Middle School Weekly Bulletin

Volume 9 Number 9

October 5 , 2009

CALENDAR:

Classroom Without Walls (CWW) Trips 2009: Information about itineraries, activities and requirements for the CWW trips is accessible on the web. From the Middle School page (http://www.amersol.edu.pe/ms/), go to MS Grades on the tab at the top, your child’s grade level, then CWW. 

To ensure our students’ security, the school is maintaining ongoing communication with the U.S. embassy, local security sources and our travel agents.

Students should already have turned in the permiso notarial and permission forms. In addition to these, students must travel with original documentation: DNI, carnet de extranjería or passport. These are required by the airlines and must be turned in to the grade level trip coordinator by Monday, Oct. 12th.

Calendar Correction: The NJHS Induction Ceremony will be moved from Oct. 29th to Nov. 9th.

MS Math: FDR is engaging in the process of aligning the Middle School and High School Math curriculum. In order to make improvements in the mathematics program, we are analyzing our assessment data, the scope and sequence of the curriculum and teaching-learning materials. We are gathering feedback from a variety of sources, including input from parents about their child’s learning experiences in mathematics. Thanks to those who completed the survey – this information will help us identify and address questions from parents about the Math program.

Students and parents can access online math resources via the MS math pages on Moodle: http://courses.amersol.edu.pe/course/category.php?id=3&perpage=20&page=2. Parent may log in as a guest to their child’s Math class to view assignments and Connected Math resources, including video tutorials and online resources.

MathCounts, a program designed to build math skills, promote logical thinking, and sharpen analytical abilities through challenging and exciting activities, is being offered on Fridays during lunch in MS108. It also fosters teamwork and a competitive spirit among students. If this is something you think your child would enjoy, please encourage him/her to participate.

MS Sponsored Run: The Sponsored Run on September 30th was a great success – students participated enthusiastically and many students completed more than 16 laps! Many thanks to parents who donated fruit or turned out to cheer their child on or to help tally laps. All money that is earned through this event goes to support MS community service projects for the CWW trips and throughout the year.  The next part of this process is for students to collect their pledges and turn them in to their advisers. We appreciate parents’ support in reminding students to follow through on their pledges. In years past, students have raised over 55,000 soles and we hope to go far and above that this year!  

First Quarter Reports: Students will receive reports on their academic progress to date on Friday, Oct. 16th. In Middle School, these reports include grades for Habits and Attitudes to Learning (HAL) and Overall Level of Achievement (OLA) for each subject, both scored on a scale of 1-7. The OLA grades are derived from the criteria scores, which help identify your child’s strengths and areas for improvement in each subject area. Rubrics for OLA, HAL and subject area criteria can be found in the MS Student Handbook (http://www.amersol.edu.pe/ms/info/handbook/middle_school_HB_2009.pdf).

MS Parents’ Book Club:  The first meeting of the MS Parents’ Book Club will be held on Nov. 11th at 11:00 in the Media Center. Librarian John Kurtenbach will be leading the discussion of this year’s first selection, Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key by Jack Gantos, who was a smash hit with students and teachers during his visit to the school in Sept. Copies of the book are available in the library and through some level parent representatives. We’d love to see you there!

Have a great holiday! We look forward to coming back refreshed and ready to go - October will be a busy month!

To go the Monday Messenger go to:

http://www.amersol.edu.pe/fdr/news/messenger/index.asp