Dear Parents,
Welcome to the start of the 2020-21 school year. My name is Lynn Schneider and I am the new Elementary School Principal. I would like to welcome all of the new families joining us this year as well as all of our returning families.
Dave Allen is the Elementary Associate Principal. This is Dave’s third year at AISC. His wife Deb is our Director of Admissions and parent/alumni relations. Dave is also an AISC parent; his son Sawyer is in 6th grade.
Dave and I welcome Elliot Fijman to our team. Elliot was previously a fifth grade teacher at AISC and this year he is moving into the role as Leadership Associate and Math Coach. Elliot has two sons: Yair is going into grade 3 and Eli is going into Kindergarten.
We have two new elementary faculty members to welcome this year:
- Michele Ness - Elementary School Counselor and EY-Grade 12 school psychologist
- Cassidy Carvahlo - U.S. Based Student Learning Facilitator
The beginning of school is an exciting time full of anticipation and enthusiasm, while also perhaps trepidation for both you and your child. We understand those feelings especially at this time. All of our students, not just our new students, will be experiencing this unique start to school together. Our focus for the beginning of the year is creating connections between home and school and building the classroom community.
Start of School
As you know, we will start the school year virtually. Please watch this introductory video to help you understand what to expect at the start of school.
First Two Days of School
You can expect a welcome letter from your child’s teacher on August 5th with details about how to participate in the first two morning meetings on August 6 and August 7. There will not be any work on Seesaw the first two days of school. Synchronous specialist classes will start the week of August 10th.
Important Dates:
New Student Orientation
AISC will be hosting our first-ever ‘Virtual’ New Student and Parent Orientation on Wednesday, August 5th. On Monday, August 3rd, pre-recorded presentations from the Head of School, section Principals, Athletics and Activities Director, and others will be sent to all new students and their families to watch in advance of Wednesday's event. On the day of the event, parents and students are invited to attend 'live' Question & Answer sessions scheduled from 8am-1pm. Student sessions will also be hosted by teachers and counselors, and in some cases they will include special guests (HS Raptor Agents & MS Ambassadors). Technology resources, forms, handbooks, and other information will also be accessible to all participants. A full program will be posted and sent to all new families on August 3rd.
Student Learning Facilitators
The schedule for the live Q&A sessions will be:
8:30-9am Head of School
9-9:45am Elementary School Principal
Many of you are currently in North or South America. Due to the large time difference, it will be difficult for your child to connect to synchronous (face to face) class meetings, small groups, and 1:1 sessions. In order to support your child, we have an AISC associate teacher who is designated as the student learning facilitator. This teacher will facilitate morning meetings with similarly aged students and meet with same grade level students in small groups as well as hold 1:1 meetings. Cassidy Carvahlo, our North and South American student learning facilitator, will hold morning meetings on August 6th. Information about how to join will be in the welcome letter from your child’s teacher.
We have designed the schedule in such a way that students who are in Europe will be able to participate in synchronous (face to face) sessions with their class and teacher. Additionally, we do have an AISC faculty member who will check-in and support students in Europe as needed. You will receive an email from Keeley Tagtmeyer, our European based student learning facilitator on August 6th introducing herself.
Our student learning facilitators will be in regular communication with your child’s homeroom teacher in order to support your child and maintain consistency with the grade level programs. As mentioned in the video linked above, the core curriculum will be delivered asynchronously (not face to face) so students can access that content anywhere, anytime.
Class Placement
As you can imagine, class placement was trickier this year than in previous years. You will get an email with your child’s homeroom teacher on August 5th. As we get more information from the government on guidelines for reopening, and we see how many students are able to return to campus when we reopen, we might need to make some changes in class placement.
Seesaw and Gmail
We will use Seesaw as our main platform for communication between teachers, parents, and students. Asynchronous (not face to face) work will also be posted to Seesaw. On August 5th, you will receive an email with information about how your child can log into Seesaw and how students in grades 3-5 can log into Gmail.
Welcome Back Assemblies
We will have two welcome back assemblies on Friday, August 7th.
- Kindergarten - Grade 2 assembly will be at 12:30 p.m. IST
- Grades 3-5 assembly will be at 1:15 p.m IST
A Zoom link will be emailed to families on August 6th.
Virtual Home Visits, Week of August 10th
A virtual home visit is a live meeting between you and your child’s teacher. This is a time for your teacher to get to know you and ask you some questions about your child. The virtual home visits will take place the week of August 10th. Information about signing up will be in the welcome letter.
Arts, Sports & Activities Program
If you are interested in having your child(ren) of all ages engage in FREE virtual activities for Season 1, please check out the Athletics & Activities Blog to get more information and to access the registration form. Next week, we will be sharing an ASA Fair document, which will provide video descriptions from our ASA instructors about the offerings! ASA programs will begin Monday, August 10th.
Communication
Each week I will update the Principal’s Notes. The Head of School, Andrew Hoover, also publishes notes weekly. Please read these notes weekly so that you are as informed as possible.
Your child’s teacher is the first person to contact if you have any questions, however, you may also contact our school counselors and elementary leadership team members.
Lynn Schneider - Elementary principal (slynn@aischennai.org)
Dave Allen - Associate Principal (adavid@aischennai.org)
Elliot Fijman - Leadership Associate/Math Coach (felliot@aischennai.org)
Linda Gerberich - ES Counselor (glinda@aischennai.org)
Michele Ness - ES Counselor (nmichele@aischennai.org)
Looking forward to a fantastic year!
Lynn Scheider, Dave Allen, and Elliot Fijman
Elementary School Leadership Team
Elementary School Leadership Team