Dear Students and Parents,
Please join me in congratulating the student recognized this month for being versatile, as defined by our Vision for an AISC Learner.
Versatile students adapt to changing circumstances by being resourceful, willing and able to use multiple means of meeting a challenge. A versatile student is willing to take risks and employ new strategies when encountering the unexpected. A versatile student balances commitments in a wide range of interest areas, and seeks new opportunities for learning, growth and renewal.
Congratulations to:
Adrienne Hoover: How can one not recognize her as one of the most versatile students at our school. She is everywhere and involved in so many ways both inside and outside the classroom… various sports, IB Art, Theater, Social Causes like Cancer Awareness & teaching girls about their bodies, Feminist activities, teaching swimming in the ASA program and becoming a certified lifeguard. Adrienne is always working on a project and has so many varied learning interests!
Anukriti Bisht: Though Anu is new to our AISC community you wouldn't know it. She immediately fit in with her peers and easily connects with adults. She's versatile in her thinking and is willing to let go of ideas and beliefs for better ways of thinking. She consistently ask questions for understanding and is excited by whatever topic is put in front of her. She explores multiple perspectives, takes risks in her own thinking and demonstrates a positive willingness to investigate the “new” thus becoming a role model for her peers.
Junwon Choi: He's versatile in many academic ways... equally effective as a reader, writer, speaker and listener. He is also quite versatile socially, skillfully navigating across boundaries (age, culture, etc.) that are often limiting to teens.
Joon Hyuk Song: He shows interest in many areas and is willing to step out of his comfort zone, both academically and socially. This flexibility makes him easy going and unruffled when things change. He's got a great "can do" approach.
Yesterday Jannick Frampton and YoonSeo Oh gave their IB Music performance to a packed house in the BBT! Congratulations to them both!
This morning marked the culmination of Invisible Disabilities week. Maryline Feiertag and Nivetha Kumar rocked the house with their songwriting and performance. Ms. Rappe with the help of our wonderful singers as well as Liam Eldred, Jakob Knudsen and Sanna Vasu made the week possible. Many thanks to all of them. Thank you as well to everyone who attended this morning. People donned puzzle pieces and ribbons in honor of those they know with invisible disabilities and they paused to reflect on the powerful words written on the graffiti wall. It was a moving and meaningful event!
Introducing Shira Daryn
Shira is a dual Israel/UK citizen and has split most of her life between the two countries. She completed her PhD in physical chemistry in the UK and has since followed her passion for teaching. One of the most exciting things she has done related to her discipline was to work in a nuclear reactor in Grenoble, France and, then, to publish her related work. Shira is passionate about education, as she loves what she does, and simply adores her family (husband Gil and daughters Adi and Noa). When not teaching Shira likes to ready and cook. You may not know it but Shira began her school life as a beginning EAL student in grade 6 and, so, fully understands the trials and triumphs of learning a language. If Shira could trade lives with a person for 24 hours she would choose Sr. David Attenborough because he has the most incredible passion and energy and gets to explore the most amazing places on the planet!
Mark Your Calendars - IB Art Exhibit
Please join us on Tuesday, April 4th, at 4:00pm in the FAC atrium as we celebrate the accomplishments of our 2017 IB Art cohort. This year we are celebrating the works by Adrienne Hoover, Arya Giri, Eunbin Choi, Aline Nicolai, Marie Schumann, and Seoyoung Park.
HS Fun Night Out - A Message from the Committee
Last Friday about 70 students participated in another FNO... Sports Night. Students enjoyed a pizza and pasta dinner followed by soccer, basketball, badminton and volleyball. The Eagles, Hawks and Falcons were in a tight competition all evening. Going into the final event, Dodgeball, the Hawks and Falcons were all tied up. After the first 2 thrilling rounds the 2 teams still remained tied. In the final head to head round, the Falcons came out victorious to take home the prize. However, all competitors enjoyed the ice cream treat finale. Below are some photos of the night’s events.
Students won't want to miss our final FNO event which is coming up soon on Thursday, April 13. This special final FNO evening will include a Barbecue and Outdoor Games. The outdoor games will include ultimate Frisbee, capture the flag, an Amazing Race challenge, water balloon toss and more. Thanks to all students who completed our interest questionnaire for this event. There appears to be lots of interest such that attendance will exceed our minimum required to hold the barbecue dinner. As always, the committee is looking for parent contributions to help fund the BBQ dinner and chaperone the event. If you can support in any way, please complete this form.
Date Change
The High School Theater Production recorded in the community calendar for Friday, April 21 and Saturday, April 22 will instead be held on Thursday. April 20 and Friday, April 21. Kindly mark your calendars. More information on the play and ticket sales will be shared soon.
Summer Travel Planning and Exam Schedule
As you make your summer travel plans please keep in mind the semester two exam schedule for grades 9 - 11. AISC does not give exams early so it is important that students delay their departure until after they have completed all examinations.
A few things to note:
We will host our farewell assembly on Friday, May 26th so that all departing students will be present.
IB and AP courses do not have internal exams. Thus, once the student has sat the external AP or IB exam in May the class is officially complete.
Seniors will have all of their exam completed and final obligations finished by graduation on Saturday, May 27th. The senior exam schedule will be published next week.
Internal examinations (non AP/IB) for students in grade 9 - 11 will take place on Friday, May 26th as well as Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday (May 29 to 31st). Conflict exams will run on Thursday, June 1st.
The week before exams is reserved for exam revision and for the submission of alternative assessments. 45% of the final summative assessments this semester are alternative and, as such, students will need to balance their time revising during the day and completing their alternative assessments at home. All exams for grades 9 - 11 (alternative and written) can be found on the exam schedule.
Senior exams will take place on May 18th and 19th. Given that there are no internal exams for AP and IB courses and that some courses end with a culminating project or portfolio, you will notice that few exams needed on these dates. The senior exam schedule can be found here.
Help Us Plan for Next Year! - Repeat Announcement
This spring both Student Parent Teacher Conferences and the Celebration of Learning were poorly attended by parents.
As you may recall, the Celebration of Learning is an opportunity for students to share their academic experiences with parents. The event ran from 10:00 am until 12:00 pm on the "by appointment" conference day in the hopes that parents would drop in between appointments and visit the exhibits. Sadly only a handful were able to drop in which makes us wonder if we have chosen the best day and time for the event. We are sure that parents would love to see their kids in action and, so, we are considering changing the timing of the event.
Further, each conference period we ensure that over 40 "spots" are available for parents and students to meet with teachers (either during the drop in or by appointment sessions) and this spring two thirds of our faculty had less than 50% of their time scheduled. Of the remaining faculty members, only two had full conference schedules. We value conferences and, yet, we also value classroom instructional time and our teacher's planning time. So, once again, we wonder if we need to rethink the scheduling of spring conferences to benefit everyone.
Please help us plan for next year by taking this quick two question survey to share your first choice scheduling options for the Celebration of Learning and spring conference sessions.
Sincerely,
Joelle Basnight
High School Principal
