Friday, December 19, 2014

Dear Parents,

Thank you to the many parents and family members who came to our winter concerts this week.  We are so proud of all of the students! Thank you to our music teachers, Ms. Shireen, Mr. Vasanth and Mr. Finny (and to the many people who helped you)! I am happy to share many beautiful pictures taken by Mr. Pradeep. Please click on the links below to access the pictures. You will be prompted to enter a password. The password is raptors14. Enjoy!

PreK-Grade 2 Concert                        Grades 3-5 Concert

Lunch Menu and Order Link for January

Please place your  orders using the AISC pay online site or using the order link below for which you can pay at the cash counter before January 16.

Lunch menu for January                     Lunch order form for January

The Giving Tree

The Giving Tree project is coming to an end and it is time to deliver the goodies to the children. We are lining up visits to the orphanages and we would like the parents to join us for these visits as it would be a great way to meet some kids from the orphanages.

The schedule of visit is as follows

1. SEVA SAMAJAM GIRLS' Home 

Dec 19, 2014 (Friday) 4.30 pm (Depart from AISC at 3.30 pm)

Address: No. 20 Casa Major Road, Egmore, Chennai - 600008

2. ST JOSEPH'S SOCIAL SERVICE CENTRE SOCIETY

3. ASSISI ILLAM

Dec 22, 2014 (Monday) 4.30 pm (Depart from AISC at 3:30 pm)

Address: 4/92-62, Magazine Road, St Thomas Mount, Chennai 600016

4. SEVA SAMAJAM CHILDREN'S HOME

Dec 23, 2014 (Tuesday) 4.30 pm. (Depart from AISC at 4:00 pm)

Address: 75, Bajanai Kovil Street, Pallipattu, Chennai - 600113

We would be happy to have the parents wish to join us in delivering these gifts. Interested parents can email Mr. Balajee to confirm participation.

A big thank you to the parents, teachers and the students (especially the ES Council) for making this happen.

Holiday Reading

With the holiday break right around the corner, many parents wonder how to support their young readers at home.  Here are some tips on promoting literacy at home through interactive read alouds:

1) Pick a book that interests your child

2) Stop every so often to share your thinking with your child
I think Piggie must be scared because her legs are shaking.

3) Take time to ask your child what he/she is thinking
Why do you think Gerald did that? Why do you think so?

4)  When it’s over, ask questions:
      What was your favorite part? Why?
      What did you think about the main character? Why?
      What would you change if you were the author?

5) Talking with the reader before reading, during reading and after reading

Here is a video of an interactive read aloud using the book, "Should I Share My Ice Cream?" by Mo Willems.

Elementary School Sports Days

We are really excited to have another special day of fun, laughs and fitness. Sports Day will be held on Thursday, January 22nd for lower elementary students (kindergarten through grade 2) and Friday, January 23rd for upper elementary students (grades 3 through 5). Activities will begin at 8:45 on both days. The lower elementary students will finish Sports Day at 11:45. The upper elementary students will finish at 12:30.

This is a great day for the whole community to get involved. Parents, we would love for you to help out in any way you can. We are in need of parent volunteers willing to supervise a Sports Day activity of their choosing.  Having such a large number of participants, your help is greatly appreciated. And the best part is, you will have fun, too!

Parents who would like to volunteer are asked to go the following forms:

Lower Elementary (January 22)             Upper Elementary  (January 23)

If you have not ordered a T-shirt for your child, you can still do so till Monday 22nd December. 

Sports day T shirt size order link (Elementary students)   (order link open till 22nd Dec only)

Thank you so much! Sincerely, Jeff Moore, Rosario Joshwa & Sohba Daniel- your Elementary Phys. Ed. Team

After-School Activities Update

ASA News: Online Registrations for Semester 2:

We are happy to introduce the new online registration system for the after school activities for the following semester.

Online Registration Dates : January 12 to 15, 2015.

Website information given below by IT Director Mr. Kevin Crouch.

The first window for after school activities registration will be open exclusively through Pay Online.  If you have not yet used Pay Online, please refer to our Pay Online User Guide. This system allows you to register for after-school activities and pay for them using a debit or credit card.  Both local and international cards are accepted.  

If you need help at any time, please email itsupport@aisch.org with your question or issue and we will respond promptly.

On behalf of the entire elementary school faculty and staff, I wish you all the best during this holiday season. I will see you in January.

