Week of December 15

Good Evening,

Finally....I am able to get to my blog. It still seems a bit wonky so this is just a brief message to wish you all a Happy Holiday and Safe Travels.

A lot of work is going on at school to remove snow and rebuild damaged structures. This has proven to be no small task!

Many teachers have also been without internet the past few days so they will post activities/assignments for students so they do not fall out of practice or too far behind. The intention, however, is not to overload students with lots of work during the holidays either.

We will regroup during the holiday with rescheduling events, etc. and will let you know as soon as we have dates reorganized.

In the meantime, enjoy your holidays, stay warm, and enjoy your family time.

Week of 8 December

Good Evening,

I hope everyone is staying healthy at this time of year...there is quite a cold type "thing" going around so I wish you all good health.

Thanks for your support of the Holiday Bazaar. Fun was had by all and we greatly appreciate the PTG for working so hard to sponsor such an event.

This week the StuCo will sponsor their first dance of the year. This is a student organized event from 6:00-9:00. We request consideration for a prompt pick up of students as this is time volunteered by teacher chaperons. With a prompt pick up of students then everyone is able to enjoy the evening.

Please make note of the school holiday dates. We publish the dates early so families are able to plan and make their travel arrangements. An early departure or late return makes it difficult for students to stay caught up with their peers and with the instruction that takes place within the classroom.

Mark your calendar for next week....Dec 17 for our next Family Connection Chat. Topic this month is Social Media...what are the kids using and the impact (good and bad) social media can have.

We would like for you to mark your calendar now for WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29. We will sponsor a tech "expo" to give students an opportunity to shine and give parents an opportunity to see, and understand, exactly what happens in a 1:1 learning classroom. More details about the time will be forthcoming.

I am amazed how quickly this school year is going by. With that idea in mind, below is a link to a video clip I saw over the weekend. For me, at my age, it made me panic a bit....fearful I have not made good use of my time in life. The "jelly bean" video is a gentle reminder about motivation and how we use our time......enjoy........

Jelly Bean Motivation

Have a good evening.

Week of 1 December

Good Evening,

We hope everyone had a nice long weekend. As an intro to the weekend, see the picture below illustrating time MS students took to send notes of thanks to peers and teachers. It was nice to take a moment an recognize kindness in each other.

Upcoming Events to Highlight:

• Band/Choir Concert will be at 6:00 on Tuesday
• Holiday Bazaar will be on Thursday...students will have time during the day to visit the Bazaar and the Bazaar will remain open until 7:00 pm
• Next Family Connection Chat will be Dec 17 @ 8:15. Topic: Social Media...what is it, how is it done and what impact does it have (positives and negatives)

Introducing:
 Please join us in welcoming Mais Samara to our MS teaching staff. Ms. Samara will be teaching MS Arabic AFL beginning today. Ms. Samara is familiar with ACS as she has worked with us before and is looking forward to working with the MS students. Moodle and Power School accounts will be activated for her this week in order to facilitate communication.

Week of 24 November

Good Evening,

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend. Let me remind you that this week will bring a long weekend for you.....students do not have school on Wednesday due to teacher meetings and Thursday is a holiday.

Just a few quick notes this week:

• Thank you to the Arabic Dept. for a wonderful celebration of our host country culture this past Wednesday. It is always nice to see so many students, from all over the world, on stage coming together to celebrate.

 

• Below is a link to a parent letter notifying you that your son/daughter was given their MAP results to take home. Students will spend time in advisory class next week reflecting on the results to guide them into understanding themselves as learners.

Letter to Parents-MAP Testing

• Thanks to Ms. Marinucci's advisory class for providing our first Advisory Challenge of the year. Advisory groups were asked to create introductory videos of 2-4 mins. in length demonstrating creativity and including all advisory members in their video. It was a great collaborative effort that really encouraged students to get to know each other and develop their communication skills. Thanks again Ms. Marinucci's group.

• Reminder----if you know you will not be returning to ACS for the second semester, please let us know so we can begin to process all the necessary documents you will need for your new locations. You can contact our registrar or Ms. Rima Fanik, MS/HS Assistant for notification.

Have a nice evening.

