Friday, May 27, 2016

Dear Community Members,

I want to begin this week’s blog by taking everyone back to mid-March and the grade 5 Near East South Asia (NESA) Virtual Science Fair. Eleven teams (34 students) participated in the event. The top three teams (teams 2, 5, and 11) were selected to advance to the second round to complete against 5th grade teams from many other NESA schools. During this round, each team had to answer four very challenging questions. Between April 27 and May 9th, judges read each team’s responses and had the difficult task of determining which six teams would advance to the Champion’s League. Teams 2, 5, and 11 were all selected! Finally on May 27th, the top 6 teams were announced and the three AISC teams that were selected back in March, all placed in the top six! Congratulations to the following fifth graders! We are so proud of you!

First Place: Palani Rajan, Mahil Venkatesh, Suman Krishna
Question: Can my food waste be a better plant fuel and reduce the nitrate footprint in water?

Third Place: Lokeswar Gopikrishna, Katherine Emi Kesavardhanan, Christian Horchler
Question: Can we produce our own biofuel at home?

Fifth Place: Soobin Joh, Hyewon Choi, Jinwon Choi
Question: What material absorbs oil the most?

This is the third time since 2009 that an AISC 5th grade team has captured first place and the first time that three AISC teams have finished in the top 6! In recognition of the first place finish, AISC will be awarded the Cameron Cup this fall.

The NESA Virtual Science Fair for grade 5 students was first launched in 2007. In some ways, this science fair is reminiscent of the ones that many parents participated in during their elementary and middle school years. What makes this fair unique is that it includes a virtual element. Using the moodle platform, online communities of schools are created to allow students to harness the power of e-learning. Students have the opportunity to share their ideas and experiences with students from other schools, and work with an e-mentor from the world of science or academia.

The NESA Virtual Science Fair is a project that spans the globe. As of June 2015, over 2000 5th grade students have collaborated with 4500+ e-mentors from over 50 US universities and a number of universities in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Thank you to the parents and Ms. Shobhana, Ms. Salome, and Ms. Kelly for your support and encouragement!

Voices Around the World: ASA Choir Project

Our ASA elementary school choir is participating in a really neat project this spring called, “Voices Around the World.” What is this project all about? The children are learning a new song but what is so unique about this song is that it will be played at the opening ceremony of the summer Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro. About 5000 students worldwide are participating in the project and their voices will be on the final recording to be played as the Olympic torch is lit. What a great opportunity! Special thanks to Ms. Shireen, Ms. Hilary, Ms. Priya V and Mr. Edwin for helping the kids!

Stonehill International Swim Meet

Last Friday and Saturday, the following students traveled to Bangalore to compete in a swim tournament: Jacob McFarland, Byungjoon Yoon, Axel Martins, Adam Martins, Tess Welbes, Louis Labauge, Arthur Labauge, Kolby Porter, Amy Jacob, Victoria Baltzer, William Hawkridge, Oliver Hawkridge, Fred Johnstone, Noa Ravon, Emma D'Andria, Filippo D'Andria, Imogen Monk, Ziad Oumina, Reda Oumina, Carolina Serravalle, Felina Lange, Maya Martin, Jonghyuk Park, Daniel Rodríguez, Lucienne Crouch, Hayden Zuzulock, Christian Horchler, and Raheel Thakore.

A number of records were broken by our swimmers:

Amy Jacob- 10-11 year old  50 m and 200 m free style and 50 m butterfly
Ziad Oumina- 9 and under 50 m backstroke
Kolby Porter- 10-11 50 m free style
Jonghyuk Park, Arthur Labauge, Filippo D'Andria, Frederick Johnstone- Boys 9 and under 4 x 25 Medley Relay

Thank you to all of the swimmers for your great sportsmanship and for being such wonderful school ambassadors! We are thankful and proud of you!

CIC Summer Hours

Because we believe it is important to encourage a love of reading all year, we are proud to announce summer hours for the first time ever in the CIC! The ES/MS CIC will be open from 9:00-2:00 on the following dates:

Tuesday, July 5th
Thursday, July 7th
Tuesday, July 12th
Thursday, July 14th
Tuesday, July 19th
Thursday, July 21st

Regular CIC hours will then resume on Thursday, August 4.

This is open to all preschool-grade 12 students, parents, and staff. Come on in and enjoy the air conditioning, the Internet, and some of your favorite books to read!

For more information, please contact Mr. Jet at wjeremy@aischennai.org

Summer Reading

If you cannot come into the library this summer because you are traveling, you have the option of accessing our eBooks. We have thousands of them...over 10,000 in fact!

