PARENT COFFEE - LITERACY Tuesday, February 23

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10 ISM Upcoming Events

Operations & Security

7 Parent Community Association

Athletics and Activities

After-School Activities

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Guidance Office 4

MS Play

MIDDLE SCHOOLMIDDLE SCHOOLMIDDLE SCHOOL

ISSUE # 18

SY 2015–2016

WEEK OF:

JANUARY 18 TO 22

Weekly Publication for Middle School Parents Friday Bulletin

Inside this issue:

JANUARY - FEBRUARY:

MS Upcoming Events:

CLASSROOM WITHOUT WALLS February 15 - 19

MS PARENT COFFEE Tuesday, January 19

ONLINE REPORT CARD ACCESS Wednesday, January 20

MS PLAY January 28 - 30

G4-5 PARENT TRANSITION MEETING Wednesday, February 3

NATIONAL HOLIDAY Monday, February 8

Dear Parents, The highlight of this past week was definitely the PCA sponsored visiting author Alex London! Alex is a dynamic and engaging individual and he has shared his passion for writing with the whole MS. The G5 and G6 students learned about how he generated his ideas for his series The Wild Ones and the G7 and G8 students gained deeper insights into how he structured the plot for Proxy. In his presen-tation to the G6 students, Alex London shared a letter that he wrote to ‘his older self’ when he was in G6. He used this to illustrate how some of his dreams had come into fruition and how some of his hopes for the future had not gone according to plan! He shared author’s that inspired him to write as well as how he gathers ideas for his books from his day-to-day experiences and observations. DATES TO REMEMBER: Tuesday, January 19th = Parent Coffee - How

to Make the Most of Your Child’s Report Card. Wednesday, Jan 20th = Semester reports open

up for parent access (PowerSchool). MS Play - A Midsummer Night’s Dream - HS

Courtyard Thursday, Jan 28th @ 6pm Friday, Jan 29th @ 6pm Saturday, Jan 30th @2:30pm and 6pm

Parent Coffee: How to Make the Most of Your Child’s Report Card: On Tuesday, January 19th from 08:00 - 09:00, we will be hosting a last-minute MS Parent Coffee. This will take place in the Little Theater. This week, several parents have stopped by the office requesting additional information and guidance about how to interpret the upcoming re-port cards and would like guidance on how they can provide meaningful feedback to their child/children. In response to this request, we have scheduled a session where we hope to answer these important parent questions. While we appreciate it is short notice, we hope you can come along if this topic is of interest to you. New parents to ISM this academic year, may find this Par-ent Coffee particularly helpful. Report Cards: Semester one report cards will be available for parents on January 20th, 2016 - you will be able to access a pdf copy of the report card through the online parent portal and Power School, in ad-vance of this we will send out a guide with screen shots that clearly explain how to access your child's report cards. Please note that in the interest of being environmentally conscious, we will not be sending out hard copies of the report card. Please contact the Middle School Office if you have any questions.

NEED TO KNOW:

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Classroom Without Walls (CWW):

The February CWW events are scheduled for the week of February 15th - 19th. Student excitement about this event is mounting and teachers are carefully finalizing logistical de-tails. While we are sure your child has shared their excite-ment with you, we wanted to provide additional information regarding these events.

The CWW experience is multifaceted with learning taking place in four key areas:

Personal Growth - To provide physical, intellectual, emotional and social challenges through a variety of activities.

Community Building - To provide a unique opportunity and setting for students and teachers to learn about one another and build a sense of community.

Curriculum Connections - To provide opportunities for students to apply what they learn in class to real-life situations.

Awareness of the Philippines - To provide an opportunity for students to interact and develop a relationship with the envi-ronment, traditions, and culture of the Philippines

Parents can expect the CWW permission slips to come home late next week. These letters will provide a detailed overview of the CWW experience your child will participate in. Please note that CWW is organized differently at each grade level, with students at some grades being given a choice in the sites they visit. A brief overview of the CWW sites are summarized below:

Grade 5:

The G5 students kick off their CWW experience at ISM on Monday and Tuesday where they will participate in team building activities and receive an introduction to the concept of service learning. Papaya Academy will visit ISM and the students will support and facilitate a wide array of activi-ties. From Wednesday to Friday, the students will be off campus at Camayan Beach Resort (Subic Bay) where they will explore wildlife in need, participate in scientific sampling ac-tivities and experience a dolphin encounter.

Grade 6: Students in G6 will gain deeper insights into our host country of the Philippines and they will also examine sustainable communities. Students will conduct day trips to some of the following sites - La Mesa Watershed, Las Pinas Conservation project, Tzu Chi Recycling Center, International Rice Research Institute and GK Enchanted Farm. Students will step outside of the “Fort Bonifacio Bubble” in order to develop deeper understandings of life in the Philippines.

