Parent Bulletin Issue 27 SY1314

8/12/2019 Parent Bulletin Issue 27 SY1314

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MARCH

25 -31 MAP Tesng

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MIDDLE SCHOOLMIDDLE SCHOOLMIDDLE SCHOOL

ISSUE # 27

SY 2013 2014

WEEK OF: Weekly Publication for Middle School ParentsFriday Bulletin

Inside this issue:

Events & Acvies:

5

11ISM Upcoming Events

9Admissions & Advancement

8Athlecs & Acvies

10

Superintendents Oce

9High School Guidance

Service LearningNo Impact Week

6

27 Grade 5/12 All StringsConcert

20Student-Led

Conferences

2Student Led Conferences

MAP Tesng

Treasury Department

APRIL

MARCH 17 TO 21

Dear Parents:

Today we held Robolucion, a robot maker fair, in the Lile Theater for our Mid-dle and High School students to showcase the robots they constructed and pro-grammed during class. Seeing the students and robots in acon was amazing.There were dogs walking, elephants picking up a bar, robots climbing stairs andgames to be playedjust to name a few. The atmosphere of excitement was aclear indicaon that lots of learning had taken place over the past weeks, and aposive sign that our edgling robocs program has taken hold of student in-terest and creavity. Thanks to Mahew Chadwick and Ringo Dingrando, theMiddle School and High School Robocs teachers, for organizing this event.

This week the second round of MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) tesngbegan. 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 neces-sary arrangements to bring your child to school early on Wednesday.

On Thursday, March 20 students will be released early at 12:00 noon, and wewill have an aernoon of Student-Led Conferences, which provides an oppor-tunity for students to share their learning with their parents. Informaon wasemailed to all parents about the aernoon, quesons you can ask your childduring the conferences, and a goal seng sheet.

On Thursday aernoon parents will accompany their child to each class for ap-proximately ten minutes and have the opportunity to discuss samples of work.There will be two sessions, 12:30 2:30 and 3:00-5:00, with students divided

according to the alphabet. It is recommended that students with surnames A-Kaend the rst session, and students with surnames L-Z aend the second ses-

sion; however, this is exible. If you are unable to aend the recommendedsession me, you are welcome to parcipate in the alternate session. For stu-dent-led conferences, parents will not need to schedule appointments. Pleasenote that if both parents are unable to aend the student-led conference, yourchild is expected to go home at dismissal and not remain on campus.

On Friday, March 21 the Middle School will join the Elementary School Interna-onal Day and watch the ag ceremony in the morning. Our aernoon assem-bly will also highlight other cultures. On Friday students are encouraged todress in are that represents their home country. We look forward to every-one geng involved and celebrang the diversity of the ISM community.

At this point of the semester we oen see students who are starng to getred and stressed and are ready for a break from school. This is oen evidentin their moods and the tensions that may arise with friends and other peers.

We recognize that this is part of the natural cycle of the school year and watchout for students who may be showing signs of fague or anxiety. If you noceany of these signs in your child, please take some me to connect with themand talk about how they are feeling. Somemes all it takes to get a child backon track is a listening ear from a trusted adult.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Yours in Educaon,

Simon Gillespie Clarissa SaysonMiddle School Principal Middle School Assistant Principal

Grade 5/12 All Bands

Concert

4 Grade 5/12 All ChoirsConcert


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Dear Students and Parents,

Welcome to our Middle School student-led conferences. We hope that you find this time together sharing

your learning to be a worthwhile experience. The purpose of this student-led conference is to provide stu-

dents with an opportunity to share their learning with their parents and teachers in their classrooms. The

goals of a student-led conference include the following:

Encourage students to accept responsibility for their learning and progress.

Help students recognize and take ownership for the things that interfered with their learning success.

Teach students the process of self-evaluation.

Facilitate the development of students oral communication skills and self-confidence.

Enhance communication between student and parents.

During the afternoon of March 20, you will take part in one of two sessions (12:30 2:30 p.m. or 3:00 5:00

p.m.) together with your child going around to each of their classrooms. The schedule for each session is

included in this program guide. We encourage you to attend the first session if your surname begins with

the letters A-K, and the second session if your surname begins with the letters L-Z (If you need to attend

the other time because of conflicts, this is acceptable).

During each class that you visit your child has prepared a presentation of their learning for you. They will

be sharing work samples and their reflections, and we encourage you during this time to engage in a con-

versation. Included in this guide are some suggested questions that you may ask your child to facilitate the

process.

