M I D D L E S C H O O L

F R I D A Y
BULLETIN WEEKLY PUBLICATION FOR PARENTS
Issue # 15 Week of December 11 to 15  SY1718

Dear Parents,
Thursday, December 14th:
As the December vacation draws closer, many parents are
gearing up to put their holiday plans into action. Some par-
ents will be looking forward to staying home and spending
time with both their immediate and extended families, oth-
ers may have plans to travel back to their home country so
they can reconnect with family and friends who they have Friday,
missed dearly. An alternative vacation plan may be to travel
to and explore an exotic location in order to gain deeper in-
sights into a different culture.
As parents prepare to put the finishing touches to their vaca-
tion plans, we thought it would be appropriate to share an
interesting article by Adele Parks, where she espouses the
Merits of Boredom. This article, invites parents not to over-
schedule their child’s vacation time, in order to provide a
space for children to cultivate their creativity. We hope you
enjoy the article as well as the upcoming vacations!
Please read on to find out what’s happening in the final 5
days of the semester:
 MS ATAC and AFAC Activities
 Please be aware that this date marks the last day
for all MS ATAC and After School Activities for
this semester.
December 15th:
 Last Day of the Semester
 Early dismissal at 12:00.
 Please note that there will be no ATAC or AFAC
activities on this date.
 School buses will depart ISM at 12:15 p.m. and
this is the only bus service on this day - no late
bus!
 Due to the fact that all faculty are dismissed at
12:30 p.m. we respectfully request that all stu-
dents are picked up from school in a timely man-
ner.

THIS WEEK:
What’s
Inside?
Saturday, December 9th:
 ES/MS/HS Dance Recital
 Time: 3:00 - 5:00 p.m.
 Venue: FAT
Operations & Security 3
Thursday, December 14th:
 MS Sports Day Campus Card Corner 3
 Time: 7:30 - 3:00 p.m.
 Venue: Alumni News 3
 Morning = Various
 Afternoon = HS Field (after 12:10 p.m.)
Athletics & Activities 5
AMIS Honor Choir Festival 5
Admissions & Advancement 6
Is your child too sick for school? ISM Upcoming Events 7
SICK DAY GUIDELINES
CLICK HERE
 NICE TO KNOW:
 PCA Faculty and Staff Holiday Appreciation Lunch -
Thank you!
On behalf of the MS faculty and staff we’d like to extend our
heartfelt thanks to our Amazing PCA and wonderfully sup-
portive parent community for making last week’s Apprecia-
tion Lunch a truly tasty event! The food was delicious and
the set-up gave everyone the opportunity to sit and chat and
catch up with each other. Thank you so much!

Kind regards,
Rachel and Amanda

NEED TO KNOW:
 MS Sports Day - Heads Up!
On Thursday, 14th 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, fo-
cused on active participation and sportsmanship. Students
will have the opportunity to showcase their growing skill de-
velopment while modeling high levels of collaboration and
sportsmanship.

Students will take part in a mixture of competitive and non-

competitive 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 in their House teams. Parents are more than
welcome to join us on the HS field (after 12:00 noon) if you
would like to come and spectate. Our appreciation and
thanks go out to our phenomenal MS PE department for their
organization of our Sports Day event.

 Leaving School Early? / Returning to School Late?

The first semester ends on Friday, December 15th and stu-
dents will be dismissed from school at 12:00 noon. If you
have made vacation plans that require your child to leave
school before the official close of the semester, please be
sure to communicate this to the MS Office. The office will in
turn, share this information with your child’s teach-
ers. Please note, that the last week of school represents 5
instructional days and, as such, a significant amount of
learning takes place. We strongly recommend that parents
schedule their vacation plans so that they align with the stat-
ed close of the semester.

The first day of the second semester is Monday, January

8th. Please make sure that your vacation plans do not in-
clude a late flight on Sunday as your child will not be set up
for success as he/she starts school. Please allow time for
preparing for school - uniform, backpack, supplies and give
your child/children time to mentally prepare for the return
to class.

 PowerSchool:
Just in case you are new to ISM, please be aware that the MS
report cards are completed in PowerSchool and will be open
for parent access on Wednesday, January 24th. ES reports
go home in December but MS and HS reports are not issued
until late January.
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OPERATIONS & SECURITY CAMPUS CARD CORNER
Family Account vs. Individual Accounts

By default, your ISM Campus Account is a family account

but you can request for individual accounts. Here’s how:

Send an email to campuscard@ismanila.org and request

for individual accounts of your children. The parents’
accounts are attached/linked to one of the children’s
accounts. If you wish to have a separate account from
your child, kindly include it in your email request.

