M I D D L E S C H O O L

F R I D A Y
BULLETIN
WEEKLY PUBLICATION FOR PARENTS

Issue # 16 Week of December 18 to January 5  SY1718

perch to claim this year’s Sports Day shield. Congratula-

tions Tarsiers!
Dear Parents,
 1st place = Tarsiers
Well, the last day of the semester has come and gone and it’s  2nd Pace = Whale Sharks
now time for the ISM family to enjoy the upcoming three-week  3rd Place = Hornbills
vacations! We hope that each of our families has a wonderful
holiday that’s filled with love and laughter. Stay safe and we
look forward to seeing you all again on Monday, January 8th

What’s
2018.

Inside?
While there isn’t a lot of news to share with you, there are a
few key announcements that you need to know about. Please
read on to learn about a huge upset that happened yesterday…

MS SPORTS DAY:
Our annual MS Sports Day is one of the highlights of the MS
calendar and yesterday’s event was fun-filled from start to
Campus Card Corner 2
finish! Alumni News 2
Students participated in a wide array of rotating activities in Athletics & Athletics 3
the morning and congregated as an entire MS community on
the HS field in the afternoon. Throughout the day students AMIS Honor Choir Festival 4
collected house points and teachers and House Captains rec-
orded scores. Admissions & Advancement 5
For the past 7 years, the Eagles have been the su- ISM Upcoming Events 6
preme champions of this event. However, as you can
see from the accompanying photograph, the Tarsiers
knocked the mighty Eagles from their sporting
Many thanks go out to the MS PE Department - Jason Juteau,
Jenna Child, Dave Allen, Erick Richardson, Dassah Castro, MJ
Durkin and Jackson Pierce for organising and hosting this
event. A special shout out also goes to the ATAC team for their
support and assistance with this event.
IMPORTANT DATES:
Monday, December 18th - Friday, January 5th
 No School - Vacations!
Monday, January 8th:
 Return to school!
 Time: 7:30 - 3:00 p.m.
 Please make sure that your vacation plans do not
include a late flight on Sunday as your child will not
be set up for success as he/she returns to school.
 Please set aside some time for your child to prepare
logistically for school - uniform, backpack, supplies
etc.
 Also give your child/children the mentally space
they need to get into the right frame of mind for
their return to class.
Monday, January 8th - Thursday, January 11th: Best Regards,
 Ms. Harrington Out of School Rachel and Amanda
 Ms. Harrington will be attending the SEARCH Associ-
ates International Recruitment Fair in Bangkok.
 Divisional Principals’ attend this fair each year to
start the search for new faculty members for the
2018 - 2019 school year.
 Rachel will be back at school on Friday, January
12th.
CAMPUS CARD CORNER
Family Account vs. Individual Accounts
By default, your ISM Campus Account is a family
account but you can request for individual ac-
counts. Here’s how:
Send an email to campuscard@ismanila.org and re-
quest for individual accounts of your children. The
parents’ accounts are attached/linked to one of the
children’s accounts. If you wish to have a separate
account from your child, kindly include it in your
email request.
For more information, visit:
http://campusonline.ismanila.org
For questions/concerns, email:
campuscard@ismanila.org
Thursday, January 18th:
 Parent Coffee:
 Presenter: Matt Glover (International Consultant)
 Time: 7:45 - 9:15 a.m.
 Venue: Little Theater (LT)
 Focus: Literacy (Reading and Writing)
Wednesday, January 24th:
 MS/HS Report Cards
 The MS report cards are uploaded to PowerSchool
and will be open for parent access on Wednesday,
January 24th.
 Please make sure your PowerSchool access code is
up and running and all fees have been paid so you
don’t experience any difficulty accessing your
child’s report card.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank
all parents for their continued support and
engagement in our school. We very much
appreciate all that you do and feel
honored to work in a school community
that holds the process of learning in
such high regard.
TUTORIAL FOR PARENTS:
LEARN HOW TO USE THE
PARENT PORTAL HERE!
ALUMNI NEWS
Budding artist, Paulina Luz Sotto-Llanes ‘11 opened her
third solo exhibit last October. She graduated Cum Laude
from Ateneo de Manila University with a degree in com-
munications. It was only in 2015 however, that she un-
covered her love for abstract art despite having art in
her blood. Her grandfather, Arturo Luz is the Philippine
National Artist for Visual Arts. Please click HERE to view
her work.
Please contact Maica Cruz of the Alumni Office at alum-
ni@ismanila.org to share your Alumni Bearcat News!
2

