Dear Community Members,
In the 5+ years that I have lived in Chennai, I have not experienced a monsoon season like this year. The rains have been devastating and have affected everyone, some far worse than others. The monsoon is not over yet, and the forecast for this weekend is calling for more rain. That written, please be sure to read the Head of School’s notes today for detailed information about possible school closures and the need to engage Continuity of Instruction Days should more cancellations occur.
What is meant by the phrase, Continuity of Instruction? This is a day when faculty and students would engage in online learning to maintain learning progress in the event of a school closure. Teachers would share learning engagements via online platforms and students would access these resources to maintain their learning progress. PK-Grade 4 students would access work via Edmodo while students in Grade 5 would go to Moodle.
Should school be closed, parents will receive an email message at 8:30 am from me announcing the start of the school day. This should prompt students to log into Moodle (grade 5) and Edmodo (all other grade levels) and check their assignments for each class. By 8:30 am, teachers will post brief instructions, in writing or via video, as well as the lesson to complete during the day.
Christmas Tree Lighting at the Hyatt Regency
Please mark Monday, December 7th at 6 pm on your calendars and join us at The Hyatt Regency for the 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! Doors open at 5:30.
Coffee with the ES Administration
Our December parent coffee session will be held on Tuesday, December 8th in the ES Cafeteria from 8:45 to 9:45. Our counselors, Ms. Meg and Mr. Wilson, will be leading a discussion on transitions and how to prepare yourself and your children for an upcoming move. This session is timely because a number of families to leave AISC in December. Therefore, our target audience is parents who are moving from Chennai over the holidays, but all are welcome to attend.
Third Annual Giving Tree
The Elementary School, Mr. Balajee, who is AISC’s Service Learning Coordinator, children and teachers, and the PCA Elementary Grade Level Representatives are sponsoring our school’s 3rd annual Giving Tree to support approximately 350 students in 6-8 area orphanages. Please support these efforts as we move into the holiday season.
Mr Balajee and the PCA grade level representatives have been hard at work making arrangements for the lists of children we will have the opportunity to help and planning the overall project. Our children will be involved over the next week creating the stars that will be put on the tree, led by some of our dedicated teachers in the elementary school.
The Giving Tree was set up this morning in the Elementary School Cafeteria. Please make note of the following information, which will also be posted by the tree.
1. Children/parents can take a star off the tree and purchase a small item useful to the child listed on the star. We will include name, age, and gender of recipient on the stars. The children at the orphanages will request specific items, within reason. We feel these requests will be in the Rs 500 price range.
2. We would like the present to be wrapped, with the star attached to the gift (stars will be numbered and tracked so we know which orphanage they will go to and to ensure the gift is given to the correct child). The gift is to be dropped off in a designated box in the Elementary School CIC. Thank you to Mr. Jet and the library staff for helping us with this "safe" spot for the gifts.
3. Gifts may be dropped off beginning December 6. The last day to drop off gifts will be on December 16.
4. The gifts will be delivered to the orphanages beginning December 18. There will be opportunities for parents and children to help with the delivery. More information about this process will be included in this blog before we leave for the Winter Break.
If you have any questions about this project, please contact Mr. Balajee or your grade-level PCA representative.
Lastly, thank you to all the community members who have been dropping off empty cereal boxes for our Giving Tree Stars – we look forward to seeing the boxes turned into beautiful stars for our tree.
This year, we are supporting 351 children from the following orphanages and homes:
Seva Samajam (162) - 2 centers
Assisi Home of Children- 35
Home of Hope - 40
Thiruvalluvar Gurukulam - 90
Vallalar Karuna Illam - 24
Hour of Code
This December, we’ll again participate in largest single learning event in history and we hope to get even more learners involved. From December 7-11, children and adults all over the world will devote at least one hour to learning the absolute basics of how our computers and software programs work. Why? This graphic is a good place to start.
However, it’s about more than just jobs; coding is also constructive play, or what we call hard fun. When we code we use critical thinking skills such as design, analysis, evaluation, and problem solving to be creative while having fun. With code we can be entrepreneurs, artists, communicators and collaborators to name just a few.
We encourage learners from all grade levels to participate and share in the fun. Here are some ways you can get involved.
1. Talk to your child about what they know about how their favorite programs are made?
2. Sign up to learn to code with help from your child at school during that week.
3. Encourage your children to visit the ES/MS CIC or FAC Cafeteria at lunch for some organized fun.
4. Encourage your child to sign up for an ASA that will be held in the ES/MS CIC after school Dec. 8-11 3:45 - 4:45 (4 days) with a teacher from Wolfram. This is open to students from Grade 4 - 8.
5. Simply send this link to your kids and give them some time explore with these great ideas from Edutopia or directly from the Hour of Code itself.
Scholastic Book Fair
Get lots of great books just in time for our long winter break! We will have our second Scholastic Book Fair of the year in the BBT from 8:00-4:30, December 7-9. Please stop by and check out some of the wonderful books on sale! There are nonfiction and fiction books, with many wonderful genres included. You will find books available for students in elementary and middle school. We look forward to seeing you there!
