parent bulletin issue 4 sy1314

7/30/2019 Parent Bulletin Issue 4 SY1314

1/12

23-25 MAP Tesng

20 Courtyard Event

Drama Department 5

13 Progress Reports Access

MIDDLE SCHOOLMIDDLE SCHOOLMIDDLE SCHOOL

ISSUE # 4

SY 2013 2014

WEEK OF:

SEPTEMBER 9 to 13

Weekly Publication for Middle School Parents

Friday BulletinInside this issue:

Events & Acvies:

SEPTEMBER

Security Oce

MS Media Center

ATAC Oce

Academic Bowl

ISM Upcoming Events

Admissions & Advancement 2

3

6

7

9

10

Powerschool Update:

12 Parent Workshop

16-20 FCD

Dear Parents,

On Thursday, September 12 a parent workshop, conducted by Erma Anderson, on the

topic of Math will be held in the Lile Theater starng at 7:30. Erma has been work-

ing with math teachers across the three divisions to review curriculum and pracces.

If you are available, please take advantage of the opportunity to hear how you can

support your childs mathemacal thinking and skills development.

From September 16 - 20 we welcome two consultants from Freedom from Chemical

Dependency (FCD) Educaonal Services. FCD is a non-prot organizaon that pro-

vides substance abuse prevenon educaon for schools and colleges in the United

States and around the world. For the duraon of their stay, FCD presenters will meet

with students, counselors, wellness teachers and administrators. We are also pleased

that the FCD consultants are previous visitors to ISM so they are familiar with the

school and community.

Since 1976, they have taught over a million students of all ages. Their mission is to:

Provide educaonal communies with the guidance and training necessary to

implement comprehensive, eecve approaches to substance abuse prevenon

Educate students, parents, teachers, and school administrators on the physiologi-

cal and psychological eects of alcohol and other drugs

Promote awareness of drug addicon, including alcoholism, as a progressive,chronic and oen fatal disease

Teach students and adults how to recognize the early warning signs of substance

abuse and to intervene appropriately

Empower young people to make healthy, responsible choices regarding alcohol

and other drug use

Encourage and support the non-use of alcohol and other illegal or illicit drugs

during the growing years.

A parent meeng on Thursday, September 19 starng at 7:45 A.M. in the Lile Thea-

ter has been scheduled and all parents are invited to aend.

Looking aheadMeasures of Academic Progress (MAP) Tesng begins on September

23; more details will follow. September Classroom Without Wall (CWW) acvies willtake place on September 26 and 27. Grade 5 students will remain on campus and

parent volunteers are needed to assist with the Amazing Race on Thursday, Septem-

ber 26 from 7:30 10:30. If you would like to volunteer and support students at a

race checkpoint, please contact your childs grade 5 Advisor.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Yours in Educaon,

Simon Gillespie Clarissa Sayson

Middle School Principal Middle School Assistant Principal

19 Parent Coee


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Dear Parents,

Please be reminded that keeping your contact informaon updated is vital to facilitang communicaon with the

school. If you would like to view/change any of the details on your current record, simply follow the steps below:


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Dear Parents,

Operaons and Security

Access and parking within the campus are important security and safety issues. For the well-being of all members of

the ISM community, those entering the school campus are requested to take note of the informaon and procedures

outlined below.

Parent IDs

We will be issuing new parent IDs for the school year 2013/14. To reduce the inconvenience to parents of this replace-

ment program, the old parent ID cards will be valid for school access unl the end of the rst semester on December

18th, 2013. The standard new parent cards will be issued free of charge. Parents may, however, elect to apply for a

smartcard ID which will be usable with the new cashless payment system being introduced into the school for SY 2013-

14. There will be a fee of P250.00 for a smartcard which covers in part the registraon fee the school is required to pay

for each card issued.

The security oce is now processing applicaons for the new parent IDs. As we require new photographs for the cards

parents are asked to visit the security oce for the taking of their picture.

School Passes

School passes issued to parents employees and representaves need to be replaced for next school year. As of Au-

gust 31, 2013 the orange bordered passes will be invalid.

The security oce is now accepng applicaons for new school passes. These passes will not be compable with the

cashless payment system.

Each family will be given two free school passes. Addional school passes may be obtained aer paying a processingfee of Php100.00 each to the Cashiers Oce.

Visitors Passes

All visitors must secure a pass from the guardhouse at Gate 3. Before entry will be allowed, a telephone check will be

made with the relevant oce to conrm the visitors business within the school. Visitors will need to surrender a photo

-ID upon entry to campus.

