October 18, 2013

Dear Parents,

One of AISC’s amazing traditions is the celebration of UN Day, which this year takes place on October 23. Historically, this has been an assembly for the whole school with parents invited, which included brief speeches, performances, and a Parade of Flags.

The United Nations was originally formed to promote international cooperation and achieve global peace and security, and seeing our students learn and create together, I have the sense that we are continuing that same work right here in our school.  I cannot think of a more symbolic day to celebrate our community composed of so many cultures and backgrounds.

We are a big community now and, despite our very best intentions, it has become increasingly challenging to plan and execute an all-school assembly. Even with our auditorium, we cannot accommodate all students. (We have 945 students and about 805 seats.) In an elementary school assembly three weeks ago, the auditorium was virtually filled with students and parents.

Last year, we had the UN Day event in the gymnasium and, for the first time, included every student in the Parade of Flags. This year, we want to try to continue this tradition in auditorium. K-12 students will gather in the gymnasium between 8.30 and 8.50 and proceed to the auditorium for the beginning of the parade at 9:05. The PK students will gather in the auditorium lobby and then lead the school, with the UN Flag, when the parade begins. PK students will exit the auditorium when they finish their role in the parade.

Once our K-5 students finish their role in the parade each of them will be seated in the auditorium for this event. We will need parent support as seating will be limited. (Parents can watch the event “live” in the ES cafeteria as well.) Once our 6-12 students complete the parade, they will proceed downstairs and be seated in the cafeteria with live streaming of the assembly in the auditorium. 

Our program for the morning is:

8:30: Auditorium opens

8:50: Welcome, Head of School

8:55: Remarks, Model United Nations Secretary General, Student

9:00: Dona Nobis, Community Choir

9:05: Parade of Flags

9:35: Remarks, High School Student Council President

9:40: Bridge Over Troubled Waters, HS/MS Choirs

9:45: Closing, Head of School

10:30: Parents, Country Pavilions for Students (Gymnasium)

Are you interested in watching the event from work or home?

We will live stream this assembly. Go to our Events page to watch between 8:45 a.m. - 9:45 a.m. on Wednesday, October 23.

 Are you interested in a DVD after the event?

Sometimes filming or getting pictures during an event is too difficult. Too many photographers at an event can be a distraction. We will be giving DVDs of the event to anyone who asks. Stay tuned for ordering directions.

How does the parade work?

Students will be marching under their citizenship of record as listed in Skyward. ES teachers will help students make sure they are with the right group on the morning of the assembly. If students wish to wear national dress, they are welcome to do so. If you have questions about this, please contact your classroom teacher or our Admissions Director, Sanja Ilic ( admissionsdirector@aisch.org ). 

Lunch Order Form
Please click on this link, Lunch Order form Nov-Dec & Lunch Menu - Nov & Dec 2013 to access the Lunch menu and order form for the period November 4th to December 13th.

Use of Playground

This is just a reminder that during recess, the playground and playground equipment is for the use of enrolled students only. In the interest of safety, parents with non-school aged children are kindly asked to take a break from playing and move off the playground while enrolled students are playing.  Also, the tricycles that are located in the covered play area are reserved for our pre-school children, who use them throughout the morning. Thank you for your cooperation. 

Celebrating Literacy!

Celebrations! They are an important part of any unit of study. A celebration is not just about celebrating one final product but rather celebrating the learning that occurred throughout the writing process. Below are some pictures taken at a recent celebration in Ms. T’s class. Check out this video, “A Celebration of Learning: October 2013,” featuring students from Ms. Becky and Ms. Megha’s class, 5D. In this video, students explain the many components of literacy instruction.

Physical Education News

These pasts two weeks in Elementary PE have been filled with great individual and collective achievements. To start, the children exceeded very high expectations in the swimming unit. The students practiced their freestyle and back strokes with many students demonstrating full competence of both strokes!  Currently, in Physical Education, upper elementary children are working on their basketball related skills: dribbling, passing, and shooting. Lower elementary students are testing their grit with the wall climb and jump rope activities!

The Jogging Club continues to be popular.  We have an average of 40 students showing up every Wednesday, and we even have some students who have already ran over 7 miles! Wow! A special shout out to Ryota, Kimberly, Benjamin, and Oz for their Jogging Club achievements! Also, we are very proud of the students, especially since the average child is running 7 laps per performance, which is one mile! 

ASA News

ASA – Raptors Swim Club (Monday – Thursday) and Beginners Swim lessons (Mini Session on Fridays) are in progress.  Both sessions end on December 13, 2013.

ARC Swim club (Saturdays) ends on December 7^th, just before we go for our Winter break. Parents please make note.

Have a great weekend,

Kevin Hall

Elementary School Principal