On the back page of this guide is a worksheet for you and your child to complete at the end of your session.

This time is an opportunity for you to sit down and reflect together on the afternoon and to set goals for

the remainder of the school year.

Thank you for taking time to participate in your childs learning during our Middle School student -led con-

ferences. We hope that this has given you additional insight into your childs learning, and an opportunity

to understand what happens on a daily basis in our classes at International School Manila.

Yours in Education,

Simon Gillespie Clarissa Sayson

Middle School Principal Middle School Assistant Principal


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Please attend one of the following two sessions 12:30 2:30 or 3:00 5:00 p.m. You will begin in

your childs advisory where an overview will be provided. Then go in order of your childs schedule

spending approximately 10 minutes in each room (the time is flexible). Your child should know their

schedule and where to go, but if you need an individual copy of their schedule or a map of the Mid-

dle School, please stop by the Middle School Office.

Guiding Questions for parents to ask students during and after the conference:

1. What has been the most difficult part of this class?

2. What has been you favorite assignment this year?

3. What assignment did you learn the most from this year?

4. Which subject do you feel is the most difficult for you? Why?

5. How do you think I could help you in this subject?

6. Do you feel that I am helpful to you, in your studies?

7. How do you manage your time when you have assignments that are large?

8. What inspired you to.....?

9. When you're given a choice, what type of assignment would you choose?

10. How do you communicate with your teacher for help?

11. Do you use the tutorial time after school?

12. Do you challenge yourself to try new things?

13. Do you take risks with your assignments?

14. How do you learn best?

15. What study habits do you need to improve? Why?

16. How will you use what you know about your learning styles to improve?

17. How well do you manage your time? What do you need to work on?


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To All ISM Parents:

Important Advisory :US dollar Checks from Cibank NA -Philippine Branch

In accordance with the recent advisory made by Cibank N.A. Philippines, please be informed that

starng January 01,2014 , CITIBANK US Dollar Account checks drawn from Cibank N.A. Philippine

Branch will no longer be cleared through Cibank N.A. Agana Guam.

In eect, CITIBANK checks deposited to a local bank or bank abroad will be treated as collecon

checks

with clearing period of not less than

45 days.

The said checks will no longer be acceptable foroutright credit to both foreign currency deposit unit (FCDU) and PESO account unl the receipt of

credit advice from Cibank NA Philippines.

A collecon fee will also be imposed by depository banks (please see charges from BPI and HSBC

below).

BPIcharges 1/4 of 1% for every Php 1.00 or a fracon thereof plus a xed postage fee of Php 6.50

and minimum charge foroutward bills for collecon isPhp 100.00 excluding postage fee.


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HSBCcharges USD$3 for credit to USD account and Php100 for credit to Peso plus other addional

processing fee that maybe charged by the receiving bank.

Furthermore,the student's account paid by the Cibank check will not be considered as seled /

paid for unl such me the check is advised to have been cleared byCibank.Addional surcharge

maybe computed at the me that the check has not yet cleared and already falls aer the due

date.

In this regard, we would like to advise our parents todeposit CITIBANK checks directly to the ISM

CITIBANK account.PleaseDO NOT DEPOSITCITIBANK Checks tootherISM local banks such as HSBC

and BPI to prevent above-menoned problems. Also remember to use your new set of dollar checks

as advised by Cibank to you. As per Cibank, they have previously issued nocaon leers to

their account holders regarding this change.

For any query on your payment , please contact our Treasury Department -Cashiers ( Elmer Esguer-

ra and Nerissa Felipe) 840-85-12, for billing ( Rhoda Villa 840-85-22 ) or Marissa Dulay at 840-85-

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USD Check Clearing Services

Please be advised that eecve January 01,2014, US Dollar checks issued from your Cibank, N.A

Philippine Branch Dollar Checking Account can no longer be presented and cleared through Ci-

bank, N.A. Agana, Guam, U.S.A. under US Federal Reserve System. All US Dollar Account checksdrawn from Cibank N.A. Philippine Branch, which aredeposited in a local bankor in a bank

abroad,will be treated as a collecon item by presenng bank. The clearing period will thus change

from 15 days to esmated 45 days depending on the process of the presenng bank on collecon

items.

in addion, beginning December 15, 2013, please refrain from issuing any unused exisng US Dollar

Checks to your payees. We encourage you to order a new set of US Dollar check books for future

use.