Early Release Wednesday - December 2nd
In order to support continuous professional learning and development for AISC faculty members, there are seven Early Release Wednesdays on the calendar this year. On December 2nd, we will have our fourth Early Release Wednesday. As a reminder, students will be released at 1:30 p.m. and are expected to depart campus in a timely and organized fashion. We appreciate your patience. In preparation, please plan on allowing longer time for entry and exit to the school at release time. Lunch will be a quick "grab and go" sandwich on this day. If students want a hot lunch, please remember to pack one from home.
What will our teachers be doing?
Our teachers have various opportunities to learn and grow as educational specialists. One such opportunity is Mini-NESA, a round of professional learning offerings led by AISC colleagues. While NESA professional learning conferences and training institutes take place during the year and all across the region, Mini-NESA allows our own in-house talent to shine and share with others their wide range of expertise.
This year’s Mini-NESA will include presentations on:
• Being mindful
• Constructing meaning, thinking visibly: ells in the inclusive constructivist classroom
• Developing academic discussion in the classroom
• Flow: energized focus in the classroom
• I wish I could speak another language
• Meet beebot the robot: incorporating coding into existing curriculum
• Merging first Lego league core values with stem challenges to build classroom community
• The mindful educator: increase professional effectiveness through mindfulness
• Out of Eden, out of Chennai: extending learning beyond the classroom
• Tapping into diversity: harnessing the power of multiple languages in the classroom
Welcome Math Specialists:
From Saturday to Monday (Nov. 28th -30th), we will welcome twelve AISC teachers and seventeen teachers from Oman and New Delhi, to our campus for the third of five Math Specialists in International Schools (MSIS) Institutes. The MSIS is a 2-year Mathematics Specialist program for teachers in international school settings. The program is a sequence of five institutes designed to expand teachers’ understanding of the Common Core Standards, how students learn that content, evidence of student understanding, and how to work with peers in a mentoring relationship. International math consultant, Dr. Erma Anderson, and Middle School Principal, Alan Phan, will be leading this institute.
December Cafeteria Menu and Orders
You can access the December lunch menu here.
You may use either the Payonline or the Lunch Pre-order system to order lunch for your child(ren).
The Payonline System
Payonline allows parents to charge their child’s smart cards online, order and pay for lunches, and register and pay for after school activities. Payment is completed online using a credit or debit card. You need a username and password to access this system. Please see the user guide here for help using the system.
Access Payonline here.
Access Payonline here.
Lunch Pre-Order System for Cash Payments
This system allows parents to pre-order lunches for the month and pay with cash at the cash counter. Login using just the email address we have on file at AISC. Please see the user guide here.
Access the Lunch Pre-Order System here.
If you have any difficulties logging in or ordering, please notify itsupport@aisch.org by email and we will resolve it immediately.
The Great War Exhibit
The Great War Exhibit
A rare learning opportunity has come to light in the last 24 hours, and we are pleased to announced that the Consulate General of the Kingdom of Belgium and AISC are hosting an exhibition about the Great War (World War I) in the BBT starting Monday, November 30 until Thursday, December 3rd. The exhibition will be open from 8 AM till 5 PM.
The exhibition depicts a chronological overview of the Great War and engages the viewer with photos and images of artifacts. The chronology begins with the assassination of Franz Ferdinand of Austria and concludes with the Treaty of Versailles.
Although the main focus is on Belgium, it also commemorates the Indian soldiers and the Indian involvement with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.
As of Monday, you will be able to visit the exposition in the BBT from 8:00 AM onwards, and the exhibition will be officially opened at10:00 AM by the Consul General of Belgium Dr. Bart De Groof with a short speech.
We hope to welcome all of you there!
A Message from Three IB CAS Students
Dafne Mistrangelo- mdafne16@aisch.org
Giulia Gouet ggiulia16@aisch.org
Jade Hopkins- hjade16@aisch.org
That’s a lot of information for you this week! Have a great weekend.
We are three senior IB students and for our CAS project we are planning a game night: The Giving Games. The event will occur Friday December 4th and will run from 4:30 to 6:00 pm. Students from elementary, middle and high school, in addition to faculty, staff and parents are all welcome to enjoy an evening of charity and community in the spirit of the holidays. Elementary students however must be accompanied by a parent due to school policy. Due to the recent flooding in Chennai all of the proceeds from this Game Night will go to the flood relief effort. We will be supporting the organizations that our school is working with in order to help as much as we can.
At the event, there will be various booths that will have different games that you can go around and play. As you go along you will collect points and at the end of the event the person with the highest score and the runner up will be awarded a prize. Tickets will be sold in the elementary entrance and at the main entrance starting Monday Nov. 23rd and continuing until Wednesday Dec. 3rd before school from 8:00 to 8:20 and after school from 3:30 to 4:00. Tickets for individual are priced at RS. 300 and tickets for pairs are priced at RS. 500. Any additional donations will be welcome.
Come enjoy an evening of fun and games! There will be baked goods sold and music. Come support our initiative by purchasing a ticket and participating in the event. If you have any additional questions please do not hesitate to email:
Dafne Mistrangelo- mdafne16@aisch.org
Giulia Gouet ggiulia16@aisch.org
Jade Hopkins- hjade16@aisch.org
That’s a lot of information for you this week! Have a great weekend.
Kevin Hall
Elementary School Principal
