ISSUE # 28

SY 2014 2015

MIDDLE SCHOOL
WEEK OF:

Friday Bulletin

Weekly Publication for Middle School Parents

MARCH 23 - 27

Dear Middle School Parents,

Student led conferences were a great opportunity to share with you student
learning. We had a great turn out which students really appreciated. The quality of conversations, reflections, extending thinking, and setting goals was at a
high level throughout the afternoon and in all learning areas. We hope that you
found value in this experience and the conversations will continue with your
child.
March 31 is our annual Elementary School International Day which last year we
decided to join in as a Middle School and we will continue again this year. On
International Day we encourage all students to dress up in something representing their nationality. Students in Middle School will start in their advisory
class at 7:30 a.m. and then head to the ES playground as a group for the Flag
Ceremony which will begin at 7:40 a.m. After the flag ceremony students will
head to their first period class. At 2:00 p.m. on that day we will have a Middle
School assembly to celebrate our Internationally Diverse community.
Advocating for Change is the final quarter unit for grade 8 students in Social
Studies and English. This project will start on Wednesday March 25 during advisory time, grade 8 parents are welcome to attend this assembly at 11:35 a.m. to
learn more about what students will be learning and the activities they will be
taking part in which will culminate in a summit at the end of May. This is a
great project for students to demonstrate their learning and skills that they
have acquired over the course of their 8th grade year and time in Middle
School.
We would like to remind all students of our uniform guidelines which can be
found in the Middle School Student Handbook. The past number of weeks we
have noticed an increase of students wearing their PE shorts outside of PE class
time. Thank you for your cooperation in helping to remind our students of our
uniform requirements.
We hope everyone has a great weekend ahead
Yours in Education,
Simon Gillespie, Middle School Principal
Amanda Pekin, Middle School Assistant Principal

Inside this issue:

Admissions & Advancement

Athletics & Activities

Parent-Teacher Association

11

ISM Upcoming Events

12

Events & Activities:

APRIL

1-10

School Holiday

21

Parent Coffee

30

Activity Day

MAY

National Holiday

4-14

MS Art Exhibition

7-9

MS Play

13

MS Concert

13

Grade 8
Advocating for Change

After-School Activities Office:

Season Dates for Season 3 and 4:
Third Season: February 16 - March 31, 2015
Fourth Season: April 13 - May 29, 2015

Leaving ISM?
Please be reminded that parents are obliged to officially inform the School in writing through a WITHDRAWAL NOTIFICATION FORM if their children will not be returning in August for School Year 201516. Families are encouraged to submit the Withdrawal Notification Form, stating the student's final
date of attendance, immediately. Forms must be submitted on or before May 8. Failure to submit the
form by that date may lead to a deduction of US$1,000 from the Facilities Upgrade Deposit (FUD), in
compensation for having held a space for your child, preventing the School from offering that space
to another candidate.
The Withdrawal Notification Form can be obtained from the Admissions Office or directly from the
ISM website under Admission > Re-Enrollment & Withdrawal > Withdrawals
Please feel free to contact the Admissions Office at 840.8601 for questions or clarifications.

Important information on Re-Enrollment for SY 2015-16

Dear Parents:
We will begin on-line Re-enrollment for school year 2015-16 on Monday, March 16. As before, parents will have to log into PowerSchool in order to
do this. Below are instructions to help. If you are not sure of your PowerSchool log-in or need support, please contact your school office.
Please note that you must complete re-enrollment by May 22nd at the latest. PowerSchool will close on that date until the start of the new school
year. We have over 500 students on our waitlist, and we will assume that your children are leaving if you have not completed the re-enrollment process.
Step 1: Log-in to PowerSchool
Step 2: Look for the Re-enrollment Clearance icon on the left hand panel. Click on the icon.
Step 3: Create your Re-enrollment Clearance Form. You will receive an email notification verifying that you have been successful updating your childss
record.
Students entering Grade 6 will be required to
download and complete the Physical Examination Form
(including ECG results) which should be submitted to
the ISM Health Clinic
Students entering Grade 7 will be required to
download and sign the Drug Policy Form which should
be submitted to the MS Office.
Step 4: Tuition and Fees: Please settle your accounts
through our Cashierss Office.
You must settle your accounts for SY14-15 and pay the
first quota of tuition fees for SY15-16 to receive your
Final Clearance Notification for your child to attend class
on August 6, 2015.
Re-enrollment must be complete in order to receive a
studentss Class Schedule.
Class Schedule distribution dates are as follows:

August 03, 2015: Grade 5 and 6

August 04, 2015: Grade 7 and 8
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The practice schedule for season 3 is posted on notice boards and on the ATAC blog. Season 3 will run
from Feb 9th to March 31st.
IASAS athletes please get forms/passports in ASAP to Joan at ATAC. Deadline was Mar 19th! Everything must
be checked to ensure individuals have travel documents back if they are going overseas for the break.
Well done to all softball and track athletes who competed at exchanges last weekend. Some great softball
results and a terrific effort by Molly Bailey who broke her school 1500m and 3000m records running a
4:45.95 and a 10:31.53 in Bangkok.
Upcoming dates:
Mar 20 VBoys softball vs Polo Club team at PC
Mar 20 VGirls softball vs NU at PC
Mar 21 Golf team at Luisita
Mar 21 HS Badminton MS/HS Gyms
Mar 22 JV Boys softball finals ASSL league
Mar 25 IASAS Assembly/send off lunch.
Saturday Community Tennis for semester 2 has commenced. See link for information on dates and how to
book. Use of the courts is only available to ISM community members. Outside guests are not allowed http://
atac.ism-online.org/atac/saturday-community-tennis/
Please note the practice times for the following ATAC programs: ATAC all year round teams- 3:15-4:30. Sailfish/Gymnastics and all HS seasonal teams now conclude practice at 4:50pm each day. MS seasonal
teams 3:10-4:45pm. The last bus is now 4:55pm and all after school programs will conclude by 4:50pm in
order to try and clear the campus prior to 5pm 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 information and
links to our sports and activities program. If you have any questions regarding the competitive program of
sports at ISM after reading the information on the blog please send an email to pekinm@ismanila.org and I
will endeavor to assist you as best I can.
Bearcat Den- drop by our fantastic spirit store. There is a range of new products and items to purchase including items from our service partners. Bearcat Den hours of operation- 7am-4pm Mon-Fri.
The ATAC game schedule pdf which is updated regularly by Triz Gonzalez (ATAC Athletics Coordinator) 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 via the ISM parent portal. Use this link to access the parent portal, log in with your user name/password and look for the ATAC Game Schedule tab. Remember to refresh
the page when the pdf schedule appears so you view the most current schedule.
GO BEARCATS!
Mark Pekin
Director of Athletics and Activities
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Sign up to host grade 10 and 11 students for the week

of June 8 - 12th. For Career Experience Week to be successful it will need the support of the ISM community,
please sign up today!

Sign ups are easier than ever before, just contact me and
fill out the survey with basic information regarding your
company or organization!

Google Sign up form: http://goo.gl/forms/2z6tncYDOR

Or contact Crystal Cappuccio at cappuccioc@ismanila.org

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