ISSUE # 15

SY 20152016

MIDDLE SCHOOL
WEEK OF:

Friday Bulletin

Weekly Publication for Middle School Parents

December 1 to 4

Inside this issue:

Dear Parents,
This week we hosted the MS Parent Coffee where members of the MS team engaged parents in a variety of
processing activities revolving around Teens and Technology. Feedback from this session was incredibly positive and many parents requested additional information to support and guide them as they strive to provide
appropriate parameters for technology use at home. It is rather timely to note that the American Academy of
Pediatrics has just published new screen-time guidelines. These are far more nuanced than before in order to
take into account the ubiquitous nature of screens in todays media rich society. If you are planning on developing a set of guidelines at home, you might want to use this research-based resource as a starting point.

MS Art Show

MS Service Learning

School Calendar SY 2016-17

Athletics & Activities

ISM Upcoming Events

MS Upcoming Events:
NOVEMBERJANUARY:

Within the workshop, parents worked collaboratively to identify their biggest concerns regarding teens and
technology. These can be seen in the accompanying photo. In order help parents answer their concerns, we
shared a valuable parent resource www.comonsensemedia.org. Common
Sense is dedicated to helping kids thrive in
a world of media and technology and has
everything from the latest research to
practical tips and guidelines. If you are
unfamiliar with the resource, we strong
recommend that you bookmark it!
An additional topic that was raised in the
coffee, was the concept of parents modelling the type of technology habits that they
would like their children to mirror. Do our
words and actions consistently align?
When there is a limited degree of alignment, a do as a say, not as I do mentality
can be cultivated and this can cause some
parents to be perceived as hypocritical by
their teenaged children. This poignant
video highlights some of the negative
behaviors children and adults may have
slipped into without realizing the impact of
their actions. Take a look and then reflect
on your own technology habits and ask
yourself - Am I modelling healthy media
habits to my child/children?

NATIONAL HOLIDAY
Monday, November 30
ALL BANDS CONCERT
Tuesday, December 1
K-12 DANCE RECITAL
Saturday, December 5
MS SPORTS DAY
Thursday, December 10
SCHOOL HOLIDAY
December 14 to January 4
Beginning of 3rd Quarter/ Semester 2
Tuesday, January 5
MS NEW PARENT COFFEE
Thursday, January 14
MS ONLINE REPORT CARD ACCESS
Wednesday, January 20
MS PLAY
January 29-30

NEED TO KNOW:

In closing, we would like to extend our gratitude to all the parents who were able to attend the workshop and for sharing some ideas for
future parent coffees around this extensive topic. We look forward to continued collaboration and conversations next semester!
Side Note:
In last weeks Parent Bulletin we attempted to share an insightful article from Common Sense Media that offers guidance to parents about
how to explain the news to children. Unfortunately this link was deactivated and no one could access it. Here it is again!
DATES TO REMEMBER:
Mon. Nov 30 = HOLIDAY - no school!
Tues. Dec 1 = All Bands concert MS and HS (17:30) FAT.
Sat. Dec 5 = K-12 AFAC Dance recital (15:00) FAT
Thurs. Dec 10 = MS Sports Day
Fri. Dec 11 = Last day of the semester - early release at 12:00.
Tues. Jan 5 = Return to school.
Wed. Jan 20 = Semester reports open up for parent access.

NEED TO KNOW:
Changes to the English Honors Program for the 2016-17 Academic Year
For the past two years, there has been some misalignment between Middle School and High School regarding the number of sections of
English Honors offered to students Grade 8 currently has two sections while Grade 9 has only one. This has led to disappointment as
students move from English Honors in Grade 8, but then do not make the single section of English Honors offered in Grade 9. In an attempt
to realign this discrepancy, High School English Honors will expand to two sections in both Grade 9 and Grade 10, starting in August 2016.
Along with this expansion there will be some curriculum changes to the entire Grade 7-10 English Honors program. The aims of these modifications are:
1. To give the program a more literary focus,
2. To prepare students to sit the English AP Literature and Composition exam at the end of Grade 10. This would be optional.
3. To make the English Honors curriculum more accessible to high-achieving students who enjoy and value literary studies.
We feel that this re-designed program will provide the most effective preparation for those students likely to enroll in the IB A Literature at
Higher Level in Grades 11 and 12.
If you have any questions about these changes, please feel free to contact your child's English Honors teacher or the respective English
Program Leaders (MS - Mr. David Burke, HS - Mr. Robert Butcher).
MS Sports Day
On Thursday 10th December the Middle School students will celebrate Sports Day. On this day, all MS students are off schedule and will
participate in an inclusive day for all, focussed on active participation and sportsmanship. Students will have the opportunity to showcase
their growing skill development in PE, After School Activities and ATAC sports.
Students will take part in a mixture of competitive and noncompetitive activities in the morning in a wide variety of school venues. In the
afternoon the whole of the Middle School will be doing fun water-based games on the high school field.
Feel free to come along and support your child/children! A full schedule will be posted on the Activities Blog nearer the date.
Please note that on this special day, the PCA will be selling food and drinks along with some delicious snow cones! If you child is interested
in purchasing refreshments, please remind them to bring in some money! Prices and food options will follow in next weeks bulletin.