Kevin Hall
Elementary School Principal

Friday, December 12, 2014

Dear Parents,

This is a bitter-sweet time of year. This is the time of year that many of our families will travel and reconnect with family members from afar. Sadly, it is also the time of year when we have to say, “so-long” to many of our friends. December is a common time for families to leave AISC. To all of our friends who are leaving, take care and best wishes.

Tree Lighting Ceremony at The Hyatt

Approximately 400 community members came to The Hyatt on Monday evening for the Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony. Mr. Hoover opened the evening with a short welcome address and then the Christmas tree was lit to officially kick-off the evening! Everyone enjoyed listening to the Community and Elementary School Choirs, who sang so beautifully! Thank you to Ms. Shireen, Ms. Lee and members of both choirs for getting everyone into the festive spirit! Below is a picture of the Elementary School Choir. Don't the students look great in the red and white outfits?

Winter Concerts

The holiday spirit continues next week. The PreK-Grade 2 winter concert will be held on Wednesday, December 17th and the Grades 3-5 winter concert will be held on Thursday, December 18th. Both concerts will be held in the FAC Theater from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm. I would like to remind parents that while it is okay to take pictures during the performances, you must do so from your seat, not from the aisles or in front of the stage. Thank you for your cooperation.

Holiday Reading

With the holiday break right around the corner, many parents wonder how to support their young readers at home.  Here are some tips on promoting literacy at home through interactive read alouds:

1) Pick a book that interests your child

2) Stop every so often to share your thinking with your child

I think Piggie must be scared because her legs are shaking.

3) Take time to ask your child what he/she is thinking

Why do you think Gerald did that? Why do you think so?

4)  When it’s over, ask questions:

      What was your favorite part? Why? 

      What did you think about the main character? Why?

      What would you change if you were the author?

5) Talking with the reader before reading, during reading and after reading

Here is a video of an interactive read aloud using the book, "Should I Share My Ice Cream?" by Mo Willems.

Hour of Code

During Monday at lunchtime, the CIC was buzzing with over 54 elementary students enjoying coding as part of Hour Of Code.  Hour of Code is a global movement to interest all ages to enjoy learning about programming.  Students are learning that anyone can code and coding is fun!

This week, over a hundred students, teachers and parents from ES-HS participated in the Hour of Code event.  Tens of millions of students in 180+ countries participated in this event. Help your kids learn to code! For more details: visit http://hourofcode.com/ and  bit.ly for the hour of code links. 

Elementary School Sports Days

We are really excited to have another special day of fun, laughs and fitness. Sports Day will be held on Thursday, January 22nd for lower elementary students (kindergarten through grade 2) and Friday, January 23rd for upper elementary students (grades 3 through 5). Activities will begin at 8:45 on both days. The lower elementary students will finish Sports Day at 11:45. The upper elementary students will finish at 12:30.

This is a great day for the whole community to get involved. Parents, we would love for you to help out in any way you can. We are in need of parent volunteers willing to supervise a Sports Day activity of their choosing.  Having such a large number of participants, your help is greatly appreciated. And the best part is, you will have fun too!

Parents who would like to volunteer are asked to go the following forms:

Lower Elementary (January 22)             Upper Elementary  (January 23)

Thank you so much! Sincerely, Jeff Moore, Rosario Joshwa & Sohba Daniel- your Elementary Phys. Ed. Team

After-School Activities Update

Please refer to this document to view the list of the paid after school activities that students can choose from next semester. We will be introducing a few new activities. We will upload registration forms to the school website before 23 December. We will also give students the registration forms in January, too.

Food Service Update

At AISC, we continue to make progress in our food delivery system. On Monday, December 15, around thirty parents and a few staff will be meeting to sample and share feedback on our lunch options. The feedback from this meeting will inform TMFK’s efforts to improve our food offerings for the next semester.

We have a sandwich bar in the I-Hub featuring tuna, chicken and vegetable options on different days of the week. Several students have expressed their appreciation for our sandwiches. In other news:

1. We have introduced a Soup and Sandwich counter at the i-Hub.  Soup and sandwich combos can be ordered from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

2. The i-Hub also offers several juice and smoothie options from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

3. Our FAC Cafeteria will continue to have Dosa and Wrap counters. Mondays, 

4. Wednesdays and Fridays are Dosa Days and Tuesdays and Thursdays are wrap days. 

5. We continue to offer beef and chicken options each day in our lunch menu. 

6. Fish is offered once every two weeks.

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

Have a great weekend,

Kevin Hall
Elementary School Principal

December 5, 2014

Dear Parents,

The second Elementary Giving Tree has had a successful beginning due to the generous spirit of our AISC community.  If you have not selected a wish from the tree, please check the tree soon as there are a few stars left.

