Friday, December 20, 2019

HAPPY HOLIDAYS! 

Enjoy a restful break, full of quality time with family and friends, rejuvenating travel and relaxation, and all things good to eat and drink! You’ve earned some R&R. We’ll see you back for a short week starting on January 13!

Friday afternoon: Join us in the ES Principal’s Office for some holiday treats, starting at 1:00 PM.

Thank you’s and shout outs… 

• Ms Jane, Ms Sarah, Mr Finny and Ms Fiona have so much to be proud of! We’ve heard from so many faculty and parents that this year’s performances were “spectacular”. Talk about sharing a love of learning!
• Special kudos to all behind the scenes who contributed to the AISC CIRCUS! Mr. Vijay, Mr. Thiago, Mr. Atul, Mr. Renato and Mr. Ilangovan's Facilities Staff. There is so much involved in a program like this, it truly takes a village! And a special thanks to the wheelchair pushers!!
• Thank you for making sure grade 5 students have authentic and memorable learning experiences in Science!
• To the school-wide Secret Santas - thanks for the festive fun! And thank you to Priya from Wellness for offering a delicious breakfast this morning.
• One more shout-out to Ms Sarah’s Singing Raptors. Thank you for sharing your tuneful carols with us this Wednesday.

Day	Events
Monday 13 January	First day back - Happy New Year!
Tuesday 14 January
Wednesday 15 January	Pongal Holiday - No School
Thursday 16 January	MSIS Training - Ross, Kay, Janna, John, Fer, Lucy & Melissa out for training
Friday 17 January	MSIS Training - Ross, Kay, Janna, John, Fer, Lucy & Melissa out for training

Sora Digital Library

Looking for a digital library to access over the holiday break? Don't want to lug several books around in your suitcase for three weeks? Want to access a wide variety of e-books, read-alongs, and audiobooks FOR FREE? The AISC Libraries have you covered! Try our new digital library, Sora, over the holiday break...

1. Go to https://soraapp.com/library/aisclibrary or on the downloaded Sora App (available for iOS and Android) 

2. Choose “find my school” or type in location/name.

3. Sign in using the credentials you’ve set up through Google.

We hope everyone enjoys using Sora! 

Have a lovely holiday,

Keryn, Dave & Calley

Friday, December 13, 2019

Dear Team,

One week to go! We are looking forward to celebrating with you all this evening at Kay and Andrew’s holiday sundowner. Next week is a busy one with performances and parties, so rest well this weekend too!

Thank you’s and shout outs… 

• Preethi for opening her Indian Studies class to visiting Mahindra School students this week. They were very impressed!
• Grade 4 would like to thank Hilary (and Shari Abbott) for arranging to have a HS student present to our students. Our fourth graders were engaged and inspired. 
• The kindergarten team for welcoming parents into their family math morning.
• Thank you to Sarah, Finny, and Jane for running rehearsals, and to the specialists who have arranged special classes. We appreciate your flexibility.
• Jen and Clinton for hosting a fun holiday decoration event in the Design Studio.
• Sarah and Fiona for hosting the Elementary Christmas Carols last Friday & for preparing our choir for singing in the courtyard next Tuesday at 8:00 a.m
• A big thank you to Jenny from Morgen, Fiona, Geetha and Za for thinking of and  organizing the Word Detective Letter hunt, and a thank you to Officer Dave for giving out the detective badges. 

Upcoming Week at a Glance

Day	Events
Monday 16 December	EY - Gr 2 Dress Rehearsal 1:30 - 3:30 p.m. Report Cards delivered to classrooms
Tuesday 17 December	Carols in the Courtyard 8:00 a.m. EY - Gr 2 Winter Performance 1:30 - 2:30 p.m, followed by class parties. Special Lunch Schedule - See Below
Wednesday 18 December	ES Report Cards and Calendars go home Gr 3 - 5 Dress Rehearsal 9:00 - 10:30 a.m. ES (short) faculty meeting - Q12 and some holiday fun!
Thursday 19 December	Gr 3 - 5 Winter Performance 1:30 - 2:30 p.m, followed by class parties. Special Lunch Schedule - See Below Gr 3 - 5 Class Parties
Friday 20 December	Last day of the semester!   5BT & VL field trip - 9:30 am - 1 pm. Drop by in the p.m for some Christmas cheer in the ES principals office! Winter holidays begin!