NICE TO KNOW:

MS Art Show:
This week marked the launch of the MS Art Show in the F.A.T. lobby. If
you havent already done so, please take the time to stop by and check
out this colorful and creative exhibition. The MS Art Show provides a
window into what students are learning in art classes and showcases a
wide variety of media and artistic techniques.

NEED TO KNOW:

Congratulations to the MS Strings and Choir Students!

Two amazing concerts took place this week - the All Strings Concert on Monday and the All Choirs Concert on Wednesday.
These two uplifting performances showcased the depth of learning that is engendered in the MS Music program. In talking
with students about their recent performance experience, it was warming to hear students talk about how much they had
grown both individually and collectively and how being a member of choir or strings had fostered a strong sense of belonging.
Please know that ISM records all performances and uploads them to ISMs YouTube channel. If you want to gain access to
this channel, please email fa@ismanila.org
We would like to wish you all a very relaxing long weekend!

Kind Regards,
Rachel Harrington, Middle School Principal
Amanda Pekin, Middle School Assistant Principal

A Gentle Reminder to all Parents:

On days when your child needs to be absent
from school, we ask that a parent inform the
Middle School Office before 7:30 A.M. via
phone at

840-8550 / 553
or via email at

ms@ismanila.org
It is the responsibility of your child to communicate
with their teacher when they return to school to
make up for work missed as a result of any
absences.

October 10

PCF

November 7

La Mesa
Watershed
CCV

November 14

Tzu Chi
Foundation

November 21

CRIBS
Foundation
Papaya Academy

December 5

Love2Learn

November 17 to 20, 2015

Congrats and a BIG WELL DONE to the MS Boys

Gold Basketball team for a great win over Xavier
last Saturday 70-64. Well done players and
coaches!

prior to 5pm all after school programs will conclude by4:50pm or earlier. The last bus
is 4:55pm this is due to the ever increasing
traffic concerns in our area.

Nov 20-22 Pre- IASAS Rugby exchange at ISMThanks to all parents who volunteered to house
our visiting rugby players last weekend. It was a
great exchange with some terrific rugby played.
Well done to our ISM rugby team who finished
on top of the points table with 3 wins and one
draw to go undefeated against the other IASAS
schools.
Our varsity basketball girls in Bangkok won all
three matches and our boys lost all three. Results from the swim meet in Jakarta can be found
via the Sailfish blog and Varsity touch team tied
one match and lost the other 3 that were
played in Singapore.

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.

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 now via the ISM parent
portal not via power school as in the past. A naviThe S2 practice schedule which runs until the
end of January is posted on notice boards around gation guide is available here. ATAC Game Schedule Users Guide. Access the parent portal via
school and on the ATAC blog schedules page.
this link, log in with your user name/password
and then look for the ATAC Game Schedule tab
Upcoming events:
under the left side quick links. Don't forget to
Nov 27 Basketball and Touch vs Brent at ISM
refresh the pdf page each time it opens so you
Nov 27/28 MS Boys Basketball teams vs BSM/
access the most current schedule. Please note
Singapore Club team
this schedule does change often and at short noNov 28 Puma Touch League rd #3 at Brent
tice due to involvement with many local schools
Dec 6 Sailfish Swimathon
and organizations. Check it regularly for the most
For our Sailfish swim team program please check up to date information. For security purposes....access to the ATAC game schedule pdf must
the Sailfish blog for information. http://
be linked via the secure parent portal and details
sailfish.ism-online.org/
should not be shared with non ISM community
members.
Please note the practice times for ATAC programs for SY 15-16 are as follows: ATAC all year
round teams- 3:15-4:30. See schedule for our All Bearcat Den- drop by our fantastic spirit
store. Bearcat Den hours of operation- 7amyear round teams program here...
4pm Mon-Fri.
regards
All HS seasonal teams practice from 3:054:50pm each day. MS seasonal teams pracMark Pekin
tice 3:15-4:45pm. In order to clear the campus
6

Mark your calendars, folks! The ISM Parent Community Association is bringing you an afternoon of wholesome family
fun! Please join us onSaturday, November 28th, 2015 from
1pm-4pm for the ES CARNIVAL at the ISM Elementary
School Field. There will be Inflatables, Carnival Games,
Prince and Princess Shows, Zumba classes for the kids, craft
activities, and plenty of fun and entertainment. Food will be
available for purchase from Malcom's Deli and NY Fries, as
well as baked goods from the USA Girl Scouts.
Buy your tickets now at the Cashiers Office. Tickets are
P200/person and P300 on the day of the event. PCA Representatives will also be selling tickets from November 23 to
27 in front of the ES Office (7:00-8:00AM and1:30-2:30PM).

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