Friday, April 29, 2022

We’d like to thank all of the teachers and TAs who lead/co-lead Vision Day projects for the 3rd-5th graders. The campus was buzzing with extra excited and engaged students this week. It was so great to see the 5 Realms (arts, athletics, academics, play/choice, and community) in action. Thank you to everyone involved in the planning and leading of the student projects. 

Day	Event
Monday, May 2	No School
Tuesday, May 3	Grades 3 & 5 Map Testing Matt Glover this week (schedule) All meetings will be in the ES wellbeing room (next to Spanish) 3609
Wednesday, May 4	Grade 4 Map Testing OTL Meeting FAC Cafeteria - bring laptop 3:00 p.m.
Thursday, May 5	Grades 3 & 5 Map Testing
Friday, May 6	Grades 2 & 4 Map Testing Grade 5 sleepover

Report Card Timeline

Wednesday, May 11th	Unit overviews due
Wednesday, May 18th	No faculty meeting, RC prep
Monday, May 23rd	Comments given to faculty proofreader by 4:00 p.m.
Wednesday, May 25th	End of the Year Celebration Faculty Meeting, time to proofread buddy comments
Thursday, May 26th	Comments returned from faculty proofreader by 9:00 a.m.
Friday, May 27th	Comments given to admin by 4:00 p.m.
Monday, May 30th	Admin to return comments to teachers by noon, correct any comments
Tuesday, May 31st	Correct comments from admin by 9:00 a.m. Deadline firm!
Tuesday/Wednesday May 31st/June 1st	PDF of reports given to teachers, final corrections made by homeroom teachers - this is the final check Deadline firm!
Friday, June 3rd	Report cards go home

 

Report Card Style Guide

Here is the style guide. It has been updated with different assigned proofreading buddies.

Important Dates 

April 25th - May 13th F & P testing window

May 3rd - May 13th - MAP Testing G2-5

May 3rd - May 13th - Matt Glover Meetings with HR/EAL teachers

May 6th - Grade 5 sleepover

May 11th - summer maintenance request form due

June 3rd 9:00 a.m. - Grade 5 Celebration

June 3rd 2:45 p.m. - End of Year Assembly

Summer Maintenance Requests

Summer Maintenance Requests

If you have any maintenance work to be done in your classrooms over the summer break (painting, repairs etc) please add the details into the spreadsheet linked above by Wednesday, May 11th. 

Earth Week Book Swap

Thanks to all those that made our first ever book swap a huge success - everyone who donated books, teachers that brought their classes (some more than once!), support staff who helped us every step of the way, parents who came in on Friday and took home so many titles, and everyone who attended. We are thrilled to share that we were able to raise 29,960 rupees in support of the India Literacy Project AND find thousands of books new homes! The books that were left at the end were either packed up for next year's swap or given to our friends at Wasted for recycling or upcycling. 

See you at next year’s book swap. 

Britannica Session

Did you know that you have access to live streaming of academic journals? Or that you can create lessons for your students in a personalized manner? Britannica is one of the library's online encyclopedic databases and has many functions and tools to support your students' learning. If you'd like to know more, our representatives are offering one hour sessions during the month of May to reacquaint teachers with the product. The timings are flexible. If you are interested, please send a quick note to Babs. 

Summer Camp/JumpStart Program

If you are interested in leading an activity for the upcoming Summer Camp/JSP, please use this link to sign up before Friday, May 6. 

• June 7 - 18 (Summer Camp)

• July 11 - 22 (JSP/July Camp) 

• Camp will be offered to ES & MS Students.

• Activities will run Monday - Friday

 

For more information, please email Monicka (dmonicka@aischennai.org)

Communication When Out Sick

Please make sure to let your supervisor, Hazel, and your team if you will be out sick. If you are requesting personal leave, you only need to contact Lynn. 

From the Counselors

Thank you for all you have done this year. You are the heart of this school. You all have been amazing this year in your efforts to get us all back on track in school. We  have noticed so many amazing things about everyone this year…. Your endless energy, love for being with students, dedication to make everyone feel like they belong, thoughtfulness in checking in with others, willingness to lend a hand to make events work well, and so much more.

Here is a short activity that offers a boost of positivity for your class as we head toward the end of the school year.. 

First tell your students how amazing they have been this year with some detail. Tell them you know they will end this year at their very best. Then ask this question:

When I (teacher) walk into our classroom this week, what might I notice about each of you that would tell me you were being at your very, very best? Ask for details (small details are very important)about them that you will notice.)  Ask what else to get a big list. 

You can choose a student to make a list that you can then put up in the classroom.  

Then, brainstorm how you will celebrate everyone being at their very best the last week of school. 

Wellbeing Blog

Enjoy the weekend.

Lynn and Dave

Friday, April 22, 2022

We have many people to thank this week.

