MIDDLE SCHOOL

Friday Bulletin
Weekly Publication for Middle School Parents
ISSUE # 23
WEEK OF FEBRUARY 20 TO 24, 2012

From the Middle School Office

Dear Parents: This week the students and teachers will be participating in a range of Classroom Without Walls (CWW) activities. As our students go off to various sites, we are confident that the students experiences will be memorable, leave a lasting impression and raise their awareness of how to become an active citizen. When your child returns from the trip, please take some time to engage your child and discuss ways that your child can build on the experience. On Thursday, February 23 there will be a meeting for Grade 8 parents regarding High School course selection. Please join the High School Guidance Counselors and Principals from 5:30 7:00 P.M. in the Lofthouse. High School Guidance will be presenting useful information and we encourage you to attend. Following the presentation, the PTA invites grade 8 parents to stay and socialize during a Meet and Greet Cocktail Hour. Please read the additional details found within the bulletin. Looking aheadMiddle School course registration for school year 2012-2013 will take place the week of March 5. One new course offering, Dance Revolution, is being made available to Grades 7 and 8. Dance Revolution offers students the chance to explore their movement potential and develop spatial awareness. Throughout the semester, different dance forms, such as modern, jazz and hip hop, and the foundations of choreography will be explored. Above all, this course is designed to give students the confidence to move forward into ISMs already thriving Dance program at HS level and to inspire them to experiment with different avenues of movement expression. For this reason, the course is suitable for both experienced and beginner dancers. As part of this program, the students are also afforded the opportunity to share, celebrate and showcase their talent through participation in school activities and dance recitals. On Tuesday, March 20 students will be released early at 12:00 noon, and we will have an afternoon of Parent Teacher Conferences. Grade 5 will be involved in Student-Led conferences. For Grades 6, 7 and 8 the time will be divided into two parts. From 12:30 3:15 P.M. there will be scheduled appointments for parents as requested by teachers. Parents will not need to schedule appointments. From 3:30 5:30 P.M. we will have an open house format for parents and students to drop in and informally chat with teachers and share student work. Given the nature of an open house, it will not be a time to speak at length with individual teachers about concerns. As we approach the date for Parent Teacher Conferences, more detailed information will be provided. Have a great weekend! Regards, Simon Gillespie Middle School Principal Clarissa Sayson Middle School Assistant Principal

Inside this issue:

Summer Language Study PTA Used Book Sale Grade 8 Parents Night iBelieve Photo Contest From the ATAC Office ISM Aquathon 2012 3 4 5 6 2

UPCOMING EVENTS
FEBRUARY

20 to 24 23

Classroom Without Walls (CWW) Gr. 8 Parents HS Course Selection Information Night (5:30 P.M., Lofthouse)

MARCH 05 to 09 08 to 29 10 20 24 26 to 29 30 to Apr. 09 APRIL 14 16 to 20 20 21 23 to 27 26 28 30 to May 11 Service Learning Trip ESL Placement Testing Courtyard Event (3:00 P.M.) Service Learning Trip Used Book Fair Beginners Recital - Gr. 7 to 12 (5:30 P.M., LT) Service Learning Trip MS Art Exhibit (FAT Lobby) Course Registration MAP Testing ISM Goodwill Gymnastics Meet Parent Teacher Conferences Service Learning Trip Spirit Week School Holiday (Spring Break)

CLASSROOM WITHOUT WALLS NO Afterschool Activities

FEBRUARY 20-24

POWERSCHOOL GRADE UPDATE February 24 March 09 March 16 Grade Update Grade Update Grade Update/Progress Report Distribution

F R I D A Y B U LLETIN

PAGE 2

Summer Language Study

The International School Manila Modern Language Department is pleased to announce its 2012 Summer Language Study / Home-stay / Travel Program to Spain. This program is for students 14 years of age or older as of June 1st. It aims to develop students language proficiency and to broaden their cultural knowledge. This program is being offered in cooperation with Tandem (http://www.escuela-montalban.com/index.php). We with spend three weeks at the Granada campus and one week at the Madrid campus. Students will continue learning and more importantly practicing Spanish through total immersion in classes and during the home-stay. The Tandem school finds families for students to stay with, assists in locating appropriate local resources for the groups activities, plans outings, maintains a list of local medical and emergency resources, and helps with the orientation for group leaders. Students will receive Spanish classes each morning that include language and culture subjects and prepare students for cultural visits. The cultural program will take place in the afternoons/evenings and will be made up of various supervised activities that take advantage of the unique environment while taking into account the individual interests of the students. Cultural activities include things such as preparing paella, guided tours of historical buildings, towns and museums, watching flamenco dancing, visiting hot water springs, beach trips, horseback riding, etc. The dates of this trip will be approximately June 2nd 30th, 2012. If you are interested, please contact Jennifer Diaz (diazj@ismanila.org) to receive more information. Students and parents interested in this trip to Spain should plan to attend an informational meeting at 5:30 P.M. on Wednesday, February 29th.

