Dear Parents and Students,
Thank you for joining us for student-parent-teacher conferences, the HS Celebration of Learning, Student Parent Teacher Conferences and Cabaret this week. It was meaningful and delightful to be on campus together. As we now look ahead to the last 8 weeks of school, there are several important pieces of information below to review. We are focused on supporting our students as they prepare for the first in-person AP and IB and semester 2 final exams in three years. The HS is literally abuzz with learning.
Raptor Safe updates
Please make sure to review Mr. Ryan McFarland’s Raptor Safe update in the Head of School’s newsletter to review “Project Get Back” changes. Recent changes are summarized here:
Panbio/Rapid Antigen not required at this time.
We look forward to HS/MS Cabaret (tonight, April 8, all parents welcome). As always, thank you for being RaptorSafe! And parents - remember to upload your proof of vaccination via the link, fully explained in the next section.
Visiting Campus – Cabaret
As you know, we are looking forward to having parents on campus in the coming weeks. We continue to develop our systems to streamline entry to campus for staff, students, and parents.
Please understand that by external directive, vaccinations are required of adults on campus – faculty, staff, and visitors. We also recognize that vaccination is an extremely effective tool in protecting the health of community members and preventing spread to those unable to vaccinate or at increased risk.
If you are planning to attend events on campus, take a few minutes to complete this form with parent vaccination information and a copy of the certificate.
Prior to your visiting campus, expect to receive a health screening form, which will be submitted at the entrance of the school at the time of your conferences.
Based on parent feedback, if you are not vaccinated and wish to attend a campus event, please contact Mr. Ryan McFarland (mryan@aischennai.org) for exemption information, and be prepared to present a recent negative test to enter campus.
Events At-A-Glance: 2021-2022
Schedule for the next four weeks:
Lunch Order form April 11 - 13
Here is the lunch order form for HS students for April 11 - April 13. It needs to be completed by Sunday at noon. 9th graders, do order for April 11 and 12, as you will have regular lunch during Transdisciplinary Days. Seniors who may not be on campus April 13th - remember to skip ordering lunch.
AISC National Honors Society 2021-22 Induction
We were thrilled to be able to hold our first fully in-person Induction Ceremony for new members of AISC’s National Honor Society Chapter on Friday, April 1st. Congratulations to the 14 new members:
9th grade: Luke Merletti, Melchi Michael, Nandini Bhaktal
10th grade: Adesh Roberson, Doyeon Kim, Gaia Flavia Anai Mezaib Botti,
Sungmin Lee
11th grade: Arsh Khanna, Lokeswar Gopikrishna, Dhivya Joseph Sasha Vijay,
Jiyo Chang, Kaaviya Raghuraman, Rishi Bharadwaj, Yejon Choi
Membership in the National Honor Society is a high honor at AISC, as our chapter has a strong reputation in our wider community. Our chapter, along with the more than 15,000 chapters in schools across the world, strives to demonstrate in action the meaning of our Society's standards: scholarship, leadership, service, and character. Our new members were selected on the basis of their demonstrated commitment to all of these standards.
TONIGHT: HS/MS Cabaret, Friday, April 8th
Cabaret, our student body’s annual showcase of their jaw-dropping talent is back this year! This year’s theme is “AISC’s still got Talent!” and our performers are continually reminding us how true that is! This has been a long time coming, but it will be great for us to get together and celebrate our resilient community.
We are pleased to welcome all parents, students and faculty members to the show. As per our current protocols, if you are not vaccinated and wish to attend the show, please contact Mr. Ryan McFarland (mryan@aischennai.org) for exemption information, and be prepared to present a recent negative RT-PCR test to enter campus.
We look forward to seeing you at the FAC Theater at 6:30pm tonight Friday, April 8th
9th grade Transdisciplinary Days - Monday and Tuesday, April 11 and 12
After a two year delay, we are excited to share that our first “Transdisciplinary Days” with the entire 9th grade will occur next week. Please read more about this experiential and discipline-integrating two-day effort here, first shared in an OTL blog post earlier this year.
HS/MS Spring Concert - April 21 at 4:30 pm (FAC Auditorium)
We invite the parent and student community to our MS/HS Spring concert on April 21st, at 4:30 pm. We are excited for our bands, choirs, and guitar ensembles to perform our first music concert in the theater since December 2019.
Parents who wish to attend must have their vaccination information uploaded here. If you did so already for conferences, then you are all set. Any parent that has not uploaded their vaccination status will need to show their vaccination record at the door or show an RT-PCR result no older than 72 hours. For now, we do not know if extended family members (those without a school ID) will be able to attend. We encourage family members to sit together and leave a gap in seats between family groupings. Masks will be required inside.
Doors will open at 4:20. See you there!
Repeat Announcement: Semester 2 Final Exams and Alternative Final Assessments
The schedule for semester final exams and alternative final assessments can be found here. Final exam week is Monday, May 30 - Friday, June 3. Revision week, during which students revise for the final exams or complete alternative final assessments is Tuesday, May 24 - Friday, May 27. If a student has an alternative final assessment, they do not have a final exam in that subject during final exam week.
During exam week, students should enter school at the regular time of 8:30 am. If students have only a morning exam, they can leave campus after finishing the morning exam. Students are expected to take all exams in-person.
To inform travel plans: HS students are not obligated to attend school after their last exam. Teachers will be present and available for any needs through 3:30 pm on Friday, June 3rd.
Semester 2 report cards will be available on Wednesday, June 8.
Look Ahead: AISC Earth Week upcoming April 18-22
AISC Libraries Earth Week Book Swap
Have a great weekend,
Mike Malone
High School Principal
