6 - 16 Art Exhibit

9 - 10 MS Play

15 Parent Coffee

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MIDDLE SCHOOLMIDDLE SCHOOLMIDDLE SCHOOL

ISSUE # 33

SY 2013 –2014

WEEK OF: Weekly Publication for Middle School Parents Friday Bulletin

Inside this issue:

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9 ISM Upcoming Events

8 GK Summer Camps

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Admissions & Advancement

6 Superintendent’s Office

Athletics & Activities

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2 Treasury Department

Clinic

MAY

MAY 5 TO 9

Events & Activities:

19 - 23 MS Tour & Talk

23 MS Party

29 Advocating for Change

30 Grade 8 Dinner Dance

Dear Parents: A copy of your child’s MAP test results was sent home with your child this week. As you review the results, please keep in mind that the results are one of several snapshots of your child’s progress and level of achievement. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact your child’s guid-ance counselor or teacher. If you do not receive the letter and test results, please contact the Middle School Guidance Office at 840-8550. Today, the middle school students enjoyed an activity day. Students were involved in sports and a range of activities from music to jewelry making to an academic bowl. A big thanks to Dave Allen for coordinating the activities and all the teachers who helped to organize the various sessions throughout the day. The Middle School Play- Searching for Heroes- opens on Friday, May 9 at 6:00 P.M. Performances will also be staged on May 10 at 2:30 P.M. and 6:00 P.M. The students have been working extremely hard to put on a show that will captivate the audience. Tickets can be purchased through the cashier’s office. Please join us and celebrate the hard work and efforts of the students and the adults who have worked tirelessly to stage the production. Looking ahead… On Thursday, May 15 we will be hosting a Parent Coffee in the Little Theater from 7:45 – 9:00 A.M. For the February Parent Coffee, we had advertised that we would speak to the progress made on one of the school-wide goals which focuses on assessment and grading. Regrettably at that time, we had to table the discussion and were sorry for disappointing parents who were keen to hear more. Since February, the Assessment Com-mittee has met numerous times and is now at a stage to share its progress. During the Parent Coffee we will discuss new grading practices that we in-tend to implement next school year. If you are interested in hearing more, please mark your calendars. Have a wonderful weekend! Yours in Education, Simon Gillespie Clarissa Sayson Middle School Principal Middle School Assistant Principal

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Returning for school year 2014—2015?

Dear Parents,

Please take a moment to review the re-enrollment procedure for your child to attend classes on August 7,

2014.

STEP 1 - Please complete this step immediately.

You are required to log-in to POWERSCHOOL beginning March 17th to complete STEP 1 of the process.

After May 22nd you will not have access to POWERSCHOOL and this may result in a delay for your child to

attend classes on the first day of school for school year 2014-2015.

Please follow this link for the detailed step-by-step guide and required forms for students entering Grade 1,

6 and 9. To access the Parent Portal and PowerSchool, please download the PDF instructions here.

The forms should be completed and submitted to the appropriate offices at any time prior to the start of

school in the Fall. We encourage you do start this process NOW to avoid long lines.

For information regarding your POWERSCHOOL access information please contact the school in which your

child is currently enrolled.

For information regarding our Health Clinic Clearance procedures, please contact the Clinic

at clinic@ismanila.org.

For information regarding billing or tuition and fees, please contact our Treasury department

at villar@ismanila.org (for billing) and esguerrae@ismanila.org or felipen@ismanila.org (for tuition and

fees).

May we request that if you are NOT RETURNING that you send the Admissions Office your offi-

cial WITHDRAWAL NOTIFICATION FORM immediately as this will help us to clear student account(s) in a

timely manner. We request one form per child.

Please note: Parents who fail to notify the school by Friday, 9th May that their children are leaving ISM

will forfeit US$1,000 from each Facilities Upgrade Deposit.

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Online Re-enrollment

must be accomplished

by May 22, 2014.