ATHLETICS & ACTIVITIES
For upcoming IASAS events….Season 2 and 3 ISM proudly hosts
Tennis in S2 and Track&Field/Golf in S3.
Housing forms for hosting IASAS tennis players Jan 31-Feb 4 is
available here. If you are participating in our tennis program
S2 or were housed at a S1 IASAS event in Bangkok or Singapore
please help out by housing a pair of tennis players. Bearcat
community support is encouraged and needed to support these
events.
Good luck to our gymnasts who will be competing at the
Aquazorb meet this coming Saturday in Pasig.
Next week ISM hosts a u/19 International Rugby Series, See
schedule below. Congratulations to ISM varsity players Ryan,
Wiremu, Imaan and Bryan who have made the Philippines Na-
tional u/19 squad for these games.
Dec 13
5.00pm - Philippines vs Korea
6.45pm - Malaysia vs UAE
Dec 16
12pm - Philippines NDT vs Hong Kong Warriors (National Devel-
opment Series, not U19s)
2pm Loser SF1 vs Loser SF2
4pm Winner SF1 vs SF2
The S2 practice schedule is posted (see link below) and is on
the ATAC blog schedules page and are posted on notice boards
around school. S2 sports SY ’17-18: (MS- Basketball/Touch/
Rugby/Tennis)(HS- Basketball/Touch/Rugby/Tennis&Varsity
Swim team)
2nd season practice sched 17-18
For our year round teams practice schedules are posted on no- In order to clear the campus prior to 5pm all after school pro-
tice boards around the school and on the schedules page of the grams will conclude by 4:50pm or earlier. The last bus
ATAC (Athletics) blog and provided in the ink below.
All season sports sched 17-18.xls – 17-18
Please take the time to navigate the ATAC blog as it is our one sports and activities program. If you have any questions re-
stop shop for all information related to the competitive ISM
sports program.
Upcoming Events:*matches at ISM unless specified as *away
venue. Check ATAC game schedule at the parent portal for all Bearcat Den- drop by our fantastic spirit store. There is a a
the midweek and weekend matches upcoming. Please check on range of new products and items to purchase including items
a regular basis as venues and time do change at short notice.
Players will always be informed by their coaches if times/
venues change.
 Dec 8 HS Basketball teams vs Faith at home
from 4:15pm- HS Gym VBoys vs Faith followed by
VGirls vs Faith. At MS gym JVGirls vs Faith fol-
lowed by JVBoys vs Faith.
ISSUE # 36
SY1617
 Dec 9 Touch Rd #4 at Faith/Rugby Rd #4 at Faith
 Dec 9 HS Tennis at CSA/MS Tennis at ISM
 Dec 9 HS/MS local league Basketball at ISM
 Dec 9 Aquazorb Gymnastics meet at Club Gymnas-
tica Pasig
 Dec 13 and 16 Asian u/19 International Rugby Se-
ries at ISM. Wed 4:45/6:30 games and Sat Dec 16-
12, 2 and 4pm games
 Feb 1-3 IASAS S2 Championships- Tennis at ISM/
Basketball at ISB/Rugby and Touch at TAS/
Swimming at JIS
Information on our ES/MS Activities program is available on the
ES and MS Activities blogs. Links to these blogs are on the help-
ful shortcuts menu on the home page of the ATAC blog or ac-
cessible via the ISM website.
For our Sailfish swim team program please check information
about tryouts at Sailfish blog
For gymnastics team information please check Gymnastics
blog Look for Coach Jas or Coach Ramon at the MS gym when
attending training sessions.
Please note the practice times for ATAC programs for SY 17-18
are as follows:
 All year round team team training sessions are – 3:15-4:30.
See schedule for our All year round teams program here…
 See Sailfish blog for swim squad start and finish times after
the tryouts period has concluded and squads have been
finalised.
 Gymnastics team training is 3:10-4:50pm every M,W,F
All HS seasonal teams practice from 3:05- 4:50pm.
MS seasonal teams practice 3:15-4:40pm.
is 4:55pm this is due to the ever increasing traffic concerns in
our area.
Parents and students please take some time to peruse the
ATAC blog it has a wide variety of information and links to our
garding the competitive program of sports at ISM after reading
the information on the blog please send an email
to pekinm@ismanila.org and I will assist you as best I can.
from our service partners.
Bearcat Den hours of operation- 7am-4pm Mon-Fri.
Best Regards,
Mark Pekin
Director of Athletics & Activities
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 ISSUE # 36
SY1617

