Dear Students and Parents,
What an exciting week! New student orientation, our annual welcome assembly and the first few days of school. I hope everyone enjoyed reconnecting after summer break and are enjoying getting back into a routine.
Many thanks to the AISC HS Raptor Agents who helped run this year’s new student orientation. They are:
Mridula Arvind, Isha Suresh, Nivetha Kumar, Miles Gold, Donghyun Lee, Iara Benz, E-Nynn Chew, Nina Kumar, Seojin Park, William Pratt, Johui Hwang, Kavya Gopinath, JoonHyuk Song, Jiwon Lee, Bhavia Joshi, Yeji Han, Nithya Gogineni, HyoLin Song, Sanjana Kumar, Hyerin An, JiEun Park, Apoorva Anandi, Suhuyn Kwon, Harin Jeong, Katrina Nielsen, Shirya Parauchuri, Serin Kim and Advika Srinivasan.
I am also happy to share with you some wonderful photos taken by three students who completed a career practicum program with our communications department this summer. They were kind enough to attend our High School team building activity - Survivor - to take some photos. Thank you Nivetha Kumar, Abhi Desi, Namrata Ashok. I think you will find that they captured our faculty at their best!
Student Schedule Changes
Please note that as was communicated by email earlier this week, due to the difficulties we are experiencing in our student information system transition we have extended our drop/add period until Tuesday, August 21st at 4:00 pm.
PowerSchool Parent Log In Information
Master Syllabi List 2017/18
Earlier today, our Director of Technologies and Innovation sent a direct email to parents regarding the procedures needed to access our new student information system, PowerSchool.
To support parents as they navigate accessing PowerSchool for the first time, the Tech department will be hosting drop in help sessions every morning in the BBT from 8:00 - 9:00 am. Should you be unable to attend these sessions rest assured that additional sessions will be available before PCA and KPA meetings as well as all upcoming high school parent events like the Learning Habits informational meeting and Back to School Night. You can also contact the technology department for appointment times if needed (itsupport@aischennai.org).
Master Syllabi List 2017/18
Please click here to access the master list of all of our course syllabi for this semester. Semester two courses will be available in January.
Introducing the AISC HS Diploma Endorsement Program
Beginning with the Class of 2019, students will be able to earn an additional endorsement on their graduation diploma indicating an area of concentration over and above our graduation requirements.
The purpose of such endorsements is to recognize students who demonstrate the intentional pursuit of a specialized and/or highly rigorous course of study. Students earning endorsements will be recognized by having a special stamp added to their diploma as well as a note added to both the graduation program and their final transcript. Further, the endorsement program will be fully articulated in our yearly Profile which is sent to universities so such institutions are aware of the additional dedication earning such an endorsement entails.
Students in grades 9, 10 and 11 who wish to pursue an endorsement are strongly encouraged to meet their counselor to map out a course plan. It could be that immediate schedule changes are required, especially for students in grade 11.
The endorsements available include (1 credit = 1 year of successful study):
Humanities Scholar - 6 credits of social studies, 5 credits of English and 4 credits of World Language
STEAM Scholar - 4 credits of math, 5 credits of science and at least 4 credits of technology, art and/or design technology.
Arts Scholar - A combination of 6 credits total in performing or visual arts.
Liberal Arts Scholar - 4 credits of English, math, social studies, science, world language and visual or performing arts
Independent Explorer - Successful completion of two different independent study programs: career practicum, academic personalized learning, online personalized learning and passion project.
IB Diploma Candidate - Courses, TOK, EE & CAS as required to meet the International Baccalaureate Diploma program
AP International Diploma Candidate - 5 or more AP courses which must include English; world language; human geography, environment science or economics; math, science or computer science and one additional course.
Save the Date: High School Back to School Night - Repeat Announcement
Please mark your calendars for the High School Back to School Night on Thursday, August 31st, and come and experience an abridged version of a “day in the life” of your student(s). Teachers will share an overview of their course and will answer general questions you may have. You can pick up your student’s schedule between 4:45 pm and 5:00 pm which will be followed by a brief welcome in the Black Box Theater. Classes will start promptly at 5:30 pm and end at 7:25 pm. Please join us!
Introducing the AISC High School Learning Habits - Repeat Announcement
To meet with academic success it can be helpful for students to have a sense of their progress both in terms of academic achievement and academic behavior. To that end, the AISC High School has defined a set of Learning Habits, not unlike those used in our Middle School, to help guide students in their development. These habits were written by the AISC Faculty last year, fleshed out with descriptors and, then, presented to our Student Advisory Forum to check clarity. This year we will begin to report on Learning Habits with our High School Students.
What are Learning Habits?
They represent the attributes and behaviors students should expect to exhibit to achieve academic success.
Why define Learning Habits for our students?
The benefit is threefold. First, by making the expectations clear and well defined, students can better work toward improving the behaviors that will help them meet their academic goals. Second, colleges and universities ask that we rate students on such habits and, by explicitly sharing progress updates with students on a regular basis, students have the opportunity to improve and the teachers can call upon data when completing college rating scales and writing recommendations. Finally, developing such habits will help students succeed more easily in school, university and the workplace.
What are the AISC Learning Habits? Habit and descriptors
Preparedness: Formative assessments and homework assignments consistently complete with thoughtfulness and integrity. Formative/summative assessments and homework assignments consistently submitted on time. Consistently arrives to class prepared to engage with material.
Collaboration: Consistently willing to work in group and/or share in class. Consistently respectful in interactions with peers and teachers. Consistently on task during group work. Consistently demonstrates active listening.
Initiative and Resilience: Consistently perseveres in response to challenges. Consistently seeks feedback and/or incorporates feedback to refine work. Consistently willing to take intellectual risks (share tentative ideas, attempt new things and/or risk making mistakes).
How will the Learning Habits be used?
Throughout the year students will be asked to reflect on their progress vis-a-vis the Learning Habits rubric and to collect light evidence to support their own self-evaluation. Formally, before each progress report, students will be asked to submit a self-assessment and, in turn, the teacher will use the rubric to also assess the student. Should discrepancies result, the teacher and student will conference together before the Learning Habits are reported to parents. The Learning Habits will appear on the mid-semester progress reports and on each semester’s report card.
Want to learn more about Learning Habits? Have questions? Please join us for an information session on August 22nd either at 9:45 am (following the ES Parent Coffee in the Hall of Light) or at 5:00 pm (just before the 12th Grade Parent meeting in the BBT).
Sincerely,
Joelle Basnight
High School Principal
