Dear Students and Parents,
In an effort to help you to get to know our teachers and our programs I will be adding two new features to the Principal’s notes. Every other week I will introduce a faculty member by sharing information that may not be apparent from meeting him/her at Back to School Night. On the alternate weeks, departmental representatives will submit a short article highlighting something exciting going on in one (or more) of their academic classrooms. I hope this helps you to get to know our section a bit better!
Introducing… Robert Gold
Robert Gold joined AISC last year and teaches grade 9 and 10 social studies. He was born and raised in upstate New York, served in the Peace Corps in Africa and started out his work life at IBM before moving into teaching. He has taught at AES (Delhi), the International School of Beijing as well as in the US before joining AISC. Mr. Gold is here with his wife, Jen (MS Counselor), his two sons (Miles and Owen) and their adopted Chennai puppy. Rob and his family decided to take a gap year before moving to Chennai and, together, they spent a year living in an RV, traveling around the US and learning about American history and culture. Rob is passionate about his family, history, travel and truly enjoys helping his students learn new skills and abilities. Be careful not to assume that Mr. Gold is only into history though! He actually loves cooking, music, science and the arts. Finally, if he could trade lives with a person (dead or alive) for 24 hours, he would choose Mick Jagger! Mr. Gold feels that Mick Jagger is “music personified” and he would love to experience a Rolling Stones concert through his eyes!
Common Syllabi Format
This year the High School has begun using a common template for all course syllabi. Teachers will present their syllabi at Back to School Night and have already posted them on Moodle. After Back to School Night a master list of all syllabi will be published in the notes for your reference. If you are interested in viewing the syllabi before then, please log into Moodle as a guest and visit the page of each of your son/daughter’s courses.
PCA Seeking Grade Level Representatives
Grade representatives serve an important function at AISC to facilitate communication between school, PCA, and parents. PCA still needs volunteers for 10th and 12th grades.
Please contact Laurinda Porter at plaurindapca@aischennai.org to volunteer.
Fun Nite Out - Parent Group Seeking Volunteers
50 students have signed up for the first Fun Night Out next Friday night! The parents running the event are seeking additional volunteers to help volunteer. If you can help please sign up here.
Teaching & Learning Update, Calendar Notes for 2016-2017
In order to support continuous professional learning and development for AISC faculty members, there are fourteen Early Dismissal Wednesdays this year. The dates of these days are noted on the 2016-2017 Community Calendar. These Professional Learning Days have proven to be valuable for our faculty as they allow for continued professional learning and important collaboration for our entire teaching community on an on-going basis. This learning has a positive impact on the quality of instruction and development of our programs at AISC.
By way of preview for family activity planning purposes, the following Wednesdays are Early Release Days starting at 2:00 p.m.
2016
August 24
September 7, 21
October 19
November 2, 23
December 7
2017
January 11, 25
February 8, 22
March 8
April 12, 26
On August 24, we will have our first Early Release Wednesday. Students are expected to depart campus in a timely and organized fashion. We appreciate your patience with traffic on these days. In preparation, please plan on allowing longer time for entry and exit to the school at release time. For Elementary School students, the lunch routine will not change. For our Middle and High School students, a limited hot lunch and a quick "grab and go" sandwich will be available on this day.
Also, for those who plan way ahead, there will not be half-days at semester-end (December 16) and year-end (June 1). Those days will be regular school days, 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Upcoming Parent Coffee Agenda
Our first high school coffee of the year will take place on Tuesday, August 30th, at 8:45 am in the Hall of Light (3rd floor). Ron Thomson will welcome the group and share information about our athletics and activities program. Afterwards, Mike Malone and I will share the research and philosophy that guided the high school to write and implement the updated Assessment Philosophy and Guidelines (p. 50 of the student handbook). We will leave plenty of time for parents to ask questions in order to deepen understanding.
Please note a few of the noteworthy changes/additions to our assessment guidelines that will be explained during the coffee:
- Formative assessments (eg: homework, classwork, etc.) will be recorded in Skyward for communication purposes but will not count in the overall semester achievement mark.
- A minimum of 4 - 6 summative assessments will be given per semester in each course. These, along with the final exam/assessment will determine the overall semester achievement mark for the semester.
- Students who submit summative assessments late will enter a communication/remediation process that will involve communication home to parents and, potentially, a mandatory make up session to complete the work on a Friday afternoon or Saturday morning. The dates for these sessions are fixed and students assigned to them are expected to attend.
A debrief of the coffee will be shared after the presentation along with supporting schedules and graphics. With that said, we strongly encourage parents to attend so they have all of their questions/concerns answered.
A Note from the Counselors - Repeat Announcement
Parents of the Class of 2017! Please join the counselors for an informational meeting about the college application process on FRIDAY, August 12th in the BBT at 8:45am. For many of you this will be a review of what we went over in the Spring. It will be a good time to come together with others who are getting ready for their child to leave the nest and we will answer lots of questions. Hope to see you there!
New Student Recognition Opportunities - Repeat Announcement
We are pleased to announce that the high school is adding two additional recognition opportunities to our section related to the Vision for an AISC learner and related to academic achievement.
First, twice yearly each department will select a 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th grader who best exemplifies the attributes outlined in the Vision within the academic discipline to be honored. Second, each month the faculty will select one 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th grader that best typifies, in general, one attribute of the profile through his or her academic/classroom efforts and behavior.
The monthly recognition will begin in September and the first honorees will be announced in the Principal’s notes at the end of the month. September will feature academic Thinkers. Thinkers are those students who examine information critically and creatively to analyze and take considered action to solve problems in the classroom. These students exercise initiative in making reasoned, ethical and data-informed decisions. Students may demonstrate their thinking by asking clarifying questions that deepen (increase?) understanding, by deeply engaging with the material taught in class, by considering information and ideas from multiple perspectives and by being thoroughly prepared and well informed.
A Note from the Fun Nite Out Parent Committee - Final Announcement
Please mark your calendars for the first of our monthly parent sponsored high school social events - Fun Nite Out on Friday August 19th between 6:30 PM and 10:00 PM in the AISC Gym. This is a great opportunity for high school students to socialize, catch up with old friends and welcome new. The theme for the first event is a Sports Night and will include Dodgeball, Basketball, Volleyball and Table Tennis. The evening will begin with dinner, followed by sports activities and socializing. Snacks will be available throughout the event. Students may sign up now by clicking here or stopping by the H.S. Fun Nite table on Tuesday at lunch in the iHub area for more info!. We would highly encourage everybody to attend either to play or just hang out and cheer!
Sincerely,
Joelle Basnight
High School Principal