Grade 7:

Leadership development and community outreach is the overarching focus of the G7 CWW experience. Students will have the opportunity to select two sites from our established service partners - rED, GK Build, Kids International, Papaya

Academy, Cottolengo, and Love2Learn. One site selection is based on the ISM campus and the other site is off cam-pus. Please note that the G7 students return to school each day and do not sleep over during this CWW experience.

Grade 8:

The G8 students CWW experience focuses on the concept of being a change agent. Students can choose from a range of local sites (Makabata Foundation, Performance with Passion and SPECs Home for Boys) or provincial sites (Batangas Reef Project, Stairway Foundation, Subic Adventure, Pawikan Cen-ter Turtle Sanctuary, GK Enchanted Farm and Chosen Chil-dren’s Village). Site selection will determine whether the students return to school at the end of each day or stay over-night.

School Photographs:

Tino Ley, the school photographer, has informed the MS Office that he expects to deliver the MS photos on Monday, January 18th. Providing the photos are delivered on time, the MS Office will distribute the photos on Wednesday, Janu-ary 20th during Advisory. If you ordered a school photo, look out for them on Wednesday!

Transitioning Out of ISM:

If your family is exiting/withdrawing from ISM, please contact the MS guidance secretary, Grace Gabay (gabayg@ismanila.org) Grace can facilitate the organization of transcripts, recommendations and any other documenta-tion you may need for the move. We would like to re-spectfully request that departing parents do not email teach-ers directly. Grace has an intimate understanding of this pro-cess and is able to coordinate all aspects of the withdrawal process. Grace can also answer any questions departing par-ents may have.

Middle School Play:

Have you bought your ticket yet? If not - do so soon as these tickets are selling out fast! We have a wonderful view of the rehearsals for the MS play from our offices and we can assure you that it is going to be a wonderful event! Tickets cost 300 pesos for adults and 150 pesos for students.

Kind Regards,

Rachel Harrington, Middle School Principal

Amanda Pekin, Middle School Assistant Principal

NICE TO KNOW:

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The S2 practice schedule which runs until the end of January is posted on notice boards around school and on the ATAC blog schedules page. Season 3 (S3) tryouts will begin first week of Feb, announcements will be posted on notice boards and on ATAC blog schedules page Fri Jan 15th. ATAC S3 sports for MS are Badminton, Track&Field, Mixed Touch and Co-ed Softball. For HS S3 sports are Golf, Track&Field, Softball and Badminton. Upcoming events: Jan 15 HS Basketball- teams at Brent Jan 16 Puma Touch League Finals at Brent (all

teams) Jan 16 ISM HS swim invitational Jan 20 IASAS Send off assembly/send off

lunch. Jan 27-31 IASAS Rugby/Touch at JIS, Tennis at

ISB, Swimming at SAS, Basketball at ISKL Feb 1-5 S3 tryouts week for MS/HS teams Feb 11 S2 HS sports awards night For our Sailfish swim team program please check the Sailfish blog for information. http://sailfish.ism-online.org/ Please note the practice times for ATAC pro-grams for SY 15-16 are as follows: ATAC all year round teams- 3:15-4:30. See schedule for our All year round teams program here… All HS seasonal teams practice from 3:05- 4:50pm each day. MS seasonal teams prac-tice 3:15-4:45pm. In order to clear the campus prior to 5pm all after school programs will con-clude by 4:50pm or earlier. The last bus is4:55pm this is due to the ever increasing traffic concerns in our area. Parents and students please take some time to

peruse the ATAC blog it has a wide variety of in-formation and links to our sports and activities program. If you have any questions regarding the competitive program of sports at ISM after read-ing the information on the blog please send an email to pekinm@ismanila.org and I will endeav-or to assist you as best I can. The ATAC game schedule pdf which is updated regularly by Triz Gonzalez (ATAC Athletics Coor-dinator) gives the most up to date information on where/when and who our Bearcat teams will be playing throughout the school year. Access to the game schedule is now via the ISM parent portal not via power school as in the past. A navi-gation guide is available here. ATAC Game Sched-ule Users Guide. Access the parent portal via this link, log in with your user name/password and then look for the ATAC Game Schedule tab under the left side quick links. Don't forget to refresh the pdf page each time it opens so you access the most current schedule. Please note this schedule does change often and at short no-tice due to involvement with many local schools and organizations. Check it regularly for the most up to date information. For security purpos-es....access to the ATAC game schedule pdf must be linked via the secure parent portal and details should not be shared with non ISM community members. Bearcat Den- drop by our fantastic spirit store. Bearcat Den hours of operation- 7am-4pm Mon-Fri. Best Regards, Mark Pekin Director of Athletics and Activities

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This year’s PCA INTERNATIONAL NIGHT will be held on Friday, March 18th at 6pm. The evening will begin with a 60-minute SHOW-CASE of music and dance from our diverse ISM community. Following the show, guests will be invited to our INTERNATIONAL BUF-FET to sample cuisine from all around the world. Tickets prices are P500.00 per person (inclusive of buffet). PCA would like to invite representatives from our community’s diverse cultural groups to attend our first planning meeting scheduled for Tuesday, January 26th at 8:00am in Lofthouse B. All countries are invited to participate in our PCA International Night - whether you are a group or a single representative.To confirm your participation or for further information, please email PCA@ismanila.org See you on January 26th for our first meeting!

