is now open from 8 to 9:30 a.m. and from 2:30 to 4 p.m. 

Should you have any questions with regard to food service, please email Josephine Ronald – directorpersonnel@aisch.org.

Hosting for SAISA Swimming

We need your help. In just about a month from now, we will be hosting SAISA Swimming. We have approximately 150 visiting students and still need to host 90 more students. We are asking our AISC Parent Community to help us make this happen.  If you can host 2 or more students please let Ron Thomson (tronald@aisch.org) know as soon as possible. As usual we can provide transportation for those willing to host 4 or more students. The dates we need to host our visiting SAISA Athletes are October 29th through November 2nd.

Have a great weekend,

Kevin Hall

Elementary School Principal