Friday, December 20, 2019

Dear Parents,

What a truly spectacular week we had to culminate our first semester in the Elementary school. Hats off to Ms Jane, Mr Finny, Ms Fiona and Ms Sarah for the two fabulous circus extravaganza performances!  I am sure you will all agree that these were an exceptionally high level, and we can all feel proud of all the children for their effort towards preparing for these!

Resources Needed for Our Elementary Reception Area

We would like you to send us some old board games that you do not play with or new board games you would like to share with others. If you do not have some, you could just recommend to us your favorite board games or good games that are appropriate in school. (From Yeonu - Grade 4).

Reading Over the Holiday

The Elementary and Middle School Library is encouraging your child(ren) to read over the holiday break! Each child in grades Kindergarten - Grade 5 has received a Reading Bingo game that they can play over the break. Please help them to mark off as many boxes as they can, then return the sheet to the library by Friday, January 24th. All participants will be invited to a Raptors Read Celebration at the start of the year! 

Families are also encouraged to take photos of your child(ren) reading over the break! Please forward any photos to bbarbara@aischennai.org. Some examples are below.

 

Happy reading and if you have any questions, please direct them to our librarian, Ms. Babs, at bbarbara@aischennai.org. 

Additional Class in Grade Three

We will be welcoming new Grade three students into an additional Grade three class in January! This class will be taught by Ms Rebecca Semrick and Ms Leontheen Briggs. I am sure you will join us in welcoming new students and families.

Jan Jamboree - 25 January 2020

Jan Jamboree is a fundraiser event led by the high school student council to raise money for service clubs. Jan Jamboree is on January 25 from 12:00-3:00 pm. High school students will set up numerous booths and activities targeted toward elementary school students. Activities range from Bouncy Castle to a Slip n Slide. Tickets are 500 rupees for students and 300 for parents and will be on sale from January 20-24 by the elementary school reception and main reception. Lunch is included with the tickets. 

Parenting Book Group Starting in February - 

Nigel Holdsworth, School Psychologist, and Jen Gold, MS Counselor.

Join us in discussing The Strength Switch: How The New Science of Strength-Based Parenting Can Help Your Child and Your Teen to Flourish by Lea Waters. The ideas in this book apply to parenting children of all ages, Elementary, Middle and High School, so this is open to all parents. 

Here is a brief description from Dr Waters' website: This game-changing book shows us the extraordinary results of focusing on our children’s strengths rather than always trying to correct their weaknesses. By showing us how to flick the “strengths switch,” Lea Waters demonstrates how we can not only help our children build resilience, optimism, and achievement but we can also help inoculate them against today’s pandemic of depression and anxiety.

Dr Waters' book is available in English on amazon.in and has been translated into 8 additional languages (Korean, Japanese, French, and others)! Check here to purchase a book in your home language over the winter break. All English language levels are welcome and encouraged to attend. We look forward to seeing you on Mondays on the following dates and times:

• February 10th at 2:00 (Chapters 1 and 2) in the BBT
• February 17th at 2:00 (Chapters 3 and 4) in the BBT
• February 24th at 2:00 (Chapters, 5, 6,7) in the BBT
• March 2nd at 1:00 (Chapters 8, 9, 10) in the Hall of Light (will end in time to attend the PCA meeting)

We have a limited number of spaces open for this book club as we want to ensure that we are able to make it a truly useful learning experience. Please sign up on this website if you are interested in attending.

Pongal Holiday

A reminder that school is closed on Wednesday 15th of January for Pongal.  

January Lunch Menu & Order Links   

To order a school lunch for your child, please use this PayOnline link.  

Elementary Lunch Menu Links: (Early Years- Grade 3 Pre-order) and (Grades 4 & 5 - No Preorder)

Enjoy your holidays!

Keryn Dowling, Dave Allen and Calley Connelly

Friday, December 13, 2019

Dear Parents,

The end of this semester approaches, and with your children, we look forward to welcoming you next week for the Winter Performances. Thank you to parents who have engaged our students in holiday creativity - the classrooms look lovely, and ready to enjoy our celebrations together. It’s festive time of year.

On Wednesday next week, your child will bring home their report card. Please take some time to review this with your child. The annual one page calendar for the year 2020-21 will also be distributed to families along with your youngest child’s report.

Winter Performances - Winter Circus - Coming next week!

