Friday, October 26, 2018

Friday, October 26, 2018


Dear Parents,

Today we ended India Month in the Elementary with a delicious Indian meal together. We had so many courageous children exploring new food today. Great job parents for raising open minded children. We look forward to seeing you tomorrow evening at our Diwali Mela for our final celebration.

Early Years 3 & 4 Parent Coffee
EY3 & 4 families are invited to a parent coffee in the Madras Hall on Tuesday, 30th October to talk about play in the early years. We will be sharing information about open-ended materials particularly around the idea of Loose Parts in play-based learning. In addition, parents will be invited to go on a learning walk focused on the EY3&4 learning environment.

Halloween Parade (repeat announcement)
On Wednesday 31 October we will be celebrating Halloween in the Elementary School. All ES children will participate in a Halloween parade, starting at 2:45pm. Children are encouraged to bring their costumes to school to change into for this wonderful parade.  As always, we remind you that weapons should not be part of costumes and may not come to school. Parents are welcome to come and line the outdoor plaza area as our Elementary students parade.

Missoula Children’s Theater (repeat announcement) travelling company will be back to work with our Elementary Students in November (12 - 16th), this time with the show ‘Treasure Island’. You can read more below! Grade 1-5 students are invited to express interest in auditioning for this wonderful week experience. The auditions will be on Monday 12 November, with all decisions on the roles of the cast decided by the visiting theater teachers.
Treasure Island - Written and Conceived by Jim Caron Music and Lyrics by Jim Caron and Michael McGill
The Missoula Children's Theatre takes pride in presenting TREASURE ISLAND, an original adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s epic novel. Young Jim Hawkins, a mischievous lad, lives with his Mother and six Sisters in a seaside village on the coast of Maine. The year is 1782 and the American War for Revolution is in its last days. Longing for adventure, Jim comes under the hypnotic spell of the legendary pirate, Long John Silver. While waiting tables in the family Inn, Jim finds a treasure map and, with the villainous Silver as his seeming mentor, sails uncharted seas with only the ragged map and a flock of Gulls as guides. Always up for adventure, Jim’s Ruffian friends say farewell to their Village parents and serve as cabin boys for Silver and his band of hilarious (although unsavory) Pirate types. Once on the island, nights are sleepless as true colors are revealed in our hero’s quest for the proverbial happy ending. Then - at last - the treasure is found and hand in hand we are homeward bound. TREASURE ISLAND - it’ll shiver your timbers!

Sign ups to be part of this cast (or an assistant director) are open to any student from Grade 1 - 5, although signing up does not guarantee a role. Last year about half of children who tried out were selected.  All roles will be selected by the MCT personnel.

Signing up is a commitment that your child will be available for practices and for the performance on Friday 16 November at 2pm. All are welcome to watch the public performance which will be in the FAC Theatre.

Please sign up here to indicate interest in auditioning for Treasure Island! Sign ups will close Friday 2 November.

Arts, Sports Activities Season 2 (repeat announcement)
Click these grade level links for information about what is available to those students for ASA Season Two. 
·         EY5
·         G1
·         G2
·         G3
·         G4
·         G5
Pre-Registration may be done by filling out this form. Registration for swimming has already been done with the Aquatics Director. If you have questions please contact Mr. Gio. This pre-registration form will be open until October 24, 2018. Please check your swim schedule for conflicts before signing up for other ASAs.
Payment: Parents can pay through the school pay online portal from Nov -26 - Dec 3, 2019. Please submit only one form for each child. If you have any queries, please write to vsripriya@aischennai.org or stop by the ASA office.

EAL Program Coffee
This month's Director of Teaching & Learning Tea/Coffee will focus on the AISC English as an Additional Language (EAL) Program. Dr. Sarah Sahr, EAL Program Director, will offer opportunities to dialogue about current EAL research and the instructional practices AISC teachers use to reach our incredibly diverse EAL population. Please bring your questions and comments to the Madras Hall on Thursday, 1 November, 8:45-9:45 am.

November Lunch Menu & Order Links  
To order a school lunch for your child, please use this Payonline link.  
Elementary Lunch Menus: (Grades EY- 3 Pre-order) and (Grades 4 & 5 - No Preorder)

Warmly,
Keryn Dowling, Dave Allen, and Calley Connelly

Friday, October 19, 2018

Friday, October 19, 2018

Dear Parents,

Thank you to each and every one of you who came to our Elementary Growth Story Conferences this week - we hope you found them informative and learned a lot about the story of progress your child has made this year. If you have any feedback on these you would like to share with us, please come in and see us in the Elementary Principals office.