Week of 17 November

Good Evening,

Thank yous:
for attending our Learning Progress Conferences. It was great to see everyone and nice to see parents, teachers, and students having a chance to sit and talk.

Reminder:

Request:

• if you know you will not be returning to ACS for the second semester, please let us know. We can begin processing your necessary documents so they will be ready for you at the end of the semester and we can notify those who are on our waiting lists.

Updates:

• Family Connection Chat will be tomorrow at 8:15 in the MPR. There will be dialogue about why ACS is a 1:1 school, what that means for learning, and how it looks on a daily basis for your son/daughter.
• Our Math/Science consultant from the US, Erma Anderson, is at ACS this week. On Tuesday, Nov 19 at 8:15 in the MPR she will talk to parents about the Commom Core Standards and the Next Generation Science Standards. Come to find out about US Standards that we are implementing at ACS and what the significance of these Standards are for your child's education. 
• MAP test results will be sent home on Sunday, Nov 24. An information session to explain the test to parents will be held on Tuesday, Nov 26 at 8:15 in the MPR.

Interesting tidbits...
.........the kinds of things your son/daughter's teachers think about and talk about when it comes to your child's learning....

Key to Success...
Invention Poll 
Shift Happens-Updated 2013 

Week of 10 November

Good Evening,

I hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend. Congratulations are in order for Mr. and Mrs. Hire…help us welcome baby Hire into our ACS Community….from what I understand Mom and Baby are doing well.

Thank Yous:

To Ms. Hire , her cast and crew for the production of Robin Hood this past Thursday. What talent we were all able to enjoy!

Updates:

• You should have received your son/daughter’s first Demonstration of Learning e-report last week. If you did not receive it, please contact us. 
• Learning Progress Conferences will talk place this week in the Gym….Wednesday 12-7 and Thursday 7:30-12:00. We look forward to seeing you there.
• MAP testing will be completed later this week.  Assuming results are returned to us on time, we will are intending to send results home on 24 November.
• Arabic Heritage Week will take place next week with the evening event on Wednesday @ 7:00
• Family Connection Chat will take place on Monday, 18 November. My kid goes to a 1:1 school….what does that mean and what does it look like? We will be sharing insights on just what happens in your son/daughter’s 1:1 classroom. 

Thank you for your time and support. I return to Amman tomorrow morning. I am looking forward to seeing the students again.

Week of 3 November

Good Evening,

Hope you had a "spooky" weekend! It was great to see so many at our annual Spooktacular...thanks to the PTG for the coordination of the event. Truly "the talk of the town" type of event!

Updates:
School Photos:
Student photos will be available for pick up from the school on Tuesday, November 5 from 8:00-2:00. A representative from Nabeel Studios will be on campus with the photos. Photos must be paid for in cash.

Additional After School Activities
Next week will begin additional after school activities of Rooftop Floor Hockey and Ping Pong. Hockey will take place on Mondays and Wednesdays. Ping Pong will take place on Thursdays. Moodle sign ups will take place throughout this week.

Drama Production
The evening performance of Robin Hood will take place Thursday @ 6:00. We look forward to seeing you there.

Learning Progress Reports
A change of date to the sending of reports---we have been experimenting with different reporting methods. As a result, we will need one more day before we send Learning Progress reports. Reports will be send via email on Tuesday afternoon and NOT Monday afternoon. Thank you for your patience.

Follow up to Family Connection Chat
Thanks to all those who attended our repeat session on Balancing Screen Time. Below is the link to the blog that includes helpful resources for parents in supporting students learn how to manage their screen time and use technology responsibly.

acstechieparents.blogspot.com

Our next Family Connection Chat will be Nov 18--Brain Research and Your Middle Schooler.

Handbook Highlight

Academic Concern

Letters of Academic Concern will be given to students if at the end of an official quarter, or semester, the student has:

1.     an incomplete, is failing a class, and/or there is an indication  of 2 or more classes reporting in the 60% range

2.     at the start of a school year, the final report from the previous year would have resulted in Academic Probation

Placement on Academic Concern will require:

1.     parents to sign and return the Academic Concern letter

2.     students to meet with the middle school counselor to develop a learning plan for improvement

Letters of Academic Concern will be placed into a student’s academic file and will be removed after one year free of Academic Concern or Academic Probation placement.

