Dear Parents,
Happy Friday! The weather is heating up and we hope you are finding ways to stay cool at home. Next week, look out for our final Principals office virtual learning challenge for this school year. It is going to be a fun one!
NESA Virtual Science Fair
AISC Grade 5 NESA Virtual Science Fair Teams Claim 4th Place in the NESA virtual science fair Global Competition!! Congratulations to Yuina, Mihika, and Minami. This is the 6th time since 2009 that an AISC Grade 5 team has placed in the top 5 in as many years! Thanks to the many parents and 5th grade teachers, Ms. Salome and Ms. Jen, for their leadership, support and encouragement.
The Near East South Asia Council of International Schools (NESA) Virtual Science Fair (NVSF) is an international competitive group science project. This year, it is celebrating its thirteenth year in action. This acclaimed project is supported by the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Overseas Schools and crosses geopolitical borders in order to enable upper elementary (and middle) school students from over 75 countries to participate in scientific research, multicultural conversations, and exchange of science investigation and problem-solving ideas.
Congratulations to these 5 teams that will be going on to the final round of the NVSEF.
Congratulations to our AISC all girls team!
The problem that the team focused on was reducing air pollution. Alarmed by the rising air pollution levels in Chennai, they worked to find a solution by designing an engineering model that incorporated a variety of filters to reduce the particulate matter in the atmosphere.They observed a significant decrease in particulate matter levels as a result of their efforts. Kudos to these young scientists who dared to dream big and problem-solve!
Arts, Sports and Activities
After successfully piloting a Virtual ASA Season for the last 4 weeks of school, the ASA department is ready to offer a Virtual Jump-Off Summer Camp! Are you interested in having your child(ren) participate in activities like: Funk & Jazz Dance, Building & Design, Soccer, Keyboard, Coding, Cooking, Fitness Training, Guitar, and even Swimming for the first 2 weeks of June? Look out for more information and the registration form next week!
From the AISC Counselling Department
The end of the school year typically brings much excitement and also a bit of sadness. This year we add the challenge of saying goodbye virtually. As we look back over the past 8 weeks, there have been many good things that have happened for families as well as some difficult changes. The ending of this school year is quite different than we expected a few months ago. With that in mind, The Child Mind Institute offers Strategies for Staying Calm. These are so welcome right now.
1. Keep a sense of perspective - There are many things out of our control right now. What do we have control over?….. We can plan for the short term using our solution-focused thinking (thinking about what is working well now and doing more of that), we can say goodbye to the school year and leavers. If you are leaving you can say goodbye virtually and know you will be missed. We can connect virtually and be kind to one another.
2. Acceptance - This end of the year is not going to look like how we imagined it 2 months ago. But we can reach out to one another with gratitude and goodbyes. Our gratitude will be enough. We will get through this.
3. Lean on each other - many of you are helping others in and beyond the AISC community. This is very important. The memories of our current isolated life will eventually fade away but we will remember the help others gave us. Students will remember friendships, the joys of life on campus, and the creativity and comradery of ending the year online.
We hope you find some calm during these last couple of weeks and, as always, know that we are here to support you and your children. ~AISC counselors
Withdrawing Students (repeat announcement)
If you are relocating and your child is not returning to AISC for the next school year, please send an email confirming your withdrawal to bhazel@aischennai.org / ppadma@aischennai.org at the Elementary office.
End of Year Celebrations
Since we cannot all come together for a culminating event in the FAC Theatre, each grade team is busily planning ways to celebrate the end of the year. Your child’s class teacher will be sharing information about this soon with you, so look out for that communication.
Have a relaxing screen free weekend!
Keryn Dowling, Dave Allen, and Calley ConnellyElementary School Leadership Team