AMIS Honor Choir Festival

AMIS Asian Middle AMIS Asian Middle
School Honor Boys’ Choir School Honor Girls’ Choir
Festival Festival
 International School  International School
Bangkok Bangkok
 4-8 April 2018  4-8 April 2018
 Melissa Richardson,  Dinah Helgeson, Guest
Guest Conductor Conductor
 Betty Chang, Accompa-  Kate Meininger, Accom-
nist panist
website link  website link

Dear Parents,
The ISM Music Department is delighted to invite all grades 6, 7, & 8
male and female singers to audition for the 2017-2018 Honor Choir
Festivals in Bangkok, Thailand! The festivals are hosted by the Associ-
ation for Music in International Schools (AMIS – pronounced like the
French word for ‘friends’ – “ah-mee”). This is a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity to participate with some of the best young voices
throughout Asia.
What is an Honor Choir Festival?
An Honor Choir Festival is a chance for like-minded students to come
together for three days of rigorous and fulfilling music-making. Stu-
dents will attend from throughout Asia, and will rehearse, learn, and
play with top-tiered talent and leadership. The culminating perfor-
mance or "Gala Concert" will take place on Saturday, April 7th, at
6:00pm in the International School Bangkok's Chevron Theater.
Who will attend?
Twelve students (6 boys and 6 girls) will be invited to attend the festi-
val, based on auditions to be held in December (see details below),
consisting of a 1-minute solo of the student's choice, singing exercises
led by the teachers, and the singing of repertoire excerpts provided
by the teachers.
Where will the festivals be held?
The festivals themselves will be held simultaneously at International
School Bangkok in Bangkok, Thailand. The girls' choir will be under
the direction of Dinah Helgeson, and the boys' choir will be under the
direction of Melissa Richardson. The students, Ms. Grev, and Ms.
Provencher will leave from ISM on Wednesday, April 4th, and return
on Sunday, April 8th.
Where will the students stay?
The students will be housed with host families from International
School Bangkok. They will likely (though not definitely) be paired or
grouped with other students from our school, and will no doubt have
a wonderful time with their host family!
What is the cost?
The festival fee is 170GBP. The other two costs are the flight and
pocket money for some snack food. A flight to Bangkok is around 350
-400USD for the times we want to travel, but it is too early to give an
exact price.
Some additional important details:
 AMIS is a prestigious event. Once your son or daughter is select-
ed to attend and signs the commitment form, he/she is com-
mitted to attend all rehearsals prior to the event. We will be
rehearsing on Wednesdays after school, starting in January, as
well as 1-2 Saturday intensive rehearsals.
 Accepted students will be required to spend time on their own
learning and perfecting their music. Practice tracks will be made
available.
 An experience such as an honor choir festival can be life-
changing, and we highly recommend that all members of choir
and other choral students try out for this opportunity! Although
only six girls and six boys will be chosen, the act of auditioning
alone builds confidence and experience, and is an important part
of growth as a performer. Students may begin signing up for 10-
minute audition slots next week on Ms. Grev's classroom door
(1149) for one of the following time blocks or, for 7/8 students
currently in choir, during class:
 Monday, December 4, 12:40-1:15
 Wednesday, December 6, 11:00-11:40
 Thursday, December 7, 12:40-1:15
 Friday, December 8, 12:40-1:15
 callback session on Wednesday, December 13th - 3:00-
4:00pm
Please feel free to email Ms. Grev (grevc@ismanila.org) or Ms. Pro-
vencher (provenchera@ismanila.org) with any questions, comments,
or concerns you might have. We look forward to hearing many fan-
tastic auditions, and appreciate your support of your daughter/son
and the arts at ISM.
Best Regards,
Ms. Grev & Ms. Provencher 4
 ISSUE # 36
SY1617

ADMISSIONS & ADVANCEMENT

Leaving ISM?

Students Leaving During the School Year:

Parents are obliged to officially inform the Admissions Office through a Withdrawal Notification Form
at least (15) days prior to your child’s last day of school.

Students Leaving at the End of the School Year:

Parents are obliged to officially inform the Admissions Office through a Withdrawal Notification Form
on or before the second Friday of May.

The Withdrawal Notification Form and complete Withdrawal Procedure can be down-
loaded from HERE and submitted to the Admissions Office.

Instructions for Demographic Update

We encourage all families to check their demographic information and make necessary
updates. CLICK HERE for the step-by-step instructions on how to do this.
Please contact your School Office for PowerSchool log-in information.

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 ISSUE # 36
SY1617

ISM UPCOMING EVENTS