A few reminders from Operations and Security

Access and parking within the campus are im-portant security and safety issues. For the well-being of all members of the ISM community, those entering the school campus are requested to take note of the information and procedures outlined below. Vehicular Access During drop-off and pick-up times, vehicles may enter the campus through Gates 2 and 3. Those entering through Gate 2 should proceed to the drop off area and, once the student has alighted or boarded, they should exit via Gate 1. Those vehi-cles entering through Gate 3 must turn into the covered parking area and use the designated drop-off areas. All vehicles must exit through Gate 1.

Please note that Gate 2 may only be used by those drivers and passengers who have an ISM ID card and who are in a vehicle displaying a valid ISM ve-hicle sticker.

Alternatively, vehicles entering through Gate 3 may park in the covered car park. The spaces reserved for parent-driven cars should only be used by those vehicles which are driven by parents themselves. Vehicles in which parents are traveling, but which are driven by a driver, should not use these spaces. Rather, they should park elsewhere in the covered car park or make use of the outside spaces next to the power center.

Visitors to ISM must enter through Gate 3. There is an area for short-stay visitor parking near Gate 1. The Pedestrian Gate The pedestrian gate is located in the perimeter fence mid-way between Gate 1 and Gate 2. There is a paved area between the road and the perime-ter fence, allowing easy access to the gate. The pedestrian gate is solely for the entry of members of the ISM Community at the beginning of the school day. It will only be open between 7:00 am and 7:45 am (8:00 am to 8:45 am on Wednesdays).

Due to parking restrictions, and in the interests of security, it will not be open in the afternoon for pick-ups. During the time it is open, it will be un-der the supervision of members of the ISM Guard Force.

Drivers should stop adjacent to the paved area and students should alight from the right side of their vehicle. The driver should then move off, clearing the space for other vehicles dropping off students. Under no circumstances should a student be dropped off from the middle lane. This is danger-ous as the student would need to walk in front of another vehicle. Drivers are reminded that traffic regulations forbid parking on the roads around ISM. Therefore, vehicles should only be stopping for the brief time it takes for a student to alight. Drivers must not wait for anybody to return to the vehicle. ID Cards ID cards should be worn at all times while on cam-pus. If you have not been issued an ID card, or you have lost it, you should obtain one by visiting the security office and completing the appropriate ap-plication form. Vehicle Checks The practice of inspecting vehicles will continue. During off-peak hours, all vehicles will be checked before they are allowed to enter the campus.

During peak hours (drop off and pick-up times), all vehicles without valid stickers and randomly select-ed vehicles with stickers will be asked to undergo an examination.

Whether an examination is conducted or not, it is important that the security staff at the gates are able to identify the occupants of vehicles entering the campus; therefore IDs must be clearly dis-played. Vehicles with tinted windows must roll down windows to allow a clear view of the interior of the vehicle.

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Drivers, Helpers and Bodyguards Drivers, helpers and bodyguards should not wait on campus for students throughout the school day. After dropping off students they should exit the school grounds and not return earlier than 30 minutes before dismissal time. Those who repeat-edly fail to comply with the regulation will have their access privilege suspended. Only those vehicles carrying parents or other peo-ple with business within the school will be allowed to return to the campus before the scheduled pick-up time. There are designated areas for unaccompanied drivers, yayas, helpers and security escorts to wait for parents and students. Unless specifically au-thorized, they may not enter any other area. In the interest of security, and to prevent congestion at the pedestrian entrances to the covered parking area, parents are requested to emphasize to their employees the importance of cooperating with the security staff and remaining in the appropriate are-as. Termination of Employment In the event of the termination of service of a fami-ly employee, parents are asked to secure the for-mer employee’s ISM ID card and return it to the Security office. If this is not possible, it is im-portant that the Security Office is still informed of the change of circumstances. Firearms All members of the ISM community are reminded that it is strictly forbidden for firearms to be brought onto the campus. This includes concealed weapons carried by bodyguards for close protec-tion. Any person arriving at the school with a fire-arm should inform the gate guard, and arrange-ments will be made for the weapon to be safely and securely stored during the visitor’s stay.

Security Staff Directions Our security team is endeavoring to make the school as safe and secure an environment as possi-ble for all members of our community. We ask that everybody cooperate with us in this important task. In particular, all those entering our campus are requested to comply with any direc-tions given to them by members of our guard force. If you are confused or unclear as to the purpose of such instructions, please seek clarification from the security office. Please note that it is the parents’ responsibility to advise their staff accordingly. Thank you for your cooperation. We are looking forward to another great year at International School Manila. Best wishes, MIKE FLYNN Director Operations & Security

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