We’d like to thank Priya, Christine and Anitha for organizing and hosting a successful Art Exhibit. We’re so proud of the students and the beautiful artwork they completed this year. We’d also like to thank facilities for helping with the exhibition set up. 

Another thank you goes to Babs, Teena, Susan, and Sarat for planning, organizing, and hosting the Book Swap this week. We also want to thank facilities for helping set up and breakdown. Books have been sitting in the library since before the pandemic. Hopefully, the books have all found good homes. 

Earth week was also a success. Thank you to the Earth Week organizers and to Britt who helped organize the ES recycled art project. The Discovery Studio was filled everyday with creative students. Many of you volunteered to support this effort at lunch recess. Thank you. An extra shout out goes to Clinton and Cassidy for setting up and helping out each day. 

And we’d like to thank everyone for participating in the many events this week. We know it’s a busy time of year, but your commitment to the students and our community is what makes us an awesome school. Thank you!

Upcoming Week at a Glance:

Day	Event
Friday, April 22	Community SMS Test
Monday, April 25
Tuesday, April 26
Wednesday, April 27	Vision Day Grades 3-5 ES Faculty Meeting 3:00 p.m. Madras Hall
Thursday, April 28	Vision Day Grades 3-5
Friday, April 29

Important Dates 

April 25th - May 13th F & P testing window

April 25th-29th - PGE Window

April 27th & 28th - Vision Days

May 3rd - May 13th - MAP Testing G2-5

May 3rd - May 13th - Matt Glover Meetings with HR/EAL teachers

May 6th - Grade 5 sleepover

June 3rd 9:00 a.m. - Grade 5 Celebration

June 3rd 2:45 p.m. - End of Year Assembly

F & P Reading Records

The window for completing the end of semester reading records starts Monday, April 25th and ends on Friday, May 13th. During this F & P window, you need to test all students. Add the student data to the BAME spreadsheet. Please reach out to Alex if you have any questions. 

Grades 3-5 Vision Day - Logistical information

Here is the slide deck with the logistical information for Wednesday and Thursday. 

Here is the link to the spreadsheet for attendance and dismissal information. 

Vision Project Shared Drive - please upload photos and videos from the two days (and remember to Tweet!)

Personal Growth and Reflection

We’re nearing the time in the semester to start completing your PG&E reflections.Please submit reflections with linked evidence to your supervisor between April 25th - 29th. We will schedule meetings with you after we receive your reflection. You may use the time this afternoon after the AFM to work on your PGE. Let us know if you have any questions.

 

Join the Faculty Transformers

• What: A leadership opportunity for a group of tech-forward faculty who want to help lead the school into our technological future.

• Why: The best ideas for pedagogical and creative technology come from faculty. We need folks who want to try new things, help their colleagues, and be identified as leaders in this area. We also need a strong faculty community around technology that supports learners across the sections and disciplines. (If you have a very specific project in mind, consider an iLab -- the call for new projects will go out this month as well!)

• Who: You!

• When: We'll meet a couple of times a semester, but a lot of our activity will be in a Google Chat Space where we can swap ideas. I would like the Transformers groups to upgrade the culture of iPads at our school (from toys for tots or as Seesaw cameras, both of which they excel at, to more sophisticated and still easy-to-use media and research platforms). I would love to maximize our learning in the Google space -- there's a lot of power we should be taking advantage of. We can be productivity gurus for our colleagues and students. We're continuing the journey into better classroom tech, and the Transformers can be the beta testers.

I'm trying to keep it low investment but strong commitment. If this sounds interesting, sign up here.

 

From the Counselors

It’s hard to believe that we have 6 weeks of school left. This year it feels like we are beginning and ending at the same time! The list of leavers is starting to form. We want all our leavers to feel celebrated as well as giving our support to the stayers and newbies.In order to help celebrate the leavers, Michele and Linda will be hosting lunches. Each day of the week we will invite the leavers of one grade level (grade 1 -5) to lunch (place TBA). Lunch will be provided but of course they can also bring their own. Michele and Linda will be meeting with leaving students before this time and also taking photos of them which we will include in their gift bag that teachers give to them. We will also give the fluke books to teachers for each leaver so that classmates can write messages in it to the leaving student and later you can present to the student as a memory message book. Please let us know if you have any questions.

From the Wellbeing Committee

Check out this video starring Priya!

Here is the Wellbeing App link.

Wellbeing Blog

Enjoy the weekend. 

