Dear Students and Parents,
Many thanks for your patience as we work through the challenges presented by our shift in student information systems. It seems that students are able to view their course pages in PowerSchool but may not yet be able to see any marks given to date. Further, while middle school parents are able to view course pages, for some reason high school pages remain hidden to parents even after they register their PowerSchool accounts. We have investigated multiple fixes on our end and are now working diligently to fix this problem with the PowerSchool developers.
Here are some photos from Thursday's college fair!
Here are some photos from Thursday's college fair!
Retake Policy - Refresher and Update
AISC believes that students should have the opportunity to demonstrate their best learning in all summative assessments. Sometimes students do not perform as well as they had wished on such assessments and, when this is the case, we invite them to consider completing a retake (or redo) assessment. To streamline this process a group of teachers and students sat together last spring to update our retake policy. The full policy can be accessed here as well as on page 59 of the student handbook.
Here are the highlights:
Should a student wish to retake an assessment he/she should complete the retake request form (the link for which is found at the bottom of every bulletin). Then the student should request an appointment with his/her teacher to discuss whether or not a retake is necessary as well as what review may be required.
All retakes are scheduled to take place during a School Monitored Study Session. These take place once a week, mostly on Friday afternoons but occasionally on Saturday morning. Occasionally a teacher may have more than one retake of the same assessment and may wish to schedule their completion during an alternative time.
Ideally, all retakes should be completed within two weeks of a student receiving feedback on the original assessment. Further, the score earned on the retake will replace the original score, whether higher or lower.
Please note that there are a handful of reasons why a teacher may refuse to give a retake. For example, a teacher can require that all formative assessments are complete to apply for a retake or he/she may insist that all revision material is completed before a retake can be scheduled. The remaining reasons can be found in the full policy linked above.
Finally, please note that some courses have retake systematically built into the assessment process and, as such, students need not apply for retakes. For example, if the first draft of an English essay is the summative assessment on which students receive extensive feedback and additional drafts are expected, then these additional drafts represent a retake opportunity for the entire class and need not follow the application system.
Parent Coffee Follow Up
A big thank you to the 6 parents who attended the parent coffees this week. Here is the prezi with a voiceover in English. We are working with some student volunteers to do an additional voiceover in Korean, French and, if we can find a volunteer, Japanese. Look out for those translated presentations in the next few weeks.
Yearbook Photo Schedule - A Note from Sunita in the HS Office
Yearbook photos are scheduled for next week (August 28 - September 1). The portrait pictures and class photos will be taken as per the following schedule:
Aug 28 - Grade 9 (portrait and class photos)
Aug 29 - Grade 10 (portrait and class photos)
Aug 30 - Grade 11 (portrait photos)
Aug 31 - Grade 11 (class photos)
Sep 1 - Grade 12 (portrait and class photos)
The schedule will also be published in the Daily Bulletin.
Tech Team Update - A Note from Mr. Masters
The PowerSchool app is experiencing some inconsistency with the assignments set by teachers. We are advising parents to feel free to use it, but to also please log into the web/desktop version of PowerSchool for an up to date report on the current assignments, and attendance, of your child.
We are continuing to report errors and inconsistency to the developer, and supporting faculty members in the transition to this new system. Please send any errors or issues you see to itsupport@aichennai.org, and we will address them with the developer and our teams. Your ongoing support is very much appreciated.
UN International Peace Day - A Note from Admissions
This year's UN International Peace Day celebration will be held on Friday, September 22. The Parade of Nations, where all of the student body parades in their national dress across the stage, will be held in the auditorium.
In preparation for the parade, EY5 -12 students will gather in the gymnasium and, once assembled under their respective national flag, will proceed to the auditorium for the beginning of the parade. The EY3 and EY4 students will gather in the auditorium lobby and, upon arrival of EY5-12 students, will lead the school into the parade. EY3 and EY4 students will exit the auditorium upon parading across the FAC stage.
Once they finish the parade, EY5 - 5 students will be seated in the auditorium for a short program. Grade 6-12 students will proceed to cafeteria for live streaming of the program.
The Parade of Nations will be followed by a normal school day.
How does the parade work?
Students will be marching under their citizenship of record as listed in PowerSchool, our student information system, and as indicated during the admissions process.
