Mspb No. 25

MIDDLE SCHOOL

Friday Bulletin Weekly Publication for Middle School Parents

ISSUE # 25 WEEK OF FEBRUARY 23 - 27, 2009

From the Middle School Office Dear Parents: Today all the Middle School students return from their Classroom Without Walls (CWW) trips and bring with them a bank of memories. We are confident that the Grade 6 students discovered more about the Philippines as they explored the WOW! Philippines theme, and we hope they have a sense of deep satisfaction having contributed to building a GK777 community. Engaged in various fun activities, the grade 7 students forged ties with students at a school in the Lake Taal area and also strengthened bonds with their own classmates in workshop-style sessions. From building a kitty hospital to working with marginalized street children in Puerto Galera, the grade 8 students have been learning firsthand how to be active citizens and the value of sharing their time, talents and energy. We thank all the teachers for their dedication and efforts to provide such a range of enriching experiences for the students. It was a week well spent! Please take some time to engage your child and discuss ways that your child can build on the experience. It’s important that the learning does not end with the conclusion of the CWW week but that the spirit of service continues to be nurtured. Progress reports for students receiving a C- or below were distributed this past Monday. If you have any concerns, please contact your child’s teacher and continue to access PowerSchool to monitor your child’s progress. As printed in last week’s bulletin, the parent meeting Transitioning to Middle School will not take place on February 27 as listed in the school calendar. The meeting will be rescheduled and details will be communicated through the Parent Bulletin. Lastly, on Monday, February 23 there will be no classes for students. Classes resume on Tuesday, February 24. Enjoy the 3-day weekend! Sincerely, Danielle Fredericks

Clarissa Sayson

Middle School Principal

Middle School Assistant Principal

Upcoming Events February March

26

MS Parent Coffee (7:45 A.M., LT)

26

Grade 8 Parent Session Transitioning to HS (5:30 P.M., LT)

02

Grade 8 Course Registration (Homebase)

02 to 03

MS Music/Choir Petting Zoo

09 to 13

ERB Testing (in English Classes)

09 to 13

MS Math Honors Testing

PowerSchool Grade Update

February 27 - Grade Update March 13 - End of Quarter 3 (grades only)

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From the Superintendent’s Office Dear Parents: As I’m sure you’re aware, we begin the planning of the school’s academic calendar some twelve months in advance. There are various factors that we take into consideration:

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The contracted maximum number of teacher contact days – 180.

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The contracted maximum number of teacher working days – 190.

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The location of public holidays and special holidays. Public holidays are tied to particular dates: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, All Saint’s Day, Christmas Day. Special holidays, meanwhile, are part of the annual calendar but may be moved at the discretion of the President: Bonifacio Day, National Heroes’ Day, Labor Day. Included in the category of special holidays are days that may or may not be calendared at the discretion of the President. These include Ninoy Aquino Day, Eid ul Fitr and EDSA Day.

You can imagine that it is not always easy to meet the contractual obligations, predict the variables and still maintain the appropriate shape and balance to the school year that is best suited to teaching and learning. For the past twenty one years, we have seen EDSA Day become a feature of the annual calendar. Its official celebration should be held on 25th February, but recently the President declared that she was going to locate such holidays on the nearest Monday to avoid disruption of the working week and encourage families to enjoy the many attractions of the Philippines. We had therefore circled Monday, 23rd February as EDSA Day but placed an asterisk by that date to indicate that, at the President’s discretion, this holiday could be moved. Now the President seems minded not to have an EDSA Day holiday at all, which leaves me in something of a quandary. I could, of course, decide to hold classes on 23rd February as usual, but I am mindful of the fact that we published in our official calendar the number of teacher contact days; I am uneasy, at this stage of the school year, in increasing this by one. I know, too, that many families have booked holidays for the long weekend in the expectation that we would not have classes on February 23rd. I’m also aware that the political fall out from this decision by President may yet lead to a change of mind, and it is conceivable that an EDSA holiday could still be declared - but so late that families would find it difficult to book planes and hotels if they were traveling out of Manila. I am also aware that if this happens the holiday could revert to its official date of 25th February. What I’m proposing is this: in order to keep true to the spirit of the original calendar, we shall keep February 23rd as a non-teaching day. If, however, at some later stage, the President were to declare an EDSA holiday on a date other than the 23rd, then we would still consider Monday 23rd February in lieu of any other declared EDSA holiday. In the meantime, I shall work with HR to try to refine our calendar such that we are prepared for such events in the future. I’m sorry to have to announce this decision so late in the day. I can only plead in mitigation that I am as frustrated as you are by this situation. Yours sincerely, David Toze Superintendent I S Manila

We’re on the web! www.ismanila.org

CONTACT INFORMATION CHANGES? Please inform the Middle School Office if you recently changed your contact information (i.e. Home Address, Home/Office Telephone Numbers, Mobile Numbers and Email Addresses). You may contact us through 840-8550 or 840-8553

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From the Athletics and Activities Office 2nd Season IASAS

Tennis: Josh Ho and Marco Del Rosario

HUGE congratulations to our varsity boys’ tennis team who defended their IASAS GOLD medal at Bangkok. This is an outstanding result from athletes and coaches to win GOLD two years in a row.

