International School Manila

ES PARENT BULLETIN
Volume 13 02 March 2012

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER

MAR
5-9 6 7, 14, 21, 28 8 - 30 14 -16 16 Spotlight on Specials Student Led Conferences Early Student Release @ 12noon Student Late Start @ 8.30am Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) Testing for Grades 3 & 4 Grade 3 Subic Field Trip ES Parent Bulletin

From the ES Administration

Dear Elementary School Parents, Student Led Conferences Next Tuesday 6th March, you have the opportunity to come and listen to your children share some of their learning with you. The conference is student led in that your child directs the conversation and your role is that of facilitator. There will be a number of other conferences taking place at the same time within the room. The teacher will be present in a role of support, should you want to clarify anything. Parents are strongly encouraged to use their mother tongue should your child request this of them. For students in Kindergarten and Grade 1, they will have the opportunity to also visit their specialist learning areas (Music, PE & Art) with their children to gain an insight into the learning which is also taking place there. For students in Grades 2, 3 & 4, you have an open invitation to visit any of your childs specialist classes for the entire week, as part of our Spotlight on Specials week. No appointments are necessary in either of these cases. For students who receive ESL support, parents are welcome to visit the ESL classroom with their children before or after their scheduled Student Led Conference. We look forward to welcoming you onto campus next week. The Faculty Essential Agreements on Student Led Conferences is linked to the ES blog if you would like to know more about their purpose and what they look like. Sports Day Thank you to all of our community who attended Sports Day last Friday and helped celebrate being active and demonstrating sportsmanship with our students. It is quite an organizational effort to have over seven hundred children all active for an extended period of time within the confines of our campus. A special thank you to all our PE teachers, teaching assistants and support personnel for their organization and hard work in making the day a success for our students.

26 - 29 ES Art Exhibit, FAT Lobby 29 International Day Grade 2, 3, 4 Music Concerts, FAT

30 School Holiday - No School 9 April

APR
13, 27 17 ES Parent Bulletin ES Parent Coffee @ 7.30am, Little Theatre

UPDATING PARENT CONTACT INFORMATION

In order to best serve the ISM Parent Community, it is essential that information be quickly disseminated when necessary. For this reason, the accuracy of your contact details in our database is of the utmost importance. Please note that Parent Contact Information must be updated online by the parent. To make any changes or verification in contact information, please access one of your childrens data file via the ISM website (www.ismanila.org) and then under Login, click on Powerschool Public Access and enter your Username and Password. On the page that opens, click on the Demographic Update icon for changing or updating demographic information.

Adam Campbell
Elementary Principal

Michael Rourke

Elementary Asst. Principal

Elementary School Parent Bulletin

02 March 2012

Dear Kindergarten and Grade 1 Parents, As per the hard copy letter which was sent home last week, next Tuesday 6th March is our Student Led Conference afternoon. You will have received a specific appointment time for you to have a conference with your child in their classroom. This is an opportunity for them to share their learning journey with you for the year thus far. As part of this afternoon, students will also have the opportunity to visit their specialist classrooms in Music, PE and Art. Again, they will be able to demonstrate with you some of the learning which takes place in these areas. Please note the following specialist venues. These visits will require no appointment and will be on a drop-in basis. Kindergarten Art Music Music PE PE Liz Godfrey Marnie Hurst Irene Diaz Holly Chapman Bill Blankenship Room 1189 Room 1164 Room 1168 ES Gym Level 1 ES Gym Level 1 Art Art Music Music PE PE Grade 1 Mary Rose Domingo / Kelley England Liz Godfrey Marnie Hurst Irene Diaz Amanda Pekin Noli Reloj

Room 1147 Room 1189 Room 1164 Room 1168 ES Gym Level 1 ES Gym Level 1

We look forward to welcoming you on Tuesday afternoon. Kind regards

Dear Grade 2, 3 & 4 Parents, Our Student Led Conferences are scheduled to take place on the afternoon of Tuesday 6 March; by now, you should have received an individual appointment time from your class teacher and a brief overview of the conference itself. As part of this process, we will also be conducting a Spotlight on Specials week, from Monday 5 to Friday 9 March. Spotlight on Specials provides you with an open invitation to come into your childs specialist class (Music, PE & Art) during their timetabled lesson during this week and get a sense of the learning which takes place. No appointments are necessary if you are going to attend one of these sessions, however in order to support the learning which is taking place with your child through the lesson, the following protocols need to be observed. Mobile phones are on silent Younger siblings are not able to attend Joining in with the learning is encouraged where appropriate! Please note the venues below for the various PE classes which will be taking place during the week. Noli Reloj Holly Chapman Bill Blankenship Amanda Pekin Swimming pool ES Field ES Gym Covered Court