There are several different platforms we use for our eBooks. Please find all the information you need below.  If you need any help logging in or want more assistance in using the eBooks, please stop into the CIC and ask us.

FollettShelf

Website: wbb10056.follettshelf.com
Free App: Brytewave
Username: Your school email address without the @aischennai.org part (example: sjohn)
Password: chennai
Other information:
1) These can be downloaded and read offline if you use the app.
2) There are many different genres available, fiction and nonfiction.

TumbleBooks

Website: tumblebooks.com
Username: aisc
Password: chennai
Other information:
1) You will need an Internet connection to read these (cannot be read offline).
2) Many French and Spanish books are available on this site.
3) Many popular titles are found here, including some classics.
4) Many books will also read out loud to you.
5) This site also has games and educational videos.

InfoBase Learning

Website: ebooks.infobaselearning.com
Username: aisc
Password: chennai
Other information:

1) You will need an Internet connection to read these (cannot be read offline).
2) There are also many books on here for older students.

News from Ms. Meg, Lower Elementary School Counselor

Are you thinking about what you can do with your children this summer? Here's the link to my blog. I've put up an article with 101 fun things to do with your kids this summer. 

Food Services Update

Did you know that we are now serving cold-pressed juices in the iHub and ES cafeteria?  Cold pressed juices retain all of their essential vitamins, enzymes, proteins and minerals; they are pure juices served without preservatives, water or added sugar.  During this hot season, our cold pressed juice are a perfect sources of hydration and are now available Rs 70.

Sun Shine- Orange,pineapple,sweet lime, tender coconut water, and Himalayan salt

Pink Panther-Watermelon and pineapple

Green Mile- Cucumber, bottle gourd, spinach, coriander, ginger, mint, lemon, pepper and Himalayan salt

Ginger Hail– Tender coconut water, lemon, ginger, basil, and Himalayan salt

Food services at AISC are always looking for ways to improve. Should you have questions, suggestions or concerns, please contact Catering Manager (antony.rex@tajhotels.com), Elementary Associate Principal Lori Newman (nlori@aischennai.org) or Secondary Associate Principal Jason Hicks (hjason@aischennai.org). If you have not had the chance to have a meal in the I-Hub or Main Cafeteria, please join us. We would love to hear your feedback about the food at AISC.

June Lunch Order

Lunch links are on the top right side of this blog if you wish to order lunch for June 1st. On June 2nd there will be no lunch as we finish at 12:00.

School Yearbooks

Every student received a Yearbook in class today. If your child was absent today, you can contact the homeroom teacher next week to collect it. If you have left early for the summer break you can collect one from the Elementary office when you return in August.

As mentioned in the blog last week, if you or your child have not returned books borrowed from the CIC library, the yearbook will be held. You may collect the yearbook from the office after the library clearance is received.

Student Withdrawals

If you are moving from Chennai and have submitted the Withdrawal notice to our Office, please collect your child's school leaving documents from the Admissions office on the last day of attendance at school. Please turn in School ID cards issued to all family members and support staff and Car decals, to the Admissions office. 

Returning Students: Health Forms to be Completed

The Health Form and Physical Exam form must be completed and submitted to the Health office before the 2nd week of August for all returning students.

WIDA MODEL Test Results

Each year at this time English language learners (ELLs) take the WIDA Measure of Developing English Language (MODEL) test, and the results are used by next year’s teachers to target instruction.

You can now view your child’s results in Skyward by logging into your account. If you have questions about logging into Skyward, please stop by the CIC and talk to the helpful folks in the IT Department.

Once you have logged in:

1. Go to the left menu and choose Test Scores.

2. Click on Show Scores next to WIDA-MODEL. 

3. To see the overall proficiency level and scaled score, scroll to the far right columns.

4. To see the individual speaking, listening, reading, and writing levels scores, check the column titles.

You will see both proficiency levels and the scaled scores. In order to understand what the proficiency level scores represent, please check WIDA’s speaking and writing performance definitions and listening and reading performance definitions.  These documents illustrate the types of language a child is able to produce or process at each of the five levels. Level 6, “reaching” provides evidence that the child is comparable with a native English speaker of the same age. The scaled scores are used to see actual progress on the test from year to year and for analyzing trends across grades.

The WIDA MODEL test is just one data point that we use in assessing a student’s overall academic language performance. How a child performs on grade-level academic learning tasks and common assessments along with MAP test results all provide teachers with information to target instruction as a child moves to the next grade level.

