MIDDLE SCHOOL

Weekly Publication for Middle School Parents

Friday Bulletin
ISSUE # 08
WEEK OF OCTOBER 01 TO 05, 2012

From the Middle School Office

Dear Parents: We hope your child enjoyed their CWW experience, made some new friends and strengthened bonds with existing friends. Often times it is the experiences that happen outside the classroom that children remember of their time at school. Please take some time over the weekend and over the course of the week to engage your child in conversation about the activities they did and what they gained from the experience. As we continue the school year, teachers will build on the sense of community that was nurtured during the CWW experience. MAP Testing starts this week. Due to technical issues, which we have sorted out with NWEA, testing sessions did not take place in Middle School last week. As such, we will be extending the testing window by an additional week. Please see the separate letter included in the bulletin for more details. In the event that your child misses a testing session, we will hold make-up sessions on Wednesdays starting at 7:30 A.M. If your child requires a make-up session, the MS Office will notify you and we ask that you make the necessary arrangements to bring your child to school early on Wednesday. On Friday, the first party of the year is happening for grades 5 and 6 from 5:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M. Permission slips will be distributed on Monday and a signed slip is needed to attend the party. Please keep an eye out for the letter. While the students are enjoying their party, parents are invited to Meet and Greet Cocktails, which will be happening at the same time. So encourage your child to go to the party, drop them off and then make your way to the Little Theater. This will be a perfect opportunity to meet other parents and to connect names with faces. We hope you can join us! Looking aheadParent Teacher Conferences (PTCs) in the Middle School are scheduled for Tuesday, October 16th and Wednesday, October 17th from 1:00 P.M. to 6:00 P.M. We will continue to use an online reservation system for making appointments, and the system will open to parents on Tuesday, October 2nd at 8:00 A.M. A step by step guide on how to make appointments for Parent Teacher Conferences is included in the bulletin for your reference. In order to reserve an appointment, you will need your PowerSchool username and password. If you have misplaced or forgotten your PowerSchool login details, please call the Middle School Office at 840 8555/8550 or email Grace Gabay (GabayG@ismanila.org). Have a spectacular weekend! Yours in Education, Simon Gillespie Middle School Principal Clarissa Sayson Middle School Assistant Principal

Inside this issue:

Parent Teacher Conference 2012 Letter to Parents Regarding MAP Testing Parent Meet and Greet Service Learning Update Academic Bowl Practice Sessions From the Athletics & Activities Office Friday Night Lights New Tennis Facility Inauguration MS Try Out Schedule HS Try Out Schedule 2nd Season Practice Schedule PCC Sponsorship Letter The Manila St. Andrews Society Ball 2 5 6 7 8 10 11 12 13 15

UPCOMING EVENTS
OCTOBER
01 to 24 05 06 12 13 16 MAP Testing Gr. 5 & 6 Party Service Learning Trip (La Mesa Watershed) Gr. 7 & 8 Party Service Learning Trip (CCV) Guidance Workshop: Understanding Third Culture Kids (9:00 A.M., LT) Parent Teacher Conferences (1:00 P.M.) MS ISTA Filipiniana Beginning of School Holiday

16 to 17 18 to 21 25 26

NOVEMBER
05 Classes Resume

POWERSCHOOL GRADE UPDATE

October 05 October 19 Progress Report Distribution Grade Update

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MAP Testing

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From the PTA

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Service Learning Update

Chosen Children Village Club announces What: Middle School Food Drive for Chosen Children Village Rice Pasta noodles Oats Milk (powdered and tetra) Flour Sugar Cooking oil Tomato sauce and/or Tomato paste Canned goods: Sardines luncheon meat Vienna sausage corned beef Dried beans Canned fruit

When: From September 19 to October 12, 2012 Why: We can make lives better as a Middle School community in helping our service partner. This year, instead of a Diaper Drive, CCV has asked for food because of a decrease in their international funding. As a non-profit organization in residential care of physically and/or mentally abandoned children, they need help to provide for seventy three children with ages ranging for one to twenty-five years old. Where: Collection points will be in each grade level. There will be Homebases assigned for each house. How: Students voluntarily bring food to the designated drop off point. In each grade level, each HB/classroom teacher will have a sign on their door of their house, so there should end up (hopefully) a couple of rooms per house per floor. And then on October 11, we put them all in front of the Intersection by house and see whos got the biggest pile. :) On October 12, the house with the most food gets the most points.

