Dear Students and Parents,
On behalf of the High School Faculty, I would like to welcome you to the 2017-2018 school year. I hope you have had a restful, enjoyable summer and are looking forward to the coming school year!
It is my pleasure to introduce you to the new members to the high school faculty:
Josiah Laposky - Counselor
Gretchen Bade - Social Studies
Mark Condon - English
Pepper McFarland - English/Social Studies
Jennifer Hanna - EAL
Sherilyn Billett - PE
James Dowling - PE
Matthew McCarthy - Social Studies, Associate Teacher
Other internal shifts include:
Peter Jacobson - IB Extended Essay Coordinator
Shari Abbott - CAS and Personalized Learning Coordinator
Walter Basnight - Online Learning Coordinator
I hope you will join me in welcoming them into the AISC HS community!
I would also like to take a moment to celebrate the students who completed in this summer’s National History Day final competition. Nithya and MinJae won two awards for their Harvey Milk exhibit; one for “equality in history” and for submitting an outstanding project in the South Asian Region. Sohyun’s documentary on Maya Angelou was selected to show at the National Museum of African American History. Vinay, Prahalad, Manav, Anant, Pranav and Advika also participated in the competition.
Finally, please join me in congratulating this year’s AP Scholars!
AP Scholar (a score of 3 or higher on three or more Advanced Placement exams):
- HyeRin An
- Youngju Heo
- Tarun Krishna
- Donghyun Lee
- Emilia Majakari
- Seungyoon Oh
- Jeseo Pyun
- Keshav Raja
- Amanda Rajaram
- Hyeonjeong Song
- Renuka Wagh
AP Scholar with Honors (an average score of 3.25 on all exams and scores of 3 or higher on four or more Advanced Placement exams):
- Yoora An
- Jordan Archer
- Jaehun Jeong
- Ji Won Kim
- Jihye Kim
- Yeri Kim
- Jeong Woo Park
- Jared Sagar
- Dajeong Song
AP Scholars with Distinction (an average score of 3.5 on all exams and scores of 3 or higher on five or more Advanced Placement exams):
- Beomseok Cha
- Iniyan Kannan
- Jaehun Kim
- Jungmin Kim
- Minjae Lee
- So-Hee Park
- Nikhil Rachamadugu
- Uday Saharia
- Vikram Sivakumar
- Vishal Sriram
- Vishnu Sriram
AP International Diploma (a score of 3 or higher on five or more Advanced Placement exams in three or more subject areas):
- Iniyan Kannan
- Vishnu Sriram
New Student Orientation
To help welcome high school students and their parents who are new to the AISC community, we will hold an orientation session beginning (for parents and students) in the FAC Theater from 10:00 am until 10:30 am afterwhich high school students will go with the counselors for a special orientation. Parents can enjoy the PCA business fair until both parents and students reconvene at 12:45 in the FAC Theater for a session with the High School Principal.
First Day of School
Thursday, August 10th, is the first day of school for all students. The day will begin with an assembly in the FAC Theatre, after which students will attend their Day 1 classes (blocks A, B, C and D) during shortened periods. Friday, August 11th, will be a Day 2 (blocks E, F, G and H) with the regular schedule of classes
Students should plan on arriving a few minutes early on August 10th. We will distribute student schedules in the Foyer of the Fine Arts Center from 8:00 to 8:30 a.m.
Save the Date: High School Back to School Night
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!
PowerSchool Reporting Dates
Families will receive regular updates about academic progress throughout the year. Progress reports with grades and comments are sent home and posted online in the middle of each semester. Report cards are sent home at the end of each semester. Approximately once per month in between these official reports, teachers will update their marks in our new student information system PowerSchool for your review. We call this a “Progress Update.”
For your information the reporting periods this academic year will be as follows:
September 8 – Progress update
October 6 - Progress update
October 27 - Progress report with comments
November 17 – Progress update
January 19 - Report card with comments
February 9 – Progress update
February 23 - Progress update
March 9 – Progress report with comments
April 27 – Progress update
May 18 – Progress update
June 6 – Final report card
Student Schedule Changes
Please note that the drop/add period for schedule changes is limited to the first six days of school. This deadline is in place to help students settle into their classes as soon as possible. Schedule changes made during this time do not require parents signatures. This means that it is very important for families to discuss potential schedule changes before the student seeks out his or her counselor. If a family feels strongly that no schedule changes should take place without written parent permission they are encouraged to contact the appropriate counselor.
Please note that it is our expectation as a school that students would have made wise choices regarding their schedules last spring during the registration process. As such, we expect students to pursue schedule changes only when truly necessary. We will not entertain changes motivated by a desire to be in class with particular friends or to seek out a particular teacher. Our counseling staff works very hard to balance our schedule such that no class is overloaded or too small. This is to everyone’s advantage in terms of student learning.
Communication is Key
Each week I will update my Principal’s Notes, an online newsletter that shares that shares important information with students and parents in the high school. The Head of School, Andrew Hoover, also publishes notes weekly. Please do your best to read these notes weekly so that you are as informed as possible.
There will also be opportunities throughout to meet in person. Most months I will host a Parent Coffee that will help you to gain greater access to what goes on in our classrooms. Student/Parent/Teacher conferences take place twice yearly (October and March). Please do refer to the community calendar so that you do not miss these important opportunities!
Welcome to another great year at AISC! I am looking forward to working with you in the coming year as we continue to build a learning community that helps our students develop into knowledgeable, caring and responsible citizens of the world.
Introducing the AISC High School Learning Habits - Presentation Dates
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).
A Note from the Athletic Director & Nurses Office - Student Health Forms
Each year families will need to submit a Physical Examination form for each child enrolled at AISC. Please submit this form, when completed, to the Health Office.
In addition, new families also need to fill out a Health Form for each child. Returning families need to update the Health Form for each AISC student. If there are no changes to be made in the Health Form, please still fill in the Medication Permission page. Please submit the Health Form to the Health Office.
The links to the Health Form and Physical Exam Form are as provided for your convenience. We appreciate your cooperation with this matter.
Sincerely,
Joelle Basnight
High School Principal
