Friday, August 07, 2020

Friday, August 07, 2020

Dear Parents, 

Welcome back to school for the 2020-21 school year! We are thrilled to have each and every one of your children joining us and looking forward to a wonderful year together. The first two days of morning meetings were a success, and we had over 200 students join our welcome back assemblies on Friday.

It was great welcoming so many families during our new parent Q & A last Wednesday. We have 48 new students joining our community this year. Welcome to AISC! 

We have two faculty members who are joining the Elementary School from Middle School. Kathryn Ahuja will split her time in the Elementary School and Middle School and is working as a 5th grade EAL teacher. Rachel McCallum will be our music teacher for grades 3-5. Welcome to the Elementary School.

Important Dates 
August 10 Synchronous specialist sessions begin 
Virtual Home 
Visits this week ASAs begin 

Start of the School Year
As we wrote last week in this blog, teachers are placing an emphasis on building the class community for the first few weeks as they get to know their students and families and connect students with each other. Starting August 10th, teachers may be assigning tasks for students to complete independently. Teachers will share a weekly plan with the assigned activities and links to access the synchronous or face to face sessions. 

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 this week. You should have received Information about signing up from your child’s teacher. 

Synchronous Specialist Sessions 
Specialists will start their synchronous, or face to face, sessions on August 10th. Specialists will hold two synchronous sessions each day. The sessions will be the same in the morning and afternoon; students should choose one session to attend. We look forward to seeing everyone participate in the specialist classes. Specialists will not be assigning independent tasks this week. 

iPad Check Out for EY - Grade 2 Students 
We are offering the opportunity for parents to check out an iPad for their child(ren) in EY - Grade 2. 
If you are in Chennai and need an iPad for your child, please email itsupport@aischennai.org for more information. 

Elementary Handbook 
The Elementary Handbook is published virtually this year and available for your reference linked  here. You can also find this link on the School Website, and in the links tab on the right corner of this blog. It is very important that your family takes the time to familiarize yourself with its contents. After reading the policies and information in the handbook, please click on the links below to digitally sign and submit these online forms by August 21st. 

Parents must sign the forms and students in grades 3 -5 need to sign the form as well. If you have more than one child at AISC, you must complete a form for each child.
     Early Years - Grade 2 - https://signnow.com/s/mIP4pzxu  
     Grade 3 - 5 - https://signnow.com/s/0SHt4Ph8 - - parents and students need to sign

Arts, Sports and Activities FREE ASA's for Season 1! 
Here is the ASA Fair Link , which exhibits written & video descriptions for each activity. For more information, you can also visit the Athletics & Activities Blog.

Regards,
Lynn Schneider, Dave Allen, and Elliot Fijman 
Elementary School Leadership Team