MIDDLE SCHOOL

Friday Bulletin
Weekly Publication for Middle School Parents
ISSUE # 24
WEEK OF FEBRUARY 27 TO MARCH 02, 2012

From the Middle School Office

Dear Parents: This week has been an eye-opening, mind-broadening experience for the Middle School students. As the children return from their Classroom Without Walls (CWW) trips, we hope the memories will live on and motivate the students to think more carefully about how they can contribute to the community. Our students have a wealth of talents and energy to share, and we encourage them to commit to sharing their time with others in need. We thank all the teachers for their dedication and efforts to provide a range of enriching experiences for the students. It was a week well spent! Please take some time to engage your child and discuss ways that your child can build on the experience. Its important that the learning does not end with the conclusion of the CWW week but that the spirit of service continues to be nurtured. Middle School course registration for school year 2012-2013 will take place the week of March 5. One new course offering, Dance Revolution, is being made available to Grades 7 and 8. Dance Revolution offers students the chance to explore their movement potential and develop spatial awareness. Throughout the semester, different dance forms, such as modern, jazz and hip hop, and the foundations of choreography will be explored. Above all, this course is designed to give students the confidence to move forward into ISMs already thriving Dance program at HS level and to inspire them to experiment with different avenues of movement expression. For this reason, the course is suitable for both experienced and beginner dancers. As part of this program, the students are also afforded the opportunity to share, celebrate and showcase their talent through participation in school activities and dance recitals. On Tuesday, March 20 students will be released early at 12:00 noon, and we will have an afternoon of Parent Teacher Conferences. Please take note of the following information: Grade 5 Student-Led conferences. Details to follow. Grades 6, 7 and 8. 12:30 3:15 P.M. Scheduled appointments for parents as requested by teachers. Parents will not need to schedule appointments. Parents will be notified of their scheduled appointment time. 3:30 5:30 P.M. Open House format for informal chats with teachers and sharing student work. Given the nature of an open house, it will not be a time to speak at length with individual teachers about concerns. Have a great weekend! Regards, Simon Gillespie Middle School Principal Clarissa Sayson Middle School Assistant Principal

Inside this issue:

Summer Language Study PTA Cultural Show PTA Used Book Sale Mathematics Honors Program From the ATAC Office From the ATAC Office 4 7 8 2 3

UPCOMING EVENTS
FEBRUARY 29 MARCH 05 to 09 08 to 29 10 20 24 26 to 29 30 to Apr. 09 APRIL 14 16 to 20 20 21 23 to 27 26 28 30 to May 11 MAY 01 School Holiday (Labor Day) Service Learning Trip ESL Placement Testing Courtyard Event (3:00 P.M.) Service Learning Trip Used Book Fair Beginners Recital - Gr. 7 to 12 (5:30 P.M., LT) Service Learning Trip MS Art Exhibit (FAT Lobby) Course Registration MAP Testing ISM Goodwill Gymnastics Meet Parent Teacher Conferences Service Learning Trip Spirit Week School Holiday (Spring Break) Summer Language Study (5:30 P.M.)

POWERSCHOOL GRADE UPDATE March 09 March 16 March 23 Grade Update Grade Update/Progress Report Distribution Grade Update

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Summer Language Study

The International School Manila Modern Language Department is pleased to announce its 2012 Summer Language Study / Home-stay / Travel Program to Spain. This program is for students 14 years of age or older as of June 1st. It aims to develop students language proficiency and to broaden their cultural knowledge. This program is being offered in cooperation with Tandem (http://www.escuela-montalban.com/index.php). We will spend three weeks at the Granada campus and one week at the Madrid campus. Students will continue learning and more importantly practicing Spanish through total immersion in classes and during the home-stay. The Tandem school finds families for students to stay with, assists in locating appropriate local resources for the groups activities, plans outings, maintains a list of local medical and emergency resources, and helps with the orientation for group leaders. Students will receive Spanish classes each morning that include language and culture subjects and prepare students for cultural visits. The cultural program will take place in the afternoons/evenings and will be made up of various supervised activities that take advantage of the unique environment while taking into account the individual interests of the students. Cultural activities include things such as preparing paella, guided tours of historical buildings, towns and museums, watching flamenco dancing, visiting hot water springs, beach trips, horseback riding, etc. The dates of this trip will be approximately June 2nd 30th, 2012. If you are interested, please contact Jennifer Diaz (diazj@ismanila.org) to receive more information. Students and parents interested in this trip to Spain should plan to attend an informational meeting at 5:30 P.M. on Wednesday, February 29th.

Update your contact information!

Update your contact information!
Please get in touch with the Admissions Office (840-8488) or Middle School Office (840-8550/840-8553) if there has been any change in your home address, email address, and contact numbers. We want to keep you updated with what is happening in school.

Were on the web! www.ismanila.org

IF YOU HAVENT LOGGED ON TO POWERSCHOOL

please call the Guidance Office at 840-8555 or email msguidance@ismanila.org to obtain your username and password.

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From the PTA Office

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Grade 8 Parents Night

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From the Athletics & Activities Office

Congratulations to our MS girls and boys badminton teams who had success last weekend in the first tournament of the season down at Brent. The girls team were runners up and the two boys teams achieved runners up and champions in their divisions. Well done to the teams and to our coaches! Tomorrow is the ISM Sailfish Aquathon hosted by the Sailfish swim club. Details can be found on the sailfish website and past Friday bulletins. Good luck to all students and parents that have entered to race tomorrow. 3rd Season: Season practices schedules for Track and Field, Badminton, Softball for MS and HS students and Mixed Touch for MS students only are now posted to the blog and are on school notice boards.
ATAC Events coming up: Feb. 25 Mar. 23

Twilight Track meet Varsity girls softball vs. Brent at ISM

Mar. 30 to April 9 - Spring break Apr. 11

Teams depart for IASAS 3rd Season Championships Track at Taipei Softball at Singapore Badminton at Kuala Lumpur

May 12

ISM Gymnastics Dual Meet (this replaces the cancelled

SACAC Singapore meet) May 18 to 20

Mixed Touch Tournament @Jakarta International School

GAME SCHEDULE PDF: (access to game schedule information) Information about all mid week/weekend fixtures for ISM teams can be found via the ATAC blog. Please note the game schedule does change often due to involvement with many local schools so please check the page regularly to find out the latest information of where and when the Bearcats teams are playing. Click on schedules tab or the Bearcat logo to be directed to http://powerschool.ismanila.org/public/. You will need your Powerschool username and password to access the game schedule. BEARCAT DEN: Regular Opening Hours for the Bearcat Den:

ISM Sailfish Aquathon

Feb 26

Varsity Boys Softball at ISM

Mar. 2

JV/Varsity girls softball vs. Brent at ISM

Mar. 3 Track meet at ISM Swim meet at BSM Mar. 7 MS Academic Bowl at ISM Mar. 8 HS Academic Bowl at Brent Mar. 10 JV girls softball at Brent ISM Goodwill Gymnastics Meet MS Gym Mar. 17 ISM Pre IASAS Track meet (HS only) JV/Varsity girls softball at ISM

Monday, Wednesday and Friday, from 11:30 A.M. 1:00 P.M. & 2:30 P.M. 4:00 P.M. Tuesday & Thursday afternoons, from 2:30 - 4:00 P.M.

If you are interested in joining our group of volunteers in the Bearcat Den, please contact our BCD volunteers coordinator, Radhika at radhikasavantmohit@yahoo.com or pop in to the Den near the HS Cafeteria and talk with one of our volunteers. They will be very happy to make you welcome. Regards, Mark Pekin Director of Athletics/Activities