Friday, October 27, 2017

Dear Parents,  

Welcome back to the second quarter! I hope you all, like me, had a wonderfully relaxing break. I spent my week in Bali for my parents 50th wedding anniversary with my sisters and their children. It was spectacular!

We have another busy quarter coming up with Halloween, Family Math Mornings, our first trimester report cards, Missolua Children’s Theatre, Winter Performances and many other exciting events.

Halloween Parade - Tuesday, 31 October
Next Tuesday we will be having our annual Halloween Parade. Please help your child get prepared with a Halloween costume, the spookier the better! Please remember no weapons. Children do not need to come to school in costumes. They will change at lunch.  

Powerschool Configuration
We hope by now every parent has been able to create and login to their powerschool account. If not, please communicate directly with the IT department. This account will be how you can access your child’s report cards and other important information.

Family Math Mornings
Coming up in November we have our Family Math Mornings. This is for parents to come in and learn more about our math programme and participate in hands-on activities with their children. Dates for specific grade levels are below, with more details to follow next week.

EY5 & Grade 1 - Wednesday 8 November - 8:45 - 10:15 @ BBT
Grade 4 & 5 - Thursday 9 November - 8:45 - 10:15 @ BBT
Grade 2 & 3 - Friday 10 November - 8:45 - 10:15 @ ES Cafeteria

Meet AISC - Hilary Barron - Learning and Technology Coach

Hilary is in her third year with AISC in the 2017-18 school year. An Apple Distinguished Educator, Hilary was chosen as one of the top 45 Apple Distinguished Educators in her cohort. Although, presenting a showcase in front of 300 people in 3 minutes was very challenging and she is not sure she ever wants to do that again!  

Hilary holds two Master’s Degrees in Elementary Education and Curriculum and Instruction, as well as, a Middle School Math Endorsement. She has worked in the United States, Brazil, and China.   Hilary loves seeing student growth resulting from teachers implementing a new teaching practice in the classroom. One of her favorite things to do is soar through the air: indoor skydiving, hang-gliding, paragliding, ziplining, canyoning....now she likes them even more because her son is old enough to enjoy them with her.

PCA and CIC present BFG Movie Night - November 20
The PCA and the CIC have teamed up to offer families a fun movie evening! We will be showing the BFG on November 20 after school and will also serve refreshments!

BFG is a humorous novel written by Roald Dahl and later adapted into a movie. This movie is rated PG (UA in India), suitable for upper elementary ages and lower elementary with parental discretion. Regardless of age, all elementary students must be accompanied by a parent during the movie evening.

More details will soon follow, however, we want to give families adequate time to purchase and read the book if interested before the movie evening takes place! A sign-up sheet to attend the movie night will be made available next Friday 3rd November. For more details or information on how to order the book please email Sossity Smith (ssossitypca@aischennai.org) or Jet Willette (wjeremy@aischennai.org) for more information.

Missoula Children’s Theatre

This year we have this travelling theatre group working with us again - from Monday 13 - Friday 17 November.  The production this year is ‘Gulliver’s Travels...in Space’.  

GULLIVER’S TRAVELS -  Written by Michael McGill Music and Lyrics by Michael McGill
With his ship wrecked and his trusty computer JCN on the fritz, brave explorer Gulliver finds himself lost in space with nothing but an Invisible Force to guide him! While transporting from world to world, under the control of the Maniacal Scientist of Lapunta, Gulliver discovers fighting aliens, arrogant Horse Leaders of the foolish Yahoos, largerthan-life royalty (in more ways than one) and robots – all who need just as much help from Gulliver as Gulliver needs from them! Tune in as this sci-fi spin of the timeless tale of GULLIVER’S TRAVELS will take you out-of-this world!  

Sign ups to be part of this cast (or an assistant director) are open to any student from EY5 - 5. Please note that signing up does not guarantee a role in the play (these will be selected by the MCT directors), it is a commitment that your child will be available for the practices and the performance on Friday 17 November, at 4pm. All are welcome to watch the public performance which will be in the FAC Theatre.

Please sign up here if your child would like to take part in ‘Gulliver’s Travels...in Space’.  

Design Saturday

NOVEMBER 11, 2017
Timing: 9 am -12 noon
Facility: ES Discovery Studios (Rooms 2602/2603)
Eligibility: Grade 1 - 5  

This Design Saturday is the second session for the school year 2017-2018. We are offering two design challenges, choose one activity to learn and engage yourself and your child. Each activity will take the entire three hours to complete, so if you have children doing different activities, you must have one parent at each activity. Parents must accompany their child and stay with them the entire time of the activity. Children in EY3, 4 or 5 may not attend due to safety reasons, even as an observer. Number of participants are limited to 10 in each activity.

CHALLENGE 1  MOULD & CAST The first challenge is to make a mould and cast. You will make your own hand or foot using plaster and complete with a coloring.