Halloween Parade
On Wednesday 31 October we will be celebrating Halloween in the Elementary School. All ES children will participate in a Halloween parade, starting at 2:45pm. Children are encouraged to bring their costumes to school to change into for this wonderful parade. As always, we remind you that weapons should not be part of costumes and may not come to school. Parents are welcome to come and line the outdoor plaza area as our Elementary students parade.

Missoula Children’s Theater
This travelling company will be back to work with our Elementary Students in November (12 - 16th), this time with the show ‘Treasure Island’. You can read more below! Grade 1-5 students are invited to express interest in auditioning for this wonderful week experience. The auditions will be on Monday 12 November, with all decisions on the roles of the cast decided by the visiting theater teachers.
Treasure Island - Written and Conceived by Jim Caron Music and Lyrics by Jim Caron and Michael McGill
The Missoula Children's Theatre takes pride in presenting TREASURE ISLAND, an original adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s epic novel. Young Jim Hawkins, a mischievous lad, lives with his Mother and six Sisters in a seaside village on the coast of Maine. The year is 1782 and the American War for Revolution is in its last days. Longing for adventure, Jim comes under the hypnotic spell of the legendary pirate, Long John Silver. While waiting tables in the family Inn, Jim finds a treasure map and, with the villainous Silver as his seeming mentor, sails uncharted seas with only the ragged map and a flock of Gulls as guides. Always up for adventure, Jim’s Ruffian friends say farewell to their Village parents and serve as cabin boys for Silver and his band of hilarious (although unsavory) Pirate types. Once on the island, nights are sleepless as true colors are revealed in our hero’s quest for the proverbial happy ending. Then - at last - the treasure is found and hand in hand we are homeward bound. TREASURE ISLAND - it’ll shiver your timbers!

Sign-ups to be part of this cast (or an assistant director) are open to any student from Grade 1 - 5, although signing up does not guarantee a role. Last year about half of children who tried out were selected.  All roles will be selected by the MCT personnel.

Signing up is a commitment that your child will be available for practices and for the performance on Friday 16 November at 2pm. All are welcome to watch the public performance which will be in the FAC Theatre.

Please sign up here to indicate interest in auditioning for Treasure Island! Sign-ups will close Friday 2 November.

Arts, Sports Activities Season 2
Click these links for each grade level for information about what is available to those students for ASA Season Two.  
Pre-Registration may be done by filling out this form. Registration for swimming has already been done with the Aquatics Director. If you have questions please contact Mr. Gio. This pre-registration form will be open until October 24, 2018. Please check your swim schedule for conflicts before signing up for other ASAs.
Payment: Parents can pay through the school payonline portal from Nov -26 - Dec 3, 2019. Please submit only one form for each child. If you have any queries, please write to vsripriya@aischennai.org or stop by the ASA office.

India Month Activities (repeat announcement)
Our students will have an opportunity to explore a variety of activities and art forms related to Indian culture through experiential learning. We will have experts teaching Indian dancing and singing, conducting workshops for Indian Musical Instruments, demonstrations for Glass Blowing, Pottery and Art related activities such as tie and dye, diya painting and have relaxed sessions for Yoga and Story-telling.

*Parents are welcome to purchase products from the glassblower between 3:30-4:30 p.m. on October 29th and 30th in the covered area.

Indian Snack and Lunch (provided by the school) Friday, October 26
All students will be provided a complimentary Indian Snack and Lunch, catered by our Taj Madras Flight Kitchen on Friday, October 26th. Spices in the food will be minimal.

The Snack menu is: Carrot sticks and cucumber sticks with ranch. (Indian Flag- Tricolor Themed Healthy Snack)
The Lunch menu is: Jeera rice (rice cooked with cumin seeds and garnished with coriander leaves), poori (wheat bread), raitha (yoghurt with chopped vegetables), paneer masala (for vegetarians) or chicken tikka (for non-vegetarians), soan papdi (dessert), vadam (rice crisps), buttermilk, and juice/yoghurt.

Parents who do not want their children to have this, may kindly send a packed snack and lunch from home. Other lunch options will not be available on this day.

Halloween Movie Night: ‘Witches’ - Friday Oct 26th (repeat announcement)
Elementary students are invited to stay after school on Friday, Oct 26th for a Halloween-themed ES Movie Night from 3:45 - 5:30 PM. The film will be Witches. You can visit Common Sense Media to read a review of this creepy and fun adaptation of a Roald Dahl book. Consider reading it at home, too!
 
Have a wonderful weekend!