Academic Probation

A students will be placed on Academic Probation after previously been on Academic Concern for one quarter if at an official quarter, or semester reporting period, the student:

1.     has an incomplete in any class and/or is failing two or more classes

2.     has 3 or more classes reporting in the 60% range

Placement on Academic Probation will require:

1.     parents to sign and return the Academic Probation letter and attend an Academic Probation meeting involving the administration and counselor

2.     a student to be ineligible to take part in student activities that require missing regular classes during the school day

Academic Probation Letters will be placed into a student’s academic file. A prolonged placement on Academic Probation may result in a student being asked to withdraw from ACS.

The policies for Academic Concern and Academic Probation in the Middle School reflect the

philosophy of middle level education. Students are expected to work hard, stay organized, and seek assistance when it is necessary.

Recognition for student learning progress will take place at the end of the semester.

A Glimpse into a Day at ACS

ACS students are active in their own learning and teachers use technology to support instruction:

ACS students are guided while they develop their analytical thinking:

Week of 27 October

Good Evening,

Greetings from Kathmandu, Nepal. I have been away the past few days attending the NESA Leadership Conference with the rest of our administrative team. We are traveling tonight so this will be brief as I do not have much time before my internet runs out!

We are aware of the possible change in the upcoming Islamic Holiday. Once we have more confirmed information I will follow up with you about our plan regarding the MS play. 

 

Reminders:

Family Connection Chats:
Thanks to all of those who were able to attend our first Family Connection Chat on balancing screen time and using laptops. We had a good conversation and Mr. Berg shared with us some helpful/useful ideas on how to help our young adults manage their screen time.

We will REPEAT the presentation on Oct 29 @ 8:15 in the MPR for those of you who were unable to attend. We realize it was a busy time right before the break and those who were present encouraged us to repeat the presentation since it is such an important topic for all of us.

Our next chat will be on Nov 18 @ 8:15 in the MPR. Topic:  Decision Making with Social Networking and the Teenage Brain

Our Learning Progress Conferences will be coming up Nov 13-14. Conferences will be held in the gym. Upon my return to school I will send out more detailed information. 

Looking forward to seeing the students again tomorrow. 

 

Week of 20 October

Good Evening,

Welcome Back.....I hope everyone had an enjoyable break spent with family and friends. It was certainly a quick week but all the students seemed happy to be back. That is a good sign I suppose!

Family Connection Chats:
Thanks to all of those who were able to attend our first Family Connection Chat on balancing screen time and using laptops. We had a good conversation and Mr. Berg shared with us some helpful/useful ideas on how to help our young adults manage their screen time.

We will REPEAT the presentation on Oct 29 @ 8:15 in the MPR for those of you who were unable to attend. We realize it was a busy time right before the break and those who were present encouraged us to repeat the presentation since it is such an important topic for all of us.

Our next chat will be on Nov 18 @ 8:15 in the MPR. Topic:  Decision Making with Social Networking and the Teenage Brain

Handbook Highlight:
Approximately every 3 weeks ACS teachers update Power School. The update dates are guidelines to help keep everyone informed as it is really not necessary for students to check Power School every day. Please be aware:

• if an assignment/project is turned on the day of the update then that assignment may or may not be reflected on that update
• if a student turns in an assignment late, the assignment may not be reflected in Power School until the next update

Request Your Support:

One of the traits outlined in our Student Profile is guiding the students towards becoming good communicators. With this in mind, please help us by encouraging your son/daughter to write polite, respectful emails when writing to their teachers and encourage them to ask all of their questions in one email rather than sending multiple emails in one day. Of course, we encourage face to face communication as it helps develop student verbal communication skills. 

Update:
Model UN After School Activity Starts Next Week

The MUN ASA will begin on Monday, October 28th, and will continue for seven weeks, concluding December 8th. This activity is primarily geared for students new to Model UN and will teach several of the key skills necessary for a successful MUN debate. Experienced MUN delegates may also sign up and act as assistants. The activity will culminate in a debate.

