ISSUE # 30

SY1617
MIDDLE SCHOOL

WEEK OF:
Friday Bulletin Weekly Publication for Middle School Parents

APRIL 24 TO 28
Inside this issue:

Dear Parents, MS Film Festival

MS Activity Day
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We trust that you enjoyed having your child/children home with you last week and that
you were able to spend some quality time with each other. There is a lot of information After-School Activities 3
in this weeks bulletin so...down to business!

This Week:
Monday, April 24th - Wednesday, April 26th: Charlotte Bliss Out:
Athletics & Activities 4
Ms. Bliss will be out of school on these 3 days as she is attending a confer-
ence in Manila. Athletics & Activities (ATAC)
Clinic 6
Ms. Diana van der Merwe and Mr. Marc St. Laurent will be available to sup-
port Ms. Bliss students during this time.
Admissions & Advancement 8
Thursday, April 27th - Grade 7 Focus Day:
At this time of year, we schedule a special day for our Grade 7 students
where they engage in various learning experiences and simulations that will ISM Upcoming Events 9
help them prepare for their upcoming role as the oldest students in Middle

PARENT
School. As G8 students, they will be expected to live and breathe our core
values (Integrity, Service and Merit) in their day-to-day interactions and be
positive change agents within the MS community.
In order to set students up for success, we will be taking the students off VOLUNTEERS
schedule on Thursday. Students will have a full day of workshops facilitated
by the MS Leadership Team, Counselors and Grade 7 teachers/
Advisors. Student leaders/Ambassadors will also be supporting these ses-
NEEDED!
sions.
This is going to be a highly interactive and enjoyable day where the con-
cepts of leadership, collaboration, organization and community will be ex-
plored.

Friday, April 28th - Middle School Activity Day:


