MS Parent Bulletin (Week of September 23 to 27)

7/29/2019 MS Parent Bulletin (Week of September 23 to 27)

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Music & Drama 16

ISM Upcoming Events 17

Academic Bowl 15

18 G7/8 Parents Meet & Greet

1-18 MAP Tesng

Guidance & Counseling 5

MIDDLE SCHOOLMIDDLE SCHOOLMIDDLE SCHOOL

ISSUE # 6

SY 2013 2014

WEEK OF:

SEPTEMBER 23 to 27

Weekly Publication for Middle School Parents

Friday BulletinInside this issue:

Events & Acvies:

SEPTEMBER

Service Learning

ESL Department

Clinic

Admissions & Advancement

Athlecs & Acvies

MAP Tests 2

3

6

7

8

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23-25 MAP Tesng

Dear Parents:

MAP Tesng starts this week. Please see the separate leer included in the bullen

for more details. In the event that your child misses a tesng session, we will hold

make-up sessions on Wednesdays starng at 7:30 A.M. If your child requires a make-

up session, the MS Oce will nofy you and we ask that you make the necessary ar-

rangements to bring your child to school early on Wednesday.

Next week on Thursday and Friday all the students will be involved in team building

acvies and trips. The teachers have been busy planning numerous acvies, andwere condent that the students will enjoy a meaningful learning experience. More

importantly, we hope to see the students return with a stronger sense of belonging

and community, a deeper appreciaon for one another, and a rm commitment to

team building.

Have a spectacular weekend!

Yours in Educaon,

Simon Gillespie Clarissa Sayson

Middle School Principal Middle School Assistant Principal

26-27 CWW

OCTOBER

Campus Card System

1. Informaon about Campus Card has been provided via your child as well as

through the school News Bullens at the beginning of the school year.

2. campusonline.ismanila.org links you to the ocial website. You can also login

through the parent portal at www.ismanila.org.

3. Low Balance Alert Alerts will be sent to parents once amount hits below the low

balance limit. The default low balance limit is currently set at P1,000 per family ac-

count. Should you wish to change this amount you may login to Campus Card and

adjust the limit.

4. For common reports such as:

Blocked cards, contact the security oce as they need physical access to the card to

unblock the card. Blocked cards will occur if card has been lost/misplaced by a stu-

dent and they have reported this to the security oce.

Username/password/or other website concerns - kindly email

[email protected] or endorse your concerns to the HR oce.

We appreciate everyones paence in regards to the new Campus Card System.


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September 13, 2013

Dear Parents,

From September 23to October 18, ISM will conduct tests called Measures of Academic ProgressTM (MAP).

What are MAP tests?

MAP tests are an external assessment from the United States, used to assist in determining students instrucon al level.

Currently, there are 370 internaonal schools in 123 countries, including 56% member schools of EARCOS (East Asia Regional

Council of Schools), who conduct MAP tesng.

Who does MAP tesng at ISM?

Students in Grades 3 to 10 take MAP tests. Students receiving Learning Supportand ESL support will be given the opportuni-

ty, where appropriate, to parcipate in the MAP tesng. Parents will be contacted individually regarding any modicaons

taking place.

What do MAP tests assess and how oen do they occur?

These tests will measure academic growth across the school year in the areas of Reading, Language and Mathemacs, andare administered twice a year at ISM. They will be taken again in Semester 2 of the 2013 -14 school year.

How do MAP tests work?

Your child will take the tests on a computer. MAP tests are unique in that they are adapve. The test becomes more dicult

the more quesons the student answers correctly. When a student incorrectly answers a queson, the following test ques-

on is adjusted accordingly and is at an easier level. In this way, your child will take a test specically created for his or her

learning level.

How are MAP tests reported?

Your childs MAP results are reported in RIT (Rasch Unit) scores. This is a dierent type of score than a typical test that pro-

vides a percentage correct. Parents will receive a report that shows their RIT score, the normave RIT scores for the grade

level at ISM, and the normave scores for students in the United States within the same grade level. These reports will be

available in November.

What does ISM do with the informaon that MAP provides?

Teachers use the data from MAP tesng to inform learning and teaching. It assists in determining which skills require enhanc-

ing, which skills students have already developed, and which skills need to be introduced. MAP tests also provide our school

with a reference point for the ongoing development of the school -wide curriculum. This data allows us to look for trends

within certain areas of our curriculum.

How do I prepare my child for MAP tesng?

Factors such as sleep and how a child is feeling can aect the results of a standardized test. Your class teacher will let you

know which three days in the coming weeks your child will sit the tests. Please talk to your child to help avoid him/her feeling

anxious about MAP tesng.

