Dear Parents,
On October 1, we celebrated the beginning of Celebrate India Month with an assembly featuring dancers from a local dance school in Chennai. Students, parents and staff were treated to a 45 minute show which featured seven traditional dances from different areas of India. Here are some pictures from the assembly. You will be asked to enter a password. The password is raptors14. Enjoy!
Student performances during Celebrate India Month:
PS-Grade 2 Wednesday, October 8th at 8:45 in the FAC Theater
Grades 3-5 Thursday, October 16th at 8:45 in the FAC Theater
Students are encouraged to wear Indian clothing on the day of their performance, but this is not a mandatory requirement.
During this month, students will participate in various art and craft activities and yoga. They will also have the opportunity to decorate their hands with mehendi (henna). Additionally, students will watch a demonstration by a local potter and a glass blower. Students may bring Rs.50-Rs.100 if they wish to buy artifacts made by the glass blower. The upper elementary demonstration is on the October 7 and 8 while the lower elementary demonstration is on October 9 and 10. Parents who wish to purchase items from the glass blower may do so after-school.
Indian Meal on October 17
Students will be served an Indian Lunch catered by our Taj Madras Flight Kitchen on Friday, October 17. The lunch served will be jeera pulao, veg makhini, poori, channa, aloo tikka, chicken tikka, jalebi, pappad and pickle. Spices in the food will be minimal. Please note that is the only food that will be served to students. If your child does not want this lunch, you are asked to send in a packed lunch from home.
Standards-Based Grading and Reporting
Standards-based grading is a system of reporting student proficiency in a number of specific learning goals (or standards). The goal of this approach is to provide the teacher, student, and parent as accurate a picture as possible of the student’s learning and to encourage a dialogue about how the student can master the subject matter. Next month, we will launch our new standards-based report card.
Do you want to learn more about standards-based grading and reporting? I will be hosting a parent information session on Monday, October 13th in the ES Cafeteria for parents who have children in Kindergarten to Grade 2. On the following day, I will host another session, also in the ES Cafeteria, for parents who have children in Grades 3 to 5. Each presentation will be similar to the parent presentation we held this past spring.
Do you want to learn more about standards-based grading and reporting? I will be hosting a parent information session on Monday, October 13th in the ES Cafeteria for parents who have children in Kindergarten to Grade 2. On the following day, I will host another session, also in the ES Cafeteria, for parents who have children in Grades 3 to 5. Each presentation will be similar to the parent presentation we held this past spring.
Here is a short video on standards-based grading that I shared at previous sessions.
The Collaboration and Inquiry Center (CIC) Opens on Saturdays for Community Access to Resources
Because of our commitment to literacy and learning, we think this will be a fantastic way for students, parents, and staff to utilize our print and digital resources even more. This will be a great opportunity to come in and exchange books, read, study, use the Internet, and work on collaborative projects. This is a space on Saturdays open to all students in grades preschool to twelve, so come on in and enjoy the CIC!
Hours and Dates
Hours: 8:30-12:30
Start Date: Saturday, September 6
End Date: Saturday, May 30
Saturday Closures: Please note that we will be closed on student 3-day weekends (January 24, February 22, and May 1) as well as Saturdays taking place during school vacations.
CIC Saturday Policy Reminders
Please sign-in on clipboards when coming to the CIC on Saturdays. This will help us with supervision as well as collecting data on Saturday usage.
Please enjoy food and drink outside the CIC.
ES students must be accompanied by a parent on campus during non-school hours (ES school policy). ES students should come to the CIC on Saturdays with a parent.
MS and HS students should only be on campus during non-school hours when they are part of a school-organized activity or sport. Saturdays in the CIC counts as a school-organized activity. If students leave the CIC, but are not taking part in another school activity or sport, they should leave the AISC campus.
We look forward to seeing you on Saturdays!
ASA Raptors Swim Club – Semester 1: October 27 - December 19, 2014
AISC students who are interested in improving their swimming strokes & technique are encouraged to try-out for the Swim Club. Please note that only proficient swimmers will be eligible. All students need to go through a selection process.
How to try out:
• Students will be asked to swim 25m freestyle and 25m backstroke with correct breathing and should not be afraid of deep water.
• Swimmers are requested to come prepared to the pool deck with your suit, goggles and cap or have your hair tied back.
• Elementary Parents are required to accompany their children.
• Parents will be informed of the student’s eligibility for the Swim Club.
Registration: By Selection only
Try-outs on October 14 & 16 from 3:30 - 4:30 pm
Days: Mondays & Wednesdays (Both days compulsory)
Grade level: 1-12
Cost: Rs. 3000/-
Payment date: October 17, 2014 at the ASA office MC-1B (8.30 am - 3.00 pm)
Food Service Update
We have been trying different menu options for both ES and MS/HS students. We had altered the ES menu this month and removed fish options as there were not many takers for fish. However, we have received feedback from a few parents to put back fish options in the menu and we will definitely do so next month. This month, we would like to highlight the following offerings:
• Our FAC Cafeteria will continue to have Dosa and Wrap counters. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are Dosa Days and Tuesdays and Thursdays are wrap days. We also have a sandwich bar in the I-Hub and FAC and ES cafeterias every day.
• TMFK has a soup counter daily in both the ES and FAC cafeterias.
• Thursday, October 9, the FAC cafeteria will have a live pasta counter.
• TMFK will serve Korean food on Mondays and Thursdays and Thai on Wednesdays. There will be a chicken and a beef option every day.
• The Parent MC Café is now open from 8 to 9:30 a.m. and from 2:30 to 4 p.m.
Should you have any questions with regard to food service, please email Josephine Ronald – directorpersonnel@aisch.org.
Hosting for SAISA Swimming
We need your help. In just about a month from now, we will be hosting SAISA Swimming. We have approximately 150 visiting students and still need to host 90 more students. We are asking our AISC Parent Community to help us make this happen. If you can host 2 or more students please let Ron Thomson (tronald@aisch.org) know as soon as possible. As usual we can provide transportation for those willing to host 4 or more students. The dates we need to host our visiting SAISA Athletes are October 29th through November 2nd.
Have a great weekend,
Kevin Hall
Elementary School Principal