Adam Campbell
Elementary Principal

Please do come and join your child during one of their specialist classes through this week. If you have any queries regarding this process, please do not hesitate to contact your childs class teacher. Kind regards,

Adam Campbell
Elementary Principal 2

Elementary School Parent Bulletin MAP (Measures of Academic Progress)

02 March 2012

February 28, 2012 Dear Grade 3 and Grade 4 Parents, From March 8 to 29, ISM will conduct the Measures of Academic ProgressTM (MAP) tests for Semester 2 What are MAP tests? MAP tests are an external assessment from the United States, used to assist in determining students instructional level. Currently there are approximately 40 international schools in the Asia Pacific region using MAP tests. Who does MAP testing at ISM? Students in Grades 3 to 10 take MAP tests. Students receiving Learning Support and ESL support will be given the opportunity, where appropriate, to participate in the MAP testing. Parents will be contacted individually regarding any modifications taking place. What do MAP tests assess and how often do they occur? These tests will measure academic growth across the school year in the areas of Reading, Language and Mathematics, and are administered twice a year at ISM. The Semester 1 tests were taken in September / October of the 2011-12 school year. How do MAP tests work? Your child will take the tests on a computer. MAP tests are unique in that they are adaptive. The test becomes more difficult the more questions the student answers correctly. When a student incorrectly answers a question, the following test question is adjusted accordingly and is at an easier level. In this way, your child will take a test specifically created for his or her learning level. How are MAP tests reported? Your childs MAP results are reported in RIT (Rasch Unit) scores. This is a different type of score than a typical test that provides a percentage correct. Parents will receive a report that shows their RIT score, the normative RIT scores for the grade level at ISM, and the normative scores for students in the United States within the same grade level. These reports will be available in early May. What does ISM do with the information that MAP provides? Teachers use the data from MAP testing to inform learning and teaching. It assists in determining which skills require enhancing, which skills students have already developed, and which skills need to be introduced. MAP tests also provide our school with a reference point for the ongoing development of the school-wide curriculum. This data allows us to look for trends within certain areas of our curriculum. How do I prepare my child for MAP testing? Factors such as sleep and how a child is feeling can all affect results of a standardized test. Your class teacher will let you know which three days in the coming weeks your child will sit the tests. Please talk to your child to help avoid him/her feeling anxious about MAP testing. Lastly It is important to remember that MAP results provide one piece of assessment data in the process of acquiring information and making judgments about student progress toward intended learning. At ISM, we believe sound assessment involves creating a multitude of ways to measure and communicate student learning over time a photo album versus a single snapshot. For more information on MAP testing, please consult the NWEA (North West Evaluation Association) website at www.nwea.org. In addition, parents can access the MAP Parent Toolkit at http://www.nwea.org/support/ article/930/parent-toolkit, or please do not hesitate to speak to Mr. Campbell or Mr. Rourke. Sincerely,

Adam Campbell

Elementary School Principal

Elementary School Assistant Principal

Michael Rourke

Elementary School Parent Bulletin

02 March 2012

From the Art Department

WeneedyourNEWSPAPERS! TheESArtdepartmentdesperatelyneedsnews paperforbuildingandpapiermachepro jects.Pleasebringyouroldnewspaperstoroom 1191oryourchildcanbringthemtotheirart teacher. Manythanks

From the Music Department

You are cordially invited to attend Grades 2,3,4 Music Concerts: International Day, March 29 In the FAT Grade 2 8:30-9:30am (following the flag ceremony) Grade 3 11-12pm Grade 4 1-2pm

