Dear Students and Parents,
Looking ahead to progress reports, student-led student-parent-teacher conferences and returning to full-strength, everyday attendance!
HS will move to full cohort attendance on Monday, October 11
As Andrew has shared, the high school will move to full cohort attendance starting Monday, October 11. That is, all students who are currently attending in-person should attend every school day. No Mango and Blue cohorts. There will no longer be virtual days. Please see this document on the return to full cohort hybrid for full details.
Schedule for October 11-15, October 18-22
Students who have not yet had Raptor Safe Orientation:
Requirements and Next Raptor Safe Orientations
The next Raptor Safe Orientations are:
For all HS grade levels: Monday, October 11, 8:00 am
For all HS grade levels: Tuesday, October 19, 8:00 am
For all HS grade levels: Monday, October 25, 8:00 am
For all HS grade levels: Monday, November 1, 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 Oct 11-15
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.
Progress Reports available Wednesday, October 13 at 2:30 pm
Semester 1 Progress reports will be emailed to you, along with Fall 2021 MAP test results, on Wednesday afternoon, October 13, 2021. Progress Reports are a snapshot of student learning habits and achievement as of the first week of October. Students receive comments from teachers in each subject. We invite you to use progress reports to have a conversation with your child about their progress, and to avail of the opportunity to meet with your child’s teachers at the upcoming Student-Parent-Teacher Conferences.
Note: Schoology Mastery grade view and Powerschool grade view are not accessible until Wednesday, October 13 at 2:30, to allow teachers to assign achievement strand, and an overall mark, give learning habit feedback and write and finalize comments.
Student-Parent-Teacher Conferences October 18 - Link OPEN
You can sign up for a conference appointment here.
Conference slots are 10 minutes in length on Monday, October 18 from 8:00 am - 5:00 pm.
On October 18th at your conference time, please use the teacher’s Zoom link found on this document to join a Zoom call with your child’s teacher. You will be sent a copy of this document on September 18th.
For Mr. Gio Bello, who is on leave, Ms. Sunita will set up your meetings for a time starting October 25th.
Students are expected to attend SPT conferences with their parent(s) and lead the conversation.
Important Social Media Information Share
Please see this note from Director of Information Technology and Research and Development Dr. Greg Clinton regarding information that we have become aware of involving cyber safety and social media. Included in the note is an invitation to take part in a learning dialogue on October 21 about cyber safety and how we can work together to empower students in a digital landscape.
AISC student excellence recognized at MUN Without Borders
In September 23 AISC students participated for a weekend in the MUN Without Borders. Several AISC HS students were recognized for their excellence, including:
Melchi Michael - Honorable Mention
Neil Raman - Best Delegate
Chanak Gautam - Verbal Commendation
Rohan Roberson - Verbal Commendation
Congratulations to all AISC MUNWB participants and thanks to Ms. Pepper, Ms. Chandini, Ms. Mary and Ms. Vini for advising our delegates and chairs.
SAVE THE DATE: Inspiration Conversation (Tuesday, October 12)
Join Storyteller and Performer Vikram Sridhar as he takes us on an engaging journey through the cultural significance and folklore behind water storage systems across India. With his signature style of storytelling, Vikram is an engaging performer based in Chennai and Bangalore. You can watch his TedX talk on "The Power of Stories in Our World of Reality" here.
When: Tuesday, October 12, 4:15–5:00 p.m. IST
Where: Join us on Zoom here (Passcode: AISC).
Meeting ID: 971 8034 3916
Passcode: AISC
Whom: Open to students, faculty/staff, and parents!
Repeat Announcement: Schoology Slides and feedback survey from the HS Parent Coffee Tuesday, September 21
Please view the Slides from the Schoology 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.
Repeat Announcement (with new date): 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 9-12. The course and conversations will occur October 18-22.
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 have been invited to join the course through the HS Daily Bulletin.
Please write to Shari at ashari@aischennai.org for further information.
Repeat Announcement 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: 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.
Sincerely,
Mike Malone
High School Principal
