Dear Students and Parents,
As we have a short, holiday week next week, I will not be publishing a newsletter next week. If there is essential information to share, I will send an email.
HS full cohort attendance schedule for Nov 1-3, Nov 8-12
The HS has moved to full cohort hybrid attendance. That is, all students who are attending in-person should attend every school day. There will no longer be virtual days. RaptorSafe orientation dates are below the Arrival/Departure section. Students can only be oriented on these days.
UPDATED Arrival/Departure times starting November 1st (new ES departure times)
Please note the change in ES departure that may impact some HS students
Starting November 1st, we will adjust our arrival and departure times to align with the Elementary and Middle Schools. For us, the arrival times are roughly the same, and the departure times are now 5 minutes earlier than our previous pattern.
The big change is that if your HS student has a younger sibling, they will arrive and depart with the younger child based on the youngest child’s grade level. For departure, HS students will need to go to the departure area of their younger sibling: your HS student should exit the HS/main entrance and walk to the youngest child’s pick-up area. Please see the table for drop-off and pick-up timings and this map for drop-off and pick areas by section.
All sections
HS only
Raptor Safe Orientation for students returning to campus
Next Raptor Safe Orientations and requirements
If you have not had Orientation this school year, or if you have returned to virtual after being in-person, you must attend a RaptorSafe orientation.
The next Raptor Safe Orientations are:
For all HS grade levels: Monday, November 1, 8:00 am
For all HS grade levels: Monday, November 8, 8:00 am
For all HS grade levels: Monday, November 15, 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 PANBIO test result.
Bring PANBIO test in a plastic bag to the entrance gate of school on Monday.
PANBIO Rapid Antigen test instructions and upload process described in the document linked above
This information is fully laid out here.
Cyber Safety Follow-up (from Dr. Clinton)
We had a rich conversation with a group of parents last week on the topic of online safety for our children. If you missed it but are interested in the discussion, you can see the slides from the session here. These slides contain links to research and tools you might consider as a parent.
Just this week, Google has rolled out a way that “anyone under the age of 18, or their parent or guardian, can now request the removal of their images from Search results” by following the steps that you can find here. This is a potentially handy feature that complements Google’s existing tools for removing content from search. Note that this process doesn’t remove the content from the Internet, but it removes it from Google’s search results.
Slides of Parent Coffee: Tuesday, Oct 26, 2021
Focus: Establishing renewed ways of communicating with our children while supporting them in the midst of uncertainty. View HS Counselors Mrs. Karen Killmer and Dr. Cathy Curtis, with a visit from incoming HS counselor Mrs. Sandi Engler (see below) as they led dialogue about and a strategy and tools survey for supporting communication with your child/ren. Slides here.
Repeat Announcement: Welcome to Mrs. Sandi Engler, HS Counselor beginning November 1st
I am pleased to introduce you to our new HS Counselor, Mrs. Sandi Engler. Mrs. Engler comes to us after many years as university counselor at ENKA schools in Istanbul, Turkey. Mrs. Engler will be joining us virtually from November 1 through December 17, and then in-person starting in Semester 2, January 10, 2022. In November and December, Mrs. Engler will transition into the role of comprehensive counselor working alongside Mrs. Killmer and Dr. Curtis, as below:
12th grade
Dr. Curtis will remain as the full time 12th grade university counselor through December 17. Dr. Curtis will maintain responsibility for all college application processes during this time. Dr. Curtis’s goal is to have all university applications completed in Maia Learning in November. Mrs. Engler will partner with Dr. Curtis in all college application processes. In addition, Mrs. Engler will meet with all 12th grade students. Starting January 10th, Mrs. Engler will become the primary 12th counselor. Dr. Curtis will remain on staff in a consultant role to support all 12th graders and Mrs. Engler in the college application process through June 2022.
10th and 11th grades
Ms. Engler will begin as the comprehensive counselor for half of the 10th grade and half of the 11th grade starting November 1 (rosters shared next week). As Mrs. Engler builds relationships with her students, she will be working closely with Mrs. Killmer to support each student. For any immediate, in-person support that may be required, Mrs. Killmer will be available through December 17 for all students, as she has been so far this year.