MUSICAL ROOTS

Nadia Hartley
ESArtProgramLeader

From the PE Department

Thank you to the many parents who joined us on the ES Sports Day last Friday. Your presence and your willingness to either participate or assist was greatly appreciated. Thank you to all the parents who helped out at the many stations. Thank you to our official parent photographers on the day who worked closely with our IT Coordinator Steve McCallum to make the final closing ceremony photo presentations which you can view on the PE blogs. If parents have photos they would like to share with the classes then please contact your classroom teacher. Also thank you to our wonderful PTA who provided extra water bottles and found us 40 coconuts for the swimming pool event! Sports day is a celebration of an active lifestyle. A whole day devoted to physical activity as opposed to onscreen activity! Sports Day reminds us that physical activity provides opportunities for social interaction, challenge and enjoyment. The importance of sportsmanship will continue in all activities we do in physical education. Sportsmanship allows us to play competitively and still enjoy being active whether we win or lose. Sports Day reminds us as parents just how much fun it can be to be active. It is recommended that kids get at least 60 minutes of physical activity each day, with most of it being moderate intensity aerobic physical activity. The National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) even offers physical activity recommendations for toddlers and preschoolers. Toddlers should get at least 30 minutes of structured physical activity and at least 60 minutes of unstructured physical activity each day. Preschoolers need a little more exercise -- at least 60 minutes of structured physical activity and at least 60 minutes of unstructured physical activity each day. I hope you all find time each week to be active with your child. Thank you for your ongoing support.

ES Physical Education Team

Program Leader ES Physical Education Visit the ES PE Blogs

Click here for addresses for kids sports in Manila.

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Elementary School Parent Bulletin

02 March 2012

From the Athletics Office

Congratulations to our varsity boys softball team who had success last weekend in the ASSL softball tournament. The boys have played well the past three Sundays in this event and qualified for the finals which were held at the ISM field last Sunday. Despite losing the first match of the day the boys regrouped, won the 2nd match to get into the final and then defeated the team who they lost to in the first match of the morning to take out the championship trophy. Congratulations to all players and coaches on an excellent finish to the ASSL season. Below is the Varsity Boys Softball-ASSL tournament table of match results: 2012 season: ISM Goodwill Gymnastics Meet MS Gym Mar 17 ISM Pre IASAS Track meet (HS only) JV/Varsity girls softball at ISM Mar 23 Twilight Track meet Varsity girls softball v Brent at ISM Mar 30- April 9 Spring break April 11 Teams depart for IASAS 3rd Season Championships Track at Taipei

ISM Field Fort Bonifacio DLSU ADMU UPD ISM UPLB 4 2 10 9 11 vs vs vs vs vs ADMU ISM DLSU UPLB UPD 17 4 9 8 0

19-Feb 830am 945am 1100am 1215pm 130pm

Rosario Field, Pasig City ISM 3 vs DLSU 2 vs UPD 3 vs UPLB 9 vs ADMU 4 vs

26-Feb DLSU UPLB ISM ADMU UPD 13 830am 4 945am 15 1100am 0 1215pm 2 130pm

ISM Field Fort Bonifacio DLSU 1 vs UPD 10 vs UPLB 16 vs UPD 2 vs ISM 11 vs

UPD ADMU ISM ISM UPLB

5 Game 1 0 Game 2 1 Game 3 5 Game 4 5 Finals

ISM Goodwill Gymnastics Meet: March 10th: ISM hosts our gymnastics meet next Saturday March 10th. We have over 200 gymnasts entered from a variety of local and overseas clubs arriving to compete in the Olympic apparatus of floor, vault, uneven bars and beam, along with boys events under the Mens Artistic Gymnastics program. This day is the biggest event of the year for our ISM gymnasts and is always well supported with a big crowd filling the bleachers to watch the competition. Our gymnastics parents booster club are heavily involved with organizing many aspects of the meet and I would like to express my thanks to the gymnasts parents for all the support they will provide to make this annual meet a big success. Please come along and check out the gymnastics action. Opening parade and welcome for Level 1 gymnasts starts at 8am and is followed by Level 2/3 competition and in the afternoon the more advanced Level 4/5 competition is held. Awarding ceremonies take place immediately after each level section is completed in the Little Theatre. 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: Mar 2 JV/Varsity girls softball v Brent at ISM Mar 3 Track meet at ISM Mar 7 MS Academic Bowl at ISM Mar 8 HS Academic Bowl at Brent Mar 10 JV girls softball at Brent

