MIDD LE SCHOOL

Friday Bulletin
Weekly Publication for Middle School Parents

From the Middle School Office

Dear Parents: Unbelievably we have reached the final days of the school year and this will be the last edition of the Parent Bulletin for school year 2012 -2013. Where did the months go? They have flown by and been filled with loads of hard work and activities, and its clear that everyone is anticipating a well -earned holiday. On Thursday the grade 8 students did an outstanding job presenting their research on a range of global issues and debating clauses during the Advocating for Change Summit. We applaud all their efforts and hard work and thank the many teachers who were involved. It is hoped that all the students will continue to take interest in the global issues that were raised and continue to consider their own roles and responsibilities as part of the solution. To round out their final week, the grade 8 students had a transition to High School event on Friday followed by their Dinner Dance in the evening. Monday will be Community Outreach Day and on Tuesday they will have an awards assembly and Activity Day. On Wednesday, June 5 we recognize the achievements of the grade 8 students and celebrate their completion of the Middle School years. The Moving On Ceremony will take place in the Fine Arts Theater from 4:00 6:00 P.M. We congratulate all the students for successfully completing Middle School and wish them all the best in High School. Please be reminded that PowerSchool is closed so that teachers can finalize grades and comments. PowerSchool will reopen on June 6 so that second semester reports can be viewed. Report card distribution will begin on June 11. The last day of school will be on Thursday, June 6 and students will be dismissed at 12:00 noon. Please make the necessary arrangements to have your child picked up from school. In closing we would like to express our gratitude to the students, parents, teachers and staff for making this school year an outstanding one. It was a year filled with growth and progress as we continually strive to improve our program and student life. To those of our families who are traveling abroad or within the Philippines, we wish you a rejuvenating and safe holiday. To those families who are leaving the ISM community, we extend our sincere wishes for continued success and happiness in your new homes and schools . Yours in Education, Simon Gillespie Middle School Principal Clarissa Sayson Middle School Assistant Principal

ISSUE # 36
W EEK OF JUNE 3 TO 6, 2013

Inside this issue:

From the High School Administration From the Office of Admissions and Advancement - Re-enrollment for SY13-14 From the Human Resources Department: Cashless Campus Canteen Concessionaires From the Treasury Department From the Superintendents Office From the Math Department From the ATAC Office From the HS Guidance Office Uniform Shop Announcements The Giving Tree June Summer Sports Camp 2

3 4 4 5 7 8 9 10

End of Year Activities

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: Powerschool Update

Online re-enrollment will be available until June 5th, 4pm. Those who are unable to re-enroll until this time may do so when PowerSchool re-opens on June 6th, 4pm. Parents may continue to settle accounts through Online Billing and submit required forms to ISM Offices throughout this period.

To access online re-enrollment, please click here.

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From the High School Administration

