Dear Students and Parents,
Don’t forget to mark your calendars for the Cabaret next Friday at 6:30 pm!
Humanity is one big polyphonous choir, and this year's Cabaret show is the model of human harmony. Come out and witness the many styles and genres of song and dance that make the world beautiful at "Cabaret 2017:We Are The World", on Friday, 9 December at 6:30pm. With seventeen individual performances representing more than a dozen countries and cultures, Cabaret is fun for the whole family! All Elementary, Middle, and High school parents are invited, as well as Middle and High school students. Elementary students are welcome to sit together with their parents for this glorious event. Cabaret 2017, on Friday, 9 December, at 6:30pm. Join us!
Please join me in congratulating this month’s Vision for an AISC Learner honorees. This was the month of Explorers!
As a reminder, the definition of an Explorer is:
Explorers are those students who investigate new interests with curiosity, inquire with purpose and seek deeper understanding and fulfillment through their ground-breaking pursuits. Explorers ask probing, extending and open-ended questions, contribute their new ideas to discussion, and investigate and attempt new ways of extending their learning opportunities and sharing their findings.
The honorees are:
Grade 12 - Liam Eldred! Liam is often the catalyst for deeper understanding, and he does so with a natural interest in language and ideas. His inquisitiveness has often raised the quality of discussion for all, and his fearlessness to show uncertainty and to reflect how things might work together is a great model for his peers. He is genuinely focused on learning in class, and his questions and contributions reflect authentic curiosity.
Grade 11 - Jordan Archer! Jordan has many talents but the one thing I am able to witness is his thirst to learn more how to become a more proficient athlete. During the endurance training elective he has been pushing himself to the limit and diving deep into figuring out which type of workouts will yield the best results. I don't think a week goes by in class where he isn't wondering about a new regime to implement into his training program. Whether is it investigating his v02 max, heart rate or keeping a detailed log of his progress he is always investigating and sharing his findings on what his body responds to best.
Grade 10 - Max Harrison! During Discover India Max not only put his ideas, thoughts and feelings out for the group to consider but he also had a genuine interest to explore and learn with others. He consistently asked questions about other cultures, language, and how things worked. He was one of the first to jump at the opportunity to learn to be our raft guide. In short, he was curious about everything.
Grade 9 - Manav Chakravarthy! During Discover India Manav tried something new and out of his comfort zone, with a group of mostly much older students, and hiked up to the peaks of the Himalayas. His enthusiasm never flagged while learning new things - like digging pit toilets and experiencing the joys of high altitude - and he plans to continue to explore and extend in the future.
December is the month of Resilience! Such students are:
Resilient students demonstrate ongoing commitment their and our learning endeavors. These students practice persistence and patience in all situations, learning from successes and failures in the positive pursuit of their objectives, goals and dreams. Resilient students set and adhere to their goals, seek and integrate feedback and keep their eyes on the prize in all situations, especially when they are challenging or uncomfortable.
Reminder for Parent Coffee- December 5th at 8:45 am
AISC is excited to welcome a university representative sponsored by the U.S. State Department’s Office of Overseas Schools. Please join us for this discussion at our next parent coffee.
Adele Brumfield, the Associate Vice Chancellor of Enrollment Management at the University of California-San Diego (and previously of the University of Wisconsin-Madison) will join us for our December Parent Coffee. Adele has a wealth of expertise in the fields of U.S. college admissions and financial aid.
Adele will not speak narrowly about the university for which she works but will discuss the current state of U.S. higher education with a focus on admissions and financial aid trends.
Please join us on Monday, December 5th at 8:45am in the BBT for this talk.
Introducing Peter Jacobson
Mr. Jacobson serves as our HS Librarian and also teaches Yearbook. You may not know it, but Peter loves theater and is incredibly proud that he was able to direct seven state championship performances at the Minnesota State One Act Competition before moving to India. Fostering a love of learning and thinking is what brings the most joy to his job. Peter loves all things Star Wars, is passionate about comic books and graphic novels and simply loves playing games with friends (and foes). Not surprisingly, if Mr. Jacobson could trade lives with a person for 24 hours he would choose George Lucas back in 1997 when he completed his final draft of Star Wars: Episode 1 because he would decide to have someone else write the script instead! Mr. Jacobson, a proud Minnesotan, is at AISC with his wife, Alison, and two children, Max and Nora.
Schedule and Expectations During Exam Week
High School exam week starts on Monday, December 12th. In order for all students to be present, we will hold our end of term farewell assembly at 8:30 am. All students are expected to attend. In this assembly we will say goodbye to departing students as well
present our Vision for an AISC Learner Departmental awards. After the assembly students will have a quiet revision time before starting their first session of exams. The room assignments are as follows:
CTRW 1 - A Block - Room 3303 - Ms. Amy
CTRW 1 - D Block - Room 3215 - Ms. Crouch
CTRW 1 - F Block - Room 3307B - Ms. Grace
CTRW 1 - G Block - Room 3301 - Ms. Lakshmi
CTRW II - B Block - Room 3206 - Ms. Rema
CTRW II - E Block - Room 2301 - Mr. Gold
CTRW II - G Block - Room 2305 - Ms. Lisa
CTRW II - H Block - Room 2303 - Mr. Izzy
Poetry - Room 2309 - Ms. Ruth
Dystopian - Room 2309 - Ms. Ruth
IB English Lit Y2 - Room 2217 - Mr. Larsen
IB English Lang and Lit Y1 - Room 2307 - Ms. Shari
AP Language and Composition - Room 2307 - Ms. Shari
From Tuesday, December 13th, onward students are only required to be at school when they have an exam scheduled. The HS CIC we be a silent study zone throughout exam week for students who prefer coming to campus to study. The remainder of campus (HS Commons, iHub, classrooms) can be used as collaborative spaces but the focus should be on revision. Students who become disruptive by socializing to a point that it disrupts the studies of others will be given one warning afterwhich they will be asked to contact their parents to arrange for transport home. We are confident that this will not become necessary.
Exam Revision Starting December 6th - Repeat Announcement
Exam revision begins December 6th. During revisions there are no summative assessment scheduled unless they represent an alternative assessment to an exam during exam week. By November 23rd all teachers will post on Moodle the following:
- The date/time of your exam
- The format of your exam (paper, alternative paper, alternative project, etc.)
- A review list/packet for your exam
Hour of Code Update
Our entire school is joining in on the largest learning event in history, The Hour of Code, during Computer Science Education Week (December 5-9). More than 100 million students worldwide have already tried an Hour of Code.
We will be offering a special parent session to learn to code with you son or daughter on Thursday December 8th. The High School will meet in the FAC Cafeteria at 11:40. There is no sign-up link, so please ask your child if they would be willing to do this with you.
Next Early Release Wednesday - December 7th - Repeat Announcement
On December 7th, we will have our final Early Release Wednesday of the semester. 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 our Middle and High School students, hot lunch will be served.
Sincerely,
Joelle Basnight
High School Principal