Softball at Singapore Badminton at Kuala Lumpur May 12 ISM Gymnastics Dual Meet (this replaces the cancelled SACAC Singapore meet) May 18-20 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 the http://powerschool.ismanila.org/ public/ You will need your power school user name and password to access the game schedule pdf. BEARCAT DEN: Regular Opening Hours for the Bearcat Den: Mon, Wed and Fridays from 11:30am 1:00pm and 2:30pm 4:00pm. Tues and Thurs afternoons from 2:304pm. If you are interested in joining our group of volunteers in the Bearcat Den please contact our BCD volunteers coordinator Radhika 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.

Mark Pekin
Director of Athletics/Activities E-mail: pekinm@ismanila.org ISM Website:http://www.ismanila.org/ ATAC Blog: http://atac.ism-online.org/

Elementary School Parent Bulletin

02 March 2012

Dear Parents, if you are interested in following the progress of our Cultural Convention in Taipei (Music), Bangkok (Art/Dance/Drama) and Singapore (Debate/Forensics) here are the links to the websites and live stream information. http://www.tassandbox.net/cultureconvention2012/IASAS%20CC%20WEBSITE/index.html http://inside.isb.ac.th/iasascc/streaming/ http://cultural.sasclubs.com/ All sites are also posted on our fine arts blog/atac blog and can also be accessed via www.iasas.asia website.

IASAS Cultural Convention websites:

Interna onalSchoolManila GoodwillGymnas csMeet2012

SCHEDULEOFEVENTS

March10,2012(Saturday)

7:008:00amGeneralWarmup 8:10amParadeofGymnasts 8:3010:30Compe onProperofWAGLevel1 Level1(7yrs.&under)(8yrs)(9yrsold) (10yrs.old)(1112yrs.&above) 10:3011:00ParadeofGymnastsandWarmup 11:0012:30Level2(9yrs.&under)(1011yrsold) (12yrs.&above) MAGLevel1(8yrs.&under)(9yrs&above)

12:301:00ParadeofGymnastsandWarmup (Level3,4,&5) 1:004:30pmLevel3(11yrs.&under) (12yrs.&above) Level4(12yrs.&under) (13yrs&above) Level5OpenCategory AwardingwilltakeplaceintheISMLi leTheaterrighta erthecomple onofeachcompe whichislocatedonthe2ndoorbeneaththeMSgym.
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Elementary School Parent Bulletin

02 March 2012

From the Superintendents Office

Elementary School Parent Bulletin

02 March 2012

From the Admissions & Advancement Office

Dear Parents, The Admissions Office is sending out a friendly reminder regarding our Withdrawal Procedure. If your family will be leaving before or at the end of SY11-12, we would appreciate that you submit the official Withdrawal Notification Form in order to initiate the withdrawal process. Please note, this does not pertain to Grade 12 students who will graduate in May. Please submit the completed Withdrawal Notification Form as early as possible. All forms are available here: www.ismanila.org > Admission > Re-enrollment and Withdrawal WITHDRAWAL NOTIFICATION FORM (required by ES/HS/MS students) Please submit this to the Admissions Office MIDDLE SCHOOL CLEARANCE FORM Once completed please submit this to the Cashiers Office HIGH SCHOOL CLEARANCE FORM Once completed please submit this to the Cashiers Office IMPORTANT DATE to remember: May 11, 2012 Withdrawal Notification Forms for School Year 2011-2012 must be submitted. Forms received after this date will incur a penalty of USD $1000 on the refund of the FUD. For detailed information regarding receiving Report Cards, Transcript of Records, obtaining a yearbook and/or the refund of the FUD please visit our web site at www.ismanila.org under the Admissions TAB < Re-Enrollment & Withdrawal. We appreciate your notification as we have many families awaiting word for enrollment for next school year. Please feel free to contact us at admissions@ismanila.org for any questions or concerns. Sincerely,

Stephanie H. Hagedorn
Director of Admissions & Advancement International School Manila www.ismanila.org

Elementary School Parent Bulletin

02 March 2012

From the PTA

Elementary School Parent Bulletin

02 March 2012

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