Car Sckers

The car sckers for school year 2013/2014 are available from the security oce.

For vehicles already displaying an exisng scker, parents should submit a completed renewal form with a copy of a

current LTO ocial receipt. For new vehicles, parents are reminded that a copy of the vehicles cercate of registra-

on and a current ocial receipt need to be submied with the applicaon. Applicaons for vehicles registered with

companies or other instuons should be supported by a leer of assignment.

Each ISM family will be issued one vehicle scker free of charge. Any addional sckers will be issued following pay-

ment of P100 to the cashiers oce.

In order to facilitate the easy recognion of authorized cars at the gates, the sckers should be axed to the top right

corner of the windshield. Further to this, old ISM sckers issued in previous years should be removed.


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In order to facilitate the easy recognion of authorized cars at the gates, the sckers should be axed to the top right

corner of the windshield. Further to this, old ISM sckers issued in previous years should be removed.

Vehicles not displaying a current car scker will not be allowed access from August 31, 2013.

During peak hours (drop o and pick-up mes), all vehicles without valid sckers and randomly selected vehicles with

sckers will be asked to undergo an examinaon.

Whether an examinaon is conducted or not, it is important that the security sta at the gates are able to idenfy the

occupants of vehicles entering the campus; therefore IDs must be clearly displayed. Vehicles with nted windows must

roll down windows to allow a clear view of the interior of the vehicle.

Drivers, Helpers and Bodyguards

Drivers, helpers and bodyguards should not wait on campus for students throughout the school day. Aer dropping o

students they should exit the school grounds and not return more than 30 minutes before dismissal me. Those who

repeatedly fail to comply with the regulaon will have their access privilege suspended.

Only those vehicles carrying parents or other people with business within the school will be allowed to return to the

campus before the scheduled pick up me.

There are designated areas for unaccompanied drivers, yayas, helpers and security escorts to wait for parents and stu-

dents. Unless specically authorized, they may not enter any other area. In the interest of security, and to prevent con-

geson at the pedestrian entrances to the covered parking area, parents are requested to emphasize to their employ-

ees the importance of cooperang with the security sta and remaining in the appropriate areas.

Firearms

All members of the ISM community are reminded that it is strictly forbidden for rearms to be brought onto the cam-

pus. This includes concealed weapons carried by bodyguards for close protecon. Any person arriving at the school with

a rearm should inform the gate guard and arrangements will be made for the weapon to be safely and securely stored

during the visitors stay.

Security sta direcons

Our security team is endeavoring to make the school as safe and secure an environment as possible for all members of

our community.

We ask that everybody cooperate with us in this important task. In parcular, all those entering our campus are re-

quested to comply with any direcons given to them by members of our guard force.

If you are confused or unclear as to the purpose of such instrucons, please seek claricaon from the security oce.

Please note that it is the parents responsibility to advise their sta accordingly.

Thank you for your cooperaon. We are looking forward to another great year at Internaonal School Manila.

Best wishes,

MICHAEL FLYNN

Director of Operaons


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When: November 22 - November 24 2013 (not including travel days)

Where: Guangzhou, People's Republic of China (Check out the website for more details:

hp://www.ista.co.uk/whats-on/fesval/guangzhou-middle-school-fesval/Group

Audions will be held on Monday, September 23rd, and Wednesday, September 25th,

from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. in Room 1149. Plan to aend ONE SESSION, where you will play

improv games and do acng exercises with individual components. Sign up with Ms. Grev

and Ms. Rankin, and pick up an audion form!

Thank You,

Ms. Carrie M. Grev

Theater & Music Educator

Opportunity for 7th & 8th Graders Interested in Theater Experience!!!

ISTA (Internaonal Schools Theatre Associaon) PRESENTS....

Guangzhou Middle School Festival:

Chinese superheroes and landscapes -from classical to modern


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Dear Students in grades 8 and 9 and their families:

We have 3 New York Times Bestselling authors vising ISM on September 12th! Through a special arrangement with

Naonal Bookstore, on September 12th, 2013, our 8th and 9th graders will have the opportunity to listen to, and en-

gage with:

Margaret Stohl-featured book-Icons #1 of the series-

Alison Noel-featured book-Mysc#3 of the series-

Melissa De La Cruz- featured book-Frozen #1 of the series-

These writers ofYoung Adult fcon will discuss their movaon and inspiraon for wring, as well as answer quesons

during an assembly on 12 September from 7:45 am unl 8:45 am. The targeted audience age group for these dystopian

con novels is from upper Middle School through High School age. Some of the books deal with more mature ideas

and concepts. Naonal Bookstore has copies of all of these, and there are limited copies available in the MS and HS

Media Centers for pre-reading. Naonal Bookstore will also be selling pre-signed copies of their latest publicaons dur-

ing the day of the assembly, plus copies of some of the authors other tles at a 20% discounted rate! If your student

would like to purchase one of the newest releases, the costs for the newest releases are:

It is very excing to have these authors visit our school; I am sure they will be an inspiraon to many promising authors

here in the Middle School and High School!