Lastly

It is important to remember that MAP results provide one piece of assessment data in the process of acquiring informaonand making judgments about student progress toward intended learning. At ISM, we believe sound assessment involves cre-

ang a multude of ways to measure and communicate student learning over me a photo album versus a single snapshot.

For more informaon on MAP tesng, please consult the NWEA (North West Evaluaon Associaon) website at www.nwea.org. In

addion, parents can access the MAP Parent Toolkit athp://www.nwea.org/support/arcle/930/parent-toolkit.

Sincerely,

Simon Gillespie Clarissa Sayson

Middle School Principal Middle School Assistant Principal
http://www.nwea.org/http://www.nwea.org/support/article/930/parent-toolkithttp://www.nwea.org/support/article/930/parent-toolkithttp://www.nwea.org/support/article/930/parent-toolkithttp://www.nwea.org/support/article/930/parent-toolkithttp://www.nwea.org/


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Seven Ways Students Can Get Involved in Service Learning

All of us have experienced the ethical conict that arises when a homeless child knocks on our car window

at an intersecon. Adolescence is a me when many students start to grapple with their response to pov-

erty, climate change, and other issues facing our world. The problems seem so big, that somemes stu-

dents feel helpless to aect change. Thats one way to look at it. The other way is to do something about

it! As the Dalai Lama said, If you think you are too small to make a dierence, try sleeping with a mosqui-

to.

The Middle School Service Learning Program oers students a diversity of opportunies to give to others

and help safeguard our environment. Here are seven ways that your child can get involved in service and

environmental projects:

1. Saturday Service

Beginning on October 12, eight dierent service oppor-

tunies will be oered on Saturdays. Some events in-

volve a trip to visit a service partner, such as La Mesa

Watershed and Chosen Childrens Village (CCV) near

Tagaytay. Other events involve hosng a local educa-

on program, such as Love 2 Learn, on the ISM cam-

pus. Along with the joy of giving, students benet by

interacng with children from dierent backgrounds

and geng to know the Philippines beyond Maka andTaguig. See the inset Saturday Service Calendar and

discuss which trips interest them most. To parcipate,

students simply pick up a Permission Slip from the MS

Oce on the Monday before the trip. Once its been

signed and returned to the oce, a student can sign up

on the roster. Some trips ll up quickly so encourage

them to sign up early. And yes, parents are welcome

to aend!

2. Classroom Without Walls

For two days in late September and a week in February, students take part in our Classroom Without Walls

(CWW) program. Acvies range from teambuilding acvies to hands-on service projects. Some trips are

run from campus on a daily basis, while others involve an overnight trip. All of them oer rich opportunies

for experienal learning, bonding with classmates, and helping others. In some cases, students run fundrais-

ers and supply drives to support CWW service partners running up to their trips. For details about specic

CWW plans, contact your childs Grade Level Coordinator.

3

SEMESTER 1

SATURDAY SERVICE DATES10/19 Love 2 Learn

11/9 Habitat for Humanity

11/16 CRIBS / Papaya Academy

11/23 Chosen Childrens Village

11/30 La Mesa Watershed

12/7 Philippine Childrens Fund

12/14 Tzu Chi Foundation

CLASSROOM WITHOUT WALLS9/26-27 (G5 teambuilding @ ISM)

2/10-14


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3. ECO Council

ECO stands for Environmental and Community Outreach. This club is open to all MS students and meets

regularly to plan and promote Saturday Service projects, special events ,such as, No Impact Week, and assistwith community building acvies around our campus. There are also smaller service clubs associated with

service partners, such as CCV. Students can see Mr. Willey or Mr. Cook to get involved.

4. M.Y.O. Service Trip

Students can make their own service trip. All they need is a teacher chaperone and a plan. Some Advisories

create service projects together. Sports teams can get involved through events such as the Homeless World

Cup. Of course, there are also a lot of opportunies for students to get involved in service acvies through

a parents employer, religious group, and out-of-school clubs.

5. Start a Family Tradion

Many ISM families have forged their own es with service partners. Some students even celebrate their

birthdays by vising their favorite service partner site. Its easy to arrange family visits. If youd like assis-

tance organizing a family visit, contact me at the email address provided below.

6. Random Acts of Kindness

Service is more than one-o events. There are lots of ways students can help others, and our planet,

through their daily acons. Encourage students to pracce Random Acts of Kindness such as wring a

leer to a grandparent, conserving resources at home, inving a new student to a sleepover, or reaching

out to students who need a friend. Studies have shown that such acvies oen benet the giver even

more than the receiver.