EY - G2 Winter Performances Next Tuesday

Next Tuesday 17th, lunch recess needs to end at 1:00 p.m. to accommodate costume change. Therefore:

• KG - G1 *and G2*  will go to lunch at 12:25 p.m, and have a slightly shorter recess.
• All KG - G2 students will finish lunch recess at 1:00 p.m to change and get ready for winter performances.  
• *Duty times should also be adjusted accordingly as above.
• At 1:00 p.m. all teachers of KG - G2 should help children change in their homerooms.
• Reminder: parents may not go into bathrooms with children to change; please designate a “boys” and “girls” classroom for changing.
• All should be in the theatre by 1:25 p.m.

G3 - G5 Winter Performances Next Thursday 

Next Thursday 19th, lunch recess needs to end at 1:00 p.m.  Therefore:

• G3-G5  will go to lunch first at 12:25 p.m. and then out to a slightly shorter recess. 
• All G3-5 students will finish lunch recess at 1:00 p.m. to change and get ready for winter performances.  
• *Duty times should also be adjusted accordingly as above.
• At 1:00 p.m. all teachers of G3-G5 should help children change in their homerooms
• All should be in the theatre by 1:25 p.m.

Faculty Meeting Next Wednesday

Last one for 2019 - we will meet in the Madras Hall at 3:45 p.m. Focus will be Q12, followed by some holiday fun.

Report Cards / Calendars

Report cards will be delivered to classrooms next Monday and Tuesday. Please do a final check and put into the envelope.

Please insert the one page calendars for students - list sent to classrooms (distributed to families through youngest child).

Reports should be sent home on Wednesday December 18th with students. 

Please hold the envelopes of absent students for handover after the holidays.

For departing students - Transfer Certificates and Reports can be collected by parents at the Admissions office from 19th onwards. 

Festive Treats for the Holiday Season

Pop in to our office after lunch any time until 4 p.m. on Friday 20th as we break for the holidays. We will have festive snacks to share - and if any of you love to bake - feel free to drop in extra snacks or treats for everyone to enjoy!

Input and Thoughts on Report Card Process
On Thursday, Jan 23 at 7:45 am, join us to share feedback and suggestions about the reporting process and timeline. Add your suggestions and feedback to this document, and then join us to discuss. Please RSVP to the invitation in your Google calendar so that we can choose a venue for this conversation. We look forward to hearing your input and great ideas!

Head of Department/Grade Team Leader Positions

With the 2020/21 school calendar now available, we recognize that teachers may soon begin making summer travel plans. To that end, we would like to share the upcoming leadership opportunity to serve as Grade Team Leader or Head of Department beginning Fall of 2020. Please note that GTL/HODs come back two days before returning faculty to help with the transition of new teachers. As such, the first day to report for GTL/HODs will be Monday, July 27th, 2020.

GTL/HODs serve in the position for two years. We thank the following HODs coming to the end of their tenure:  

• Vigna C, EY
• Kay Clarke, G1
• Tara Gray, G3
• Ross Connelly, G4
• Michael Simmons, Social Studies
• Jack Bissonette, HPE
• Ed Doherty, Visual Arts
• Jason Kennedy, Performing Arts
• Jennifer Gold, Counseling
• Lucy Palmquist, LSS

Should anyone, including those currently serving, wish to apply for the open GTL positions, please reach out to Keryn directly no later than January 24th.  

For HOD positions kindly send an email to all three principals expressing interest no later than January 24th. Interviews, if required, will take place the following week with appointments announced by February 3rd.

Have a wonderful  weekend! 

Keryn, Dave, and Calley

Friday, December 6, 2019

Dear All,

We understand this is a super busy time with report card writing and we appreciate all you are doing to support one another during this time!
Come  join us for treats and use the laser cutter or other materials in the Discovery and Design Studio to make holiday crafts, presents or work on any other projects! 3:45 -5:00 on Dec  9.

