Middle School Principal’s Corner – Friday 18 January, 2019

Dear Parents,

This week saw our students demonstrate their talents on stage; share their research and service
learning initiatives; visit the International Fair; and reach the end of Q2.

Upcoming Events

We have a very busy time coming up over the weeks before the February break. These include
concerts and recitals, field trips, Parent Teacher Conferences, and High School course information
for 8th Grade students and parents.

Dates for these events are published on the Middle School calendar and more information will be
posted in the newsletter each week. Please see below for a list of upcoming events:

• Monday 21 January – Flamenco Workshop for students in Grade 7 and 8 Spanish

• Tuesday 22 January - Courage Program Parent Information Session 8:30-9:30am in the iLC
• Wednesday 23 January – Sign up open for Parent Teacher Conferences opens at 9:00am
• Thursday 24 January - MS Recital 7:00pm in the Theatre
• Thursday 24 January and Friday 25 January – MS Concerts
• Friday 25 January – High School course information for 8th Grade students (parents do not
attend this session)
• Friday 25 January – Student Council Movie Night
• Monday 28 – Wednesday 30 January – 7th Grade Field Trips
• Monday 4 February – Q2 Reports live at 12:00noon
• Tuesday 5 February – Choral Concert 7:00pm in the Theatre
• Wednesday 6 February – Q2 Celebration Assembly 8:40am
• Thursday 7 February and Friday 8 February - Parent Teacher Conferences
• Monday 11 February – Grade 9 Course Selection Meeting for parents of 8th Grade students
• Wednesday 13 February – High School Course Information Fair for 8th Grade parents and
students
• Wednesday 13 February – Niall de Burca visit
• Thursday 14 February – 8th Grade Croatia Trip Meet the Leader information session 3:30pm

Parent Teacher Conferences

Parent Teacher Conferences will be held on Thursday 7 February and Friday 8 February.
Conferences will be held in the Gym. All teachers will be available in the Gym.

There is no sign up to meet teachers. Parents are able to visit the table of teachers
they wish to speak with and can wait to see the teacher or meet with other teachers and then return
if queues are long for a specific teacher

Session times for both days are:

 • 8:30 – 9:55am
• 10:15 – 11:40am
• 12:20 – 1:45pm
• 2:05 – 3:30pm

We will be asking parents to sign up for a block of time to attend (you are able to sign up for one
session per child in the Middle School) so that teachers can prepare purposefully for your visits. Sign
up will be available from 9:30am on Thursday 24 January. An email with the link will be sent at this
time. Please note the change in date due to coordination with the other divisions to make the
process easier for parents.

As always, we have an open-door policy throughout the year. If you would like to speak with
a teacher at any time please do not hesitate to contact them directly.

Please note that there is no school for students on these days.

There will be a Library table set up and Cobham Books will also be there on both days. We have
received internet safety magazines for parents which will be available for you to take home from the
Library table.

Quarter 2 Celebration Assembly

The Quarter 2 Celebration Assembly will take place on Wednesday 6 February starting at 8:40am in
the Theatre.

This year, we remain committed to a whole Middle School Celebration Assembly each quarter which
is supported by students and faculty alike. The Celebration Assembly is the one event each quarter
where we come together as a whole division and share our successes. It allows us to further develop
the culture of the Middle School in very positive ways. The format of the Celebration Assemblies
puts students first, but does limit space.

It is due to limited space that we are not able to extend an invitation to all parents to attend and
why we live stream the event and post a video immediately afterwards. Therefore, parents are
encouraged to take advantage of the alternatives put in place or to understand that it may be
standing room only if they choose to attend.

End of Quarter 2/Semester 1 and Report Cards

Semester 1 ends on Friday 18 January. Report cards will be live on PowerSchool at 12noon
on Monday 4 February.
PowerSchool will be turned off on Friday 18 January to allow teachers to enter final assessments etc.
and update Learning Behaviours.

Staffing Update

Andrew Read, who has been away on medical leave, will not be returning to ACS International
Schools.

I am sure you will join me in thanking Andrew for his support in teaching PE in our school and in
wishing him well for the future.
We are happy to announce that Roger Fogg will be continuing with the classes until the end of this
academic year.

iTime Exhibition

On Tuesday, students from Q2 iTime classes presented their research to parents and teachers. This
class is designed to allow students to investigate a topic of interest and present their findings at the
end of the quarter. The presentations were all well-prepared and a testament to the hardwork and
research conducted by the students.
Power School Learning

We are pleased to inform you that from the second semester during the week of 21st January 2019,
ACS Cobham will be launching our new Intranet site, PowerSchool Learning. Many of you will already
be familiar with PowerSchool to access reports and grades. PowerSchool Learning will act as an
Intranet site where you will ultimately be able to access all school information; divisional websites,
Forms Online, Parent Pay as well as co-curricular websites, the weekly newsletter and in some
divisions, student grades and class information.

We are launching PowerSchool Learning mid-year to give the school community time to move over
to the new system and so any improvements can be made during this semester. Many of the current
websites (divisional, co-curricular etc.) will continue to exist for the semester but will not be
updated. By August 2019 we aim to be fully operational in PowerSchool Learning and the current
websites will no longer be in use.

Currently PowerSchool and PowerSchool Learning will require two separate logins (you will be
emailed the new login for PowerSchool Learning during the week commencing 21st January 2019)
however we are developing a single login system for the future.

We have been developing PowerSchool Learning with the help of a team of volunteer parents to
ensure it meets the needs of various community members and we would like to thank these parents
for their hard work and patience. Being able to access all information in one place will be an exciting
step forward for ACS Cobham and we value your feedback.

Students on Campus After School Hours

Middle School students are only allowed to remain on campus after school hours if they are
in a supervised activity or in the Library. They may move independently from the school
building to their supervised activity or to the Library, but must be supervised at all other
times. The Library is open until 5:30pm every day.

Students waiting for an activity must wait in the Library for their activity to start. The Sports Centre
cannot be used as a waiting area.

A Final Thought

This week’s final thought is provided by some of our 7th Grade Art students who have provided some
artwork in support of the Courage Program.
All the best for the weekend and the week ahead.

Robert Crowther
Middle School Principal