A Lot Going On In The Elementary

May is always a busy month in the school. If you have children in other divisions you will be busy with exams as well. It is important to keep informed about the events going on with your children. They all play an important part of your child’s school experience. School trips, special days, assemblies and many other events fill the final weeks of school as you can see below. Please assist your child to participate in these events and to attend regularly until the end of the year.

In addition to working on report cards and class lists, teachers have been busy looking at developing Visible Thinking routines in the classroom. This process assists students to explore problem solving and expression at a deeper level. They are encouraged to think critically and express their thoughts for others to hear and grow knowledge collectively. A number of teachers just finished training and we are now starting a professional learning group with staff at the school to explore the topic further. Myself, and a number of others are booked for training in a variety of areas over the summer months.

We have changed the final day of school from June 6 to June 5 in consideration of Islamic Holiday on that day. The final day for student attendance is June 5. 

Upcoming Events

May 14- KG1 Assembly

May 20- KG2 Assembly

May 22- Student Led Conferences in the evening

May 30- Grade 5 Leaving Assembly

June 2- No School for Students (Senior Graduation)

June 5- Student Last Day

June 8- Reports and 2013-14 class assignment go home

June 9- Teacher Last Day

June 13- School Closed

Reading in The Playground

Assembly

Museum Walk

Reading Week

Grade 3 Museum – Ancient Civilizations

Grade 5 Exhibition

Emergency Drills

Dear Parents,

 

As part of our on-going efforts to improve health and safety standards for students and staff in our school, we have focused this year on practicing a variety of emergency drills.  Teachers and students have already practiced a traditional fire drill several times as well as learned about what would happen should it become necessary to evacuate the school.  They have also practiced a “Stay Put” drill in which no one is allowed to leave the classroom.  Our final practice of the year will take place later this week.  It is called a “Reverse Evacuation.”  This is a procedure we would use if ever there were severe weather approaching the campus or an immediate threat within the campus walls.  It involves bringing the students indoors as quickly as possible from an outside, less-structured setting.  We will practice this drill at the end of one our recesses and time how long it takes to get all the children inside safely.  At the same time, we will also practice a “Lock Down” in which the teachers will lock the classroom door once the children are inside and ask them to stay quiet and out of sight until signaled that the drill has ended.

 

These drills are a necessary part of school business, because by practicing what we would do in the case of an emergency, we are better equipped to respond accordingly in a real emergency.  We understand that some of our smaller children may be frightened by the idea of an emergency, and we want to assure you that we are making every effort to make certain students know that this is just practice and that they are very secure here in our school.  With the younger children you may even hear that they have played “Hide-and-Seek” with Mr. Kevin, Ms. Lori and Ms. Mayada, the goal being that they were so quiet that we didn’t know they were there in the classrooms as we walk the hallways.

 

Please, if your child should mention any of this to you at home, do your best to allay their concerns and be supportive of the school’s need to hold these emergency drills.  Stress to your child your confidence that they are safe and well taken care of at school and that it is very important for them to follow directions and be serious whenever a drill is conducted.  If you have any specific concerns about your child’s participation, please speak directly to his/her teacher.  Or if you have any concerns related to the emergency drills, direct those to one of the administrative team members.

Visible ThinkingTraining for Staff

Some of our Elementary Staff spent the weekend being trained on various processes to encourage critical thinking and how to create a positive culture of thinking in their classrooms. Lisa VerKerk from the International School of Amsterdam was brought in for the weekend course which stems from Project Zero at Harvard.

Large Group Discussion

Lisa, our workshop leader from the International School of Amsterdam.

Sport Day

Congratulations to the PE staff for doing such a wonderful job! The day was enjoyed by all and the students had a wonderful day outside being active. The entire elementary school was active at some part in the day. Well done!

KG Activities

Chicken Run!

2013-14 Elementary Calendar

2013-14 ES Student Calendar

iPad Meeting and New Phone Number

Dear Parents,

We apologize for the mix-up with the date for the scheduled IT Initiative meeting next week. The meeting will be held in the library at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 2nd. We look forward to seeing you then. Also, please update your contact information for the school. The old number (2225-5155) is no longer valid. All calls to the school should now be made to 1-843-247. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

 

Sincerely,
Russ McLean, Superintendent

1:1 Technology Initiative Parent Night Invitation

Dear Parents:

We have been operating in a wireless environment on campus this year and students and teachers are gradually adapting to the use of new tools as they access knowledge directly from the internet. When we met concerning the IT initiative in November, I undertook to meet again to update you on implementation and to solicit your feedback.

Please join us on Tuesday, April 2nd at 6:30 p.m. in the school library. There will be a short presentation updating our progress toward the strategic goal set in 2008-09: By 2014 AIS will be a wireless campus where 1 to 1 e-learning is the norm.”

We will then solicit feedback and direction from parents about e-learning. We need your feedback on what has happened and your input on future directions.

We look forward to seeing you!

Russ McLean
Superintendent

We are Listening to Grade 1!

During the past week I have received over 100 requests for trees from the Grade  1 students. They have clearly laid out the benefits that trees would provide for us. I have been told about increasing the air quality, creating homes for birds and beautifying our campus. The are right that we need more green on the campus.

This weekend we took the first step to bring more trees on campus. Some will be planted trees and others will be potted to allow us to move them as needed and to help them survive the tough summer when we are not here to care for them. I am sitting here admiring our modest start but it was encouraging to see where the seed was planted.

The Grade 1 teachers did a wonderful job of connecting their unit Sharing The Planet to action that theirs students could take. They used the story The Lorax to high lite the significance of their role in caring for living things. In the end we decided that the best way to care for the students, birds and tress was for us to add some green to our campus. What a wonderful outcome! I am very excited to see their response to the greening of the campus. More to come in the future.

This process is a great reason to celebrate AIS learning.