International School Manila

ES PARENT BULLETIN
Volume 06 19 October 2012

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER

OCT
24 25 26 ~ Nov 4 Wednesday Morning Student Late Start @ 8.30am Filipiniana (Celebration of Philippine Culture) ES Assembly @ 8am, Fine Arts Theater School Holiday

From the ES Administration

Dear Elementary School Parents, Next Thursday, 25 October we will be celebrating Filipiniana. This event is an important part of the school year at ISM, providing students from Elementary, Middle and High School with an opportunity to celebrate and discover Philippine culture together as an international community of learners. We will begin the day with a whole Elementary School assembly starting at 8am in the Fine Arts Theater. The assembly will be led by our ES Student Council and will include a musical item from Grades 2 to 4, a Filipino story, Grades 4 students performing a traditional dance item, an early years musical item, and a performance with Grade 2 students, teachers and teacher assistants. Parents are invited to the assembly, however, please be aware that there may only be standing room available as seating is limited when we are all together as an Elementary School. After the assembly, each grade level will take part in a variety of activities to learn more about the Philippines and to celebrate the culture and place in which we all live. Class teachers will send families a description of the
(Continued on page 2)

NOV
7, 14, 21, 28 16 Wednesday Morning Student Late Start @ 8.30am ES Parent Bulletin

19 - 23 PTA New Book Fair, FAT Lobby 20 24 29 30 ES Parent Coffee @ 7.30am, Little Theater K-12 Dance Recital @ 3pm, Fine Arts Theater Kindergarten & Grade 1 Concerts, Little Theater Bonifacio Day Holiday - No Classes

DEC
3, 4 5, 12 7 13 14 After School Activities Recital @ 3.30pm, AMR Hall Wednesday Morning Student Late Start @ 8.30am ES Parent Bulletin 1st Semester Report Card Distribution Early Student Release @ 12pm End of 1st Semester

Elementary School Parent Bulletin

19 October 2012

From the ES Administration

(Continued from page 1)

activities for each grade level along with the schedule they will follow. As part of the days focus, students will be involved in preparing and cooking some meals which will then be given to our entire service staff, as a token of our appreciation for all their hard work during the year to support our students. Recess and lunch times will be on a normal schedule, and there will be no specialist classes on this day. After school activities will take place as usual.

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.

Please note that Preschool children will be taking part in a modified version of Filipiniana, which includes the assembly and Jeepney rides (as well as taho and ice cream!) At 12:00pm, students in MS and HS, dressed in traditional Filipiniana attire, will follow a parade route around the school, and our ES students will be given the chance to watch the parade go by. Parents are very much encouraged to come and participate throughout the day. If you would like to help out in any capacity, please contact your childs class teacher or alternatively, just jump in where you see some adult help would be needed! Throughout the day, teachers will go through the activities with their classes, while teacher assistants and specialist teachers will take part in leading the activities. Students are encouraged to wear clothes representative of the Philippines or they may choose to wear their school uniforms. We look forward to you joining us for a great day of learning about the Philippines.

Adam Campbell
Elementary Principal

Michael Rourke
Elementary Assistant Principal

Elementary School Parent Bulletin

19 October 2012

From the After School Activities Office

Please be advised of the following dates and deadlines for the second semester a erschool ac vi es registra on: November 12 16 (Monday Friday) December 3 (Monday) January 7 (Monday) February 4 (Monday) Registra on Period Release of Conrma on Le er Start of A erSchool Ac vi es Last day of add/cancel classes

To register for the second semester, please ll out the registra on form which will be given by your childs home room teacher on November 9, 2012 (Friday). This will include the schedule of ac vi es and a er school guidelines. Please ll this out completely and sub mit to the AFAC desk (inside the ES oce) ES ART NEED YOUR PAPER! from November 12 to 16, 2012. Registra on will be on a rstcome, rstserved basis; forms submi ed before the Newspaper, packing paper, said dates will not be accepted. magazines, wrapping paper. Dont throw it away we will Forfurtherinquiries,pleasecontact: Kris ne Fong recycle it into some amazing AFAC Assistant artworks! Telephone no: (632) 8408485 Fax No: (632) 8408475 Thanks Email: fongkr@ismanila.org

From the Art Department

From the Alumni Office

Your ES Art Team

Elementary School Parent Bulletin

19 October 2012

From Information Technology

Attention Parents!!!

