Dear Students and Parents,
Thanks for a great August and September! See you in October.
Wishing all a peaceful Gandhi Jayanti and UN International Day of Peace on October 2nd.
Important to remember: Wednesday, October 6th is a Virtual Day. All students should attend school virtually from home on Wednesday.
Schedules for October 4-8 and October 11-15
Students who have not yet had Raptor Safe Orientation:
Requirements and Next Raptor Safe Orientations
The next Raptor Safe Orientations are:
For Mango students of all grade levels: Monday, October 4, 8:00 am
For Blue students of all grade levels: Thursday, October 7, 8:00 am
For Mango students of all grade levels: Monday, October 11, 8:00 am
For Blue students of all grade levels: Wednesday, October 13, 8:00 am
Forms required to return to campus:
Health/Medical form for all HS students
HS Student Handbook signature page for all HS students and parents
Return to Campus Permission form for all HS students intending to attend school in- person
Uploaded recent Covid negative test result. Panbio Rapid Antigen test instructions and upload process described in the document linked above
This information is fully laid out here.
Lunch Menu
The menu for next week’s lunches for purchase is here. Mr. McFarland will email all attending students the order form for lunches. Student lunches are now cooked fresh on campus, picked up in the FAC cafeteria and eaten outside.
Slides and feedback survey from the HS Parent Coffee Tuesday, September 21
Please view the Slides from the presentation and the two breakout sessions (Schoology basics and digging deeper) from this week’s parent coffee. As attendees were, we invite you to give us feedback on your experience with Schoology on this Schoology parent feedback form. Your feedback is important, and along with student and teacher feedback, helps us continue to improve Schoology’s useability and effectiveness in supporting learning.
Opportunity for HS Students to join a GOA-facilitated global dialogue about race
As part of our Diversity and Equity mission this year, we are offering some "opt-in" activities for students. Our online partner, Global Online Academy (GOA) is offering a one-week, asynchronous online learning course called "Who We Are, What we Say, What it Means:Conversations About Race" suitable for HS students Grades 8-12.
The GOA-designed and facilitated activities invite students to explore their racial, cultural or national identities and consider how to understand and communicate with others who are different. Some age appropriate personal narrative resources focus on experiences of bias and racism. Shari Abbott, HS Personalized Learning Coordinator, will facilitate our students' participation, including offering two real time meetings for AISC students to dialogue and process.
This course will allow HS students to learn more about living in our diverse and dynamic world, and provides them with tools to talk and act confidently, empathetically and ethically within it.
Students will be invited to join the course through the HS Daily Bulletin.
Please write to Shari at ashari@aischennai.org for further information.
From the Counselling Corner: SUMMER PROGRAMS - 2021-22
Summer programs can be a way to experience something new and to enrich your learning. If you are interested in diving deeper into a subject that you are passionate about or want to explore what it is like to be on a college campus, finding a program that is a good fit might be worth exploring.
Contrary to popular belief, colleges/universities do not require participation in summer programs and attending a summer program on the campus of a university does not give students an automatic benefit in admissions to that university.
As notifications about summer programs roll in, Counselors will post LINKS in this document. Additionally, students can use the internet to search for summer programs! There are far more programs out there than we receive notification about.AISC HS’s list of Summer Programs 2021-22
To know more about Summer Programs (published by the College Board) please read through the CollegeBoard-Summer Learning Programs: What, Why and How.
Repeat announcement: PSAT test on October 13, 2021
This note has been running in the HS Bulletin for several days - making sure that parents are aware:
The PSAT/ NMSQT test (Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test) will be administered on Wednesday, October 13th this year from 8:00 to 11.30 am. If you are interested in taking the test, please enter your name here- PSAT 2021. Deadline extended: We have several slots open at this time.
Freshmen, it is completely voluntary for you to take the PSAT. If you are interested please email Ms.Priya at spriya@aischennai.org and, if we have enough tests available after the Sophomores and Juniors sign up, we will definitely consider your request.
Juniors, if you are a US citizen, you are eligible to qualify for the National Merit Scholarship through this test.
Students who sign up for the PSAT test will have a preadministration session to fill in your personal information, details regarding the same will follow. To know more about the PSAT test, please click on this link - https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/psat-nmsqt-psat.
Repeat: Mark the dates: Progress Reports and Student-Parent-Teacher conferences
The mid-semester point is Oct 7. Progress reports will be issued on Wednesday, October 13. Progress reports contain feedback on each student’s recent achievement strand performance, an overall mark based on the holistic course rubric, Learning Habits feedback and comments on progress. SPT conferences will take place from 8am to 5pm, virtually on Zoom, on Monday, October 18. Conferences are 10 minutes long. You will receive the electronic sign-up sheet from Ms. Sunita in an email during the week of Oct 4-8.
Repeat Announcement: Reminder about absences and pre-arranged absences
If your child is absent from a class, we ask that you call the HS office or email ahead of time. For example, if your child is unexpectedly unwell, please call the HS office to report that they will not be attending a class or classes that day. Please do this whether we are in virtual, hybrid or fully in-person. Our health office will follow up. If your child is not present in a class without you having notified us of their absence, we begin a safety process to ascertain your child’s wellbeing and whereabouts.
If you know in advance that your child will miss a class or a day or more of school, your child is required to complete a Pre-Arranged Absence form (aka Blue Form). This process allows your child and their teachers to plan ahead for the absence, and identify what should be completed before, during and after the pre-planned absence. This completed form is signed by a parent and the principal. This document functions as a contract, clearly laying out the path to support your child’s learning.
Have a great break,
Mike Malone
High School Principal
