Dear Parents,
It is that time of year where we begin to draw things to a close and we are all still feeling this, even in this most unusual end of year experience. We hope you get the opportunity to pop into your child’s end of year celebration too! The teachers all have wonderful things planned.
We have several Elementary teachers moving on this year, so please join me in wishing farewell to the following teachers who have been a wonderful addition to AISC, and especially in the Elementary School
Anita Horton - Art
Calley Connelly - Leadership and Math Coach
Deanna Doherty - Spanish
Janna Herring - Grade 4
Jayasri Santosh - Early Years
Keryn Dowling - Principal
Lucy Palmquist - Learning Support
Marea Bouma - Grade 1
Melissa Hutchinson - Learning Support
Preethi Isaac - Indian Studies
Radha Anand - Grade 1 EAL
Rajashree Sridhar - EY TA
Ross Connelly - Grade 4
Tiffany Filter - Grade 2
Ula Konczewska - Grade 4
Vanessa Kim - Counsellor
These departing AISC Elementary teachers have shared these videos to say goodbye to you and their children. Please join us in wishing them au revoir by watching some of these videos with your children. You are invited to leave a video comment, as well, if you would like to leave a message for a teacher who was special to your family. Click here to watch videos and leave a response!
From the School-wide Counselling Team - Saying Goodbye
As we near the end of the school year we also enter the all-too-familiar season of goodbyes to the friends and community members that have become such a presence in our lives. There is no way of avoiding goodbyes and they sometimes stir up unpleasant emotions as we grapple with feelings of loss, but what might those uncomfortable emotions be telling us? How might we say goodbye well? Here are some thoughts on supporting your child during this time:
- The most important thing is that we provide space for a well-rounded ending. As researchers in this study found, the way we say goodbye impacts the way we start anew.
- Acknowledge your emotions as they occur. Often they can be an indicator of how important people or this life phase has been to you.
- Children are likely to feel a variety of emotions about moving or about having friends leave them. Know that emotions aren’t permanent. Like the waves at the beach our emotions tend to surge and retreat making space for different emotions in the future.
- If there is anyone that your child needs to “make things right with” or needs to mend a relationship with before they leave, now is the time to try to do that. While it may not always end perfectly, taking the time to try is an important life skill.
- If your child is leaving, encourage your child to take the time to say goodbye to the people s/he has been closest to and to let them know the importance they’ve had in their lives. In our current virtual world, that could be through a video, a chat, a photo collage, a simple email or even a text message with photo or emojis.
- Ask your child to think about goodbyes to the people who have supported your child or looked after their well-being in your home, at school or elsewhere in the community. The gesture will leave everyone with a warm feeling.
- If you will be leaving behind pets, be sure to acknowledge the grief that may come with that and work with your child to decide how to best say goodbye to their pet.
- If your child is staying at AISC and has close friends leaving, recognize that this is a challenging time for them as well and they may feel a sense of grief or anxiety. It can be challenging to reach out and tell their friend how they are feeling. However, encouraging your child to do just that and to let them know how important the friendship has been to them, will help your child with maintaining and creating positive relationships in the future.
Important Information About Returning School Materials
Please read below procedures to return school items for both returning and non-returning families. Each family/student will receive an email next week with a list of items to be returned to the school. We thank you for your cooperation.
Procedure for Returning Students
If you have Library books/classroom library books/musical instruments:
- Please send us a photo of the books/instrument for the music and library departments to provide an all clear (Email: pteena@aischennai.org and bbowman@aischennai.org)
- Drop off the items labelled with your child’s name and grade at the school’s security office any time or leave the things with another returning AISC family to be handed over to us in August. Please email us the name and contact details of the person you are leaving your items with.
*If you are currently out of the country, you can return the items when you return to campus in August.
Procedure for Withdrawing Students
Please follow the procedures detailed below so we can prepare and send you the Transfer Certificate and Reports before 15th June. All of these need to be completed for us to issue the Transfer Certificate.
If you have Library books/classroom library books/musical instruments:
- Please send us a photo of the books/instrument for the music and library departments to provide an all clear (Email: bhazel@aischennai.org and ppadma@aischennai.org)
- Drop off the items labelled with your child’s name and grade at the school’s security office any time or leave the things with another returning AISC family to be handed over to us in August. Please email us the name and contact details of the person you are leaving your items with.
- Please use AISC payonline to clear dues for ASAs, Lunches etc.
- Balance in your smart cards (any amount over Rs 500/-) will be transferred to your bank a/c. Please provide following details:
- Name of the account holder(parent)
- Account number
- Name and address of the bank
- IFSC code of the bank
Please correspond with Ms. Padma (ppadma@aischennai.org) and Ms. Hazel (bhazel@aischennai.org) in the Elementary School Office if you have any questions.
Grade 5 NVSEF Grade 5 Final Results:
1st Place
WBAIS Team 6
Project: Ibex Climbing Shoes
This team completed a biomimicry engineering design project where they modified the soles of shoes to model characteristics of Ibex hooves.
2nd Place
International School of Islamabad Team 1
Project: Testing Charcoal Types for Water Filtration.
This team determined that charcoal from rice husks performed better in water filtration tests than many other types of charcoal.
3rd Place
International School of Chennai Team 1
Project: Design a Testing System for Air Filters
This team designed a method for testing different types of air filters to determine the decrease of 2.5 micrometer or smaller particulate matter.
Congratulations to everyone involved in this year's NVSEF Grade 5 Competition, especially our girls team who placed 3rd! Congratulations again Yuina, Mihika, and Minami!
The top three teams will receive in the Fall, Certificates from the US Department of State, Office of Overseas Schools.
Arts, Sports & Activities (ASA) - Virtual Summer Jump-Off
We look forward to providing your child(ren) the opportunity to stay active, engaged, and connected with others while at home over the summer! After a successful Virtual ASA Season, we are offering a 2-week Virtual Summer Jump-Off program for June 8th - 19th (Monday - Friday). You may register your child(ren) for the Full Camp or for Individual Activities. You can find the registration form and more information on the Athletics & Activities Blog.
Please reach out to bjack@aischennai.org or dmonicka@aischennai.org with any questions.
Summer Reading Fun!
Over the upcoming break, the library wants everyone to keep reading! Like we did over the December/January holiday, every student in grades K-5 has access to a Reading Bingo game to play over the summer break. The booky activities have changed, but the object remains the same - help your child to cross off as many boxes as they can in order to get a BINGO or two or three! These can be printed off or children can mark them digitally.
Please feel free to send any photos of your child(ren) completing Reading Bingo to Babs at bbarbara@aischennai.org and please let her know if you have any questions.
Have an enjoyable weekend!
Keryn Dowling, Dave Allen, and Calley Connelly
Elementary School Leadership Team