Friday, March 25, 2022

This week there are a lot of announcements, reminders, links, and banners. Please take the time to read to the bottom. We are looking forward to seeing everyone at the TGIF this afternoon!

Upcoming Week at a Glance:

Day	Event
Monday, March 28	Well Week
Tuesday, March 29	Student Led Conferences Faculty lunch in the FAC atrium from 12:30-1:30
Wednesday, March 30	RISE - See schedule below Strand 3:00-5:00 p.m. Faculty Appreciation Snacks 2:30 p.m.Madras Hall
Thursday, March 31	RISE - see schedule below
Friday, April 1

Student-Led Conferences

Ryan needs to know which parents have signed up for conferences and the approximate time they’ll be on campus. Please name your SLC schedule document with your HR initials (2LK, for example) and add your schedule to this shared folder by Friday at 4:00 p.m. or as soon as possible. 

A few reminders:

• If you haven’t done so in the last day, reach out to any families who haven’t signed up 

• Enrolled sibling supervision is on the playground if you need to direct parents 

• The library is closed for ES students/parents during SLCs

• Faculty lunch will be in the FAC Atrium

• Coffee/Tea/Snacks will be in the usual EY room 

• Specialists - please have a sign with your capacity and a note to please wait outside if the room is full. Please keep students moving through the room to let others in as appropriate.

• If you need assistance on this day, please call contact Hazel, Padma, Lynn or Dave. 

RISE - March 30th & 31st

Here is the schedule for RISE. Please bring your students to the ES cafeteria at your scheduled time. Sara will do a brief introduction with all of the students before heading outside to explore our campus in homeroom groups. Teachers should accompany their class on the campus exploration. 

Staff Book Study 2022-2023

Are you interested in joining your colleagues in a book study featuring Steeped in Stories, written by next year's visiting author, Mitali Perkins? If so, please let us know by filling out this form by next Friday, April 1st. Participants will meet once per semester, then again with Mitali during her visit to AISC to discuss the book and share a delicious breakfast together. If you have any questions, please let Babs know. 

Pilot Program Opportunity - Math Workshop - Free book included!

Are you interested in exploring different ways to meet the math learning needs of every student in our classrooms? Come join other eager volunteers as we delve into the book, Math Workshop written by Jennifer Lempp and published by Marilyn Burns’ Math Solutions. Over the course of next year (dates and times to be determined), we will read about the five steps to successfully implementing the transformational math workshop model of instruction including guided math and learning stations. Additionally, we will put our learning into practice and reflect on our application together. If interested, please fill out this Google form by Monday,  March 28th so that we can order the books needed in time for the beginning of next year. (Option available to purchase the book over the summer on your own and get reimbursed for those eager to get a jump start. Note: the book may be difficult to source in India). Let us know if you have any questions. Thank you! Elliot and Lynn  

Well Week March 28th - April 1st

Well Week is next week! Please sign up for some activities!! Thank you for your participation. 

Since we have SLCs on Tuesday, remember to remind parents and students via Seesaw to wear their cultural dress on Wednesday. Students can also bring a change of clothes in case they get too hot. Feel free to put a reminder on your classroom door too. 

 