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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 different stages

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

tion 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 sporting activity, 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 examinations instead of the

present three. These will be in Grade 1 and Grade 6. At Grade 1, there will be a physical examination performed

by a duly accredited doctor as is the case at present. At Grade 6, there will be a similar physical examination but

with the added component of an ECG. All new students between G1 and G5 will have a physical examination; all

new students from G6 onward will have a physical examination 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 examination, since this was done when

they entered G5

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

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

· We shall continue to encourage very strongly all athletes participating 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 definitive, and there is a more sophisticated 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 Luke’s and

Makati Medical Center as well as other hospitals.

Please take a moment to review our re-enrollment time-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 additional chore for parents and stu-

dents at the time of re-enrollment, but if such a test saves even one life then it will be well worth the extra effort.

Sincerely,

David Toze

Superintendent

The final 3rd season sports awards were held last Monday, April

28th for MS (Track/ Badminton teams) and for HS (Track/

Softball/Golf/Badminton teams). Thank you to all student ath-

letes and parents that came along to celebrate the hard work of

our Bearcat athletes.

4th season practices started last week for HS Boys and Girls Vol-

leyball, HS Boys and Girls Soccer and HS Girls Basketball. If you

are interested in trying out for one of these teams next school

year, come along and join in. Grade 8's you are very wel-

come and encouraged to join these practices if you are planning

on trying out for teams next school year. Please come along and

meet the coaches. If you have questions talk to the following

coaches for information... Boys and Girls Volleyball-Coach Atkin-

son and Coach Child, Boys Soccer- Coach Ayling and Coach Mac-

Innes, Girls Soccer- Coach Dodd and Girls Basketball- Coach

Juteau.

Last weekend, ISM hosted its annual Sailfish International Swim

meet with racing happening on Saturday and Sunday at our pool.

Thank you to all the sailfish swimmers for your efforts and a big

thanks to our Sailfish Coaches led by Coach Holly and to the Sail-

fish parents that helped so much with the meet organization.

Saturday, May 10th is the annual Goodwill Gymnastics meet.

With 250 gymnasts entered this year, it is going to be a great

event. Meet starts at 8:00 A.M. and runs until 5:00 P.M. For spe-

cific event details check the gymnastics blog page.

Saturday, May 10th our ISM Taekwondo team will be taking part

in the international schools meet at Everest Academy, good luck

to all competitors

Saturday, May 17th is the ISM Judo meet at the MS gym.

May 16-18, ISM Sailfish swimmers will be at Singapore swim

meet.

May 16-18 ISM MS Mixed Touch team to Jakarta International school tournament. Regards, Mark Pekin Director of Athletics/ Activities

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Watch an awesome performance HERE of the 7-8 Band/Strings and 5-8 Choir per-forming Wavin' Flag! They performed for the Middle School Principal's Conference last Thursday, April 24 and made quite an impression!

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Dear Parents: We are pleased to announce that we will be offering a new sum-mer camp program at the GK Enchanted Farm Village University in Angat, Bulacan. Our International Farm VillageCamps are designed to inspire future generations of leaders, social entrepreneurs and innovators by engaging young people through fun and exciting hands-on learning experiences. The GK Enchanted Farm Village is a 34-hectare prototype farm of Gawad Kalinga. Located an hour away from Manila, the farm is designed to become a Destination for Social Tourism, an Incubator for Social Business and a Community Platform for Social Education. Built and co-managed by an in-ternational team of social entrepreneurs and innovators coming from differ-ent parts of the world, the farm is an avenue for learning about the realities on the ground beyond the classroom where people get to interact with other nationalities and cultures; learn about present and future issues and create viable solutions with others. Three camp programs will be offered this Summer 2014:

International Farm Village Kids' Camp (for children ages 6 to 12)

International Farm Village Career Camp (for high school students)

Social Business Start-up Camp (for college students) Space will be limited so we encourage you to register today. For registration and inquiries email info@gkenchantedfarm.com or call (0916) 225 3363 I hope the students of ISM will be interested about our programs. Feel free to ask any questions. Nicholas Durand General Manager Enchanted Farm Cafe

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