If you have selected a wish, please return your wrapped gift with the star/wish attached to the outside, to the Elementary CIC (library) by December 12.

The delivery schedule will be worked out shortly, and we will communicate this to the community in case anyone would like to join us to deliver the gifts to the orphanages.

As always, we are so grateful for your support for this project and please contact Mr. Balajee or parents Gina Makawana or Margaret Rajan with any questions.

Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony at The Hyatt Regency

Please mark Monday, December 8th on your calendars and join us at The Hyatt Regency for our annual Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony. The Elementary School and Community Choirs will welcome in the holiday season as they sing festive songs. There will be plenty of food and drinks to go around. This is always a fun event and I guarantee that you and your children will have a fantastic time. You will not want to miss this! Food and drink service begins at 5:30 pm. The Community Choir will begin singing at 6:00 pm.

Coffee with the ES Administration

Our next parent coffee will be held on Tuesday, December 9th beginning at 8:45 in the Elementary School Cafeteria. Come join the school's literacy coach and kindergarten team as we discuss emergent literacy and connections between oral language, reading, and writing.  Tips for supporting your emergent readers at home will also be provided. This session is ideal for parents of all young children, from toddlers to kindergartners, but parents of older children are certainly welcome to attend.

News from the High School National Honor Society

Charles Dickens once said, “No one is useless in the world who lightens the burdens of others.” In the nature of the giving season, the National Honor Society is hoping that we can embody Dickens’ words by hosting our second annual Food Drive. The donations will go to a local non-profit organization called Little Sisters of the Poor. As an organization, the Little Sisters receive elderly people of all, aged 65 and above, regardless of religious or caste background. Those who live with the Sisters usually have been abandoned or have families that can no longer care for them. Therefore the organization relies on donations to feed and keep its inhabitants healthy and happy.

You may show your support by sending in food donations (rice, flour, curry powder, dhal, oil) and sanitary items (ex. soap, shampoo) from December 8th - 12th. There will be collection tables next to the Main Office on the first floor after the security gate and at the security gate of the Elementary School where NHS members will be at tables collecting donations from 8:00 - 8:20 am every morning that week. 

Through this Food Drive, we hope to “lighten the burden” of the elderly living with the Sisters and ensure that they have the essential to care for those in need. We also hope to involve as many members of the community as possible to make a greater impact and support for the Little Sisters of the Poor.  

For any further questions, please contact Chaitra Subramaniam (schaitra@aisch.org) or Sofia Nicholas (nsofia@aisch.org).

Sports Days 

Elementary Sports days are on Thursday, January 22nd, 2015 for Preschool - Gr 2 & Friday, January 23rd, 2015 for Grades 3 – 5.  The school provides a T-shirt to all students - free of charge. Please choose the T-shirt size for your child. Colors are assigned to each grade, so there is no color choice. The T-shirts will be distributed to students in their classrooms after the winter break.

Sports day T shirt size order link (Elementary students)

Scholastic Book Fair

There will be a Scholastic Book Fair in the BBT from 8:00-4:30 on December 8, 9, and 10.  Please stop by and check out some of the great books on sale!  There are nonfiction and fiction books, with many wonderful genres included.  You will find books available for students in all grade levels.  Hope to see you there!

Online Literary Journal

We are proud to announce AISC's first school-wide online literary journal, The Raptor Reader.  The Raptor Reader is a public platform for students to showcase creativity through original writing, photography, and book reviews.  Please check out the first edition, with submissions from all three sections, at http://raptorreader.com.

Students may submit work by emailing it or sharing it with raptorreader@aisch.org.  The next publication deadline is Friday, February 13th.  Happy reading!

News from the CIC

The ES/MS CIC is hosting its first ever Italian read aloud for students on Tuesday, December 16 from 3:45-4:15 (aimed at students in preschool to grade two). 

This will be a fun event for children to hear stories in Italian. This is an optional activity. Please note that if a child comes, it is also necessary for a parent to come for supervision.  If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Jet (wjeremy@aisch.org).

Have a great week and I hope to see you at The Hyatt Regency on Monday.

Kevin Hall

Elementary School Principal