MONDAY 28th	Healthy Habits: Healthy habits are choices that help you and others have a healthy body, mind, and good feelings.
Monday we will be focusing on moving our body and what better way than to get outside and walk. Please join the AISC community in reaching our 42km goal in our WALKATHORN. Get your teachers to sign up here!!. How many laps of the field can your class complete in 10 mins?
TUESDAY 29th	ES STUDENT CONFERENCES
WEDNESDAY 30th	Self Awareness: is knowing about your feelings, your likes and dislikes and what you are good at. When we understand the different parts of our identity and how we think and feel right now, we are self-aware.
Wednesday is SHOW YOUR CULTURE day! Wear an outfit that expresses your culture or nationality. Also think about bringing some food or items that celebrate your culture as well.
THURSDAY 31st	Self management means being in control of your mind and body so that you can think before you act.
Why not start your Thursday with some MINDFULNESS? Sign up for an in person session at the unity fountain 8:30 -8.45am( limited spots available), or join a live stream of the practice or watch a pre-recorded mindfulness anytime. Please find all links to mindfulness here . Inspired to bring more mindfulness? We are trying to hit our 200 minutes goal of mindfulness by the end of the week! Please log your mindfulness minutes here.
FRIDAY 1st	Positive Relationships: When we have positive relationships we are kind, we share, make new friends and respect everyone. We are happy with ourselves and others.
During Morning Meeting on Friday, have your class write the name of one person they are grateful for on their GRATITUDE LEAF. Leaves will be delivered to your classroom prior to Friday morning. Please have your TA bring the completed leaves to Hazel by 2:00 on Friday

Please advertise this on Seesaw for parents and students. 

 

Portal Project

ARE WE WELL?: Stretching at Our Edges to be Healthy, for Ourself And Others Register Here

Recess Clubs

As the weather gets warmer, some students might be seeking indoor opportunities during lunch recess. Please remind your students of the recess clubs occurring during lunch recess for KG-G2 and G3-G5. Many fun opportunities for all students. 

PCA Faculty Appreciation Event - Wednesday, March 30th 2:30pm

The Parent Community Association cordially invites you to our Faculty Appreciation Event to be held on Wednesday, March 30th at 2.30 pm. This year the parent community is providing a selection of snacks, including cookies, brownies, savory, and Indian snacks for you to enjoy. Takeaway containers will be available, so you can select your preference before heading off to your afternoon meetings.

 

As the year 2021-22 winds down, we feel grateful and blessed to have surmounted one of the greatest challenges humanity have had to face  in recent times with "grace". We would like to show our appreciation and thank you for all that you have done and continue to do, to support students and parents.

 

Please join us at the following locations to pick up snacks and treats prepared for you by the parent community:

 

ES & Admin Staff - Madras Hall

MS - SHED

HS - Hall of Lights

 

We look forward to seeing you.

 

Parent Community Association Executive Committee 

Francesca Hammond, Anitha Viswanathan, Grace Kim, Salima Velasco

 

Book Swap

 

From the Counselors

Wellbeing Blog

Have a wonderful weekend.

Lynn and Dave

Friday, March 11, 2022

The field days were a success! We’d like to thank our Wellbeing/PE Team, Ms. Sobha, Mr. Balaji, Mr. Cannon, and Mr. Lawrance, for planning and organizing two fun field days for students and teachers. We saw smiles from ear to ear both Thursday and Friday morning. We’d also like to thank the teachers who helped run each station. And we can’t forget our amazing facilities team who helped prepare and set up for field day.

Upcoming Week at a Glance:

Day	Event
Monday, March 21	PD Day
Tuesday, March 22	Recess clubs begin - Please advertise with your students
Wednesday, March 23	3:00-5:00 p.m. Student Led Conference Preparation
Thursday, March 24
Friday, March 25	ES Faculty and Staff TGIF - Westin Velachery 5 - 7 p.m. Let Joelle know if you’d like to be a social buddy (see notes from last week)

LitWeek Feedback

Please take five minutes to give the library your feedback on LitWeek. We want to make this yearly event engaging and valuable for the whole school, so we very much appreciate you taking the time to let us know your thoughts. Thanks so much!

Candy and Food Sharing

It has been brought to our attention that some students are sharing food at snack and lunch. Please let your students know that they should not be sharing food with others for health reasons.

We also learned that students are trading or handing out candy. We support healthy eating and discourage students from bringing candy to school. Can you also let students know they should not bring candy.

The Earth Week Planning Committee is looking for members! 