Please email Ms Martin (lmartin@acsamman.edy.jo) for more information or to reserve your spot.

As many of you are aware, Ms. Rihani will be on an extended medical leave. We wish her well as she attends to personal matters. In the interim, for continuity purposes, there will be another teacher taking her place for the duration of her absence.

Mark your calendars now....Learning Progress Conferences (formerly known as Parent/Teacher Conferences) will take place Nov 13-14. As we get closer to the date more details about the conferences will be published. This is a great opportunity for student, parent and teacher to take some time to reflect on the learning progress that students are demonstrating as we progress through the school year.

Week of 6 October

Good Evening,

Welcome to the evening chills---I guess this means we are officially into Fall!

Updates:

• We have added the Student/Parent/Teacher Profile links above. Please take a few minutes to review the Parent Profile. We believe documents such as these help us all work together within our community.
•  Special reminder--we will have a Parent Information Session(Family Connection Chat) from our Technology Integrator on Wednesday at 8:15 to share in a dialogue about how to balance laptops and screen time with students. Please join us.
• Please remind your son/daughter to use their lock their lockers during the day. This helps ensure the security of their personal items and ensure items do not get damaged. 

Welcome:

• As you may know, Wafa Khoury retired from ACS after many years of service. In addition, some of you are also aware we recently opened another section of Digital Media in the middle school.Therefore, we would like to welcome Samya Bouari to our staff as our new AFL teacher and Saba Kawas as our new Digital Media teacher. Both Samya and Saba bring a wealth of experience to us and are familiar faces to our ACS community. We look forward to working with them and are glad they have joined us.

Handbook Highlight:
Pg 25 in the Handbook outlines possible ways to communicate. As a general note, if you send your son/daughter's teacher an email, please allow a minimum of 24 hr response time. Our teachers are expected to spend the majority of their day working directly with students and colleagues. With this in mind, teachers may or may not be at their computers to see emails throughout the day.

We hope to work with as many parents as possible thru our team meeting times, parent/teacher conferences, and/or emails.

"...Communication with and within the school is important for you and your son/daughter. We want to keep you informed of your child’s progress and what is going on at the school and we believe in open communication. When a student, or parent, has a concern the best communication path is as follows:  
Student communication with teacher 
Student communication with counselor
Student communication with administration
Parent communication with teacher
Parent communication with counselor 
Parent communication with team of teachers
Parent communication with administration

We believe it is important for students to play an active role in the communication process in order for them to gain authentic experiences in how to communicate effectively.

Teachers are always willing to discuss your son/daughter’s progress with you. Honest, open communication will enhance your son/daughter’s learning experience. If you need help to facilitate a meeting with your son/daughter’s teacher, please contact the MS office."

Week of 29 September

Good Evening,

Thank you to the MS StuCo for planning and organizing the "Peace in the Middle East" event last Thursday. There were a lot of students in attendance and everyone had a great time.  This was their first event of the year and they did a great job! Thanks also to the teachers who volunteered to chaperon.

We are spending these last three weeks before Eid to focus on instruction and routines in the MS so only a few tidbits tonight:

• Students are working on their SMART goals in advisory...please ask your son/daughter about their goals and what they are working on (you can also see the format in the Moodle All MS)

• The next Power School update is Oct 10. These updates are scheduled a few weeks apart to help the students to understand the importance of the learning that is taking place and not, solely, on "what their grade is." Learning is a reflective process that takes time and our goal is to help students understand learning is a lifelong process.

• IF your son/daughter says they are "bored" encourage them to practice their keyboarding skills. There are plenty of keyboarding sites on the internet.......a suggestion from the L. Arts teachers follows:

http://www.freetypinggame.net/free-typing-test.asp

Enjoy your evening and thank you for all of your support...it is greatly appreciated.

Rhonda Isley

MS Principal

risley@acsamman.edu.jo

Week of 22 September

Good Evening,

Hope everyone had a good weekend. Today we recognized Peace One Day, a worldwide day of recognition for peace around the world,  during advisory...students wore white, decorated lockers, listened to music....we did our best to "...imagine all the people..."

