Dear
Parents,
Yesterday
was an exciting day, the culmination of 13 years of schooling for our
graduating Seniors. As a prelude, on Wednesday night the faculty joined with
the Seniors for a farewell dinner. It was a wonderful opportunity for us all to
reminisce and enjoy some informal conversation. We were treated to a truly
remarkable violin performance by freshman Jeewoo Son. It was her gift to the
seniors, and it was beautiful.
The Commencement
Exercises this year were marked by excellent speeches by our salutatorian, Sanchit
Kumar, and valedictorian, Adhavan Balasubramanian. The student’s choice for
faculty speaker, Ed Doherty, gave us a very humorous view of his path through
life and advice to the Seniors on finding their
passion. We were very fortunate to have an address by Mr. Andy Griffiths, who shared
his journey that led to him giving up a lucrative professional career to devote
himself to freeing bonded laborers in India and gave a very inspiring call to action for our Seniors, urging them to
make a name for themselves. You can see a video of the entire ceremony on the
school website, www.aisch.org.
It was a moving ceremony that reached its crescendo
when the Seniors threw their caps in the air to celebrate the end of high
school. I was
reminded of what a balanced, thoughtful and caring group of young people they
are. I was also reminded of the wonderful synergy and interdependence between
student and teacher. That whole, which far greater than the sum of the parts,
is what defines a school as more than a cluster of buildings and a set of
books.
Schedules
We are still finalizing student class schedules for next
year and should have that done by Monday. You will be able to view next year’s
class schedule on Skyward. We have made every effort to meet the course
requests of all students. However, due to the constraints of course, teacher
and room availability and class sizes, certain course combinations may not be
available. There will be an opportunity to discuss changes when we return to
school in August. There may also be some changes in schedules as we add new
students and seek to balance the numbers of students in the classes.
Checking out
Year-end checkout forms were given to all students last
week. These are needed to ensure that all materials loaned to students by the
school, such as books and locks, are returned. Lost or damaged textbooks or
locks and be paid for in the Finance Office.The check-out form must be
completed before school records can be released. Most students completed and
handed in their forms today. For those who did not, these must be received
before grades or any other school records can be released.
Report cards
Final report cards will be available for 9th, 10th and
11th grade students by Friday, June 6. Students and parents
will be notified by email when the report cards are available on Skyward. Hard
copies of the report cards will also be mailed home.
Summer
Study
The summer break is a good time for students and teachers
alike to rest, relax and engage in our interests. In 2012 the high
school faculty came to an agreement regarding summer study that reads as
follows:
“Summer holidays are 8 weeks of time for relaxation,
recuperation and enjoyment. However it is important for AP and IB students to
maintain their skills in their subject areas.These are university level courses
and do not leave much time at the beginning for review of the prerequisite
skills.
“With this in mind teachers may propose optional
assignments to be done by interested students at their leisure over the long
break. These non-compulsory
assignments are offered for enrichment and exploration and will not be graded.
“All students should remember that reading and
writing are common skills in all courses. The best way to improve your skills
is by reading - graphic novels, mysteries, fantasy, webpages, the newspaper -
whatever you enjoy. Enjoy your summer and learn from life itself!”
Please encourage your child to take this time to explore other
interests. It is true that he or she might become bored at times, but this is
not a bad thing in and of itself. There is a great deal of literature regarding
the importance of boredom to the creative process. A quick Internet search on
the value of boredom brings up much discussion and
some worthwhile perspectives to consider such as, “Boredom is just a pause…a nap for
the psyche. When the nap is over you can emerge more refreshed and vitalized .
. . .” (The Value of Boredom, http://blog.oasiscounseling.co/2011/04/18/the-value-of-boredom/). There is also an interesting
TEDx talk by Genevieve Bell, considered one of the most
creative people in business, at http://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/TEDxSydney-Genevieve-Bell-The-V. And a little boredom might make the beginning of school in
August that much more enticing.
As you know, my wife Sangeeta and I are retiring from our
long and very rewarding careers in education. We, like the Seniors, are looking
forward to new adventures. We have thoroughly enjoyed our time at the school
and the opportunity to be a part of such a dynamic and growing community of
learners. The efforts of the early Board members, faculty and staff have laid a
solid foundation on which the school has grown, and continues to grow, into a
world class institution. We are grateful to have been a part of that growth,
albeit for only a few years.
I hope you have a restful renewing summer break. For those
of you who will be leaving AISC, best wishes in your next posts. For those of
you who will be staying, I hope you keep contributing to the task of making
AISC an ever better place for children to grow and learn.
Sincerely,
John McCandless
High School Principal