NEED TO KNOW:
Digital Citizenship and 13 Reasons Why:
Life in the digital age has caused significant shifts in how schools
and families operate. Tech tools are ubiquitous and their use per-
meates all aspects of life. At times it is intensely challenging for
parents and teachers to keep track of what our children are view-
ing and posting. Many children have a smartphone, i-Pad, tablet or
a laptop and, with Wi-Fi access only a click away, they are more
connected to the positive and negative aspects of the digital world
than ever before. What can we do to shield our children from the
inherent dangers that the Internet presents, while capitalizing on
all the wondrous things it has to offer? Here at ISM, we believe in
the power of honest, respectful and open communication. If we
are approachable, attentive, calm, understanding and consistent,
our children will actively seek our guidance when they have some-
thing on their mind.
In her book, The Big Disconnect, Catherine Steiner-Adair
(renowned psychologist, author, and consultant) asked children
what it was that made their parents approachable. Time and time
again, three adjectives rose to the forefront of their conversa-
tions. These words did not capture what approachability looked
like but rather what made a parent unapproachable. These are
the words her research illuminated: Scary. Crazy. Clueless.
Scary: The Scary parent has an explosive response to a given about the content or to have a scary or crazy response if you
situation that triggers significant emotional reactions in those
involved. The scary parent is overly judgmental, intense,
rigid and harsh.
Crazy: The Crazy parent amplifies the emotion or the drama
in a given situation and holds grudges. If their child is upset,
they are also upset. If their child is angry - they too are an-
gry. This parenting response escalates a situation, rather
than bringing calmness and support.
Clueless: The Clueless parent is not attuned to the context of April is Autism awareness month and it is celebrated worldwide.
a situation or important nuances. They are considered naive, Autism spectrum disorders affect 1 in 68 individuals. While there is
uninformed, gullible and ineffectual. Parents can slip into this no cause of or cure for Autism there are a variety of interventions
style of parenting when they are overwhelmed or do not
understand a given situation.
Think about your default parenting style - would your supports
children use one of these words to describe you?
As a parent, can you think of a time when you have cant needs. We are working with staff and students of all ability
been scary, crazy or clueless?
Ultimately, what we say and how we say it really matter to those
around us - especially our children. As the trusted adults in our
childrens lives, our reactions to a given situation has the potential autism and what you can do to support ISM and our mission to
to turn it into a disaster or a valuable learning opportunity.
Keeping the Scary, Crazy, Clueless adjectives in mind, we want to
draw parents attention to a Netflix series called 13 Reasons
Why. Our Cyberhound filter has picked up some student searches
(Grade 5 to Grade 8) about this series and so the MS Leadership
and Counseling Teams have spent some time researching it and
some of us have subsequently watched the complete first season.
In addition to the Cyberhound alerts, a handful of students at
school have been talking to members of the MS team as they
wanted to unpack their feelings after coming to the end of the
first series.
If you are unfamiliar with this Netflix series, the review from Com-
mon Sense Media can be found here. While this series is rated as
16+ some of our MS children may be watching 13 Reasons Why
during unsupervised times via a device or, if they have a device in
their bedroom, after going to bed. In the interest of being sup-
portive and collaborative, we want all parents to be aware that
there is a graphic rape scene in episode 10 and the final episode
has a graphic suicide. If your child has watched the series without
your knowledge, it may be wise to watch the series so you can be
aware of its content. This first-hand knowledge will then allow you
to frame or unpack the series with your child. If you are currently
watching this series with your child, you might want to consider
jumping ahead and watching the last few episodes before you
watch them with your child.
We do have the book 13 Reasons Why in our MS Library, but this
book has to be checked out from Ms. Parrys office due to the fact
that rape and suicide are discussed in the book. Meg does not
distribute this book to students without first chatting with parents.
We are sharing this information purely as a courtesy heads-up. It
is a parenting choice if you want to allow your child to watch this
new hit series. However, we dont want parents to be clueless
learn your child has already watched the series. As always, if you
have any questions or would like to chat to a member of our Coun-
seling or Leadership team, we are here to support you with guid-
ance and practical tools and strategies.
NICE TO KNOW:
Inclusion at ISM - Autism Awareness Month:
and supports available to help those on the autism spectrum. ISM
strives to include and support students with autism spectrum dis-
order through a variety of educational programs. Some of these
could include: Speech and Language Therapy, Occupa-
tional Therapy, Learning Support and our new Specialized Learning
Support Program which is designed for students with more signifi-
levels and backgrounds to support the development of our inclu-
sive environment through conversations and ongoing education.
Students with autism and their families are a valuable part of our
school community. We encourage everyone to learn more about
create a culture of acceptance.
Should you want to talk more about what inclusion looks like at
ISM, please contact Bill Brown, Assistant Superintendent,
brownb@ismanila.org
Kind regards,
Rachel Harrington, Middle School Principal
Amanda Pekin, Assistant Middle School Principal
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Practice schedule for S4 sports is posted to ATAC blog
schedules page and is on notice boards at school. S4
runs from week of April 17 to June 2nd and is desig-
nated as pre season training for S1 teams and other
sports offered by coaches. We are also running a MS
Baseball and Softball development program at the HS
field. Any MS students from grades 5-7 are welcome
to join. Softball Mon/Tues and Baseball is Wed/Thurs.
If you have questions talk with Coach Tim Benford
and Coach Angela Respecki.
Congratulations to all our S3 IASAS participants and
coaches. Results- Golf Boys Bronze/Girls 5th, Track
Girls 4th/Boys 5th, Softball and Baseball 4th. Badmin-
ton Boys GOLD, Girls Bronze.
A huge congrats to our Boys Badminton team who
won IASAS gold for the first time ever. A great result
for the boys and for the girls to also medal at home.
Please take the time to navigate the ATAC
blog http://atac.ism-online.org/ as it is our one stop
shop for all information related to the competitive
ISM sports program.
For our All Year Round teams- Wall Climbing, Chess,
Judo, TKD, Aikido, Table Tennis -As these programs
are year round it is possible for students to join dur-
ing the year as long as space is available. See link to
information and schedule to attend and meet the
coaches. All year round sports teams See schedule for
our All year round teams program here
Please note the practice times for ATAC programs for
SY 16-17 are as follows: ATAC all year round teams-
3:15-4:30. For our Sailfish swim team program
please check the Sailfish blog for information http://
sailfish.ism-online.org/