Dear Grade 8 Parents, I would like to extend a very warm welcome to all those who will be moving on from Grade 8 and joining the ISM HS in the school year 2013-2014. We are very fortunate that at ISM the difference between MS and HS is not such a physical or structural jump. After all grade 7 and 8 students operate a very similar schedule to HS and we are only a few meters away from each other, often sharing similar common facilities. That being said the HS will obviously do its very best to help transition all grade 8 students to HS. A special transition morning has been organized by the HS Counselors on the morning of May 31st to assist the grade 8 students with this process. A couple of differences that do exist in the HS center around earning and awarding of credit and so attendance and passing a course for credit, are two potential changes in student life. Another change for next school year that we are very excited about is the extension of our very successful Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) program, that we have been running at grades 11 and 12, to grades 9 and 10. I asked our HS IT Coordinator Mr. Brandon Hoover to write a short comment on what this will mean for learning in the HS. He writes: International School Manila is committed to delivering the highest quality education in line with current best practices in the integration of technology. Over the last two years students in grades 11 and 12 have participated in our Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) program resulting in an effective 21th Century learning environment. It is with pleasure that we announce the expansion of this program to include grades 9 and 10 for SY 2013-14. We believe that students thrive in an environment in which education with technology is a seamless part of their lives. The new BYOD program will help enable students to take ownership and responsibility for their learning both in and outside of the classroom. For school year 2013-14, High School students at ISM will bring their own laptops to school each day. We have developed a website called ISM Connect which will serve as a guide for information, requirements and frequently asked questions. You may view it here: http://connect.ismanila.org We look forward to the exciting range of opportunities this program will provide for all of our HS students. Having a 1:1 laptop environment will provide many synergies for next year, including some exciting new developments where all students will have their assignments and homework in their individual Google calendar. This will significantly streamline the use of the ISM blogs. The HS demonstrated the new functionality of using the Google set of Applications and an integrated Teacher Dashboard program, to the HS Parent Coffee forum in March and received a very positive response. We believe it is a necessary step forward at this time to enhance the educational experience for all of our students. If you have questions about BYOD or ISM Connect that cannot be answered by the website then please do not hesitate to contact either Brandon Hoover hooverb@ismanila.org or myself at brownw@ismanila.org Congratulations to all grade 8 students for having successfully negotiated MS. Now its time for HS. We are going to have an awesome year! Kind regards, William Brown

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From the Office of Admissions and Advancement

Online Re-enrollment for SY 13-14
All returning students must complete the re-enrollment process in order to start school on 12th August 2013. This year re-enrollment may be completed via PowerSchool. For your guide to the online system, please click on the links below: Students Re-enrolling SY 13-14 Re-enrollment Incoming Grade 1 SY 13-14 Re-enrollment Incoming Grade 5 SY 13-14 Re-enrollment Incoming Grade 7 SY 13-14 Re-enrollment Incoming Grade 9 SY 13-14 Please note that to complete re-enrollment you must settle your accounts for SY 12-13 and pay the first quota of tuition fees for SY 13-14. Beginning 5th June, 2013 you may view your account details through Online Billing. SY 13-14 tuition is due on 12th July 2013. For questions/concerns, please contact the School Offices or the Admissions Office.

From the Human Resources Office:

Cashless Campus
The end of the school year is fast approaching, and we wanted you to know that, starting in August, we shall be introducing a Campus Card payment scheme. This system has been in the research stage for some time now, and we have been consulting carefully with our colleague schools in IASAS, all of whom make use of a card for payments on their campuses. The system works through an individual identity chip that is implanted into student ID cards. One of the main purposes for making this move to is to provide a debit system in the canteen. Some of the benefits are: Limit the amount of money that students are obliged to bring to school. Speed up canteen lines during breaks since cash exchange will not be needed. Give online access to parents so they may see what their children are eating at lunch. The intention is to run parallel cash / debit system initially, but in time we intend to move towards a complete debit system during school hours. Parents and students will have several options with regards to topping up their card. They can do this online by credit card or PayPal or through an accredited bank (all for a minimal fee), at kiosks (similar to ATMs) located in two different areas on campus, or at the cashiers office. In addition to purchasing food at the canteen, the Smart Card may be used for paying other activities that take place on campus: school plays, Family Fun day, concerts, T-shirts, etc. We also hope that the Uniform Shop will be able to accept payments in this way. Parents and helpers may also apply for an ID card complete with chip should they wish to use a debit system on campus rather than cash payments. In conjunction with the debit system, the Smart Cards issued in Middle School will allow students to access the new lockers we are purchasing. We shall be sending out more instructions on how this system will work later in the school year and again in August. Like any new system, we suspect that there will be some teething problems, but we are confident that we shall overcome these and that the card system will be beneficial for the entire school.