If you would like to make a change and have your child(ren) march under a flag different from their citizenship, please kindly send this information directly to Sanja Ilić, Director of Admissions, (admissionsdirector@aischennai.org). Admissions office will be accommodating the aforementioned requests until September 1, 2017.
Introducing Gretchen Bade
Gretchen Bade is one of our new teachers this year. She grew up in the Midwest and met her husband, a MS teacher, while teaching in North Carolina. It is still amazing to her that they found each other and embarked on their international career (AISC is her 4th international school). Ms. Bade is proud that she has always pushed herself as a professional, consistently choosing to take risks, teach new things and change environments. Her passions include seeing the world and being kind to others and when she is not teaching she can be found doing art, enjoying the outdoors and, not surprisingly, traveling! A little known fact about Gretchen is that she spent over a decade participating in and leading service learning trips in the Caribbean and Vietnam. What’s more, if she could choose just one superpower to have it would be to tele-transport. She has so many places she wants to go and explore while still being able to see family and friends on a moment’s notice.
Remember Me? Alumni Update!
From time to time we are contacted by AISC Alumni doing really interesting things out in the world. Recently Vinith Raj, who attended AISC from 2012 until 2014, contacted our school hoping to find a service club to partner with his nonprofit organization. Interact Club jumped at the chance. Here is a little information on how Vinith got started with PagestothePeople.
I was inspired to start my nonprofit during my time in India. I volunteered to teach kids how to read and write in English at a local school. While at the school, I noticed that there was no library. The school barely had enough books for a single classroom. This frustrated me, but I couldn't do anything about it because I was moving back to Michigan that same summer. However, when I moved back, I realized that even though I couldn't help kids in Chennai, I could help kids in my own city. So I started PagestothePeople, a nonprofit that focuses on donating books to schools in impoverished areas. I wanted to bring the joy of reading to those that don't have access to books. Since I started the organization, I have helped found chapters in other states such as Georgia and Washington, and recently have recently partnered with an organization in India. I want to start helping kids on a global scale!
First Early Release Schedule Coming Wednesday
On August 30th we will have our first Early Release Wednesday. Students are expected to depart campus in a timely and organized fashion upon dismissal at 2:00 pm. We appreciate your patience with traffic on these days as all three sections are picking up students at the same time. 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.
MAP Testing Beginning Monday -A Note from Mr. Malone
Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) testing for all 9th and 10th graders will be from Monday, August 28 through Thursday, August 31st, with makeup tests on Friday, September 1. Students will be assessed on Reading, Science, Language and Mathematics for approximately 75 minutes each day. Subject teachers will be present to support each student's best effort.
MAP tests, which all students from 3rd through 10th grade take in the beginning and end of each school year, help us understand the growth in our students and the success of our programs in comparison to US and international schools. Teachers can use MAP results to differentiate instruction and understand growth over time.
Please support your 9th or 10th grader to get good sleep and nutrition next week so that they can show what they know, and give us more useful information to understand and respond to their learning profile.
Discover India - A Note from Mr. McFarland
Discover India trips are just a month away! On Tuesday the trip groups met and reviewed important details including any important equipment necessary and the trip plans. Specific information about drop-off and pick-up times can be found here. Groups will meet again on September 5th and 12th for final preparations.
Upcoming Parent Meetings - Save the Dates - Repeat Announcement
On Thursday, August 31st our annual Back to School Night will begin in the BBT at 5:00 pm. Parents are welcome to come as early as 4:45 pm to pick up student schedules. The band will make a brief appearance in the courtyard right before the welcome session begins.
Please remember that if you are having trouble signing in to PowerSchool that we are hosting daily drop in help clinics in the BBT from 8:00 - 9:00 am through next week. We will also have technicians on hand before the Back to School Night.
Two Upcoming College Fairs - A Message from the Counseling Department
- Repeat Announcement
The High School Counseling Department is pleased to host two college fairs in the upcoming weeks. Middle School & High School students and parents are encouraged to attend both events to learn more about the attending colleges/universities.
The Council of International Schools Fair will be held on THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7th from 11:30-12:30 in the FAC Atrium. 30 schools from the USA, UK, Canada and Europe will be in attendance.
Please see attached flyers for specific details about universities who will be joining us. This is a wonderful opportunity for students and parents to gather information and learn more about the college admissions process.
Joelle Basnight
High School Principal