Middle School Academic Bowl Practice Sessions

Does your child know lots of interesting facts and general knowledge? Is your child fast on the buzzers? Does your child like Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader? THEN YOUR CHILD SHOULD COME TO Academic Bowl Practice Sessions!! Practice sessions will take place in room P046 (Mrs. Birchenalls classroom) every Tuesday starting 11th September 2:30 3:30 P.M. Successful students will represent ISM at the next Academic Bowl competition which is to be held at Faith Academy on the 6th November 2012. However, please note that this week, there will be no Academic Bowl Practice Session on Tuesday, October 2. Practice Sessions will resume on Thursday, October 4. All Middle School students are very welcome to come to the practice sessions. If you have any questions or queries please speak to Mrs. Birchenall or e-mail her at birchenallv@ismanila.org.

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From the Athletics & Activities Office

The IASAS venues for the Season one championships on October 10-14 are: Soccer at Bangkok and Volleyball & Cross Country at Kuala Lumpur. Schedules for the Soccer and Volleyball games are now available on the blog at the following link http://atac.ism-online.org/iasas/iasas-1stseason-schedules/. HS Boys Basketball Players: Important message from Coach Peabody: There will be a Basketball Interest Meeting October 4, 2012 at 11:30 A.M. during lunch. During the meeting I will discuss what will take place during tryouts. Please take note of this meeting and visit this link to the survey for HS boys basketball players https://docs.google.com/a/ismanila.org/spreadsheet/vie wform?fromEmail=true&formkey=dHk4ZzUyR250WXN3aWR sSTFITjI5VkE6MQ Friday Night Lights on September 28th: Come out and support the Bearcats vs. Faith. Cheer hard and cheer loud for our teams. Show your support on September 28, Friday Night Lights! open for parents to have a game until 7:00 P.M. on this day. Please contact the ATAC office to register if you would like to attend this event. See flyer attached for this event! 2nd Season ATAC sports: Tryouts and Practice Schedule for MS & HS sports (Basketball, Tennis, Varsity Swimming, Boys Rugby and Girls Touch) are now posted on the blog and on notice boards around school. For interested Basketball players see the flyers in this bulletin for upcoming Basketball camps being held at school for ISM students. Information about our ES soccer teams and the RIFA festivals can be found here http://atac.ism-online.org/atac/1stseason/es-soccer-rifa-league-festivals/ and flyers have been posted on ES notice board and on the notice board located under the tent at the ES field. The information link for the MS C teams and MS Girls 7 a side soccer teams is available at http://atac.ism-online.org/atac/1st-season/ms-soccer-rifaleague-festivals/ IMPORTANT: Parents please note the venues for the 7 a side C, E, G and MS Girls festivals have changed. Permission slips will be issued to all players via the coaches at training prior to each festival. Please consult the ES and MS Rifa League links to get the latest information. IMPORTANT: NEW! Saturday, October 6 Boys Festival #3 (rescheduled date due to September 15 cancellation!) *updated September 26, 2012

Girls Volleyball at ISM: Varsity vs. Faith and JV vs. Faith

from 4:00 P.M. at ISM MS Gym

ISM MS Field 4:00 P.M. ISM JV girls vs. Faith JV girls soccer followed by ISM Varsity girls vs. Faith

ISM HS Field 4:00 P.M. Boys Varsity ISM vs. Faith (Rifa
league game) followed by ISM Aspirants vs. Faith JV approximately at 6:00 P.M. Note *Boys volleyball JV and Varsity play away game at Faith New Tennis Facility: Many parents have expressed interest in the new roof top development being constructed at school. This new construction will be the home of ISM tennis with 8 new ITF artificial grass courts, new locker rooms, bleachers and the area will also serve as a multipurpose sports facility to improve our available teaching space for PE classes. The project is well underway with completion set for early October. There will be an opening ceremony on Thursday, October 4. Any interested parents are invited to watch a student exhibition game and if you are a tennis player, please bring your racquet and come dressed in your tennis attire as you will also be able to have a game on the new courts on this day. The opening function will begin at 4:45 P.M. with a ceremonial cutting of the ribbon by Mr. Toze, followed by two student exhibition games 5:00 to 5:30 P.M. and then the courts will be

