ISSUE # 31

MIDDLE SCHOOL
WEEK OF: APRIL 28 TO MAY 2

SY 2013 2014

Friday Bulletin
Inside this issue:
Treasury Department Clinic Admissions & Advancement Superintendents Office Athletics & Activities GK Summer Camps ISM Upcoming Events

Weekly Publication for Middle School Parents

Dear Parents: We hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday with their families. The students definitely came back recharged and excited to see their friends. Can you believe that only six weeks remain in the 2013-2014 school year? Its sure to whiz by in the blink of an eye! Next week we welcome Dr. Virginia Rojas back to school to work with teachers on supporting English language development for non-native speakers. She will be planning and co-teaching in classrooms to model best practices. We are excited for her return and look forward to the engaging professional conversations that are sure to abound. On Tuesday, April 29 from 7:30 9:00 A.M. she will be leading a parent session on supporting language development. If you are interested, please plan to attend. A copy of your childs MAP test results will be sent home with your child next week. As you review the results, please keep in mind that the results are one of several snapshots of your childs progress and level of achievement. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact your childs guidance counselor or teacher. If you do not receive the letter and test results, please contact the Middle School Guidance Office at 840-8550. Looking aheadThe Middle School Play is just around the corner. The show will open on Friday, May 9 with performances on May 10. Stay tuned for more details! Also, 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 Committee 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 intend to implement next school year. If you are interested in hearing more, please mark your calendars. Please note that Thursday, May 1 is a holiday and school will be closed. Classes are back in session on Friday, May 2. Have a wonderful weekend! Yours in Education, Simon Gillespie Middle School Principal Clarissa Sayson Middle School Assistant Principal

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Events & Activities: 11

MAY

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National Holiday Activity Day Art Exhibit MS Play

Parent Coffee MS Tour & Talk MS Party

Advocating for Change

Returning for school year 20142015?

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 official 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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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 conjunction 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 anything in the ECG causes concern. The test itself is very reasonably priced and is readily available at St Lukes 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 students 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
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Congratulations to all our Bearcats for a great season ending IASAS! Results below

IASAS Results: 3rd season sports awards are- Monday, April 28th: Middle School (Track/Badminton teams) from Track at JIS: Boys (Gold), Girls (Silver) 3:15 to 4:00 P.M. at Little Theatre and High School (Track/Softball/Golf/Badminton Congratulations to Molly Bailey who teams) at 5:30pm at the Lofthouse broke 1 school record and 2 IASAS records
4th season practices start this week for HS Boys and Girls Volleyball, 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 welcome 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...

in Jakarta! School Records broken at IASAS 2014: GIRLS - Molly Bailey 1500m 4:54.57 school and IASAS Record - Molly Bailey 3000m 10:45.60 IASAS Record

BOYS Boys and Girls Volleyball- Coach Atkinson and - Kento Kobayashi 400m at IASAS JIS 50.62 Coach Child - Andres Limcaoco 800m at IASAS JIS Boys Soccer- Coach Ayling and Coach MacInnes 2:02.09 Girls Soccer Coach Dodd - Red Giuliano 1500m at IASAS JIS Girls Basketball Coach Juteau 4:20.64 - Callum Gregori Discus at IASAS JIS 41.79 This coming weekend, ISM hosts its annual In4x800m at IASAS JIS 8:35.34 (H.Blomqvist, ternational Swim meet with racing happening on Saturday and Sunday at our pool. Come R.Giuliano, D.Staal, A.Limcaoco)
out and support the sailfish swimmers...for details and program schedule check out the Sailfish Blog.

Golf at TAS: Boys (4th), Girls (5th) Softball at SAS: Boys (5th), Girls (Silver)

Saturday, May 10 is the annual Goodwill Gym- Badminton at SAS: Boys (4th), Girls nastics meet, with 250 gymnasts entered this (Bronze) year it is going to be a great event. Meet starts at 8:00 A.M. and runs until 5:00 P.M. For specific event details check the gymnastics blog page

Dear Parents: We are pleased to announce that we will be offering a new summer 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 international team of social entrepreneurs and innovators coming from different 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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