Should you have any quesons please contact Ci Service at 802-6000.

Important Advisory :HSBC Bank Charge for HSBC Check Deposits

Please be informed that starngJanuary 01,2014, HSBC has imposed a$4.00 bank

chargeforeachHSBCcheckdeposit . Over the counterHSBC check depositsfrom parents and com-

pany sponsors are also covered and charged by the same amount. In this regard, we would like to

remind all our parents and sponsoring companies to pleaseadd $4.00 when payingHSBC check(s)

or demand dratoISM Cashier's Oceor for direct deposits,to HSBC. For your reference and

guidance.


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Re-enrollment: SY14-15 Returning Students Medical Update

Dear Parents:

As you may know, for a number of years we have had required medical check-ups for students at dierent stages

in their school lives: G1; G5; G9. In recognion of the increasing concern about heart health, especially in conjunc-

on with physical exercise in a tropical climate, we shall be introducing a mandatory Electro-Cardiogram (ECG)

test for older students.

Sudden Cardiac Death in Adolescents, especially during sporng acvity, is a recognized syndrome and well over

100 children a year die of this in the USA. Medical advice is that it makes sense to test only students who are 12

years old and beyond. In light of this, we shall now have two thresholds for medical examinaons instead of the

present three. These will be in Grade 1 and Grade 6. At Grade 1, there will be a physical examinaon performedby a duly accredited doctor as is the case at present. At Grade 6, there will be a similar physical examinaon but

with the added component of an ECG.All new studentsbetween G1 and G5 will have a physical examinaon;all

new students from G6 onwardwill have a physical examinaon and the ECG.

In order to "grandfather out" our present cohort of students, please note:

Incoming G6 students will have an ECG, but will not need a physical examinaon, since this was done when

they entered G5

Incoming G9 students will have the full medical examinaon and an ECG.

Incoming G7 and G8 will have the full medical examinaon and an ECG when they enter G9.

We shall connue to encourage very strongly all athletes parcipang in Varsity sports to take an ECG.

Over the course of the next years, this will mean that all ISM students from G6 onwards will have had a basic heart

check-up. The ECG is not denive, and there is a more sophiscated check that the doctor will recommend if any-

thing in the ECG causes concern. The test itself is very reasonably priced and is readily available at St Lukes and

Maka Medical Center as well as other hospitals.

Please take a moment to review our re-enrollment me-line and procedures for all students returning for school

year 2014-2015:RE-ENROLLMENT

I do understand that adding this requirement of an ECG may be seen as an addional chore for parents and stu-dents at the me of re-enrollment, but if such a test saves even one life then it will be well worth the extra eort.

Sincerely,

David Toze

Superintendent


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Dear Parents,

It is that me of year again to recruit companies for our annual Bearcat Career Experience...a one week "internship-like"

program (June 9 to 13) to help our high school sophomores and juniors gain valuable insight into the world of careers

outside of the academic classroom.

Currently in its fourth year, the program has been very successful, mainly in part to the incredible parcipaon of the

ISM community in providing these worthwhile placements. We annually placed between 120 and 160 students each

June with numerous reputable companies in the Metro Manila area.

For a some basic informaon on what the Bearcat Career Experience is all about, please see our website.

hp://bearcat-careers.ism-online.org/

If you or someone you know is willing to HOST some of our students for a one week placement in June, the next step is

to FILL OUT the applicaon. Please see this link below

hp://bearcat-careers.ism-online.org/how-to-apply/

Keep in mind, when you go to this "how to apply" link, there areTWO forms to ll out. One is the Company Applica-

on and then also further down the page is a Company/School Partnershipagreement...essenally these are the same

two forms as last year.

We would like these TWO forms completed by April 21, 2014at the absolute latest...however, the earlier, the beer :)

Please let me know if you have any quesons in the meanme.

Best Regards,

Doug McQueen

HS Grade 9/10 Guidance Counselor

(632) 840-8664


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MS Saturday Service Dates

March 22 Philippine Community Fund (PCF)

March 29 Philippine Animal Welfare Society

April 5

Tzu Chi Foundaon Recycling Center

To sign up, get a Permission Slip in the MS Oce and prepare to

[Get awesome!]

ATTENTION ISM! One of our school goals

for our upcoming No Impact Week

(March 24 -March 28) is toinvolveour community in decreasing the

environmental impact of ISM. To

helpachieve this goal, we are asking stu-

dents who can walk to school to do so

and students who are already signed up

to ride the bus to ride the bus as muchas possible throughout the week--

parcularlyon Wednesdaythe 26th!

