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