A few reminders and tidbits of information:
Handbook Highlights:

• if your son/daughter is going to be absent from school, the person to contact is Ms. Rima Fanik, MS Assistant. ( rfanik@acsamman.edu.jo )
• it is best if you can schedule appointments after school hours. Students attend classes every other day...if your son/daughter misses a class on Sunday, for example, they will not have that class again until Tuesday. It is often difficult for students to find the time during the course of a day to make up a quiz or class activity. 

Family Connection Chats:

Next month we will begin monthly parent information sessions on topics related to middle school students and issues related to being a parent of a middle school student. Our first chat will take place Oct 9 in the MPR beginning at 8:00 a.m. The topic will be "Balancing Screen Time" --we will share ideas and discuss ways to manage the amount of time students spend in front of their computer screens. We look forward to seeing you there.

Reminders:

• Middle School Student Council (StuCo) will host their first event of the school year this Thursday. Their theme is "Peace in the Middle East" to extend our celebration of Peace One Day, a worldwide day of recognition.  StuCo reps ask your help in encouraging your son/daughter to attend. 

In an effort to continuously strive for good communication and keep parents informed of events, we are asking for your assistance in helping us develop a system for parents to acknowledge events taking place at ACS.  

We are striving  to utilize our online capacities, reduce our use of paper, and streamline the cumbersome task of collecting forms from students so we ask you to take a few moments to complete the  "acknowledgement of event" form listed below. 

StuCo Peace in the Middle East Parent Response Form 

Thank you for your help as we pilot ways of improving our communication systems. 

Request from Transportation:

Bus Pick-Up: Please have your children outside and ready to catch the bus no less than 5 minutes before their designated pick-up time.Buses will wait no more than 2 minutes from their designated pick-up time in order to keep to their schedule. If buses arrive early, they will wait until their designated pick-up times if your child is not ready.

This helps us keep the buses running on time. If each student is late even 2 minutes it is a total of 40 extra minutes. 

Thank you for your support.

Enjoy your evening, 

Rhonda Isley

MS Principal 

risley@acsamman.edu.jo

Week of 15 September

Good Evening, 

Thanks to all those who attended the MS Back to School night last week. I hope everyone enjoyed the different format for the evening this year. It was nice to see everyone a bit more relaxed. 

Today wrapped up our last field trip for team building week. Team building week is designed to help us bring two attributes of our Student Profile to life....that of effective communicators and collaborators. I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunities I had to spend so much time with the students at each grade level.

Now that we have introduced those concepts to students, we will continue to create opportunities for those skills to be reinforced and developed. Thanks to all of the teachers who went on all the field trips to support students as they learn these skills. Below are a couple of photos from today's trip with Grade 6 students at the Noor Stables.

We had an incredible turnout for auditions of our MS production of Robin Hood last week. Rehearsals begin this week in preparation for the November performance. 

After School Activities begin 17 September. If your son/daughter has not yet signed up, they must do so by tomorrow. 

The first Power School update of the year is scheduled for 19 September. Please contact your son/daughter's teacher directly, after 19 Sept., if you have questions about the update. 

If your daughter is interested in participating in Girl Scouts, there is a link below for contact information.

Girl Scout Information

Please continue to remind your son/daughter to charge up their laptop each night before coming to school and please ensure their laptop remains in good working order.

Enjoy your evening,

Rhonda Isley
MS Principal
risley@acsamman.edu.jo 

Week of 8 September

Good Evening,

I hope everyone had a enjoyable, relaxing weekend.

An important thank you to the students.....the level of maturity and attention during our evacuation drill last week was remarkable. I have never experienced a more attentive group of students during such an activity. We all shared in an ice cream treat on Thursday to celebrate their success.

This will be a busy week for us in the Middle School so.....

This week begins Team Building Week. Our first group of Gr 8 students went to the High Ropes Course today while the rest stayed on campus to participate in different teamwork activities. See below for some pics on how they spent their day.

Gr 7 will have their trips on Wednesday and Thursday this week and Gr 6 on Sunday. Please ask your son/daughter to log into their Moodle for more information.

BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT is Wednesday. Please join us in the gym for an opening presentation and then spend 30-40 mins. visiting your son/daughter's classrooms. Teachers will be available for informal "meet-n-greets" and answer questions, however, the evening will not be conducive to individual parent/teacher conferences.  We look forward to seeing you.

After School Activity information and sign ups have been posted on student Moodle accounts. Sign ups will be available through the week. Please encourage your son/daughter to participate. Questions about the activities can be sent to Mr. Tate (ttate@acsamman.edu.jo)

We will have a "Mock Online Learning Day" on Tuesday of this week. This day is designed to help students troubleshoot  problems they may have if they are absent, or we have snow days again this year, and have to complete assignments online.

The MS production of Robin Hood will kick off this week with auditions beginning tomorrow. Ms. Hire is the director for the play if you have any questions. (jhire@acsamman.edu.jo)

LAPTOPS-a few ways you can support your son/daughter's use of their laptops while at school are:

1. ensure there is a word processing program on their laptops while at school. We recommend using MS Word. 
2. ensure their laptops have a good battery installed
3. ensure any parental safety controls/passwords, etc you have still allow students to use their laptops while at school

As usual, thank you again for your support and we look forward to seeing you Wednesday.

Have a good evening, 

Rhonda Isley

MS Principal

risley@acsamman.edu.jo

Week of 1 September

Good Evening,

Thank you for your support as we completed our first week of school last week. All of the students seemed to have settled in a bit by the end of the week and we saw lots of smiles each day. I am sure those smiles were to demonstrate their eagerness to be back with their teachers and had nothing to do with seeing their friends...ha ha!

Notes for this week:

Last Thursday we sat with each student to ensure they could log onto their email, Power School, and Moodle accounts. All students were able to have functioning accounts as of Thursday. Today we worked out one last tweak to their Moodle accounts so each student can have access to school wide information in the ALL MS (Middle School) group on Moodle.

As parents, you should also have access to Power School and Moodle. Please contact us if you have questions about these accounts.

ACS Swim Team information:
Practices are Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays
4:30-5:30 or 5:30-6:30
@ Cambridge School
Starting Sept 3 thru December
Fees: 350 JD

website: acspiranhasswimteam.shutterfly.com

Questions, please contact the receptionist at ACS.

Back to School Night is next week. This is a time for you to meet your son/daughter's teacher and receive a brief understanding of the course contents for the school year. The evening will begin at 6:00 pm and should end at approximately 8:00.

Team Building Week

MS students will spend time learning about working together as a team and how to collaborate with each other during Team Building Week. Each grade level will experience a variety of games and activities that provide them with experience in these areas. Grade 7 and 8 will be divided into 2 groups with one group participating in the activities while the other group remains on campus.

On the designated grade level day, students will depart campus at 8:15 and return approximately 2:45. Students will be informed at the end of this week which group they are in for the activities. Activity locations are as follows:

Gr 8 students will go to the High Ropes course at Seilgarten in Amman on Sept 8 and 9.
Gr 7 students will go to Noor Stables in Amman on Sept 11 and 12
All Gr 6 students will go to Noor Stables in Amman on Sept 15

Students will need a sack lunch on their designated day. We also recommend a hat and sunscreen. We must have up-to-date parent contact information on file in order for students to be able to participate. The cost of this activity (35 JD) will be included in your school invoice. If you have any questions, please contact us: risley@acsamman.edu.jo

Enjoy your evening and thank you again for helping to make the first week a positive week.

Week of 26 August--First Week! :)

Good Evening,

I hope you are all looking forward to tomorrow as much as I am.

The teachers have done an incredible job getting the classrooms ready and meeting with each other to plan high interest, challenging lessons for the students. In a nutshell, WE ARE READY TO GET STARTED!

It was great to see all of the new families today...thanks to all of you for attending our orientation. Our lines of communication are important and today was the first step in that process.

Notes are brief this week as the goal is to get the students settled and organized into a new school year. We will spend this week getting to know each other, ensuring various accounts are working properly, and establishing some basic routines.

The two most important items to bring tomorrow....

Please send your son/daughter to school tomorrow with their laptop--charged up and ready to go along with a positive, hopeful outlook.

Please send money with them so they can purchase food!