For more information, visit:

http://campusonline.ismanila.org
For questions/concerns, email:
campuscard@ismanila.org

ALUMNI NEWS

Farhan Zaidi ‘94 is the General Managerfor the Los

Angeles Dodgers Baseball Team. With a degree from
the Massachusetts Institute of Technolog and a PhD
in Economics from the University of California,
Berkeley, Farhan worked ten years for the Oakland
Athletics, elevating to assistant GM before joining
the Dodgers. Click HERE to read his story.
Please contact Maica Cruz of the Alumni Office at alum-
ni@ismanilaorg to share your Alumni Bearcat News!
3

ATHLETICS & ACTIVITIES
For upcoming IASAS events….Season 2 and 3 ISM proudly hosts
Tennis in S2 and Track&Field/Golf in S3.
Housing forms for hosting IASAS tennis players Jan 31-Feb 4 is
available here. If you are participating in our tennis program
S2 or were housed at a S1 IASAS event in Bangkok or Singapore
please help out by housing a pair of tennis players. Bearcat
community support is encouraged and needed to support these
events.
Good luck to our gymnasts who will be competing at the
Aquazorb meet this coming Saturday in Pasig.
Next week ISM hosts a u/19 International Rugby Series, See
schedule below. Congratulations to ISM varsity players Ryan,
Wiremu, Imaan and Bryan who have made the Philippines Na-
tional u/19 squad for these games.
Dec 13
5.00pm - Philippines vs Korea
6.45pm - Malaysia vs UAE
Dec 16
12pm - Philippines NDT vs Hong Kong Warriors (National Devel-
opment Series, not U19s)
2pm Loser SF1 vs Loser SF2
4pm Winner SF1 vs SF2
The S2 practice schedule is posted (see link below) and is on
the ATAC blog schedules page and are posted on notice boards
around school. S2 sports SY ’17-18: (MS- Basketball/Touch/
Rugby/Tennis)(HS- Basketball/Touch/Rugby/Tennis&Varsity
Swim team)
2nd season practice sched 17-18
For our year round teams practice schedules are posted on no- In order to clear the campus prior to 5pm all after school pro-
tice boards around the school and on the schedules page of the grams will conclude by 4:50pm or earlier. The last bus
ATAC (Athletics) blog and provided in the ink below.
All season sports sched 17-18.xls – 17-18
Please take the time to navigate the ATAC blog as it is our one sports and activities program. If you have any questions re-
stop shop for all information related to the competitive ISM
sports program.
Upcoming Events:*matches at ISM unless specified as *away
venue. Check ATAC game schedule at the parent portal for all Bearcat Den- drop by our fantastic spirit store. There is a a
the midweek and weekend matches upcoming. Please check on range of new products and items to purchase including items
a regular basis as venues and time do change at short notice.
Players will always be informed by their coaches if times/
venues change.
 Dec 8 HS Basketball teams vs Faith at home
from 4:15pm- HS Gym VBoys vs Faith followed by
VGirls vs Faith. At MS gym JVGirls vs Faith fol-
lowed by JVBoys vs Faith.
ISSUE # 36
SY1617
 Dec 9 Touch Rd #4 at Faith/Rugby Rd #4 at Faith
 Dec 9 HS Tennis at CSA/MS Tennis at ISM
 Dec 9 HS/MS local league Basketball at ISM
 Dec 9 Aquazorb Gymnastics meet at Club Gymnas-
tica Pasig
 Dec 13 and 16 Asian u/19 International Rugby Se-
ries at ISM. Wed 4:45/6:30 games and Sat Dec 16-
12, 2 and 4pm games
 Feb 1-3 IASAS S2 Championships- Tennis at ISM/
Basketball at ISB/Rugby and Touch at TAS/
Swimming at JIS
Information on our ES/MS Activities program is available on the
ES and MS Activities blogs. Links to these blogs are on the help-
ful shortcuts menu on the home page of the ATAC blog or ac-
cessible via the ISM website.
For our Sailfish swim team program please check information
about tryouts at Sailfish blog
For gymnastics team information please check Gymnastics
blog Look for Coach Jas or Coach Ramon at the MS gym when
attending training sessions.
Please note the practice times for ATAC programs for SY 17-18
are as follows:
 All year round team team training sessions are – 3:15-4:30.
See schedule for our All year round teams program here…
 See Sailfish blog for swim squad start and finish times after
the tryouts period has concluded and squads have been
finalised.
 Gymnastics team training is 3:10-4:50pm every M,W,F
All HS seasonal teams practice from 3:05- 4:50pm.
MS seasonal teams practice 3:15-4:40pm.
is 4:55pm this is 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
garding 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 assist you as best I can.
from our service partners.
Bearcat Den hours of operation- 7am-4pm Mon-Fri.
Best Regards,
Mark Pekin
Director of Athletics & Activities
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 ISSUE # 36
SY1617