Warmly,
Keryn Dowling, Dave Allen, and Calley Connelly

Friday, October 12, 2018

Friday, October 12, 2018


Dear Parents,

Namaste and welcome to India Month, and to our second quarter in the Elementary School. We have had an exceptional start with our two India Month Opening Performances that were action packed full of singing and dancing. We hope you enjoyed these performances as much as we did! Photos, as always, can be found on the website.

Next week we have our Elementary Growth Story Conferences on Monday after school and all day on Tuesday. Please make sure you have signed up for these!

Please note there are NO ASAs next week on Monday or Tuesday. Unless your child has their conference on Monday, please collect them at 3:30pm. 

On Tuesday there is no regular school; children only attend for the duration of their conference. For parents coming in with multiple children; AISC student siblings can be looked after in the CIC,  while you are with your other child at their conference. Please be prompt with pick-up after the conference. No other areas in the school will be supervised during these times.

India Month Activities
Our students will have an opportunity to explore a variety of activities and art forms related to Indian culture through experiential learning. We will have experts teaching Indian dancing and singing, conducting workshops for Indian Musical Instruments, demonstrations for Glass Blowing, Pottery and Art related activities such as tie and die, diya painting and have relaxed sessions for Yoga and Story-telling.

*Parents are welcome to purchase products from the glassblower between 3:30-4:30 p.m. on October 29th and 30th in the covered area.

Indian Snack and Lunch (provided by the school) Friday, October 26
All students will be provided a complimentary Indian Snack and Lunch, catered by our Taj Madras Flight Kitchen on Friday, October 26th. Spices in the food will be minimal.

The Snack menu is: Carrot sticks and cucumber sticks with ranch. (Indian Flag- Tricolor Themed Healthy Snack)
The Lunch menu is: Jeera rice (rice cooked with cumin seeds and garnished with coriander leaves), poori (wheat bread), raitha(yoghurt with chopped vegetables), paneer masala(for vegetarians) or chicken tikka (for non-vegetarians), soan papdi (dessert), vadaam (rice crisps), buttermilk, and juice/yoghurt.

Parents who do not want their children to have this, may kindly send a packed snack and lunch from home. Other lunch options will not be available on this day.

Halloween Movie Night: ‘Witches’ - Friday Oct 26th  
Elementary students are invited to stay after school on Friday, Oct 26th for a Halloween-themed ES Movie Night from 3:45 - 5:30 PM. The film will be Witches. You can visit Common Sense Media to read a review of this creepy and fun adaptation of a Roald Dahl book. Consider reading it at home, too!
  

Elementary Growth Story  Conferences - Monday 15 and Tuesday 16 October (repeat)
We have our first formal Growth Story Conferences next week. Please make sure you have signed up via Edmodo.

These are a valuable opportunity for you to learn more about the growth your child has made in their learning this academic year, as well as hear about learning goals they and their teacher are aiming towards. The main focus will be on sharing assessment and learning data to show progress your child is making in the four core academic areas taught in the homeroom - math, reading, writing and either social studies or science, depending on unit currently being taught.

Growth Story Conference Dates:
Monday, October 15th from 3:40 pm - 5:20 p.m. (after a school day)
Tuesday, October 16th from 8:30 am - 3:30 p.m. (no school/classes on this day for students)
These will be 20 minutes in length, with one family in the room at a time. Look to your child’s Edmodo page for sign ups starting next week. All families need to make an appointment for these conferences.

Early Years to Grade 2: Parent/Teacher conference (no students present)
  • Teachers lead the conference
  • Sharing of learning samples and data points

Grade 3 - 5:  Student/Parent/Teachers (students attend)
  • Child will co-lead the conference together with the teacher
  • Sharing of learning samples and data point

Music, Art, PE, World Language and Indian Studies teachers will be available to talk on a drop in basis, and parents are encouraged to schedule this in advance via email.  

Follow-up to Math Mornings:  More information about AISC Math Curriculum & Home Learning (Repeat Announcement)
At AISC, we follow the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics. Each year has defined curricular goals, with both conceptual understandings and computational fluencies. You can access a detailed explanation of the goals for your child’s grade level in the folder linked below. Note that each document includes the Major Clusters, which is the focus of instruction, as well as Supporting Clusters, which support the major topics, and Additional Clusters, which might also be explored. You will also see clear Required Fluencies for the grade level; note that these are end of year goals. Go to this folder to find the grade-level curriculum documents.

In addition, we’d like to support parents to make the best choices for supplementary home learning. Here is our link to AISC Math Home Learning resources to support your child’s fluency development.  Included are digital resources, like apps and web-based games, as well as “old-school” math games like dice, dominoes, and card games.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Warmly,

Keryn Dowling, Dave Allen, and Calley Connelly