If you have questions about your child’s WIDA MODEL test results, please talk to your child’s EAL teacher or contact the Elementary EAL Coordinator Karen Sumaryono (skaren@asichennai.org) to set up a time to talk.

Grade 5 Bake Sale Update 

We made Rs35,620 from the Bake Sale. We have purchased books and colored pencils worth Rs 5000 and with the rest of the money, we will be helping to support a summer camp that is being conducted at the home this weekend. Thank you for all the support.

ASA for 2016-17

Are you interested to know what ASAs we will offer when school reopens? You can see the first semester offerings by clicking here.

Well, this concludes our last full week of the school year. The last day of school is Thursday. Students are dismissed at 12:00 pm.

Have a great week,

Kevin Hall
Elementary School Principal

Friday, May 20, 2016

Dear Community Members,

This weekend, over 20 elementary school students are participating in the Stonehill International School Swim Meet in Bangalore. This is a great opportunity for these students to meet peers from other international schools, to compete, practice good sportsmanship, and have fun. Good luck to the following students: Jacob McFarland, Byungjoon Yoon, Axel Martins, Adam Martins, Tess Welbes, Louis Labauge, Arthur Labauge, Kolby Porter, Amy Jacob, Victoria Baltzer, William Hawkridge, Oliver Hawkridge, Fred Johnstone, Noa Ravon, Emma D'Andria, Filippo D'Andria, Imogen Monk, Ziad Oumina, Reda Oumina, Carolina Serravalle, Felina Lange, Maya Martin, Jonghyuk Park, Daniel Rodríguez, Lucienne Crouch, Hayden Zuzulock, Christian Horchler, and Raheel Thakore.

Below is a picture of the kids prior to heading to the swim meet this morning. Check out the beautiful rangoli that was made prior to the arrival of the team!

Photo credit: Mr. Tom Zuzulock

MAP Test Results

Today we sent home the Spring MAP Student Progress Report with your child (grades 2 to 5 only). On the Student Progress Report, you will see a graph for each MAP test that you child has written while attending AISC. The graphs illustrate the student score compared to the district (AISC) and the norm grade (students in the USA who are in the same grade as your child) within each graph for fall and spring. Beneath each graph, you will see subject strands or, as MAP calls them, goal areas, and your child’s RIT range within that goal area. Under the reading graph, you will also notice a Lexile range. Lexile levels match readers with books and other reading resources appropriate to the child’s reading performance. At AISC, we use the Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Assessment System whereby a child’s reading level is identified by a letter. The Fountas and Pinnell reading level is not reported on the MAP Student Progress Report.  Following is additional information that should help you understand the report.

The RIT Score: RIT stands for Rasch unIT, which is a unit of measure that uses individual item difficulty values to estimate student achievement. The RIT score for your child is a measure of individual achievement in each test. The RIT score is used to measure a student’s growth over a period of time.  It is very important to remember that scores on any test are estimates of performance with no one score being treated as an absolute. Score ranges indicate a range of measurement error around a particular score, for example, (231-234-237). The score in the middle is your child’s score. The numbers on either side of it define the score range.

District Grade Level RIT: This score is the average RIT score for all students at AISC in the same grade who tested at the same time as your child. This is represented as an orange line on the graph.

Norm Grade Level Mean RIT: This score is the average RIT score for students in the United States who are in the same grade and who were tested at the same time as your child. This is represented as a yellow line on the graph.

Percentile Range: This score tells how you child is doing compared to other students in the same grade when compared to the normed group (students in the USA). For example, it would tell you that a student who scored in the 85th percentile in math, scored as well as, or better than, 85 percent of the students in the nationally normed group. Note that a score in the 85th percentile does not mean that your child answered 85% of the test questions correctly.

A special note to new students and parents:  No graph is displayed for students who joined us after our first round of testing. These students have a series of black dots and it will be difficult to determine which dot represents your child, which is the AISC average and which represents US national norms. You can refer to the table to determine your child's percentile ranking is for each test.

After-School Activities

All After School Activities end on Friday - May 27, 2016. We will have a make-up day for Saturday Swim school that will be held on May 28th.

Grade 5 Bake Sale 

The students of Grade 5 will conduct a Bake Sale  to raise funds for the fifth grade service learning project. With the funds collected, they will purchase materials like books and stationery material for the children of Prathyasha - Home of Hope. Please come and participate in the sale. There will be counters open in the covered area after school from 3:30-4:00 on Wednesday, May 25, 2016.