Students will report to Advisory straight away in the morning where they will receive updated schedules, locker assignments, and enjoy catching up with friends.

Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns. In the above links you will find information on the daily student schedule, important dates for this school year, and important contact information.

Enjoy your evening and we look forward to seeing your son/daughter at school. Thank you again for sending your child to ACS....we consider it a privilege to be a part of their young lives.

Rhonda Isley
MS Principal
risley@acsamman.edu.jo

Welcome to the 2013-2014 School Year

Welcome to another new school year at ACS. I hope you all had a wonderful, relaxing summer and enjoyed time spent with family and friends.

I would especially like to welcome all of our new families, our Grade 6 families, and all of our new MS teachers. This year marks a year of transition for all of you and we will do our best to ensure the transition for your son/daughter is a positive experience.

Throughout the school year I will post to this blog every Sunday evening. This blog is designed to help keep you, as parents, informed of the "happenings" in middle school during the school year. I welcome any requests for other types of information you would find helpful to be posted on a regular basis.

I attempt to keep the postings brief and user friendly but I do sometimes get a bit long-winded.....as I recognize I am beginning to do now! So.......to the important info to help everyone get started this year:

• New Family Registration is Thursday, 22 August from 9-12 and 1-4.
• New Student/Parent Orientation is Sunday, 25 August from 8:30-10:30
• First day of school is August 26. School begins at 8:00, students should arrive by 7:50.

Day 1

Students should bring their laptops(fully charged) with them and report to their advisory teacher upon arrival. Advisory lists will be posted at the front gate, at the bus drop off area in the back of the school, and on the 4th floor. Once attendance has been taken, students will receive their lockers and locks, check to see that their laptops are able to log onto the school network and have a brief welcome prior to starting their regular school day. 

Teachers will be sharing with students course content for the year and providing information on any necessary/specialty supplies (beyond traditional paper/pencil, etc.) that will be needed. 

Special Notes of Interest:

• Students will NOT be allowed to carry their backpacks all day. We recommend a sleeve or some type of computer case, possibly a messenger bag, but backpacks must be stored in lockers throughout the school day. (this is a change from past practice)
• Schedule change requests will begin on September 1. Schedules for all new students will be completed prior to addressing change requests for returning students. Students will receive more information regarding this on the first day of school.
• After School Activities will begin in mid-September. Students will receive information regarding the sign up process and offerings in early September.
• Methods of communication in order to stay informed about your son/daughter's progress include:

1. Emailing teacher (first initial last name@acsamman.edu.jo) *a teacher contact list will be included in this blog on the Contact page once all teacher email accounts have been established.
2. Power School (dates for required teacher updates will be posted throughout the school year)
3. Moodle (teachers will update information about assignments and class work on a weekly basis)
4. Contacting the MS office @ 06 581 3944

Enjoy your evening and I am looking forward to communicating with you this year. 

Rhonda Isley

MS Principal

risley@acsamman.edu.jo

Week of 16 June

Good Evening,

Our last MS Missives for this year I am sorry to say. Thank you for your efforts to read this blog each week. I know I sometimes like to ramble.....I will work on that along with "tweaking" the blog a bit to make information more readily accessible.

Thank Yous:

• to Gr 8 students who organized the Memory Night. Emcees, DJs, and Slide Show folks...well done. 
• to MS students who helped out with the ES Field Days. It was a proud moment when so many of the ES teachers were commenting how impressed they were with the MS students. I wanted to say, "well of course they are impressive, they are MS students!" 

Updates:

• Today's Dead Sea trip was quite the success. I understand the food was plentiful and tasty. I also understand our students represented ACS quite well! 
• MAP information was sent home with students last week. If you did not receive it, check the bottom of the backpack....if still missing, let us know. 
• Students are completing their check out forms today and tomorrow. If you see any library books or textbooks around your house, please remind your son/daughter to return them. 
• Reminder: report cards will be sent via email on Wednesday morning. The format will be a bit different as we focused on providing summer suggestions for each class in preparation for next school year.
• At our Awards assembly this week, along with recognizing Presidential Physical Fitness awards and Honor Roll awards, we will introduce some new awards. They are described as follows:

1. Sadiqi/Sadiqti Award:

One boy and one girl from each grade level who demonstrates kindness, compassion, willingness to help others, is a good group member, friendly to others. This would be voted on by the students.