Please collect the 2020-21 Calendar from your mail cubbies. 

Thank you’s and shout outs… 

• Thank you and congratulations to Sarah for getting the Singing Raptors ready for our Christmas cheer and carols this afternoon at 4:00 PM in the Unity Courtyard!
• Thank you to everyone who has signed up to participate in the Joy of Giving - this is hugely appreciated
• Shout out to Anita for taking a ton of initiative from her strand learning on Responsive Classrooms, to incorporate Interactive Modeling in the art classroom, and reflecting on it as a big improvement in practice!  

Upcoming Week at a Glance

Day	Events
Monday 9 December	Winter Performance Rehearsal schedule starts today!
Tuesday 10 December	KG Family Math Morning
Wednesday 11 December	by 2:00 p.m. - All comments entered into powerschool Sherriden and IT team begin printing from 2:00 p.m (hard deadline) Early Release 2 pm Strand C
Thursday 12 December	Emergency Drill 9 am
Friday 13 December

EAL Skill Tracker

Thank you to Deepa and three other anonymous ES faculty members who completed the EAL skill tracker. Here it is for all other EA faculty to complete. Please help us make EAL-related PD more effective and differentiated by completing the survey this week.  

Vision of a Learner

Thank you to all the teachers who nominated children for the Vision of a Learner awards this round. The following children were selected for the following traits.

Leader: Elias Stewart, Mahitha Madupalli

Reflective:   Bianca Peyron, Juniper Connelly

Explorers:  Arlo Starkweather, Charles Caillet

Thinkers: Seungsu Lee, Bavhanashree Saravanan

Ethical:   Eugenie Caillet, Minami Ashihara

Versatile:  Nahyun Kwon, Chanhee Cho

Empathetic: Isla Alleyne, Reyansh Jhaver

Resilient:   Lea Bonnet, Koshiro Hirano

Collaborator: Minhu Bae, Jian Kim

Innovator:   Yashvi Parekh, Yeonu Seok

December 12 Emergency Drill
As per the schedule, our Second Emergency Drill for this year will be conducted on December 12th (Thursday) at 0900 hrs. It will be a Lockdown situation.

Plan: Exercise the lockdown procedure as soon as we hear the "Siren Alarm" for Lockdown emergency situation. The siren alarm will be activated by the Security Main Console.

Applicable Situation:  During an Imminent Danger or any threat situation.

Imminent threat could be a situation of an emergency incident or threat which requires steps to isolate and secure the school population from danger. It includes intruder on campus, vehicle bomb explosion or bomb threat on campus.

Please be familiar and thorough with the alarm tone and the emergency guidelines mentioned below:

Guidelines:

Inside the classrooms:

1. Lock classroom and office doors immediately.
2. If you are outside, take cover in the nearest classroom or office room.
3. Keep all students sitting on the floor, take cover, stay away from the door and windows and close shades/blinds.
4. Prepare to take the attendance list with you along with the emergency booklet when you are directed to leave the classroom.
5. Ignore fire alarm activation during lockdown situation.
6. Project a calm attitude to maintain student behaviour.
7. Maintain silence until “ALL CLEAR - BACK TO ROUTINE” signal is given over the PA system 

New Library Catalog Location

The library catalog has been moved recently to the brand new ES/MS LibGuide (which is still a work in progress). To find it, please go to Quick Links like usual, then click on ES/MS LibGuide. This will take you to our new homepage and you can scroll down to find the Discover catalog. 

If you prefer the previous Destiny catalog layout, please feel free to bookmark this link:

https://aisc.follettdestiny.com/  In addition, I have placed all of our online resources under the "research" tab on the LibGuide. 

Let Babs know if you have any questions!

Report Cards

Students will take home their report card on Wednesday Dec 18th. The annual one page calendar for the year 2010-21 will also be distributed to families along with their youngest child’s report.

And the Twitter Award Goes to … Vanessa Lopez!

Have a wonderful  weekend! 

Keryn, Dave, and Calley