Two IASAS records were set at the track champion- ATAC Gymnastics team practices 3:10-4:50 M/W/F
ships in Bangkok. Congratulations to ISM athletes
Trinity McPherson and Nastasha Karlsson who set All HS seasonal teams practice from 3:05- 4:50pm on
new IASAS records for the 200m with a time of their respective practice afternoons. MS seasonal
24.88sec and the Triple Jump with a distance of teams practice from 3:15-4:45pm.In order to clear
11.23m. The ISM track team took home 6 gold med- the campus prior to 5pm all after school programs
als, 5 silver and 2 bronze for the meet. will conclude by 4:50pm or earlier. The last bus
is 4:55pm this is due to the ever increasing traffic
Thanks to all our hosting parents who supported concerns in our area.
the IASAS Badminton and for Golf events by housing
visiting students before the break. Your support to Parents and students please take some time to pe-
house is greatly appreciated and makes these events ruse the ATAC blog it has a wide variety of infor-
so special for the athletes. mation and links to our sports and activities program.
If you have any questions regarding the competitive
Upcoming events- (full match schedule available at program of sports at ISM after reading the infor-
ATAC Game schedule) mation on the blog please send an email
Apr 22-23 Sailfish International meet at ISM to pekinm@ismanila.org and I will endeavor to assist
April 26 S3 HS sports awards Lofthouse 5:30pm you as best I can.
May 6 ISM Goodwill Gymnastics Meet
May 12-14 Jakarta MS Mixed Touch tournament Bearcat Den- drop by our fantastic spirit store. There
is a a range of products and items to purchase in-
To find out details of all the Bearcats matches mid cluding items from our service partners. Bearcat Den
week and on weekends go to the ATAC game sched- hours of operation- 7am-4pm Mon-Fri.
ule page- link is provided below and follow the in-
structions to find out when and where our Bearcat Best Regards,
teams will be playing. The ATAC (Athletics) Game Mark Pekin
schedule is housed within the parent portal to ensure Director of Athletics/Activities
secure access for ISM parents http://atac.ism-
online.org/schedules/
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 Important Information on Re-Enrollment for SY 2017-2018
Dear Parents:

Online Re-Enrollment for SY17-18 is now open. As before, parents will have to log into PowerSchool in order
to do this. Below are instructions to help. If you are not sure of your PowerSchool log-in or need support,
please contact your divisional office.

Please note that you must register online by 4PM on Friday, May 26 at the latest. PowerSchool will close on
that date and will not re-open. We have over 500 students on our waitpool, and we will assume that your
children are leaving if you have not registered online by 4PM on Friday, May 26.

If your child/ren will not be returning for SY17-18, you MUST follow the Withdrawal Procedure and submit a
Withdrawal Notification Form on or before Friday, May 12.

How to Register Online Deadline: 4PM on Friday, May 26

Visit www.ismanila.org and click on Parent Portal under the Community drop-down menu. Log-in to the
Parent Portal and click on PowerSchool.

Look for the Re-Enrollment Clearance icon on the left hand panel. Click on the icon and update:
Parent/Guardian Contact Information
Health History & Immunization Status

Once complete, you will receive a confirmation message and an email notification verifying that you have
been successful in registering online. The email will outline instructions for the remaining steps of Re-
Enrollment.

You MUST complete the entire Re-Enrollment process before the start of SY17-18. Upon completion, you will
receive your FINAL CLEARANCE NOTIFICATION, which is necessary for your child to attend class on August 7,
2017.

To check status of Re-Enrollment, please visit the Parent Portal page.

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