CHALLENGE 2 PRINTMAKING Be prepared to be creative for this one. You are going to print textures, shapes, forms and make interesting print art on paper.

REGISTRATION DETAILS:
Online registrations are open till November 5. To register through Pay Online click here
In-person registrations at the Athletics & Activities office on November 6 & 7 (8.30 am – 9.30 am).
The cost of the activity is:
INR 1000 per student for Mould and Cast Challenge.
INR 500 per student for Printmaking Challenge.

November Lunch Menu & Order links  
To order a school lunch for your child, please use this Payonline link.

November Elementary Lunch Menus: (Grades EY- 3 Pre-order) and Grades (4 & 5 No Preorder).

Have a wonderful weekend!

Warmly,

Keryn Dowling and Lori Newman

Friday, October 13, 2017

Dear Parents,

On Wednesday I returned from our first Grade 5 Classroom Without Walls trip with 5VT and 5EF. What a fabulous experience! 5BT and 5JD returned today. This trip is an amazing opportunity for our students to really live the mission, to practice and enhance their own confidence, creativity, collaboration and compassion.

On this CWW, the children experienced clay modelling, traditional musical instrument making, horse riding as well as a service learning experience where they engaged with local children living in a foster-home type situation on a working farm. The children were thoughtful and highly engaged throughout this trip and we were proud of how each and every one of them grew over their time away.  

 

This morning we also celebrated the EY3 - Grade 2 India Month Opening Assembly. Our students sang and performed spectacular dances for our large audience. We thank all the parents for joining us too! Here are the links to the photos from both assemblies. The password is ‘raptors17’.

EY-G2 Assembly - Oct 6   G3-G5 Assembly - Oct 13  

Halloween Parade
After the break, and actually on Halloween (October 31), we will be having our annual Halloween Parade. Please help your child get prepared with a Halloween costume, the spookier the better! Please remember no weapons. Children do not need to come to school in costumes. They will change at lunch.  

Parent Coffee Presentation

Thank you to those of you who came to learn about our many programs and approaches within the Elementary School. Here is the presentation if you would like to view it again.   

Power School News

Over the break the Tech Team will be configuring PowerSchool for use by the Elementary section. This will mean parents will be able to view the Elementary student reports through PowerSchool in the future.

This development will have a different impact on parents, that depends on their experience with PowerSchool so far this year.

• If you are a parent with a child in the Middle or Senior school, you will already be registered, and so will only need to add your younger child or children to your account.

• If you have only elementary children, then you will need to register a new account, and add your children to that one.

The communication for this change will be issued on Friday 20th October, along with the instructions, and details you will need to complete the process. From Monday the 23rd we will be offering assistance to any parents who need it,  in the elementary school cafeteria, from 8am to 9am, for the whole week.

If you have any queries or questions at this stage, feel free to contact Sherriden Masters msherriden@aischennai.org.

Upcoming High School Play - Servant to two masters - November 2 - 4th

Truffaldino just wanted a sandwich.

When Federigo, his boss, has him work through lunch, Truffaldino secretly takes a second job with Florindo to see if he can't get a meal out of him.  

Pretty soon, he is juggling letters from both masters, trying to run errands in two different directions, and hoping neither boss runs into the other. Meanwhile Federigo has broken up the engagement between Silvio and Claudio, Silvio has vowed to kill him, and Florindo, who just arrived in Venice looking for his lost love—Federigo's sister—is completely confused as he killed Federigo two weeks earlier!  

There's a lot going on…  

HS Theatre presents Servant to Two Masters, a classic Italian slapstick farce by Carlo Goldoni. There will be three performances: 7pm on Thursday and Friday, November 2nd and 3rd, with a matinee performance at 3pm on Saturday, November 4th.

Tickets go on sale for Rs. 100 mornings in the main entrance breezeway after Fall Break. Seating for each showing is limited to two-hundred audience members, so reserve your seats early! This play would be suitable for students Grade 3 and up.

Meet AISC - Captain Thomas - Head of Security

Captain Thomas joined AISC 8 years ago after retiring from the Indian Army, which he had served in for 32 years. He is very excited about the work he does because the school is very supportive and has an amazing environment. He enjoys the respect and thanks he received from the students and teachers. Captain Thomas has fought in wars on behalf of our country at Sri Lanka, Siachen Glacier, and Kargil. He would like to share that he has been rated an A+ student in all of his courses in the Armed forces. His proudest moments were when he and the team were congratulated for protecting the school during the Chennai Floods, the death of our ex-chief minister, Cyclone Vardah, and the Jallikattu. If Capt. Thomas could trade lives with a person for 24 hours, it would be Karna from Mahabharata. He would like to proclaim to the world about the great leader’s generosity. Captain Thomas is very proud of his job and he says cannot thank the school enough for giving him this opportunity.  