7. Walk the Walk

This is perhaps the greatest challenge of working with adolescents, whether you are a parent or an educa-

tor. Its also one of the most important. Share your own struggles with issues such as poverty, the environ-

ment, and inequality. Model empathy and compassion. Get involved in service projects that suit your own

interests and concerns. Research shows that a respected adult role model is one of the most powerful in-

struconal tools.

Internaonal School Manila holds Service as one of its core values. Those of you who have been here for a

while, know how integral service learning is to our commitment to educang the whole child. There are lotsof ways for students (and parents) to get involved. Encourage your child topick acvies they are inter-

ested in and try new things. If you have any quesons, dont hesitate to email me at

[email protected].

All the best,

Cory Willey

Student Advisory Coordinator4


5/20

5

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

on Parent Group Discussions

The ES and MS counselors will facilitate parent group discussions starng on

October 8th and connue throughout the semester. A key focus of thegroup will be to highlight and discuss parent and child related issues. If you are

interested please contact Ms. Perez in the ES Guidance Oce. We look forward

to seeing you there!


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7/20

The season of -ber/brrr months has started and its peak

season for germs again!!!The First Line of Defense Against Germs:

1. Wash and sanitize your hands!

Germs - such as bacteria and viruses - can be transmied several dierent ways, especially

through personal contact, touching door knobs and other surfaces, or using the bathroom.

If you pick up germs from one of these sources, you can unknowingly become infected simply by

touching your eyes, nose, or mouth.

Good hand washing ghts the spread of many illnesses - and not just the common cold. More se-

rious Illnesses can be stopped with the simple act of washing your hands.

Alcohol-based hand sanizers which don't require water are an excellent alternave to hand

washing, parcularly when soap and water aren't available. They're actually more eecve than

soap and water in killing bacteria and viruses that cause disease. However, soap should be used is

hands are visibly dirty.

To use an alcohol-based hand sanizer:

Apply about 1/2 tsp of the product to the palm of your hand.

Rub your hands together, covering all surfac-

es of your hands, unl they're dry.

2. Cover your Cough

Cover your mouth and nose with a ssue when you

cough or sneeze. Put your ssue in a waste basket

and use hand sanizer.

If you dont have a ssue, cough or sneeze into your

upper sleeve or elbow, not your hands.

Source: hp://www.wellnessproposals.com, hp://

www.cdc.gov

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UPDATE YOUR CONTACT DETAILS THROUGH

THE ISM PARENT PORTAL

Dear Parents,

We are pleased to inform you that your childs PowerSchool account may be accessed through the

ISM Parent Portal. Aside from being a gateway to PowerSchool, the Parent Portal also provides in-

formaon on school events, useful links, as well as child-specic academic blogs and student poro-

lios. Should you need to make any changes to your contact informaon, visit the Parent Portal and

follow the steps below:


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The 2nd RIFA Soccer Fesval for all ES teams, MS C teams (9 aside) and MS girls teams (7 aside)will be held this Saturday, Sept ember 21st. All up to date informaon about our ES/MS soccer

teams and the RIFA fesvals etc. can always be found here:

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

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

fesvals/

Parents please note: Permission slips are issued to all players via the coaches at training prior to

each fesval with all fesval details for our ES and MS teams. Please take careful note of the mes

and venues as these can change at short noce. ATAC blog will have the most up to date infor-

maon.

The 2nd season pracce schedule which runs from October 23 to February 4 will be posted on no-

ce boards around school, and will also be available on the ATAC blog from next week, September

23rd. 2nd season sports are Basketball, Tennis, Varsity swim team, Rugby and Touch.

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

The ISM XCountry teams raced at Faith last Saturday for the 3rd race of the local season. Our HS

team raced in Taipei as a part of the pre IASAS exchange. Race results can be found here:

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

IASAS Venues this year are Volleyball/XC at Jakarta and Soccer is at Taipei. Match schedules can be

found here:

hp://atac.ism-online.org/iasas/iasas

-1st

-season

-schedules/

Our Sailsh team will race for the rst me this Saturday at Brent. Good luck to all swimmers at

the rst meet of the year. Please see the Sailsh blog for details.

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New families please 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).

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 the game schedule

does change oen due to involvement with many local schools so please check the page regularly

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.

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 at:

[email protected]. We are always looking for new volunteers and encourage parents

from ES/MS to join our group.

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

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 5thGrader?

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.

*Academic Bowl

Pracce on September

26th will be cancelled

due to Classroom

Without Walls.


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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

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!!! Girls interested in auditioning for the AMIS Honor

Choir in February are encouraged to attend optional information & practice session

for auditions, during the first half of lunch on Monday Sept 23, and Monday Oct 7,

from 12:45 to 1:00. Details for auditions are also posted on Ms. Hausman's blog.

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MS Parent Bulletin (Week of September 23 to 27)

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