Elementary Times

Unive rs a l A m er ican Sc hoo l pr o vide s a cha l le nging , inq uir y- ba s ed Am e rica n a nd int er na tio na l ed uca t ion t hat em p ow e rs s tud e nts t o b e ca ring individ ua ls , crit ica l t hinke rs , and r es po ns i bl e g l ob al citiz ens

Volume 8 Issue 3

14 November 2012

Notes from the Principals Office

I would first like to congratulate and thank the 65 or so parents who come to PYP Night last week. They were great participants in the sharing and discussions that made the evening so successful. Ms. Machacek and Mr. and Mrs. Webster provided the overviews; eighteen teacher presenters added the details. Nothing is more successful in education than teachers and parents working together. A great chance for planning ways to work with your childs teacher is coming up on November 21 and 22, Parent-Teacher Conference Days. Most parents signed up at Back to School Night or were signed up by the Elementary Office in our annual effort to schedule siblings conferences closely together. All other parents are able to sign up on the Portal. Those conferences may be the most important 15 minutes of the entire school year. Two differences this year in the Parent-Teacher Conferences: 1. In the recent past, students played a part in the first conferences of the year. The students perspective is important, but many parents wanted to know what the teacher thought of their childs progress. This year the entire conference is for sharing between parents and teachers. Please do not bring students to next weeks conferencesthe students perspectives will be especially important when parents and students review the portfolio after the conferences. 2. We are sending out Progress Reports in hard copy on November 18 as a preview of the Parent Teacher Conference content. (Grade 1-6 Progress Reports will be available on the Portal starting on the evening of November 18th.) Many students will be doing well in their classes; their Progress Report and Conference will be mostly confirmations that they are making good progress. Other students will have weak areas that the Progress Report and Conference can identify; plans can be made for strengthening those areas. Parents of students who have significant learning challenges have probably already heard from their childs teacher; the Progress Report and Conference will continue that communication and intervention process. Enjoy the photos in this issue of our creative students (and mothers) from the Halloween Parade. That is one of our students favorite Dress Down (uniform-not-required) Days. Eric Webb Elementary Principal

Important Dates to Remember

November 15 18 No School Islamic New Year Student Progress Reports (Pre-KG Gr. 6) in hard copy go home w/students Student Progress Reports (Gr. 1-6) available on Portal after 4:00 Half day of school (dismissal 12:00); Parent-Teacher Conferences in the afternoon No school Parent-Teacher Conferences in the morning Students wear UAE flag colors for UAE National Day Human Flag photo

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KG students wear red shirts* 1st/2nd graders wear white shirts* 3rd/4th graders wear green shirts* 5th/ 6th graders wear black shirts* *shirts may have writing or other decorations on them 29 Students/Staff may wear UAE style clothing in honor of UAE National Day

December 2 No school UAE National Day 11-12 Evening performances of Elementary Musical, Oliver, at Canadian Univ. 19 Last day of school before Winter Break December 20-January 5 No school/Winter Break

PYP News
Reflections on PYP Curriculum Night
On November 7th, from 6:00-7:30 p.m., UAS Parents and Teachers gathered in the Elementary Library to share and learn more about the Primary Years Programme. We had an enthusiastic parent turnout allowing our teachers time to share their knowledge and specifics in many areas of the curriculum including: Units of Inquiry, Everyday Mathematics, Assessment, Exhibition in the PYP, the IB Learner Profile and various other topics. Feedback from all sessions was very positive and it was an enjoyable, learning focused event for all involved.

Student Portfolios
If you are a new parent to UAS, you might be wondering about student portfolios. A student portfolio is a collection of student work gathered for the purpose of demonstrating learning over time. UAS students and teachers are currently in the process of building portfolios from the first months of the academic year. Next week, following Parent/Teacher Conferences, student portfolios will be sent home to allow you and your child time to reflect upon the learning within them. After a few days at home, the portfolio then returns to school, and the children will continue to add more work samples as the year progresses. The collection of student work is chosen by both the student and the teacher, allowing for thinking, communication and reflection skills to develop as a result. The portfolio will be an active part of the Student Led Conference next April, and will be sent home with your child in June at the summation of the 2012/13 academic year. Yours truly, Erin Machacek PYP Curriculum Coordinator