Dear all,
Vision and Hearing
Can you believe that it is already Fall Break?
Please enjoy your well-earned stay-cations and travels. We look forward
to rejoining together after Ayuda Puja, on Tuesday Oct 8.
This week we hosted almost 80 visitors from the US consulate to learn
about our LEED status and hear about the great work we are doing with
environmental responsibility. Twelve of our 4th grade students who had learned
about our catchment area spoke knowledgeably with confidence and poise to our
visitors. Congratulations to Sihwan Kim, Hyerin Cha, Yulong Ni, Junu Baek,
Yeonu Seok, Ashwath Prabhu, Johana Jung, Bianca Peyron, Jihoo Kim, JeongIn
Choi, JiEun Kim and Johannes Clausen… and to Ross and Ula - your
students represented the elementary
school well!
Please check your mail cubby for your copy of the
Community Directory.
Thank yous and shout outs
- Thank you to all of the teachers and teams who
participated in math mornings this week! Great mathematical
teaching! Note that the copies of presentations have to shared with parents
in today’s blog.
- Grade 2 would like to
recognize Fer for being our wonderful and hard-working team leader this
year. She has helped keep us grounded through mindfulness, organized and
caffeinated!!
- Thank you
to Hilary for your help with our Social Studies unit. Your enthusiasm for
Social Studies built more excitement around the learning that is happening
in our class. Marcus
- Thank you
to Sunita and Preetika for being brilliant co-workers who are always
positive and a pleasure to work with - from Marcus and Janna.
- Thank you
vision project teams for your engagement this week! Our students are
fortunate to have such dedicated teachers.
- Sarah H and Finny, for
teaching our students those beautiful Indian songs
- The
Early Years Team, Zahida, Lakshmi, Valar, Hannah and Vinita, for teaching
those spectacular dances for IM performances
- Joseph,
Anita.H, Priya and Prasanth, for all of the Student Artwork adorning the
FAC walls.
- Every
Teaching Assistant, Homeroom Teacher and Specialist Teacher for your
support during the India Month rehearsals.
- Clinton,
for helping Preethi backstage and being everywhere at once.
- Jane,
for graciously letting the teachers use the Dance room for their dance
practice.
- Vinita
for her support and assistance to Preethi and the IM rehearsals these past
few weeks. A BIG thank you
- Preethi for all her help and instruction and encouragement given to
all the teachers who participated in the Teacher Dance! Rowdy Babes, you
rocked!
First week back after the break:
Monday 7 October
|
No school - Ayudha Puja
|
Tuesday 8 October
|
|
Wednesday 9 October
|
Early Release - STRAND PD Session #1
|
Thursday 10 October
|
Vision and Hearing Screening
Inspiration Conversation
|
Friday 11 October
|
Vision and Hearing Screening
|
Saturday 12 October
|
PCA Diwali Mela
Board of Directors Meeting
|
Vision Project Week Launch
- You can
click here to see all the different projects we will offer during our
first ever project week, as well as watch the trailer/promo videos! Vision Project Menu
- First
Friday back; Friday 11 October at 8:45a.m all Grades 3-5 should be
assembled in the FAC theatre.
- During this
special assembly, all students will be given this viewing guide. Please have them come with a clipboard and
pencil.
- Following
this assembly, information to parents will be sent home via our principals
blog
- Students
will use MM time on Monday 14th to sign up for their vision projects
- All
teachers involved in Vision Projects should be present in the FAC
during this time
Change in Drop off/Pick Up Procedures
Now that we have all settled into the routines of the beginning of the
year, and children are familiar with their specialists and TAs, we are going to
move to a more equitable allocation of pickup and drop off duties for HR and
specialist teachers and TAs in Grades 3 and 4.
Note: Grade 5 students are responsible for their own transitions.
HR teachers always handle drop off, so there is no change to Grade 5
procedures.
- PE drop off/pick up will always
be a TA.
- Recess/lunch Pickup: Whoever has the
class following snack or lunch recess should pick up the students.
This will mean that you need to set up a meeting place for your students. Please model this starting after
break. Ask homeroom teachers for suggestions as needed.
- After school drop off: Whoever has the class
for period 7 should facilitate drop-off. Students may need to walk
back to class to pick up backpacks.
Please take your class to the students’ usual drop off location
(they will know that location).
Please be aware that we realize this does impact the specialist
teachers’ schedules: it will mean that you add about 5 minutes of contact time
per each of your Grade 3 or 4 classes. Upon considering this change in
procedures, we examined the schedule and noted two important data points:
pickup frequency, and total contact time.
Total contact time for specialists is at least 3.5 hours per week less
than home room teachers. This difference is in planning time. While specialists have more total students,
the difference in contact time has a significant impact. This change will
reallocate pickups/drop-offs among HR and specialists and give some planning
time back to HR.
Does your team have questions or concerns about this change? Please
reach out to your supervisor.
India Month Activities
October is our “Celebrate India” month. We have many exciting
experiences planned for our students that will help them explore the different
facets of India and its incredibility!
During this time, our students will have an opportunity to explore a
variety of activities related to Indian culture through experiential learning.
We will have experts leading sessions in Pottery, Tie and Dye, Indian Design
Challenges, Yoga, Jewellery making and more.
Grades 1, 2 and 3 (FLEX - IS) will take part in these activities during
Indian Studies, and other grades’ teachers can sign up for these activities!
Click here to sign up for Yoga and Storytelling (Oct. 21, 22, 23, 24)
Indian Snack and Lunch (provided by the school) Thursday, October 24th
All faculty and students will be provided a complimentary Indian Snack
and Lunch, catered by our Taj Madras Flight Kitchen on Thursday, October 24th.
Spices in the food will be minimal.
Snack menu: Carrot sticks and cucumber sticks with ranch.
Indian Flag- Tricolor Themed Healthy Snack
Lunch menu: Jeera rice (rice cooked with cumin seeds and garnished with coriander
leaves), poori (wheat bread), raitha (yoghurt with chopped vegetables), paneer
masala (for vegetarians) or chicken tikka (for non-vegetarians), soan papdi
(dessert), vadaam (rice crisps) and fresh juice (lime/sweet lime).
Requesting Books from the Library
If you'd like to request books for class use from the library, please
fill out the form here. If you list specific
titles, library staff will gather the books and email you when they are ready.
We can also deliver the books to your class. If you offer us general guidelines
on what books you need, we will get back to you within two days. Thank you!
Vision and Hearing
Vision and Hearing will take place in the Madras Hall on Thursday 10th
& Friday 11th October. See Schedule here.
And this week’s Twitter Award goes to
….
Ms Julia Davis!
Keryn, Dave, and Calley