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Canteen Concessionaires (SY 2013 - 2014)

Hi All, I am pleased to inform all that starting school year 2013 there will be a couple of changes in the canteen. After a lengthy bidding process overseen by a committee of Faculty, Principals, Support Staff, Students and Parents it has been decided that the concessionaires, Urban, Yogi, Allegro and Piadina will be renewed for another 3 years. It has also been determined that CafeFrance will be replaced by Gourmet to Go. Many of you may be familiar with Gourmet to Go as they are in several locations around the city, the nearest one being Powerplant Mall at the basement floor fronting Rustans. Gourmet to Go has a wide range of ready-to-go salads, sandwiches and soups, which we feel will be a perfect match for the busy ISM community. Red Kimono will change its menu selection to cater to a wider range of Asian cuisine and will also undergo a name change. We congratulate those concessionaires that have been selected for the upcoming school years and we want to thank CafFrance for their many years of superb service at ISM. In connection with the canteen services, ISM will also be implementing a debit (cashless) system in the canteen. This will allow faculty, staff and students to load their ID cards with funds and use their ID cards as a payment method in all concessionaires in the canteen. Additional information connected to this system will be sent out to all in the weeks leading to the start of the school year. We thank all who have been involved in the canteen committee process and we look forward to the changes. Any questions please do not hesitate to contact me. Sincerely, Michelle Mapua Director of Human Resources

From the Treasury Department

In anticipation of the year-end clearance for SY2012-2013, please note that only MS and HS students who have paid in full their SY2012-2013 fees will have their clearance forms signed by the cashier and will then have access to school documents such as report cards and transcripts. Likewise, for next school years incoming Pre-School 4 to Grade 4 students, section cards will be released by the Accounting Office on June 6, 2013 only if current school year (2012-2013) fees are fully settled. Parents and guardians are advised to settle the remaining unpaid fees on or before June 3, 2013 to avoid long queues at the end of School Year. Please note that we can no longer accept checks, whether peso or dollar, to settle 2012/13 accounts, since these will not be cleared by banks in sufficient time. For any inquiry please call 840-85-22/840-85-06 and ask for RHODA VILLA (Accountant) or MARISSA DULAY (Treasury Supervisor). You may also email us at villar@ismanila.org or dulaym@ismanila.org. For payment/remittance inquiry please call 840-85-12 and look for ELMER ESGUERRA (Cashier). You can also email him at esguerrae@ismanila.org

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From the Superintendents Office

Dear Middle School Parents: I have attached below the statistics from the recent parent surveys with comparative data from the previous three years. You will see that the figures have remained broadly the same since 2010. Of course the data would be more useful still if a greater proportion of parents had completed the survey: the 125 families who completed the survey out of a possible 584 families represents a return of approximately 21%. One of the things that always strikes me about these surveys is the discrepancy in the responses. Take, for example, Question 2: My childs teachers are committed and enthusiastic in their approach to teaching. 60 responses are in the 6 range or excellent; 49 responses are 5 or very good; 12 responses are 4 or good. There is one 2 or poor and then there are three 0s or neutral/no response. In other words, there are 121 favorable responses and 1 negative response. Invariably, those who have given a negative reply all write comments, and some of these can be pretty excoriating. Comparatively few of those writing favorable responses bother to add a comment, all of which means that if one were to read the comments only, one would get a very distorted picture of how parents view the school. That doesnt of course invalidate the views of the few who have a negative impression, but it does place those views in perspective. What I would say is that, if you are unhappy with any element of your childs education here at ISM, I urge you to come in to talk to us about this. We want our school to be a place where every child succeeds, and in order for that to happen we need your input. Best wishes, David Toze Superintendent

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From the Mathematics Department

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From the Athletics & Activities Office