@ISM ISM is now hosting its own Minecraft server. This server is a Minecraft game world where the only players are ISM students & teachers. ISM is providing a safe place for our students to play this popular online game. In order to play on the ISM Minecraft server your child needs to have a licensed Minecraft account of the computer version of the game ( not xbox 360 & mobile device versions) and you will need to fill out the form below. Once you complete the form we will work as quickly as possible to add you child to the list of accounts that are allowed access to the server. I will contact your childs teacher once their account is ready to use on our server. Why is ISM hosting a video game? Minecraft is a very popular game at the moment and many of our students across ES, MS & HS play the game. Minecraft is best experienced on a server where players get to work with together to accomplish goals. We are providing a safe server where parents can be assured that only members of our ISM community will be playing on the server. What is the purpose of Minecraft? The main purpose of Minecraft is to make things; houses, cities, mines, farms, etc. Minecraft is a game about creating, not destroying. Students will be creating and working together to help make our Minecraft server a fun place to spend online time with friend. Is my child learning anything while playing Minecraft? Yes. This is one of the reasons ISM is willing to host a Minecraft server. While playing Minecraft players use many skills we value as a school. Players collaborate to make structures and go on adventures. In order for a player to learn new things about minecraft they need to research online using Minecraft wikis and watching youtube how-to videos. Many problems in Minecraft require critical thinking & problem solving. And last but not least Minecraft is a fun place to spend some time with friends. What age is Minecraft recommended for? Students ages 8 and up. What do I do if my child wants to play Minecraft all the time? Playing Minecraft is screen time and should be limited. Though Minecraft is a wonderful video game that offers many learning opportunities young children need time daily to exercise their bodies. Generally speaking, students in Grades 3 and 4 should be limited to no more than one hour of screen time per day, this includes all other uses of computer devices, including Minecraft. Where can I get more useful information about Minecraft for parents? This website has a variety of parent reviews & more information about the game : http://www.commonsensemedia.org/game-reviews/minecraft If you have any questions about our ISM server or Minecraft in general please feel free to contact me. Happy Crafting,

Steve McCallum
ES IT Coordinator mccallums@ismanila.org Dont forget to fill out this online form: http://goo.gl/Q1bZa

Elementary School Parent Bulletin

19 October 2012

From the ATAC Office

IASAS Week: Results: Congratula ons to all our teams and coaches who returned to Manila safely this week for your eorts at IASAS in Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur. Soccer Boys 6th, Girls 5th Volleyball Boys BRONZE, Girls 4th Cross Country Boys BRONZE, Girls 5th Individual Gold Chase Burton 5km Boys Cross Country Race 2ndSeasonATACsports:Tryoutshavenowconcludedand theprac ceScheduleforMS&HSsportsisinthisbulle n for(Basketball,Tennis,VarsitySwimming,BoysRugbyand GirlsTouch)Thescheduleisalsoontheblogandonno ce boardsaroundschool.ForinterestedBasketballplayerssee theyersonschoolno ceboardsforanupcomingBasketballcampbeingheldatschoolforISMMS/HSstudentsduringtheOctoberbreak. The ES/MS Rifa Fes vals are now concluded with the nals having taken place last Saturday at ISM. Congratula ons to Coach Popoys E1 and Coach Mikes G1 ES teams who ended up winning the champions trophy for their division this year. Well doen to all the players and thanks to all the parents who have supported the players at the fes vals dur ing the season. See a ached yers for the sports awards next week on Oct 24th. Results for all the Cross Country meets completed during the season can be found on the Cross Country results page. h p://atac.ismonline.org/atac/1stseason/crosscountry raceresults/ A great way to stay in touch with the ISM ATAC program is to subscribe via RSS feed to the ATAC blog and also to follow via twi er (see twi er feed on the blog home page). Each Mon day I will post the weeks happenings and highlight important events for students and parents informa on on the ATAC blog and in the regular Friday parent bulle ns. GAME SCHEDULE PDF: (access to game schedule informa on) Informa on about all midweek/weekend xtures for ISM teams can be found via the ATAC blog. Please note the game schedule does change o en due to involvement with many local schools so please check the page regularly to nd out the latest informa on of where and when the Bearcats teams are playing. Click on schedules tab or the Bearcat logo to be directed to the power school secure site h p:// powerschool.ismanila.org/public/ You will need your power school user name and password to access the game schedule pdf. HS Student registra on for ATAC ac vi es: (new for school year 1213) A Google doc registra on is now available for all HS students who will take part in any ATAC seasonal sports

Elementary School Parent Bulletin

19 October 2012

From the School Clinic

teams, MUN and Cultural Conven on programs. Please take the me to complete this online registra on for ac vi es that you plan on joining this school year. Please access the form via the HS Student Registra on tab found under the Helpful Shortcuts bar on the ATAC blog home page. *please note this is for HS students only and you must use your school email ad dress to access the link. Personal gmail or hotmail addresses will not allow you to access the page. BEARCAT DEN: h p:// atac.ismonline.org/bearcat den/ Our Bearcat Den is open for business, please drop by to check out the range of Bearcat products. We have a great team of volunteers who run the den and are always looking for more people to help out. If you are interested in joining a fantas c group please con tact Melanie Ball at mela niehball@gmail.com our volunteer coordinator. We have a new range of dri t t shirts now available along with new Bearcat bags Regular Opening Hours for the Bearcat Den: Wed and Fridays from 11:30am 1:00pm and each a ernoon from 2:304pm.

Mark Pekin
Athle c Dire ctor

Elementary School Parent Bulletin

19 October 2012

From the Office of Advancement

The ISM Website 2.0
The ISM website is sporting a new look! With the new design comes streamlined content and easy navigation that should help both old and new users find the information they need. For ISM parents, we have built a Parent Portal that will give easy access to PowerSchool, blogs,online billing and a host of other useful linksall in the same new design. Just type in the school address (www.ismanila.org) and youll be led to the ISM homepage. Click on Login, and youll have access the Parent Portal. As always, we hope you find our school website helpful and informative.