Mark your calendars next week for the upcoming Winter Performances. Early Years - Grade 2 will perform 1:30 - 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec 17 while Grades 3 - 5 will perform 1:30 - 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec 19. We look forward to sharing our Winter Circus with you!  

Singing Raptors Christmas Carols Event

Thank you for joining Ms Sarah and the Singing Raptors for Christmas Carols last Friday. You can see some great photos on the SmugMug link.    

Back by popular demand - The Singing Raptors

This Tuesday, in honor of the festive season, Mr Andrew Hoover has invited our very own Elementary School choir, the Singing Raptors, to join him in the courtyard from 8:00 to 8:30 a.m. for some holiday singing. Don't miss this opportunity to get in the holiday spirit. As usual, coffee and other refreshments will be served.

Winter Break- Jump-Off Camp and Activities

Will you and your family be in Chennai the end of Winter Break? If so, check out the Jump Off program! Within this program, there are on-campus activities for all family members. For Elementary and Middle School students, you may register for Jump Off Camp on this Registration Form. Activities and the camp will be available on Monday, January 6th - Friday, January 10th.

Information Sheet

Registration Form

Open Facility Use

Kindergarten Math Morning

Thank you to the parents who attended our last Family Math Morning of this school year in Kindergarten. Below, please see a link to the presentation that was shared with all Kindergarten parents, including information about a fun family game to play at home, and information about the Kindergarten math curriculum. As always, the children and teachers love to have you join in the math classroom. See you next year!  

Kindergarten Math Morning Presentation

How to play “Shut the Box” - a great family math game for K-5 students

Roots and Shoots

This school year Root and Shoots has chosen to help Blue Cross of India. On Tuesday December 10, Roots and Shoots learned about how Blue Cross of India cares for animals from a presentation by Mr. Dawn William, General Manager. After the break, Roots and Shoots will be doing a collection of items for the animals and will be planning a Saturday visit to help the animals.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Keryn Dowling, Dave Allen, and Calley Connelly
Elementary School Leadership Team

Friday, December 06, 2019

Dear Parents,

Teachers and students have been very productive this week as the end of semester one approaches. Many children are completing assessment tasks and are showing considerable growth in their learning and achievements. As we head into the winter break, we would like to emphasise the importance of keeping learning going through the break, particularly with reading. We will have more to follow on this next week.

Vision of a Learner

Congratulations to the following students who are receiving the Vision of a Learner awards for the first semester. These students were nominated by their teachers according to the traits of an AISC Learner.  

Leader: Elias Stewart, Mahitha Madupalli

Reflective:   Bianca Peyron, Juniper Connelly

Explorers:  Arlo Starkweather, Charles Caillet

Thinkers: Seungsu Lee, Bavhanashree Saravanan

Ethical:   Eugenie Caillet, Minami Ashihara

Versatile:  Nahyun Kwon, Chanhee Cho

Empathetic: Isla Alleyne, Reyansh Jhaver

Resilient:   Lea Bonnet, Koshiro Hirano

Collaborator: Minhu Bae, Jian Kim

Innovator:   Yashvi Parekh, Yeonu Seok

Kindergarten Math Morning

Kindergarten parents are invited to join our math coach to learn more about the AISC math curriculum, then they join their children in the classroom for a lesson and some math games together. Family Math Mornings are an exciting and fun time for parents and kids. Join us December 10 at 8:45 - 10 AM, starting in the Madras Hall.

Early Release Wednesday, December 11th

Wednesday, December 11th is the next Early Release Wednesday. Students are expected to depart campus in a timely and organized fashion upon dismissal at 2:00 pm. We appreciate your patience with traffic on these days as all three sections are picking up students at the same time. In preparation, please plan on allowing longer time for entry and exit to the school at release time. 

December 12th Lockdown Drill
As per the calendar, our Second Emergency Drill for this year will be conducted on Thursday, December 12th at 9:00 a.m. It will be a lockdown situation. Parents and visitors on campus during a lockdown drill should go into the nearest classroom or office and follow procedures as per staff instructions. An “all-clear” notice will be sounded by the alarm system.  

Winter Performances - Winter Circus

Mark your calendars for the upcoming Winter Performances. Early Years - Grade 2 will perform 1:30 - 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec 17 while Grades 3 - 5 will perform 1:30 - 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec 19.  We look forward to sharing our Winter Circus with you!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Keryn Dowling, Dave Allen, and Calley Connelly
Elementary School Leadership Team