AMIS Honor Choir Festival

AMIS Asian Middle AMIS Asian Middle
School Honor Boys’ Choir School Honor Girls’ Choir
Festival Festival
 International School  International School
Bangkok Bangkok
 4-8 April 2018  4-8 April 2018
 Melissa Richardson,  Dinah Helgeson, Guest
Guest Conductor Conductor
 Betty Chang, Accompa-  Kate Meininger, Accom-
nist panist
website link  website link

Dear Parents,
The ISM Music Department is delighted to invite all grades 6, 7, & 8
male and female singers to audition for the 2017-2018 Honor Choir
Festivals in Bangkok, Thailand! The festivals are hosted by the Associ-
ation for Music in International Schools (AMIS – pronounced like the
French word for ‘friends’ – “ah-mee”). This is a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity to participate with some of the best young voices
throughout Asia.
What is an Honor Choir Festival?
An Honor Choir Festival is a chance for like-minded students to come
together for three days of rigorous and fulfilling music-making. Stu-
dents will attend from throughout Asia, and will rehearse, learn, and
play with top-tiered talent and leadership. The culminating perfor-
mance or "Gala Concert" will take place on Saturday, April 7th, at
6:00pm in the International School Bangkok's Chevron Theater.
Who will attend?
Twelve students (6 boys and 6 girls) will be invited to attend the festi-
val, based on auditions to be held in December (see details below),
consisting of a 1-minute solo of the student's choice, singing exercises
led by the teachers, and the singing of repertoire excerpts provided
by the teachers.
Where will the festivals be held?
The festivals themselves will be held simultaneously at International
School Bangkok in Bangkok, Thailand. The girls' choir will be under
the direction of Dinah Helgeson, and the boys' choir will be under the
direction of Melissa Richardson. The students, Ms. Grev, and Ms.
Provencher will leave from ISM on Wednesday, April 4th, and return
on Sunday, April 8th.
Where will the students stay?
The students will be housed with host families from International
School Bangkok. They will likely (though not definitely) be paired or
grouped with other students from our school, and will no doubt have
a wonderful time with their host family!
What is the cost?
The festival fee is 170GBP. The other two costs are the flight and
pocket money for some snack food. A flight to Bangkok is around 350
-400USD for the times we want to travel, but it is too early to give an
exact price.
Some additional important details:
 AMIS is a prestigious event. Once your son or daughter is select-
ed to attend and signs the commitment form, he/she is com-
mitted to attend all rehearsals prior to the event. We will be
rehearsing on Wednesdays after school, starting in January, as
well as 1-2 Saturday intensive rehearsals.
 Accepted students will be required to spend time on their own
learning and perfecting their music. Practice tracks will be made
available.
 An experience such as an honor choir festival can be life-
changing, and we highly recommend that all members of choir
and other choral students try out for this opportunity! Although
only six girls and six boys will be chosen, the act of auditioning
alone builds confidence and experience, and is an important part
of growth as a performer. Students may begin signing up for 10-
minute audition slots next week on Ms. Grev's classroom door
(1149) for one of the following time blocks or, for 7/8 students
currently in choir, during class:
 Monday, December 4, 12:40-1:15
 Wednesday, December 6, 11:00-11:40
 Thursday, December 7, 12:40-1:15
 Friday, December 8, 12:40-1:15
 callback session on Wednesday, December 13th - 3:00-
4:00pm
Please feel free to email Ms. Grev (grevc@ismanila.org) or Ms. Pro-
vencher (provenchera@ismanila.org) with any questions, comments,
or concerns you might have. We look forward to hearing many fan-
tastic auditions, and appreciate your support of your daughter/son
and the arts at ISM.
Best Regards,
Ms. Grev & Ms. Provencher 5
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SY1617

ADMISSIONS & ADVANCEMENT

Leaving ISM?

Students Leaving During the School Year:

Parents are obliged to officially inform the Admissions Office through a Withdrawal Notification Form
at least (15) days prior to your child’s last day of school.

Students Leaving at the End of the School Year:

Parents are obliged to officially inform the Admissions Office through a Withdrawal Notification Form
on or before the second Friday of May.

The Withdrawal Notification Form and complete Withdrawal Procedure can be down-
loaded from HERE and submitted to the Admissions Office.

Instructions for Demographic Update

We encourage all families to check their demographic information and make necessary
updates. CLICK HERE for the step-by-step instructions on how to do this.
Please contact your School Office for PowerSchool log-in information.

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 ISSUE # 36
SY1617

ISM UPCOMING EVENTS

Tickets are still available at

the Cashier's Office.

Disclaimer:
This is a PCA-led event and
not an official school activi-
ty. Participation is entirely
voluntary. PCA will not as-
sume responsibility for risks
and safety of minors, if left
unsupervised by parents or
guardians.

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ISSUE # 36
SY1617