Weekly Publication for Middle School Parents
Dear Parents:Today all the Middle School students return from their Classroom Without Walls (CWW) trips and bring withthem a bank of memories. We are confident that the Grade 6 students discovered more about thePhilippines as they explored the WOW! Philippines theme, and we hope they have a sense of deepsatisfaction having contributed to building a GK777 community. Engaged in various fun activities, the grade7 students forged ties with students at a school in the Lake Taal area and also strengthened bonds with their own classmates in workshop-style sessions. From building a kitty hospital to working with marginalizedstreet children in Puerto Galera, the grade 8 students have been learning firsthand how to be active citizensand the value of sharing their time, talents and energy. We thank all the teachers for their dedication andefforts to provide such a range of enriching experiences for the students. It was a week well spent! Pleasetake some time to engage your child and discuss ways that your child can build on the experience. It’simportant that the learning does not end with the conclusion of the CWW week but that the spirit of servicecontinues to be nurtured.Progress reports for students receiving a C- or below were distributed this past Monday. If you have anyconcerns, please contact your child’s teacher and continue to access PowerSchool to monitor your child’sprogress.As printed in last week’s bulletin, the parent meeting
Transitioning to Middle School
will not take place onFebruary 27 as listed in the school calendar. The meeting will be rescheduled and details will becommunicated through the Parent Bulletin.Lastly, on Monday, February 23 there will be no classes for students. Classes resume on Tuesday, February24.Enjoy the 3-day weekend!Sincerely,Danielle Fredericks Clarissa SaysonMiddle School Principal Middle School Assistant Principal
February 26
MS Parent Coffee (7:45 A.M., LT)
26
Grade 8 Parent Session Transitioning to HS (5:30 P.M., LT)
March 02
Grade 8 Course Registration (Homebase)
02 to 03
MS Music/Choir Petting Zoo
09 to 13
ERB Testing (in English Classes)
09 to 13
MS Math Honors Testing
February 27 -
Grade Update
March 13 -
End of Quarter 3(grades only)
PowerSchool Grade Update
Upcoming Events
From the Middle School Office
ISSUE # 25
W
EEK
OF
FEBRUARY 23 - 27, 2009
Friday Bulletin
MIDDLE SCHOOL
F
RIDAY
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ULLETIN
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AGE
2
From the Superintendent’s Office
CONTACT INFORMATION CHANGES?
Please inform the Middle School Office if you recently changed your contact information(i.e. Home Address, Home/Office Telephone Numbers, Mobile Numbers and Email Ad-dresses). You may contact us through 840-8550 or 840-8553
We’re on the web! www.ismanila.org
Dear Parents:As I’m sure you’re aware, we begin the planning of the school’s academic calendar some twelve months in advance. Thereare various factors that we take into consideration:
•
The contracted maximum number of teacher contact days – 180.
•
The contracted maximum number of teacher working days – 190.
•
The location of public holidays and special holidays. Public holidays are tied to particular dates: Maundy Thursday,Good Friday, All Saint’s Day, Christmas Day. Special holidays, meanwhile, are part of the annual calendar but may bemoved at the discretion of the President: Bonifacio Day, National Heroes’ Day, Labor Day. Included in the category of special holidays are days that may or may not be calendared at the discretion of the President. These include NinoyAquino Day, Eid ul Fitr and EDSA Day.