IASAS Sportsmanship Award

Our touch team also made it into the gold medal playoff game against SAS and in a very tight game lost in a heart breaker with seconds to spare on the clock. The girls played outstanding touch all three days and to bring home silver in such a narrowly contested final was no doubt a little disappointing, but they should feel very proud of their efforts to win silver two years in a row.

3rd Season Sports

Boys rugby lost another heartbreaker game in the bronze medal playoff match. They let TAS get a big lead in the first half but pegged them back and tied the game with seconds to spare, sending the game into overtime. Unfortunately, TAS came out the victors scoring first in the extra time period.

ISM Girls Touch Team

MS/HS - Badminton, Track and Field and Softball ES- Grade 4/5 Track *ES/MS track practices are on Tuesday and Friday’s after school. Please check the schedules posted on notice boards around the school. All 3rd season sports are now in full swing with students and coaches making a very smooth start to the season after tryouts week concluded. I would like to remind all participating students to complete the ATAC on-line registration.

Girls and Boys Basketball both placed 4th in Taipei, however, both teams played some great matches in the tournament and pushed all other teams they played to tight games.

3rd season has a number of interruptions and as such students and coaches can lose the flow of the season easily. Please stay in contact with your coach regarding practices and weekend matches/meets as they relate to your particular sport this season.

Girls tennis has some solid results and were in the running on Friday to finish in 2nd place but ended up 5th showing how close the competition was in the girls section of the tournament.

ES/MS/HS track Meets

Our swim team placed 6th but we had over 80% of our swimmers post personal best times which shows a great improvement at the meet and demonstrates the hard work that has been occurring in the swimming pool during training sessions. IASAS All Tournament Players Well done to the following athletes who were selected to IASAS All Tournament Teams:

Dates for this year are:

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Feb 21st - MS/HS only at ISM

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March 7th at Brent

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March 28th at Brent

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April 3 to 5 - Varsity track at Singapore (IASAS exchange weekend)

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April 18 to 22 - 3rd Season IASAS at Jakarta

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May 9th - ES/MS meet at Brent.

Rugby: Jimmy Go and Jonathan Pisano Touch: Pats Limcaoco, Mercedes Olondrez and Sara Jane Ahmed

MS coaches will provide more details to students at practices as the season progresses.

Basketball: Pat Reed and Michelle Martin

Sailfish News ISM Spring Swim Meet is on March 7, 2009, Saturday. Entry Deadline is on Thursday, Feb 26th. To enter, please e-mail Coach Andy [email protected].

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Swimmers aged 10 years and younger race in the morning

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Swimmers aged 11 years and older race in the afternoon

Regards, Andy Astfalck Sailfish Head Coach

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Upcoming Event

Other Announcement SY 2009-2010 One-Page School Calendar is now available in the ISM Website. Please visit www.ismanila.org and click on News & Calendar to download the file or you may type this url in your web browser: http://www.ismanila.org/_Rainbow/images/default/CALENDAR_09_10_FINAL(as_of_5Feb09).pdf

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From Service Learning Help one of ISM's longstanding charities and get delicious coffee in return. CCV (Chosen Children’s Village) located in Silang, Cavite, is an orphanage for children who are physically and/or mentally challenged. The village consists of several cottages, a school, a rehabilitation center, and other facilities, such as a gym, a canteen, and a playground. Our ISM students will visit the orphanage at least six times this year to play with the kids and assist in feeding them and in other chores. Our interactions with the CCV children have created strong bonds between us and the ‘chosen children’.

when ISM will be at CCV are:

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March 7, Saturday

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May 9, Saturday

AVAILABLE COFFEE: Pinili Extra Fancy Beans or Ground at Php. 300.00 per 1 lb. (the largest sized beans). Ground or beans. • Pinili Classic Beans or Ground at Php. 250.00 per 1 lb. (medium sized beans). Ground or beans. • Pinili Beans or Ground at Php. 200.00 per 1 lb. (smallest sized beans). Ground or beans.

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SERVICE LEARNING CALENDAR

CCV’s fundraiser is their PINILI coffee, an organic Robusta coffee which is grown in the CCV Hacienda. The beans are handpicked and processed by the children and staff and the product is delicious. If you would like to purchase CCV coffee, email Filipa Pavic ([email protected]) with your order. The ISM CCV club members will pick up your order and deliver it back to ISM for your pick-up and payment. The dates

March 07

Chosen Children Village

March 14

Samahan Bukas Palad

April 04

Gawad Kalinga, EPIC, Child Hope

April 18

WILD

May 02

Gawad Kalinga

May 09

Chosen Children Village

From the Bearcat Den To all parents, Please come and visit our Bearcat Den located in the HS cafeteria. Our new stock of ISM hoodies are available in sizes from Elementary to High School...So drop buy and take a look at our ISM polo shirts, Dri fit polo shirts, Girls and guys track pants, Spandex shorts, Travel and gym bags to name a few! Let ' s Go GREEN at The Our Banner bags made from ISM recycled Banners and Streamers are also on sale. Our opening times

BEARCAT DEN BUSINESS HOURS Monday

11:15AM to 1:15PM 2:30PM to 4:00PM

Wednesday

11:00AM to 1:00PM 2:30PM to 4:00PM

Friday

11:15AM to 1:15PM 2:30PM to 4:00PM

We would really like to have more volunteers to help with Bearcat activities so if you are interested please contact Jan Harris for more information. Mobile no. 09193466046 or Email [email protected] GO BEARCATS!!!