Lynn and Dave

Wednesday, April 13, 2022

Upcoming Week at a Glance:

Day	Event
Monday, April 18	Earth Week Begins
Tuesday, April 19	ES Parent Coffee - Transitions & MAP testing (virtual meeting) ES Art Show Exhibition Open House 3:30 - 5:30 p.m. FAC Atrium
Wednesday, April 20	HRT/EAL - Matt Glover (see below) Specialists - See the note from OTL (below)
Thursday, April 21	Staff Appreciation Walk Operation Appreciation (see Wellbeing blog link for sign up) Book Swap
Friday, April 22	Grade 4 Sleepover Book Swap

Important Dates 

April 18th-22nd - Earth Week

April 19th 3:3-5:30 p.m. - ES Art Show Exhibition Open House

April 21st 3:00 p.m. - Staff Appreciation Walk 

April 21st & 22nd - Book Swap

April 22nd - Grade 4 sleepover

April 25th - May 13th F & P testing window

April 25th-29th - PGE Window

April 27th & 28th - Vision Days

May 3rd - May 13th - MAP Testing G2-5

May 3rd - May 13th - Matt Glover Meetings with HR/EAL teachers

May 6th - Grade 5 sleepover

June 3rd 9:00 a.m. - Grade 5 Celebration

June 3rd 2:45 p.m. - End of Year Assembly

Earth Week Begins (and there are a lot of events) - please advertise to your class 

Next week is Earth Week. We have themes for specific action and spirit themes to show support. There will be many activities throughout the week, but here are some of the highlights and how you might be involved.

Monday, April 18th  - Energy Day, Meatless Monday, and Dress Like Your Spirit Animal. We’ll be reducing our power consumption on campus and invite you to do so also. Also, the foods served on campus will not have meat. Some classes will be taking a tour to understand more about AISC’s solar panels.

Tuesday, April 19th  - Transportation Tuesday, and Dress to Impress.  Consider sharing rides with other people in your neighborhood!  All day we will have tire pressure checks and filling available in the school’s drop-off area. Fuel economy is a financial and environmental incentive! We’ll be making a commitment to make AISC carbon neutral for all school travel for the 2022-2023 year.

Wednesday, April 20th  - Waste Wednesday, and Trash Fashion. We’ll be informing students of our school’s measures to reduce waste and launching a community drop-off for certain recyclables.

Thursday, April 21st  - Water Thursday, and Wear Your PJs. We’re installing faucet aerators in frequently used sinks and some classes will be conducting tours of that school’s water treatment plant which reuses our waste water to fill toilets or water our plants. 

Friday, April 22nd - Earth Day and Wear Green.  Student-created upcycled art pieces will be on display, a massive book swap, and Earth Day Mela with environmentally friendly vendors and organizations will be on campus and open to parents from 12-4:15.

 

Earth Week Scavenger Hunt

The ES Student Council has made a scavenger hunt for students to do anytime during any recess next week. They can pick up the scavenger hunt form in the ES Counseling Office any time next week.

Students will look for posters with AISC Eco-Friendly items the Student Council found around ES School.

Each poster contains a label and number. They copy the label next to the corresponding poster number.

Students turn completed forms into the ES Counseling Office and will receive a small Earth Week gift at the end of the week.

 

Thanks, Ms. Babs for inspiring us to create an Earth Week Scavenger Hunt.

Any questions email or look for Linda, Preetika and Fer

 

Earth Week Book Swap

The Earth Week Book Swap is taking place in the Unity Courtyard on April 21st and 22nd and we are excited for our community to be able to swap books! As advertised, for every two books that are donated, one ticket will be issued to swap for a new book. In addition, on Friday only, we will be allowing staff, students, and parents to purchase books for only ten rupees each! All proceeds will benefit the India Literacy Project in support of their ongoing programs. 

 

While all teachers are encouraged to bring their classes down to browse books at any time, students in grades 3-5 are also allowed to walk over on their own before school or during breaks. Students in EY-2 must attend with an adult. 

 

Parents are welcome to attend the book swap on Friday, April 22nd from 12:00-3:30pm. Please reach out to Ms. Babs if you have any questions.

Personal Growth and Reflection

We’re nearing the time in the semester to start completing your PG&E reflections. Please submit reflections with linked evidence to your supervisor between April 25th - 29th. We will schedule meetings with you after we receive your reflection. You may use the time this afternoon after the AFM to work on your PGE. Let us know if you have any questions. New faculty, we’ll be talking about this at our April 21st meeting.

From the OTL

Wednesday, April 20th departments will gather to focus on curriculum development and documentation.  HODs will lead department teams. ES homeroom and EAL teachers will meet with Matt Glover. Agendas and location information can be found here.  If you have any questions, please reach out to Mary Kelly or your HOD.  

Matt Glover Meeting - April 20th

All HR/EAL teachers will meet in grade level teams in one of your grade level classrooms. Each teacher will log into the Zoom call so you can use the chat feature, but be able to turn and talk to your team members when there is an opportunity for discussion. Please bring headphones and your computer. 

Wellbeing Blog - Operation Appreciation sign up in this week’s blog

Have an enjoyable long weekend. 

Lynn and Dave