AISC Robotics Competition 

On Saturday, May 28, from 9:30-4:00, students from AISC, Chellammal, and a Corporate school in Tiruvallur, will participate in AISC's Robotics Competition. AISC students are coming from the elementary, middle and high school. Chellammal is a local school that is generously supported by Caterpillar, and the Corporate school in Tiruvallur is supported by Ford. 

This is the final step in a journey that began in November, when these students came together to create and compete with robotics. 

The three teams that won the November competition were originally slated to compete at IIT Madras in March. However, due to the floods, IIT Madras could not host the competition, and it was moved to Mumbai. 

This new location proved a challenge, so AISC decided to host its own final competition with the support of Lema Labs of IIT Madras. The competition component of the activity will take place from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm in the ES Cafeteria on Saturday, May 28. Everyone is welcome!

Bike-a-Thon & Campus traffic inconveniences on May 21st

Please be aware that on May 21st from 8.30 am to 10.30 am, there will be some traffic inconveniences on AISC campus due to the Bike-a-Thon. There will be no traffic in the staff parking lot (entering or exiting the area is restricted) and vehicles will stop to unload passengers in the middle lane of the drop off area as left lane will be destined to cyclists. Please cooperate with our security staff who will direct traffic during that time. Thank you for your understanding and cheer on our cyclists as they will be passing through the drop off area.

Message from the Chirag Sherpas Club

Chirag Sherpas Club is working with Danirasa Foundation for Rehabilitation Centre to help school kids who were affected by the floods. They are initiating a free sports camp in the flooded areas for the kids in Thirunindravur area. They have 70 kids in the age group of 6yrs to 16 yrs. They have a coach who has volunteered to train these kids and are in need of a number of supplies.  AISC students from the Chirag Sherpas Club would appreciate donations of the following items: 

1. Volleyballs

2. Footballs

3. Volleyball net

4. Chessboards

5. Carom boards

6. Shoes

7. Bandages

8. Old sports clothes

9. Socks

10. Sports medicines

11. Board games

12. Cereal

13. Any fiber rich foods.

There will collection bins outside the main reception for people to drop off the items.

Have a great weekend,

Kevin Hall

Elementary School Principal

Friday, May 13, 2016

Dear Community Members,

As has been communicated in previous Principal's Notes, Monday, May 16th will be a virtual learning day (VLD).  I will send the parent community an email at 8:30 to announce the start of the school day. Students are to check Edmodo to see their assignments. The expectation is that all assignments will be completed. At 3:30, I will send a second email to announce the close of the day.

End of Year: Returning CIC Books

The ES/MS CIC has enjoyed working with our students and parents again this year! Thank you! We will begin our year-end inventory shortly. Please note that the last day for student and parent check-out is tomorrow, Saturday, May 14. 

All books checked out this year must be returned by Monday, May 16. We do realize that sometimes get lost or damaged. Please note that these must be paid for before yearbooks or report cards are issued. 

Special Note: eBooks!

While all of our print resources soon need to be in, we would like to take advantage of this opportunity to promote our 10,000+ eBooks! If you would like to learn more about using the eBooks, please contact the Elementary CIC.

Lost and Found

If you have lost any valuables  (watches, phones, wallets, jewelery) in the past few months, you can check again with Ms. Sonia at the Main Reception as she has some unclaimed items with her.

Family Withdrawal Notification

Sadly, the end of the school year is a time when we say, “so-long” to many of our friends. If you are not returning to AISC for the next academic year, fill out the withdrawal notification form and submit to the Principal's Office / or pick up one at the office, to get the withdrawal process started.

Orphan Bike Project

Our Middle School students are involved in the second yearly edition of the Orphan Bicycle Project with the  “Children’s Home India” Orphanage. Please click here if you would like to see a quick video of last year’s first edition. This year, AISC students along with the local children will have spent three Saturdays refurbishing bicycles together. The culminating event of the entire project is the bike-a-thon, a fundraiser, that is scheduled for May 21st at AISC Campus from 8.30 am to 10.30 am. The proceedings will go towards the education of the local students. Parents have the opportunity to sponsor the event either through a flat (set amount) or per-lap donation. We estimate that no more than 250 laps will be done during the event. In-between May 11th and May 20th from 8.00 am to 8.30am and from 3.45 pm to 4.15 pm (school days only) we will be available to answer any of your questions at the main campus entrances (ES and MS/HS). Come talk to us! Also, we would like to have a few parent volunteers for running the event on May 21st. If you are interested in helping out, please sign-up here. 

Thank you and we are looking forward to seeing you!