Change of Personnel

We welcome Ms Fiona Babu to work in Grade 4 as an EAL co-teacher. Ms Anita Gregor will be moving to teach the World Language English program. Fiona Babu comes from England, and moved to India 8 years ago. She has two daughters, Babeena and Reena, and has a wide range of Elementary teaching experience from homeroom teaching to working with children with learning needs. Please be sure to welcome Ms Fiona to our Elementary learning community.

We also welcome Ms. Sai Suvitha who will be shadowing Mona in 5th grade in preparation for taking over during Mona’s upcoming maternity leave.

Upcoming Book Fair

Get ready for a very exciting book fair at AISC to celebrate India Month! We are hosting an Indian Book Fair October 24-27 in the Main Courtyard near the Unity Fountain. Three amazing book vendors are coming together to bring you wonderful books about India and by Indian authors. This is our first-ever Indian Book Fair and we hope you'll join us! Please see Mr. Jet (wjeremy@aischennai.org) if you have any questions or would like more information.

Indian Lunch (provided by the school) Friday, Oct 27

All students will be provided a complimentary Indian Lunch catered by our Taj Madras Flight Kitchen on Friday, October 27th. Spices in the food will be minimal. The menu is: Vegetable Fried rice (Rice with carrot, peas and beans), Poori (wheat bread), potatoes, Chicken tikka (non-veg) or paneer tikka (veg), badhushahi (sweet), vadam (rice crisps), and juice/yoghurt.

Parents who do not want their children to have this meal may kindly send a packed lunch from home.

Have a wonderful October break. Enjoy reconnecting with your children, friends and family. If you are travelling, be safe - and we will see you all back here on Monday 23 October.

Warmly,

Keryn Dowling & Lori Newman

Friday, October 06, 2017

Dear Parents,

Vanakkam, Namaste, and welcome to India Month! We hosted our Opening Assembly this morning for Grades 3-5, and will be doing the same next Friday for Early Years - Grade 2 students. This morning our students sang, acted in skits and performed spectacular dances for our large audience. We thank all the parents for joining us too!

Big Bad Blue Swim Meet

Congratulations to the following swimmers who are swimming in the Big Bad Blue this weekend - Angelo Choi, Eishun Watanabe, Jeonghyun Kim, Summer Dowling and Thomas Bardoux Valla. Go Raptors!

Grade 5 Classroom Without Walls

Our Grade 5 children head off to Pondicherry next week for their first Classroom without walls trip. They will experience pottery, musical instrument making, a farm visit and horse riding! We wish them a wonderful trip, and thank the teacher chaperones for making this possible.

Elementary Coffee - Tuesday 10th October

Hosted by our Elementary Learning Coaches, come along to learn about all our learning programmes! This will be held in the Madras Hall from 8:45am - 9:45am.

Screening of the Documentary “Screenagers”

On Wednesday we screened Screenagers to our 5th grade students, with a follow up discussion in class on  Thursday, 5th October. Please discuss with your child at home major ideas discussed in this powerful documentary.

The film explores how screen time impacts kids’ development and offers solutions on how adults can empower kids to best navigate the digital world and find balance. Parents who have seen the film have said they now feel more confident and better equipped to establish balance around screen time.

Here’s a great article about popularity and how it consumes teenagers and affects adults. Along with Screenagers, it is something to keep in mind and they provide parents with great conversation starters with your middle school children.

Meet AISC - Lakshmi Jayakumar - Early Years Teaching Assistant

Lakshmi grew up in Kodaikanal where she completed her schooling and bachelor degree. A life long learner, Lakshmi is currently completing her Phd., in English on the topic "Denial of Self: A study with special reference to the work of selected diasporic women writers". Impressive! Lakshmi has worked as a middle school teacher for 5 years before becoming a teacher assistant at AISC. She has also worked in two International schools in Dubai. Lakshmi is very proud to say " I am an Indian". If Lakshmi had a superpower it would be to make people have the smile on their lips because smile speaks powerful language out without having to convey using words. Lakshmi believes that this is language which everyone can understand!

After school Activity - Swim Programs for Trimester - 2:

Registration for ARC Swim lessons will be done separately and in person only for trimester 2 on the following dates: November 6 & 7

Venue: Room no. 1304 - Athletics & Activities office

Timing: 8.30 am – 9.00 am

If you are uncertain about the level of your child, request you to meet Ms. Donna in the Aquatics office. New students can be tested to ascertain their levels on the following dates - November 2 & 3 after school from 3.30 – 4.30 pm.

For detailed information on ARC & Raptors swim club, please click here.

Facilities Usage - from the Handbook!
A reminder regarding facilities use, that parents are welcome to use our campus facilities before and after school. During the school day, facilities are reserved for instructional purposes. Community members, including faculty and staff, may not use facilities for recreational purposes during the instructional day. Thank you for your understanding and attention to this.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Warmly,

Keryn Dowling and Lori Newman