QSI Tirana International School

Tre Vellezrit Kondi E-Mail: tirana@qsi.org Website: http://www.qsi.org/alb/

Tirana, Albania Tel: (355-4) 2365239 Fax: (355-4) 2377679

15 January 2010
January
Success Orientations
25-ITBS Testing Begins
In continuing TIS’ commit-
February
ment to promoting the Suc-
4-7 Middle School Math Counts
cess Orientations, the nine
Competition (Bucharest)
year old class is sponsoring
4-7-High School Knowledge Bowl
a…
Competition (Zagreb)
10-PAC Meeting
17-Advisory Board Meeting
25-Third Quintile Ends
POSTER CONTEST!
Encourage your child to enter the poster contest at TIS!
26-Status Reports and Narrative goes
In celebration of concern for others, TIS is promoting a
home
poster contest that encourages all students to speak Eng-
March
lish while on campus. The poster should reflect how
03-PAC Teacher Appreciation Pot Luck
speaking English shows concern for others. The poster
03-04 Parent Teacher Conferences
can be designed on regular-sized A 4 paper and submitted
Early Dismissal 11:30
by the end of January. The winning posters will be pro-
5-6 MS/HS Swim Meet (Budapest)
fessionally printed and enlarged and hung up around
10-PAC Meeting
campus!
19-Third Term fees are due for discount
26-Early Dismissal 11:30
There will be a lower elementary, upper elementary, and
Spring Break-March 26th-April 5th
middle school/secondary winner.
April
06-Classes Resume
Knowledge
TIS Bowl Bake-Sale
Movie Delicious home-baked treats for
sale Wednesdays (Jan 20 and Jan
27). Sorry, lower campus only.
TIS Student This is a fundraiser to help our
Council will amazing knowledge bowl team compete in Croatia.
be hosting an
afternoon
movie, next Art Courses Forming
Friday in the
Mosher Build- Art Course opening for children ages
ing for 7-13 6-11
year olds. We Designed to develop an artistic men-
will be show- tality reflected in artistic work
ing the movie
Up. 200 lek Olympia Shopping Center
for entrance 2nd floor
and popcorn. Tirana e re
Close to Postes nr. 8 Tirana
069 2581116/ 067 2736133
 Tirana International School
Phone: 355-4-236-5239: Fax: 355-4-237-7679

15 January 2010

Dear Parents,

This letter is to remind you that TIS will be giving the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) to 5 to 13 year-
old students (except Intensive English students) and Secondary I and II students. The tests will be
given in the morning during the week of 25 January. There will be five mornings of testing. For par-
ents who are new to our school and the ITBS, it is a standardized test that assesses all academic sub-
jects. The tests are sent to the USA for scoring. This gives a picture of your child as a learner. The re-
sults help our school understand how well our students perform compared to students of the same age
in the USA. The results of this test are returned in the spring, and will be sent home, along with infor-
mation to assist you in interpreting the scores. This standardized test allows us to understand
strengths and weaknesses of our students and focus on how we can find areas for improvement and
celebrate our strengths as a school. TIS has set performance goals as part of our MSA accreditation
plan, and the ITBS results are on of our indicators.

We will be starting the testing promptly at 8:00 a.m. during the dates mentioned above. You can help
your child by ensuring they are at school on time and by taking the time to do a few important things at
home:

Teachers will spend some time preparing you child for this assessment. We will be testing their
reading, writing and mathematics skills. There will also be science and cultural studies sections.

We do not want our students to see this as a stressful experience, but please encourage your child
to do his or her best Confident kids do better on tests.

Ensure your child stays on his or her regular sleeping pattern on the days before the test. Changing
the pattern by getting more sleep usually does not help.

Be sure your child has a good, nourishing breakfast, a snack, and has plans for a healthy lunch.
Test taking requires lots of energy.

Ask your child about the testing at the end of the

day. Your interest and support are important.

Thank you for your support during testing time.

Sincerely,
Maura Martin
Director of Instruction

Parents, students, and teachers are welcome to submit announcements, articles, and photos to the Tirana Interna-
tional School News. The paper is distributed every Friday. Submissions can be sent via e-mail to the school’s Direc-
tor at mark-hemphill@qsi.org , by Thursday afternoons.