Friday, November 14

Dear Community Members,

We had 40 parents come to our Elementary School Parent Coffee session on Tuesday. Thank you to everyone who came; we had some very real and very meaningful conversations. The counselors and I appreciate the positive feedback we have received since Tuesday. I was asked if I would share the presentation on third-culture kids to families and I am happy to do so. You can access the presentation by clicking on this link.

What’s on the AISC Preschool Horizon?

If you are interested in the future planning and programming of our Preschool, we invite you to join us on Monday, November 17, 2014 for a World Cafe conversation. We are seeking input and ideas as we move ahead in revisioning our Early Childhood programs. There are two sessions planned, so pick the time that works best for you:

Timings: Nov 17 from 8:45 - 10:15 or 1:45 - 3:15

Location: Hall of Light

Standards-Based Report Card Survey

We have received positive feedback about our new standards-based report card. Thank you. I would like to hear from more families, so if you have not had an opportunity to complete the survey, please go to this link.

Lunch Menu and Order Link for December

Please place your online orders using the AISC pay online site or using the order link below for which you can pay at the cash counter before December 5th.

Lunch menu

Lunch order

Second Annual Giving Tree 

The Elementary School, Mr. Balajee, who is AISC’s Service Learning Coordinator, children and teachers, and the PCA Elementary Grade Level Representatives are sponsoring our school’s 2nd Giving Tree to support approximately 280 students in 4 area orphanages.  Please support these efforts as we move into the holiday season.  

The 4 orphanages our Giving Tree will support this year are:

Home Of Hope for Boys by the World of Life Church – 30 Kids

Assisi Ilam Orphanage – 25 Kids

St. Joseph Social Service Center – 40 Kids

Seva Samajam Girls Home (2 locations)  – 55 Kids and 130 kids

Mr Balajee and the PCA grade level representatives have been hard at work making arrangements for the lists of children we will have the opportunity to help and planning the overall project.  Our children will be involved over the next week creating the stars that will be put on the tree, led by some of our dedicated teachers in the elementary school.

The Giving Tree will be set up on or around November 19th in the Elementary School Cafeteria. Specific rules, which are included below, will be posted by the tree.

1. Children/parents can take a star off the tree and purchase a small item useful to the child listed on the star.  We will include name, age, and gender of recipient on the stars. This year Mr. Balajee and parent Gina Makawana have asked the children at the orphanages to request specific items that would be helpful to them, within reason.  We feel these requests can be granted in a Rs 500 price range. Mr. Balajee will be happy to assist parents if they have any questions regarding the requests.

2.  We would like the present to be wrapped, with the star attached to the gift (stars will be numbered and tracked so we know which orphanage they will go to and to ensure the gift is given to the correct child).  The gift is to be dropped off in a designated box in the Elementary School CIC (known formerly as the Elementary School Library).  Thank you to Mr. Jet and the library staff for helping us with this "safe" spot for the gifts.  

3.  The last day to drop off gifts will be on or about December 10.

4.  The gifts will be delivered to orphanages on December 14 and thereafter, by Mr. Balajee, Gina Makawana and any other individuals who would like to help out.  Mr. Balajee and Gina will be happy to share delivery date information as time gets closer.

Lastly, thank you to all the community members who have been dropping off empty cereal boxes for our Giving Tree Stars – we look forward to seeing the boxes turned into beautiful stars for our tree.

For any specific questions related to The Giving Tree, please feel free to contact Mr. Balajee, Gina Makawana or Margaret Rajan, or any of the PCA Elementary Grade Representatives.

Below are some photos of students preparing for the Giving Tree. These pictures were taken at our Student Council meeting on Wednesday.

Cancer Lap-A-Thon

Global Issues Network (GIN) is hosting a Cancer Lap-A-Thon at our school on November 22nd, 2014 to raise money for the Cancer Institute in Chennai. Also, there will be a breakfast potluck afterwards in the cafeteria. To participate, people must get sponsors to pay them for the amount of laps that they will run around the field. They can walk, run, jog, crawl, whatever, as long as they complete as many laps as they please to raise money for cancer research. They can pick up a form from the High School, Middle School, and Elementary School office to start getting sponsors. 

Details of the Event:

Date: November 22nd, 2014
Time: 7:00 am - 12:00 pm
Location: Main Field

Have a great weekend,

Kevin Hall
Elementary School Principal