You can imagine that it is not always easy to meet the contractual obligations, predict the variables and still maintain theappropriate shape and balance to the school year that is best suited to teaching and learning.For the past twenty one years, we have seen EDSA Day become a feature of the annual calendar. Its official celebrationshould be held on 25
th
February, but recently the President declared that she was going to locate such holidays on thenearest Monday to avoid disruption of the working week and encourage families to enjoy the many attractions of the Philip-pines. We had therefore circled Monday, 23
rd
February as EDSA Day but placed an asterisk by that date to indicate that, atthe President’s discretion, this holiday could be moved. Now the President seems minded not to have an EDSA Day holi-day at all, which leaves me in something of a quandary.I could, of course, decide to hold classes on 23
rd
February as usual, but I am mindful of the fact that we published in our official calendar the number of teacher contact days; I am uneasy, at this stage of the school year, in increasing this byone. I know, too, that many families have booked holidays for the long weekend in the expectation that we would not haveclasses on February 23
rd
. I’m also aware that the political fall out from this decision by President may yet lead to a changeof mind, and it is conceivable that an EDSA holiday could still be declared - but so late that families would find it difficult tobook planes and hotels if they were traveling out of Manila. I am also aware that if this happens the holiday could revert toits official date of 25
th
February.What I’m proposing is this: in order to keep true to the spirit of the original calendar,
we shall keep February 23
rd
as anon-teaching day
. If, however, at some later stage, the President were to declare an EDSA holiday on a date other thanthe 23
rd
, then we would still consider Monday 23
rd
February in lieu of any other declared EDSA holiday. In the meantime, Ishall work with HR to try to refine our calendar such that we are prepared for such events in the future.I’m sorry to have to announce this decision so late in the day. I can only plead in mitigation that I am as frustrated as youare by this situation.Yours sincerely,David TozeSuperintendentI S Manila
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From the Athletics and Activities Office
Tennis: Josh Ho and Marco Del Rosario
IASAS Sportsmanship Award
ISM Girls Touch Team
3
rd
Season Sports
MS/HS - Badminton, Track and Field and SoftballES- Grade 4/5 Track*ES/MS track practices are on Tuesday and Friday’s after school. Please check the schedules posted on notice boardsaround the school.All 3
rd
season sports are now in full swing with students andcoaches making a very smooth start to the season after tryouts week concluded. I would like to remind all participat-ing students to complete the ATAC on-line registration.3
rd
season has a number of interruptions and as such stu-dents and coaches can lose the flow of the season easily.Please stay in contact with your coach regarding practicesand weekend matches/meets as they relate to your particu-lar sport this season.
ES/MS/HS track Meets
Dates for this year are:
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Feb 21
st
- MS/HS only at ISM
•
March 7
th
at Brent
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March 28
th
at Brent
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April 3 to 5 - Varsity track at Singapore (IASAS ex-change weekend)
•
April 18 to 22 - 3
rd
Season IASAS at Jakarta
•
May 9
th
- ES/MS meet at Brent.MS coaches will provide more details to students at prac-tices as the season progresses.
2
nd
Season IASAS
HUGE congratulations to our varsity boys’ tennis team whodefended their IASAS GOLD medal at Bangkok. This is anoutstanding result from athletes and coaches to win GOLDtwo years in a row.Our touch team also made it into the gold medal playoff game against SAS and in a very tight game lost in a heartbreaker with seconds to spare on the clock. The girls playedoutstanding touch all three days and to bring home silver insuch a narrowly contested final was no doubt a little disap-pointing, but they should feel very proud of their efforts towin silver two years in a row.Boys rugby lost another heartbreaker game in the bronzemedal playoff match. They let TAS get a big lead in the firsthalf but pegged them back and tied the game with secondsto spare, sending the game into overtime. Unfortunately,TAS came out the victors scoring first in the extra time pe-riod.Girls and Boys Basketball both placed 4
th
in Taipei, how-ever, both teams played some great matches in the tourna-ment and pushed all other teams they played to tightgames.Girls tennis has some solid results and were in the runningon Friday to finish in 2
nd
place but ended up 5
th
showing howclose the competition was in the girls section of the tourna-ment.Our swim team placed 6
th
but we had over 80% of our swim-mers post personal best times which shows a great im-provement at the meet and demonstrates the hard work thathas been occurring in the swimming pool during trainingsessions.
IASAS All Tournament Players
Well done to the following athletes who were selected toIASAS All Tournament Teams:Rugby: Jimmy Go and Jonathan PisanoTouch: Pats Limcaoco, Mercedes Olondrez and Sara JaneAhmedBasketball: Pat Reed and Michelle MartinISM Spring Swim Meet is on March 7, 2009, Saturday. Entry Deadline is on Thursday, Feb 26th.To enter, please e-mail Coach Andyastfalcka@ismanila.org.
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Swimmers aged 10 years and younger race in the morning
•
Swimmers aged 11 years and older race in the afternoon
Regards,Andy AstfalckSailfish Head Coach
Sailfish News
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MSPB No. 25
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