9th grade
Mrs. Killmer will remain as the 9th grade counselor for all 9th graders through the end of the 2021-22 school year.
At the start of Semester 2 on January 10th, Mrs. Engler will fully step into all roles for grades 10, 11 and 12 as she begins in-person in Chennai. Those roles are detailed in the table here.
Dr. Curtis will remain on staff to consult with Mrs. Engler and Mrs. Killmer through the end of the school year in June.
Repeat Announcement: Adaptations to Module expectations in Module 6 (Oct 25-Nov 3)
This week, 92% of AISC HS students attended school in person (144/156). In some classes, all students are attending in person. In order to equitably provide the best learning experience possible in full-cohort in-person hybrid, in consultation with the HS faculty community forum (FCF), I have made incremental adjustments to module expectations:
An increase in synchronous time from 40% to a range of 60-75%.
Elimination of the requirement for 20% of module time to be asynchronous small group work. Small group work can be in synch and/or asynch time.
Fewer mandatory assignments required to be submitted to be marked present.
Elimination of the requirement for an introductory video for the module
Please see this visual depiction of the changes in the synchronous/asynchronous time allotments.
We will gather feedback on these changes, and with the FCF and the Student Advisory Forum (SAF), work to understand the impact of these adaptations. We will consider additional adaptations and changes for Semester 2. Look for a request for your feedback in the November 23rd HS Parent Coffee.
Final Exams in December: In-Person
Please find here the Semester 1 final exam schedule for December 13-17. As you make your travel plans, I want to make sure you know that Final Exams will be in-person during final exam week. The exception is for students who have been and will remain virtual. If your travel plans include the need to be out of Chennai Dec 13-17, your child will need to sit for in-person final exam makeups starting January 10, 2022, when we return for Semester 2.
Gym and Raptor’s Den Hours extended for students
As we continue to grow through the pandemic, and students are being RaptorSafe, we are able to offer additional supervised time for students in the Gym for longer hours, and we are able to open the Raptor’s Den for student use from 3:30-5:00 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Please see the schedules here.
Lunch Menu Nov 1-3
The menu for next week’s lunches is here on the second page.
Thank you to the cafeteria staff and Mr. Antony Rex for a wonderful India Month lunch on October 27th. The food was fantastic and the mood festive and celebratory.
Mr. McFarland will email the lunch order form to all students attending in person.
The FAC cafeteria is now open for socially distanced eating.
The iHub is selling snacks and drinks and is open to high school students for socially distanced eating and drinking.
SAVE THE DATE: PCA Diwali Virtual Mela
Diwali and all its promised festivities are upon us! And the PCA, in partnership with the Advancement Office is excited to bring you a virtual Diwali experience! This web-based community festival includes pre-recorded community performances, cooking tutorials, and an activity book. Head to the PCA Blog for more details!
When: Thursday, November 11, 3:00 p.m. IST onwards
Where: Bookmark this page!
Repeat Announcement AISC Celebrates India
With festival season upon us and Diwali just around the corner, AISC is all set to celebrate India Month. And we want to see you in your finest festive wear! So upload your Diwali photos here or tag us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter (@aischennai).
Diwali community dance: Shake a leg this festive season with a dance tutorial from ASA Instructor Ms. Kavya! Bring your family together and share a recording with the PCA Executive Team! We hope many families will enjoy learning this dance and upload their videos to the folder below. Please click on the link for the music for this dance.
Please upload your videos in this folder
Technical details
o Find a space with good lighting, preferably natural light, not sunny but well-lit.
o Please record with limited background noise,
o Please keep the video in LANDSCAPE position.
o The format should be Mp4.
Blaft Publications specially curated catalog for AISC High School
Repeat Announcement: You are invited to sessions with Homa Tavangar, author and advocate!
Tools for Having Courageous Conversations Around Race, Culture and Beliefs: Speaking up with courage and confidence, takes confidence born of practice, deep empathy, and a commitment to racial literacy and positive impact over good intent. Learn some key principles, techniques and talking points for embracing, not avoiding, the difficult conversations around differences, starting with small, doable action steps that anyone, from any background can take. Participants can join the November session through this link and add it to their google calendar here. The same is true for January - meeting link, add to calendar.
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
