ISSUE # 30

SY 2014 2015

MIDDLE SCHOOL
WEEK OF:

Friday Bulletin

Weekly Publication for Middle School Parents

APRIL 20 TO 24

Inside this issue:

Dear Middle School Parents,

Office of the Superintendent

We hope everyone had a good break and we now look forward to the final
section of the school year. This is a short term, only eight weeks in length,
with many upcoming events to be mindful of and we encourage you to continue to read the parent bulletin and communicate with your child about
upcoming events.

Admissions & Advancement

Athletics & Activities

English language learning has been a focus this week for learning at
ISM. We have had the pleasure of working together with
a language consultant from the United States - Dr. Gini Rojas, who held a
parent workshop on Tuesday on Supporting Your Child's Journey to Multilingualism. Dr. Rojas has been working closely with teachers all week and this
will continue over the coming weekend, to reflect on our practices and learn
more about how we teach and learn an additional language. Utilizing the appropriate scaffolding and differentiation strategies to enable all
learners to access and engage in academic discourse aligned with academic
standards was a focus.
We have a Middle School Parent Coffee next Tuesday April 21st 7:45 - 9:00
A.M. in the Little Theater. We will be sharing about what is happening in
our Middle School along with a follow up discussion on digital citizenship.
We will also start the discussion about 'transitions' and share a variety of
supportive strategies for those families departing ISM and those families
who will be staying and saying goodbye to good friends.
Please be reminded that if you should be making alternate arrangements for
your child to be going home with someone else (car pool) that it is important you inform the Middle School Office with the name of the adult that
they will be going with (whether this is another student's family driver, or a
parent). By letting us know in advance it helps our security team when students are leaving the campus and allows for a hassle free departure. Your
cooperation is very much appreciated.
Yours in Education,
Simon Gillespie, Middle School Principal
Amanda Pekin, Middle School Assistant Principal

Parent-Teacher Association

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ISM Upcoming Events

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Events & Activities:

APRIL

21

Parent Coffee

30

Activity Day

MAY

National Holiday

4-14

MS Art Exhibition

7-9

MS Play

13

MS Concert

28

Grade 8
Advocating for Change

After-School Activities Office:

Fourth Season Dates:
April 13 - May 29, 2015

Dear Parents,
I do want to remind you of the importance of completing the registration process for your
children before the deadline date of May 22nd. PowerSchool closes on that date, and our assumption will be that a student who has not registered by then is leaving at the end of the
school year. We have many applicants at every Grade level on our Waiting List, and on May
25th we shall begin the process of offering all available slots. As I am sure you understand, for
those people relocating to the Philippines, their plans are on hold unless and until they have
guaranteed places in school for their children.
If you know already that you are departing in June, please inform Admissions of this as soon
as possible. By doing so, you are making life much easier for incoming families. The deadline
for informing us of your planned departure is May 22nd. Please note that past practice is that
those who let us know they are leaving after this date will forfeit $1000 of their Facilities Upgrade Deposit.
The school year is galloping toward the finishing line, and we are looking forward to examinations, performances and graduations. I hope these next seven weeks bring your children all
that they hope for.
Best wishes,
David Toze
Superintendent

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 HS season 4 is posted on

notice boards and on the ATAC blog. Season 4 will
run from April 13th to June 3rd and is an opportunity for some 'off season' training opportunities for
the HS teams in readiness for next SY. Not all sports
are catered for however quite a few of the coaches
are keen to get started and see the students getting
involved and prepared. Current gr. 8's who will be
freshman next SY are welcome to join.
Congratulations to all our IASAS teams who participated last week at the season 3 championships.
Results:
Golf- Boys 4th, Girls 5th
Track- Boys and Girls 4th.
Softball- Girls 1st and Boys 3rd
Badminton- Boys 3rd and Girls 4th
3rd Season HS sports awards will be held Thursday
April 23rd from 5:30pm at the Lofthouse. All 3rd
season athletes/parents are invited.
Don't forget Bearcats volleyballers...get a jump
start on the season...see link for April Volleyball
camp with a USA Olympian! Sign up and pay at the
cashiers office. Final deadline for sign up and payments is Friday Apr 17th! (http://atac.ismonline.org/files/2015/02/ISM-Flyer.pdf)

community-tennis/)
Please note the practice times for the following
ATAC programs: ATAC all year round teams- 3:154:30pm. 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/
Upcoming dates:
when and who our Bearcat teams will be playing
Apr 24/25- Volleyball Camp at ISM (sse flyer on throughout the school year. Access to the game
ATAC blog or in bulletins)
schedule is via the ISM parent portal. Use this link
Apr 25/26- Sailfish International Swim meet at
to access the parent portal, log in with your user
ISM
name/password and look for the ATAC Game
Apr 24-26- ISM Annual wallclimbing team trip to Schedule tab. Remember to refresh the page when
Cebu
the pdf schedule appears so you view the most curMay 1-3- SACAC Gymnastics meet at Singapore rent schedule.
May 8-10- Mixed Touch trip to Jakarta
GO BEARCATS!
Saturday Community Tennis for semester 2 is ongoing. See link for information on dates and how to
Mark Pekin
book. Use of the courts is only available to ISM
Director of Athletics and Activities
community members. Outside guests are not allowed (http://atac.ism-online.org/atac/saturday9

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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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