Have a great weekend,

Kevin Hall

Elementary School Principal

Friday, May 6, 2016

Dear Community Members,

On Tuesday, AISC welcomed Erin and Alex from Missoula Children's Theater. It has been a pleasure to get to know them and to watch them work with the students these past few days. Please do join us tomorrow at 1 pm for The Secret Garden. I have been to some of the rehearsals and I can tell you that the students are going to put on one amazing show. 

My sincere hope is that this theatrical experience is just the beginning of children’s theater in the elementary school. Theater offers so much. Through participation in theater, students develop courage and confidence. Theater ignites the imagination, unleashing creativity in all who perform. Theater also provides students with the opportunity to collaborate with other students to accomplish common goals.

Thank you to all of the children who auditioned. Your parents and teachers are very proud of you.

Parent Coffee on May 10

Please join us for our final parent coffee of the school year. Our counselors, Ms. Meg and Mr. Wilson, will lead a discussion on transitions. This is an important topic, and especially at this time of the year, as many of our families are moving on. We all know that it can be very difficult to say so-long to friends who are leaving. If you are leaving, or are interested in this topic, please join us Tuesday at 8:45 in the elementary school cafeteria.

Virtual Learning Day (VLD) on May 16

As Mr. Hoover communicated in his Head’s Notes, May 16 will be a VLD in observance of the upcoming election.  As with other VLDs, I will send the parent community an email at 8:30 to announce the start of the school day. Students are to check Edmodo to see their assignments.  At 3:30, I will send a second email to announce the close of the day.

Grade 3-4 Bring-Your-Own-Technology (BYOT) Parent Meeting - Thursday May 12, 3:45 - 4:15 in ES/MS CIC near the IT Office

Returning Parents of current Grade 2 and 3 students, please stop by the ES/MS CIC upstairs area for an informational question and answer session on BYOT for Grades 3 and 4.  We will discuss device options, purchasing, care, service, expectations, and any other questions that arise.

Grade 5 Parents: Transition to Middle School News

As the move to Middle School gets nearer, we have two transition activities scheduled in May that we wanted to let you know about. Next Tuesday, May 10th, grade 5 students will attend a presentation with Mr. Phan, the MS Principal, and Ms. Gold, the MS Counselor, that will let them learn more about Middle School. Following that, our Student Ambassadors will take the grade 5 students to visit grade 6 classrooms, participate in an activity and learn even more about Middle School. Students will then get a tour of the Middle School.

In addition to helping our students understand more about Middle School, Mr. Phan and Ms. Gold will be hosting a Parent Coffee on Wednesday, May 18th at 8:45 in the MS Cafeteria so that we can introduce ourselves and explain the middle school experience to parents as well. We will also discuss some changes that you might encounter along the way with your child. We hope to see you there!

Scholastic Book Fair

Get lots of great books just in time for summer! We will have our last Scholastic Book Fair of the year in the main courtyard from 8:00-4:30, May 9-11. 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!

End of Year: Returning CIC Books

The ES/MS CIC has enjoyed working with our students and parents again this year! Thank you! We will begin our year-end inventory shortly. Please note that the last day for student and parent check-out is Saturday, May 14. 

All books checked out this year must be returned by Monday, May 16. We do realize that sometimes get lost or damaged. Please note that these must be paid for before yearbooks or report cards are issued. 

Special Note: eBooks!

While all of our print resources soon need to be in, we would like to take advantage of this opportunity to promote our 10,000+ eBooks! If you would like to learn more about using the eBooks, please contact the Elementary CIC.

Orphan Bike Project

Our Middle School students are involved in the second yearly edition of the Orphan Bicycle Project with the  “Children’s Home India” Orphanage. Please click here if you would like to see a quick video of last year’s first edition. This year,  AISC students along with the local children will have spent three Saturdays refurbishing bicycles together. The culminating event of the entire project is the Bike-a-thon, a fundraiser, that is scheduled for May 21st at AISC Campus from 8.30 am to 10.30 am. The proceedings will go towards the education of the local students. Parents have the opportunity to sponsor the event either through a flat (set amount) or per-lap donation. We estimate that no more than 250 laps will be done during the event. In-between May 11th and May 20th from 8.00am to 8.30am and from 3.45 pm to 4.15 pm (school days only) we will be available to answer any of your questions at the main campus entrances (ES and MS/HS). Come talk to us! Also, we would like to have a few parent volunteers for running the event on May 21st. If you are interested in helping out, please sign-up here.

Thank you and we are looking forward to seeing you!

Have a great weekend,

Kevin Hall
Elementary School Principal