Midgets E teams (E1 and E2 Coach Popoy and Coach Francis teams) at CSA 8:00 A.M. kick-off

Midgets C teams (C1, C2, C3 and C4 Coach Eric/Chris/Kleng

and Jays teams) at CSA 1:00 P.M. kick off

Midgets G teams (G1 and G2 Coach Mike and Coach Isas

teams) at ISM 1:00 P.M. kick-off NEW *October 13th - Boys Rifa festival finals for teams that qualify will be held at ISM kick-off 8:00 A.M. - 12 noon (Top 8 teams qualify after the festival rounds! Teams that qualify will be informed early in the week after the festival on October 6 if you are playing in the finals. NEW *October 13th - Due to all the cancelled dates the *MS Girls festival and finals day combined will be held at CSA kick-off 8:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M.

F R I D A Y B U LLETIN (continued from previous page) The ISM Cross Country team will race at Faith this Saturday, results for all the meets completed during the season can be found on the Cross Country results page. http://atac.ism-online.org/atac/1st-season/crosscountry-race-results/ The ISM MS Tennis program runs during 2nd second season from mid/late October thru to early February. Our teams play in the ISTA League Tennis Tournament which conducts an age group divisional round robin tournament with playoffs and finals at seasons end. For the 2012-13 season we have entered one girls team (Gr.5-8) and 2 boys teams (1 gr. 5/6 team and 1 gr. 7/8 team) Each team will be made up 8-10 players who will be selected at the conclusion of the tryouts at the start of the season. Tryouts dates for MS tennis team selection are Oct 18-19. See flyers around school notice boards and on ATAC blog. Players wanting to make the school team must attend both tryouts sessions to be eligible for team selection. If you are interested in trying out please register your name ahead of time by sending an email with your full name, grade and year born to Mr. Pekin pekinm@ismanila.org NOTE* Grade 8 girls or boys who are born '98 are eligible to play for the MS team. If you are grade 8 and born'97 you must try out for the HS teams! 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 twitter (see twitter feed on the blog home page). Each Monday, I will post the weeks happenings and highlight important events for students and parents information on the ATAC blog and in the regular Friday parent bulletins. GAME SCHEDULE PDF: (access to game schedule information) Information about all mid-week/weekend fixtures for ISM teams can be found via the ATAC blog. Please note the game schedule does change often due to involvement with many local schools so please check the page regularly to find out the latest information of where and when the Bearcats teams are playing. Click on schedules tab or the Bearcat logo to be directed to the PowerSchool secure site http://powerschool.ismanila.org/public/. You will need your PowerSchool username and password to access the game schedule.

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HS Student registration for ATAC activities: (new for school year 12-13) A Google doc registration is now available for all HS students who will take part in any ATAC seasonal sports teams, MUN and Cultural Convention programs. Please take the time to complete this online registration for activities that you plan on joining this school year. Please access the form via the HS Student Registration tab found under the Helpful Shortcuts bar on the ATAC blog home page. *Please note this is for HS students only and you must use your school email address to access the link. Personal gmail or hotmail addresses will not allow you to access the page. BEARCAT DEN: http://atac.ism-online.org/bearcat-den/ Our Bearcat Den is up and running and 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 fantastic group please contact Melanie Ball, our volunteer coordinator, at melaniehball@gmail.com. We have a new range of dri fit t-shirts now available along with new Bearcat bags Regular Opening Hours for the Bearcat Den:

Wednesday & Friday, 11:30 A.M. 1:00 P.M. & 2:30 P.M.
4:00 P.M.

Tuesday & Thursday afternoons, 2:30 - 4:00 P.M.

Regards, Mark Pekin Director of Athletics/Activities

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Update your contact information!

Please get in touch with the Admissions Office (840-8488) or Middle School Office (8408550/840-8553) if there has been any change in your home address, email address, and contact numbers. We want to keep you updated with what is happening in school.

Were on the web! www.ismanila.org

IF YOU HAVENT LOGGED ON TO POWERSCHOOL

please call the Guidance Office at 840-8555 or email msguidance@ismanila.org to obtain your username and password.

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PCC Sponsorship Letter

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The Manila St. Andrews Society Ball