This year, AISC will celebrate Earth Week from April 18-22. The environmental council is working to launch several large recycling initiatives and to host a variety of demonstrations involving energy and waste management (among other things). Additionally, there are already a couple of events in the works (HS EarthDayxDiscoveryDay, the book swap), and we want to bring back the cross-sectional student presentations in some form. We are looking for members from each section to help plan and coordinate events. If you are interested, please contact Ryan (mryan@aischennai.org) or Marion (wmarion@aischennai.org). We plan to meet the week after spring break. 

Wellbeing Coordinator - Applications Open

AISC thanks Priya Venugopal for her outstanding work serving as our Wellbeing Coordinator for the last two years. As this is a two year responsibility, we are once again opening applications for interested staff members. The job description can be found here. It is important to note that the next Wellbeing Coordinator will need to return to support New Faculty Orientation on Saturday, July 23rd and Sunday, July 24th. 

 

Please send an email to Joelle Basnight to express interest no later than Friday, March 25th. Should we have more than one applicant a team will conduct interviews in late March with an appointment in early April. 

Well Week March 28 - April 1

To get you pumped and excited about Well Week here is a sneaky peak of the school wide activities on offer from March 28th to the 1st of April. Feel free to start getting signed up for some activities!! Thank you for your participation, Wellbeing Council. 

MONDAY 28th	Healthy Habits: Healthy habits are choices that help you and others have a healthy body, mind, and good feelings.
Monday we will be focusing on moving our body and what better way than to get outside and walk. Please join the AISC community in reaching our 42km goal in our WALKATHORN. Get your teachers to sign up here!!. How many laps of the field can your class complete in 10 mins?
TUESDAY 29th	ES STUDENT CONFERENCES
WEDNESDAY 30th	Self Awareness: is knowing about your feelings, your likes and dislikes and what you are good at. When we understand the different parts of our identity and how we think and feel right now, we are self-aware.
Wednesday is SHOW YOUR CULTURE day! Wear an outfit that expresses your culture or nationality. Also think about bringing some food or items that celebrate your culture as well.
THURSDAY 31st	Self management means being in control of your mind and body so that you can think before you act.
Why not start your Thursday with some MINDFULNESS? Sign up for an in person session at the unity fountain 8:30 -8.45am( limited spots available), or join a live stream of the practice or watch a pre-recorded mindfulness anytime. Please find all links to mindfulness here . Inspired to bring more mindfulness? We are trying to hit our 200 minutes goal of mindfulness by the end of the week! Please log your mindfulness minutes here.
FRIDAY 1st	Positive Relationships: When we have positive relationships we are kind, we share, make new friends and respect everyone. We are happy with ourselves and others.
During Morning Meeting on Friday, have your class write the name of one person they are grateful for on their GRATITUDE LEAF. Leaves will be delivered to your classroom prior to Friday morning. Please have your TA bring the completed leaves to Hazel by 2:00 on Friday

 

Twitter Digest

We’ve had a busy couple of weeks since our return to campus. From #AISCLitWeek to #AISCSTEAM, a jam-packed #AISCDiscoveryDay and the return of #AISCFieldDay, we’ve had so much fun catching up on all the stories!

Here are some highlights:

• Sometimes playgrounds are for reading.

• G8 is newscasting to raise awareness about #SDG10.

• HS Discovery Day feeds bodies and souls!

• Did you snap a photo with our #AISCLitWeek Raptor?

Click here to see all the stories from our #AISChennai Twitterverse.

From the Counselors

Most of us have some supervision duties on the playground and school spaces. When students are having challenges with friendships or sharing, how can we best help them? 

Here’s a handy tool (What Can I Do? charts) that you might consider attaching to your ID badge/necklace, to help students problem solve in the moment. It is a Kelso’s wheel type problem solving tool. You can guide students through their dilemma using one of the prompts. Come to the ES Counseling office for your own laminated and hole punched wheel! Cheryl has them waiting for you.

 

Shoeboxes needed for Vision Days

If you have any empty shoeboxes, please bring them to Britt or Salome. Thank you. 

Wellbeing Blog

Enjoy your week off. 

Lynn and Dave