Dear Parents,
One of the learning outcomes identified in our current Strategic Plan is, "By 2018 all students will choose to actively serve their local and global communities." This week six of our students - Adrienne Hoover, Meyyammai Muthiah, Nivedita Sriram, Sangjun Park, Seok In Hong and Yookyeong Lee - and their advisor, Mrs. Vasanthi Thandlam, traveled to Nagercoil in southern Tamil Nadu to participate in an Operation Smile mission there. They are providing support to the surgeons who are correcting cleft lips and palates in the children from that area. By all accounts it is a transformative experience for them, and we are proud of their commitment to serve their fellow humans.
Report Cards
Semester 1 report cards were
distributed at the end of the school day today. They can also be viewed on
Skyward. I encourage you to take some time to discuss your child’s progress
thus far. It is a good time to celebrate successes and recognize the challenges.
The following simple questions provide a good framework for a discussion and
the opportunity to set goals for the semester.
- What
did you do well?
- What
did you not do well?
- What
can you do to improve in your areas of challenge?
Use
these questions to discuss your child’s progress in each class and set goals.
Setting reasonable and attainable goals will lead to success, and nothing
breeds success like success.
Jan Jamboree is coming!
As one of its community-building
projects, the High School Student Council, with support from high school clubs,
is organizing the Jan Jamboree on Saturday, January 18 from 2:00 to 5:00 pm on
the AISC Field. This event is open to AISC families and guests.
There will be an entry fee of Rs 200
for elementary and middle school students. This will allow them unlimited
access to over 20 games and activities organized by the high school students,
including cookie decorating, obstacle course, face painting, sponge throw,
bouncy castle, balance beam pillow fight and more!
Adults will be able to enjoy the food
and drinks on sale, take a chance on winning exciting prizes in the raffle and
spend a fun afternoon with family and friends. There is no entry fee for
adults.
Funds
raised through this event will be used to support a variety of community
service clubs and student projects. We hope you
and your family will be able to join us for this fun-filled event.
High School Band Concert
The High School Bands
will give their Winter Concert on Friday, January 24 from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. in
the Theater. The show will include the Concert Band and the Symphonic Band
performing works by guru band composers Ralph Vaughan-Williams, Percy Grainger,
Leroy Anderson and more! And it gets better: this will be the band's last
performance in Chennai before eighteen of our young musicians go on tour to
Dhaka, Bangladesh for the SAISA Music Festival. You can hear the festival
repertoire before the festival! Admission is free, and the concert is
appropriate for patrons in grades 5-12. Younger students must be supervised by
a parent. Parents of all ages are welcome!
Nepal Trek
The annual Nepal Trek to
Langtang will take place Spring Break this year from March 29 to April 6. Middle
School Humanities teacher Rob Martin will coordinate this year's trek.
Please contact Mr. Martin at mrobert@aisch.org as soon as possible to express interest
or seek further information. Airline tickets and hotel reservations need to be
secured soon, so it's imperative that you contact him by Friday, January
24th.
High School Parent Coffee
The topic for this month's Parent
Coffee will be the IB Diploma Program and AP course offerings at AISC. The
coffee will be held on January 28 from
8:45 - 9:45 a.m. and from 6:30-7:30 p.m. in the Cafeteria. All parents of
students in grades 8 through 11 are encouraged to attend one of these sessions.
IB/AP
Parent Seminar
The IB Theory of Knowledge course is
a unifying element in the IB diploma Program. It is focused on answering the
question, “How do we know what we claim to know?” Through the study of the ways
of knowing (language, sense perception, emotion, reason, imagination, faith, intuition, and memory)
and the areas of knowledge (mathematics, the natural sciences, the human sciences, the arts, history, ethics, religious knowledge systems, and indigenous
knowledge systems), students learn about the
distinction between personal and shared knowledge and explore the nature of
knowledge.
We are fortunate this year to have
an experienced Theory of Knowledge teacher and teacher trainer come to our
campus to share his expertise with our students and faculty. He will be
presenting a seminar on the Theory of Knowledge on Tuesday, February 4 from 8:45 - 9:45 a.m. in the Cafeteria. All parents
are encouraged to attend.
Attendance
At
AISC we place a high value on regular classroom attendance. We believe that the
learning experience is enhanced through dialogue and discussion between
students and their peers. Teachers plan the learning experiences and
assessments with this belief in mind.
When
students miss class, additional teacher time is required to catch the student
up on what he or she missed or to administer assessments such as quizzes or
tests. Our teachers are very willing to do this, but it should be for a good
reason. Justifiable reasons for absence include illness, medical appointments
that cannot be scheduled outside of school hours, family emergencies and
religious or legal obligations. In the event that a student misses school for
one of these reasons, he or she will be allowed to make up missed work without
a grade penalty. However, the work must be made up in a timely manner;
generally one day is allowed for each day of school missed.
Staying
home to complete assignments or prepare for examinations is not considered a
valid reason for students to miss school. Family travel is also not considered
a valid reason for missing classes. While we understand the value of travel in helping
children (and the rest of us!) learn more about the world, we encourage
families to plan their trips during the holidays and long weekends.
If
you know that your child will be absent from classes, please contact the High
School Office and remind your child to complete a Prearranged Absence Form.
Completing this form accomplishes two things: it ensures that the student knows
what he or she will miss and it ensures that the teachers are aware of the
absence. If there is a question about whether an absence will be considered
excused or unexcused, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Other
news
Be sure to check the sidebar for
news from our counselors, our IB and AP Coordinator and our Athletics Director
for important updates.
I hope
to see you at the Jan Jamboree!
John
McCandless
High
School Principal
