Dear Students and Parents,
Have a wonderful long weekend!
Congratulations to NHS for their beach clean up as well as for painting an amazing mural!
Many thanks to all of the parents who attended the Celebration of Learning. Please enjoy some pictures from the event.
Parent Coffee Tuesday
Our November Parent Coffee will take place on Tuesday, November 27th, at 8:45 am in the BBT. The counselors will be leading a session requested by some parents: How to help your teen advocate for him/herself. Have you ever asked your son/daughter to “please go ask the teacher for help” only to receive a shrug or an excuse? Then this coffee will help you learn ways to approach your teen to develop self-advocacy skills for use in high school and beyond!
Time is running out to sign up for the first session of the Community Summit this upcoming Wednesday. Over the course of three early release days, we will be exploring the horizons of wellbeing at AISC. To make this a truly community-driven endeavor we need parents and students to join all faculty and administrative staff to envision the future of wellbeing at AISC. Together we will:
The sessions will run from 2:30-5:00 pm in the Gym. Parents and Students are asked to RSVP for this event here.
Community Summit: Exploring the Horizons of Wellbeing - A Message from Mr. Nigel
Time is running out to sign up for the first session of the Community Summit this upcoming Wednesday. Over the course of three early release days, we will be exploring the horizons of wellbeing at AISC. To make this a truly community-driven endeavor we need parents and students to join all faculty and administrative staff to envision the future of wellbeing at AISC. Together we will:
- Discover what we are doing best to nurture wellbeing at AISC - November 28
- Envision bold new possibilities for the future - December 12
- Design for excellence and construct the future of wellbeing at AISC - January 23
The sessions will run from 2:30-5:00 pm in the Gym. Parents and Students are asked to RSVP for this event here.
Standards Based Assessment and Reporting Feedback
The counselors, Mr. Malone and I have met with the entire faculty, a focus group of 20 students and over twenty parents at a recent coffee to gather feedback on the implementation of Standards-Based Assessment and Reporting. The focus of the three meetings was to surface successes and challenges. The feedback will help guide our continued implementation and refinement of SBAR.
Here is the summary data for your reference:
Successes: Students
· More optimism, less stress without averaging
· Improved, specific feedback from teachers; know how to grow
· Clear expectations (formatives, summatives, rubrics, units, etc.)
· Less “talk” about grades with peers
· More thorough evaluation with strands
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Challenges: Students
· The paradigm shift is hard. We don’t know what is “good” and what is “bad”
· More transparent, and this sometimes feels more subjective
· More clarity is needed in the difference between ⅚ and ⅞
· The consistency of scale application across disciplines/teachers
· The overlap of some strands
· Fear of final exams… the ultimate retake = high stress
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Successes: Parents
· Quality feedback to students and parents
· Achievement personalized rather than comparative; more accurate and more holistic information about the individual
· Students know their strengths, areas of growth and where to prioritize; this supports a growth orientation
· Patterns emerge across disciplines within strands
· Richer conversations at home about reports
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Challenges: Parents
· The consistency of scale application across disciplines/teachers
· More transparent, and this sometimes feels more subjective
· Students don’t always know how to self-advocate to address feedback
· Students don’t always know how to accurately self-assess; they focus on the positive
· Less stress for kids, less talk of “numbers” but more stress for parents as they try to understand the system
· Motivation and demotivation with the score 8 - is it possible?
· Extrinsic motivation of GPA vs. need for intrinsic motivation or understanding extrinsic motivation of new system
· The overlap of some strands
· Anxiety about university understanding
· SBAR’s relationship to IB/AP prediction of performance
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Successes: Faculty
· Students are taking action on feedback
· Having more meaningful conversations about learning
· Students appear less stressed
· Fewer retakes are requested
· Students are more accurate in self-assessing
· Scoring is more transparent and there is greater accountability for teachers
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Challenges: Faculty
· The workload is high and there is never enough time
· Quality feedback can cause fatigue for both teachers and students
· Balancing generating data and instructing
· Maintaining consistency within courses, across departments, and within the section
· Being comfortable with growing pains
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High School Theater Production - A Message from the Producer - Repeat Announcement
Güllen: once a center of culture and industry, the little European town has fallen on hard times. With the factories closed, opportunities drying up, and even the trains passing them by, the townspeople have begun to despair.
But there is a glimmer of hope: Claire Zachanassian, once a child of the town—and now the wealthiest person in the world—is returning for a visit.
In the hopes of securing her investment in her old hometown, the Gülleners prepare a nostalgic welcome. When the moment finally comes, Claire offers them unimaginable generosity...but at an unthinkable price.
*The Visit* by Friedrich Dürrenmatt is a tragicomedy suitable for High School and mature Middle School students. The production runs Friday, 30 November at 6:30 pm and Saturday, 1 December at 2:00pm. Tickets are on sale in the main reception office for Rs. 100.
Next Early Release Wednesday Coming - Repeat Announcement
The next Early Release Wednesday will be on November 28th. 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, a hot lunch will be served. Please note that the iHub will be open to provide an air-conditioned waiting space until 2:40 pm in case drivers are delayed. Food services in the iHub will close at 1:50 pm.
Summer Programs
Please note that for the remainder of the year we will share this link to summer programs at the end the Principal’s Notes. If you have any questions about whether or not a summer program makes sense to pursue, please contact one of our counselors. Additional programs and resources will be added to this list as vendors contact us.
Sincerely,
Joelle Basnight
High School Principal