This will be the final ATAC post in the Friday bulletin for this school year, on behalf of the ATAC office staff I would like to wish students and parents a safe and enjoyable vacation. Stay safe, stay fit Bearcats and come back ready for an exciting year of ATAC activities in SY 13-14. Tryouts week for 1st season sports will start Mon Aug 12 the first day of school for HS teams. MS tryouts will start from Wed Aug 14thsee tryouts draft schedule on the ATAC blog for details. PLEASE NOTE: Last day for all ATAC team training is today, Friday, May 31st. Please remember the ISM swimming facility is now closed for renovation works. The planned reopening of the pool is set for September 1st. However, with good weather and a bit of luck, we hope to be able to open earlier. We are building a new 2 level grandstand, new locker rooms, new storage area, new coaches locker rooms, additional restrooms for the public and resurfacing the pool surrounds. ISM Summer Sports Camps information is now available on the ATAC summer camps blog page. The informational flyer will also be in the parent bulletins. Sign ups are on a first come first served basis! A great way to stay in touch with the ISM ATAC program is to subscribe via RSS feed to the ATAC blog and also to follow via twitter (see twitter feed on the blog home page). Each Monday, I will post the weeks happenings and highlight important events for students and parents information on the ATAC blog and in the regular Friday parent bulletins. 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 the power school secure site http://powerschool.ismanila.org/public/ You will need your power school user name and password to access the game schedule pdf. BEARCAT DEN: http://atac.ism-online.org/bearcat-den/ Our Bearcat Den is open for business, please drop by to check out the range of Bearcat products. We have a great team of volunteers who run the den and are always looking for more people to help out. If you are interested in joining a fantastic group, please contact any of our den members during den opening hours. If youre interested in joining the Den volunteers, please contact Carolyn Ching for details at carolynqching@yahoo.com. We are always looking for new volunteers and encourage parents from ES/ MS to join our group. Final selling day for the Den will be on June 4th, then it will be closed for inventory and summer pack up on June 5. The Den will re-open for business in the new school year on Monday, August 12th,2013

Sincerely, Mark Pekin Director of Athletics/ Activities

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From the High School Guidance Office

Dear HS Parents, We are very pleased to introduce/reintroduce you to an exciting initiative developed back in 2010 by the HS Guidance Department in cooperation with the HS Administration:

Bearcat Career Experience

As we all know well, high school for students is (among many things) a time of self-discovery. It is a time where our students begin to better acknowledge their aptitudes/likes, where they hone their strengths and where they begin to sort through that rather complicated map known as their educational and future career path. Unfortunately, it is often a map with gaps between what they learn in their academic classrooms and the real world their teachers are working to prepare them for. In short, we hope to help bridge that gap for some of our high school students through a five-day summer internship (June 10th 14th, 2013) with various companies in the Metro Manila area. Last year we were very fortunate to place over 120 ISM high school students (sophomores and juniors) with 30 companies (including Alaska Milk, Asian Development Bank (ADB), and Makati Medical Center to name a few) in the Metro Manila area. This year, we definitely feel those numbers could increase. However, in order to make this a reality, we need reputable companies from a variety of industries to form partnerships with us and take part. As parents of our dedicated and motivated HS students, you may own, be employed by, or know of a company interested in supporting this very worthwhile endeavor. We ask for your support in helping us develop potential Career Experience placements and subsequently, lasting positive relationships with companies in the Metro Manila area. We ask that you take time to reflect on this important initiative (currently in its 3rd year) and its value for our ISM community. Please take a look at our website here http://bearcat-careers.ism-online.org/what-is-a-bearcat-career -experience/ . This page should give you an idea of what the program is all about. You might also want to check out this video too. http://bearcat-careers.ism-online.org/media/ If you are in a position to take one or more of our students at your company or know of an interested company, please let me know. Please also contact me at mcqueend@ismanila.org if you have any questions or need further clarification. Information about how your son or daughter (current sophomores and juniors only) could apply for a Career Experience position will be communicated to all of you at a later date. You can also get more informed and up to date posts about the Bearcat Career Experience by liking our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/BearcatCareerExperience Thank you very much for your support and I look forward to hearing back from some of you. J Sincerely, Doug McQueen High School Counselor

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