From the PTA Office

F R I D A Y B U LLETIN

PAGE 3

Grade 8 Parents Night

TO ALL GRADE 8 PARENTS: The Grade 8 ISM-PTA is organizing a Meet and Greet Cocktail Hour at the ISM Lofthouse on February 23, from 6:30-8:30PM, exclusively for the Grade 8 parents. This event will be held immediately after the Grade 8 HS Transition Talk to be given by the HS Department. Its purpose is to create a closer Grade 8 community so we can help each other and help our children pull through the coming HS years. Finger food, wine, beer and soft drinks will be served. A cover charge of Php400 per head will be collected at the entrance to defray some of the costs. Proceeds from this event will go to the ISM 2016 Class Fund (students currently in 8th grade belong to this batch). Please RSVP to ismanila2016@yahoo.com or thru the following: Lia Te Simran (Shirley) Uttamchandani Thank you and hope to see you there! liamariete@yahoo.com simran.uttam@gmail.com 0918-8306666 0917-8440453

F R I D A Y B U LLETIN

PAGE 4

F R I D A Y B U LLETIN

PAGE 5

From the Athletics & Activities Office

Congratulations to the MS boys B gr.5/6 tennis team who last Saturday won the ISTA League final at CSA. Our younger team defeated the ISM gr.7/8 team in an epic 4 hour battle to win this years MS Tennis championship. The result was tied at 2-2 after the 3 singles matches and the 1st doubles and in the final doubles match the game was tied at 7-7 and then went to a 10-8 tie breaker before the gr.5/6 pair of Stanley and Takuma won the match. Congratulations to players from both teams who played last Saturday. Mar. 3 Track meet at ISM Swim meet at BSM Mar. 7 MS Academic Bowl at ISM Mar. 8 HS Academic Bowl at Brent Mar. 10 JV girls softball at Brent 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 vs. Brent at ISM Mar. 30 to April 9 - Spring break Apr. 10 Teams depart for IASAS 3rd Season Championships Track at Taipei Softball at Singapore Badminton at Kuala Lumpur 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 http://powerschool.ismanila.org/public/. You will need your Powerschool username and password to access the game schedule. BEARCAT DEN: Regular Opening Hours for the Bearcat Den: Monday, Wednesday and Friday, from 11:30 A.M. 1:00 P.M. & 2:30 P.M. 4:00 P.M. Tuesday & Thursday afternoons, from 2:30 - 4:00 P.M. If you are interested in joining our group of volunteers in the Bearcat Den, please contact our BCD volunteers coordinator, Radhika at 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. Regards, Mark Pekin Director of Athletics/Activities

MS Team B Tennis Champions (Oscar, Marco, MS Team A Tennis Runners-up ( Liyang, Eric, Deyan,
Jack/John, Tom/Alex) Ranbir, Yu Yang/Calvin, Stanley/Takuma)

Congratulations also to the MS Boys Gold Basketball team who narrowly lost in the final of the local league tournament on Saturday, February 4th. The boys played great all season and unfortunately lost the final by 2pts which was played at CSA. Well done to all players and coaches (Sturgeon/St. Laurent) 3rd Season: This week was the start of 3rd season practices for (Track and Field, Badminton, Softball for MS and HS students and Mixed Touch for MS students only) Practice schedules are now posted to the blog and are on school notice boards. ATAC Events coming up:

Swim meet at Brent ISSA Badminton tournament at Brent PRADA Badminton tournament at Ateneo
Feb. 19 Varsity Boys Softball tournament at Rosario Field Feb. 23, 3:00 -7:00 P.M. Twilight inter-squad track meet (HS/MS) Feb. 25 ISM Sailfish Aquathon Feb 26 Varsity Boys Softball at ISM Mar. 2 JV/Varsity girls softball vs. Brent at ISM

Feb. 18

F R I D A Y B U LLETIN

PAGE 6