Dear Students and Parents,
The Student Advisory Forum (SAF) had its first meeting this week and were very hard at work! The SAF is comprised of 20 students (5 from each grade level) and 2 ex-officio members from student council. SAF representatives apply to serve on the team and this year the 20 were chosen from an applicant pool of 40! The selection committee does its best to select representatives such that the team includes a range of nationalities, a gender balance and a variety of academic paths (IB, AP, etc.).
The SAF meetings twice a month with Ms. Basnight to discuss high school policies and practices as well as to give feedback on issues and upcoming initiatives. Much of the agenda is student driven and, in fact, the first meeting was dedicated to an activity to sort through the considerable potential agenda items raised by the representatives, other applicants and contributions from the general student body.
The representatives for 2017/18 are:
Grade 12: Justin Jeong, Vishnu Sriram, E-Nynn Chew, Kaviyan D and HyeRin An
Grade 11: Abhiram Reddy, Heewon Hwang, Aumkar Renavikar, HyeRi Kim and Johui Hwang
Grade 10: Isha Suresh, Reuben Nielsen, Joohee Lee, Prahalad Giridhar and Miles Gold
Grade 9: Jae Hyeok Kim, Eric Seo, Meghana Rachamadugu, Dobin Kim and Woonji Lee
Ex Officio members from student council are: HyoLin Song and Robert Kim
Please also join me in congratulating Keshav Raja for his recent photography exhibition! The exhibition runs through Saturday so you still have time to catch it!
High School Progress Reports - Now Available Online
If you have registered for your account with PowerSchool you can now view up-to-date classroom progress. You can follow the screenshots below to navigate or you can watch this quick presentation which includes the additional information presented at Back to School Night. If you watch the presentation simply click the arrow at the bottom left and the presentation will start. There is a little lag time between each slide so please be patient.
Step one - sign in and you will see a dashboard for your student(s):
Step two: Click on “Quick Links” on the left hand side and then on Main Portal Page.
Step three: Select “Grades and Attendance” on the left hand side menu. You can toggle between students by clicking on the names that appear above that window. In this view you can see the grades, absences and tardies. A blue [i] indicates that there have been no summative assessments in that course yet. You can click on the [i] to view your child’s progress on formative assessments. Please note that formative assessments are excluded from the overall grade for the course and will be noted with a orange star (see legend below):
Step four: Click on the [i] or the mark that is visible to learn more about progress in that course. As can be seen below, orange stars indicate formative (no-count) assessments. Clicking on the blue circles will give you information about the assignment. Clicking on “view” will also reveal any comments or additional information that has been included.
Of note: Please know that the marks you see in the course view on the “unified classroom” side of the program may or may not match as the two sides of the program are still having communication issues. You may also see additional classwork/homework assignments that are listed in the course assignment view that are for informational purposes and, as such, will not appear in the grade book view. You can see an example below.
First, this is what IB Biology looks like from the PowerSchool Grades and Attendance view via the main portal.
Second, this is what IB Biology looks like from the assignment view via Unified Classroom assignments view. You will notice that there are classwork assignments listed that are for information purposes only and are not marked. There are also formative (no count) assessments that are marked with a blue line. These are marked assessments and will appear in both the Unified Classroom assignments view and the PowerSchool Grades and Attendance view. Please make note of this so there is no confusion.
PowerSchool Navigation and First Time Sign In Help
The IT Department will be running technology sessions next week to assist parents. Drop in help can be accessed via the below schedule throughout next week:
Monday - Hall of Light, 8:00 - 9:00 am, English only
Tuesday - Madras Hall, 8:00 - 9:00 am, Korean and English
Wednesday - Madras Hall, 8:00 - 9:00 am, Japanese and English
Thursday - Madras Hall, 8:00 - 9:00 am, English only
Friday - Hall of Light, 8:00 - 9:00 am, English only
Highlighting Student Work
Ms. Lakshmi V is using a project based approach in her Anatomy and Physiology class. Throughout the year students will approach each unit by considering a body system in three parts: understanding the anatomical structure and function of the body system, applying the knowledge to maintain a healthy body and mind and communicating their understanding to the community.
Their first unit is to study skin and students have prepared tips to help people troubleshoot potential issues related to the topic. Such tips can be found on the display board outside of the classroom. Below you will find a photo of the board but do feel free to stop by and check it out in person!
Next topic - digestion! This will be guided by the essential question of “How can you improve the health of your digestive tract with stress management, the right diet and exercise?”
Introducing - Mark Condon
Mr. Condon is another one of our new teachers and we are thrilled to have him join our English department. Mark is here with his wife Lisa Daniels (MS Spanish) and his two middle school aged children, Achilles and Anais. Mr. Condon shared that he once dropped out of college and traveled from Portland, Oregon to Princeton, New Jersey, on a scooter so he could get a job in the Princeton University library while secretly sneaking into classes all semester long. His proud moment as a teacher comes when students tell him that they can “no longer watch a movie without ‘thinking’ about it.” Good thing he is teaching our Introduction to Drama and Film course! Mr. Condon is passionate about his own children and their development while enjoying spending time reading, playing basketball and traveling. He is also passionate about the treatment of animals and won’t be found anywhere near a zoo. If Mark could trade places with a person for 24 hours he shared it would be a tough choice between Michael Jordan, to experience the ultimate competitive spirit, or Queen Elizabeth I, to rule as a woman in a patriarchal world.
Parent Coffee and SAT Fair - A Message from the Counselors
Please join us for a High School Parent Coffee on September 19th from 8:45-9:45 am in the BBT. Counselors will host an interactive session on Navigating the Terrain of Communicating with Teens. Parents will have an opportunity to engage in a dialogue about talking with teens about social media use, friends & relationships, stress and the like. The coffee will be followed by an information fair with local SAT preparation providers. Parents interesting in learning more about SAT preparation are invited to stop by to visit the vendors at 9:45 am.
Introducing the PCA Grade Level Reps - Repeat Announcement
Please join me in thanking our new grade level PCA reps in advance for their hard work, dedication and commitment to aiding in communication and clarity between home and school. Should you want to connect with any of them directly you can find emails below.
Joelle Basnight
High School Principal