Please do your part to support our

eorts to become a more sustainable

school!
http://www.p-c-f.org/http://www.paws.org.ph/http://www.paws.org.ph/http://www.tzuchi.org.ph/newsite/index.phphttp://www.tzuchi.org.ph/newsite/index.phphttp://www.paws.org.ph/http://www.p-c-f.org/


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3rd season pracce schedule for MS/HS studentsis posted on the schedules pages of the (ATACblog) and on noce boards around school.

SaturdayCommunity Tennis has resumed andwill run through unl the end of May. see theyer on the blog for exact dates and details. Thisis open to ISM community members only, out-side guests are not allowed. Contact Coach Cza-rina to book lessons with our ISM Tennis Acade-my coaches(hp://atac.ism-online.org/atac/saturday-community-tennis/).

Well done to all our MS/HS track athletes who

competed at the annual ISM twilight track meetlast Friday. It was great to see many MS/HS par-ents out supporng our athletes. The next meetat ISM isMarch 29thand the nal local meet forseason will beApril 5that Brent.

Meet results can be found herehp://atac.ism-online.org/atac/3rd-season/track-meet-

results/

Congratulaons to our Varsity Girls soball teamfor winning the local Co-ed League champion-

ship last Sunday against DeLalle Salle.

New families please take some me to perusethe ATAC blog as this will help orientate youwith the wide variety of co-curricular programsISM oers.

A great way to stay in touch with the ISM ATACprogram is to subscribe via RSS feed to the ATACblog and also to follow via twier (see twierfeed on the blog home page).

EachMonday,I will post the weeks happeningsand highlight important events for students andparents informaon on the ATAC blog and in theregularFridayparent bullens.

GAME SCHEDULE PDF: (access to game scheduleinformaon): Informaon about all mid-week/

weekend xtures for ISM teams can be found viathe ATAC blog.Please note the game scheduledoes change oen due to involvement withmany local schools so please check the page reg-ularly to nd out the latest informaon of whereand when the Bearcats teams are playing.Clickon schedules tab or the Bearcat logo to be di-rected to the power school secure site(hp://powerschool.ismanila.org/public/) You willneed your power school user name and pass-word to access the game schedule pdf.

The Bearcat Den (hp://atac.ism-online.org/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 theden and are always looking for more people tohelp out. If you are interested in joining a fantas-c group please contact any of our den mem-bers during den opening hours or please contactCarolyn Ching for details [email protected]. We are always lookingfor new volunteers and encourage parents fromES/MS tojoin our group. The Bearcat den is nowcalling for volunteers to take on POR's (posions

of responsibility) for next school year '14-15) as

secretary, treasurer, volunteer coordinator, in-ventory/merchandise and snacks purchasing. Ifyou are interested drop an [email protected]

Have a great year at the Home of the Bearcats!

Regards,Mark PekinDirector of Athlecs/Acvies
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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UPDATE YOUR CONTACT DETAILS THROUGH

THE ISM PARENT PORTALDear 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 informaon on school events, useful links,

as well as child-specic academic blogs and student porolios. Should you need to make any changes to your contact

informaon, visit the Parent Portal and follow the steps below:


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Leaving ISM?

For those students that will be withdrawing from Internaonal School Manila this school year (SY 13

-14), the following procedure applies:

Parents are obliged to ocially inform the Admissions Oce in wring through a Withdrawal No-

caon Form at least een (15) days prior to your childs last day of school.

For those leaving at theend of the school year,you MUST submit a Withdrawal No-

caon Form on or before May 09, 2014.

Failure to do so will lead to a deducon of US$1,000 from the Facilies Upgrade Deposit (FUD) in

compensaon for having held a space for the child and thus prevenng the School from oeringthat space to another child prior to the summer holiday break.

The Withdrawal Nocaon Form can be obtained from the Admissions Oce or downloaded from

the ISM website here.

We hope that your child has had an enriching stay at ISM and wish you and your family the very

best in the future.
http://www.ismanila.org/page.cfm?p=853&pback=372http://www.ismanila.org/page.cfm?p=853&pback=372http://www.ismanila.org/page.cfm?p=853&pback=372http://www.ismanila.org/page.cfm?p=853&pback=372


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Documents

Parent Bulletin Issue 27 SY1314