Kind regards,

Meg Parry and Alicia Duell

MSMC and HSMC Teacher/Librarians

Title 20% discounted rate from Naonal Bookstore

Icons- paperback Php 319.20

Mysc- paperback Php 372.00

Frozen- paperback Php 396.00


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The rst RIFA Soccer Fesval for all ES teams, MS C teams (9 aside) and MS girls teams (7 aside)

will be held on Saturday, September 14th. Check the ATAC blog and ES/MS noce boards for this

announcement. The August 31st postponed fesval has been rescheduled for October 5th. All up

to date informaon about our ES/MS soccer teams, the RIFA fesvals etc., can always be found

here:

For Elementary School:

hp://atac.ism-online.org/atac/1st-season/es-soccer-rifa-league-fesvals/

For Middle School:

hp://atac.ism-online.org/atac/1st-season/ms-soccer-rifa-league-fesvals/

Parents please note: Permission slips will be issued to all players via the coaches at

training prior to each fesval with all fesval details for our ES and MS teams.

The 1st season pracce schedule which runs from August 19th to October 11th is posted on noce

boards around school, and is also available on the ATAC blog.

hp://atac.ism-online.org/schedules/hs/

Our annual HS Friday Night Lights twilight opening season soccer and volleyball matches was a

great success. Many thanks to our HS student ambassadors for all the work they did to promote

the event and ensure we had lots of people out to support our soccer and volleyball teams.

The ISM XCountry teams raced at Brent last Saturday for the rst race of the season. Race results

can be found here:

hp://atac.ism-online.org/atac/1st-season/cross-country-race-results/

This Friday, September 6th, we will host the ISM twilight Xcountry race around our school 3.2 and

5km courses. Teams from Faith and Brent will be here to race against our ISM runners. MS race

starts at 5pm and the HS race at 5:30pm.

For new families take some me to peruse the ATAC blog as this will help orientate you with the

wide variety of co-curricular programs ISM oers.

A great way to stay in touch with the ISM ATAC program is to subscribe via RSS feed to the ATAC

blog and also to follow via twier (see twier feed on the blog home page).

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Each Monday, I will post the weeks happenings and highlight important events for students and

parents informaon on the ATAC blog and in the regular Friday parent bullens.

GAME SCHEDULE PDF (access to game schedule informaon): Informaon about all mid-week/

weekend xtures for ISM teams can be found via the ATAC blog. Please note that the game sched-

ule does change oen due to involvement with many local schools, so please check the page regu-

larly to nd out the latest informaon of where and when the Bearcats teams are playing. Click on

schedules tab or the Bearcat logo to be directed to the power school secure site:

hp://powerschool.ismanila.org/public/

You will need your power school user name and password to access the game schedule pdf.

BEARCAT DEN: hp://atac.ism-online.org/bearcat-den/

The Bearcat Den is open for business. Please drop by to check out the range of Bearcat products.

We have a great team of volunteers who run the den and are always looking for more people to

help out. If you are interested in joining a fantasc group please contact any of our den members

during den opening hours or please contact Carolyn Ching for details [email protected].

We are always looking for new volunteers and encourage parents from ES/MS to join our group.

Have a great year at the Home of the Bearcats!

Regards,

Mark Pekin

Director of Athlecs/Acvies

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Do you know lots of interesting facts and general knowledge? Are

you fast on the buzzers? Do you like Are you Smarter than a 5th

Grader?THEN COME TO

Middle School Academic Bowl

TRYOUTS/Practices!!!

WHERE: Room P046 (Mrs. Birchenalls classroom)

WHEN: Every Thursday 3 pm - 4.pm starting Thursday 12th September.

The successful students will represent ISM at the next Academic Bowl compe-

tition which is to be held here at ISM on Wednesday 6th November. .

All Middle School students are very welcome to come to the tryout/practice

sessions.


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parent bulletin issue 4 sy1314

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