Dear Students and Parents,
On behalf of the High School Faculty, I would like to welcome you to the 2020-2021 school year. I hope you have had a restful, enjoyable summer and are looking forward to the coming school year!
As you know, we will begin the year virtually. Please watch this introductory video to orient yourself to our virtual learning environment. Apologies in advance for the length of the video. There is much to be said!
It is my pleasure to introduce you to the new members of the high school faculty:
Greg Clinton - Social Studies
Sandhya Gopinath - Art
Bob Krebs - Choir (shared with Middle School)
Tracey Grimm - Counseling
Sandhya Gopinath - Art
Bob Krebs - Choir (shared with Middle School)
Tracey Grimm - Counseling
Also joining us in new capacities:
Ben Fouchard - Social Studies and LSS
Jason Kennedy - Band (shared with Middle School)
Ryan McFarland - DT (and Athletics/Activities Director)
Gio Bello - PE (and Aquatics Director)
I hope you will join me in welcoming them into the AISC HS community!
New Student and Parent Orientation
To help welcome high school students and their parents who are new to the AISC Community, we are hosting our first-ever ‘Virtual’ New Student and Parent Orientation on Wednesday, August 5th. On Monday, August 3rd, pre-recorded presentations from the Head of School, section Principals, Athletics and Activities Director, and others will be sent to all new students and their families to watch in advance of Wednesday's event. On the day of the event, parents and students are invited to attend 'live' Question & Answer sessions scheduled from 8am-1pm.
Our High School students will begin the day (8:00-9:00am) for a special orientation with the High School counselors. Parents may be interested to attend our first Q&A session, from 8:30-9:00am, with our Head of School, Andrew Hoover, and parents and students can join together to participate in the Q&A with the High School Principal from 10:30-11:00am. The Q&A sessions will conclude with an opportunity to connect with our Athletics and Activities Director from 11:00-11:30am.
Technology resources, forms, handbooks, and other information will also be accessible to all participants. A full program will be posted and sent to all new families on August 3rd.
Orientation - First Two Days of School
August 6th and 7th will be dedicated to all student virtual orientation.
The first day will be spent reconnecting after the holiday. We will begin with our annual welcome assembly. Students will then have time in Discovery Crew and grade level groups to reconnect, learn together and laugh together. As a reminder, we place students in mixed grade level “Crews” that meet throughout the year as a community within our larger community. Crews will be a key touch point in our virtual program.
The second day will focus on preparation for virtual schooling. Students will be briefed in using an electronic organizer we have created and they will attend various “bootcamps” that cover relevant grade study and organizational skills.
A detailed orientation schedule with all meeting links will be emailed to students (school Gmail account) on the 5th of August.
PowerSchool Reporting Dates
Families will receive regular updates about academic progress throughout the year. Progress reports with scores 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 11 – Progress update
October 9 - Progress update
October 27 - Progress report with comments
November 26 - Progress update
January 22 - Report card with comments
February 5 – Progress update
March 5 - Progress update
March 25 – Progress report with comments
April 23 – Progress update
May 14 – Progress update
June 9 – Final report card
Student Schedule Changes
As we are beginning the year virtually, we have extended the drop/add period for schedule change until August 18th at 4:00 pm. This deadline is in place to help students settle into their classes as soon as possible. Students who wish to change their schedules should contact Ms. Priya (spriya@aischennai.org) to schedule a meeting with their counselor. Please note that priority will be given to students without a full schedule. After all students are fully scheduled counselors will begin meeting with students about changes.
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 important information with students and parents in 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 virtually. 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 (November 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.
First Parent Coffee
Our first high school virtual parent coffee will take place on Tuesday, August 25th, from 8:45 - 9:45 am. This coffee is aimed to get parents new to high school up to speed on our Standards-Based Assessment and Reporting system. While returning parents in grades 10 - 12 are welcome to attend, please note that no new information will be shared.
Attendance and Intervention in the Virtual Space
As you are aware, our school policy is to require 85% attendance in order to be eligible for credit in a course. This is normally calculated by block and is based on physical presence. In a virtual space, attendance takes on a different guise and the focus is really on engagement rather than physical presence.
As was indicated in the introductory video (linked above), we will be following our regular school timetable organized by two week modules. All of the required information for each module will be reflected in PowerSchool. This will include engagement expectations linked to participation and attendance.
The following three levels of engagement are outlined for students for clarity and transparency. While we hope all students will remain fully engaged throughout the module, feedback from students last spring indicated that some of the study material and activities supplied in the module was not necessary for advanced students. Our best advice is for students to follow the pacing guide and remain fully engaged, making adjustments only once they feel firmly grounded in the course.
Example of engagement levels from sample module:
Modules will run for two weeks and will begin on a Monday.
At the end of Week One, teachers will take stock of student progress and mark students who are not on track as “IE” or “insufficient evidence.” Students who are following the pacing guide will be marked “OT” or “on track.” Attendance will be posted by the end of the day of Monday of Week Two. Students marked “IE” will receive a follow up email from their teacher. This email will be cc’d to Ms. Sunita so she can check in with the family about connectivity should the teacher get no reply.
At the end of the second week the module will come to a close at 4:00 pm on Friday. Students will be marked “AB” or “absent” if they do not meet the engagement expectations outlined by the teacher. Attendance will be viewable by the Monday night following the close of the module. The teacher will also assign the student to the next available School Monitored Study Session to get caught up and will reach out for a conference to touch base.
Students who are absent in more than one course will be assigned a Case Manager to help them with their organization and to expedite connecting them with further support as needed.
Students who are absent for more than two modules in the semester will lose credit as they will not have been present for at least 85% of the course. In truth, with so many checkpoints along the way, no student should reach this point if the student is actively engaged in his/her studies.
Finally, here is the updated flowchart that defines our overall Intervention Plan. Upon review you can see how this plan is linked in with attendance to ensure we are accounting for the engagement of all students.
Arts, Sports & Activities Program
Sincerely,
Joelle Basnight
High School Principal