2. Recognition of Student Profile Traits: 

Respect/Integrity

• Students who act with integrity and respect the dignity of individuals and groups. Who take responsibility for their own actions and are aware of how their actions impact others

Global Awareness 

• Students who appreciate their own culture and the values and traditions of others. Who are committed to acting in ways that make a difference in the lives of others and to the environment

Reflective Thinker

• Students who give thoughtful consideration to their own learning and experiences. Who proactively address problems, set goals, and take intellectual risks

Critical/Analytical Thinker 

• Students who exercise initiative in applying thinking skills to recognize and approach complex problems and make reasoned, ethical decisions.

Creator/Innovator 

• Students who possess intellectual curiosity that enables them to demonstrate innovation. Who face new situations with openness and flexibility.

Communicator/Collaborator 

• Students who confidently express ideas in a variety of ways, often in more than one language. Who work effectively with others to solve problems and achieve common goals.

3. Bridge Award

Two students, from different nationalities, who bring others together in a positive way. These are students who welcome diversity, are accepting of others, acts as a bridge builder or uniter of different groups.

Heads Up on Purchases for Next Year

In an effort to "tidy up" our classrooms AND prevent back pain of our students, next year we will not allow backpacks to be carried around all day from class to class. Students will still be able to use a backpack to and from school but not carry them packed full all day. 

For example, we are trying to avoid:

this creates too many obstacles in the classroom 
                                                                                                         

too many bags for one back! 

 
     laptops on floors scare us-they are easily stepped on 


And are trying to encourage:

stylish, manageable, and better for the back! 

Thank you again for all of your support this year. I cannot wait for next year to start!

Please have safe travels this summer and we will see you on the first day of school:

MONDAY, 26 August

Rhonda Isley

MS Principal

risley@acsamman.edu.jo

Week of 9 June

Good Evening,

Before things get lost in the end of year "hub bub" let me take this opportunity to thank you as the MS parent community. You have been incredibly patient and kind to me this year as I transitioned into ACS  and I wanted to let you know how much I have enjoyed my first year here. You have been a welcoming community and it has been thoroughly enjoyable working with your sons/daughters each day. I am thankful for the opportunity to be at ACS.

Thank You:

• to our Gr 6 Student Panel who spent time with the Gr 5 students on their Fly Up day. The Gr 6 students were patient and informative with all questions the Gr 5 students had for them. 
• to all those who put themselves out there for Student Council office. Elections were held last week and our new StuCo Officers for 2013-2014 are:

President-Marwan Abdelhamid

Vice President-Amin Al Khaleel

Secretary-Nasser Alami

Treasurer-Hamzeh Zubi

Updates:

• A message from two Gr 8 students:

Dear Parents,

My friend and I are hosting a movie night in the hopes to cut down on obesity rates. We will be hosting it on Tuesday free of charge. It will last past the 4:30 bus so if your children wish to stay longer they will need a ride home. I hope to see as many kids as possible.

Sincerely, Travis and Declan

• Dead Sea end of year trips to the Holiday Inn Resort payments  are due on June 12 to the Business Office. This is to facilitate an accurate number of participants for the buffet lunch. A reminder, trip dates are as follows:
• June 16-Grade 6
• June 17-Grade 7
• June 18-Grade 8
• June 12 students will receive their check out forms. These forms are necessary for each student to complete an official check out process of returning books, etc. so we can ensure e-report cards are sent in a timely manner. Forms are due no later than 17 June. 
• Grade 8 Memory Night is June 12 from 6:00-8:00. Gr 8 students have organized their evening and have voted to have a casual picnic style atmosphere. Students will emcee the evening, organize the music and pizza. Each student will take a moment to share their thoughts, memories of their time in middle school. 
• e-Report cards for quarter 4 will be sent on June 19. The format of the reports will focus on providing you with information on summer suggestions to help your son/daughter prepare for classes they will take next year. It is our hope these suggestions will help the learning process continue throughout the summer. 

Next week will be the last blog posting for this school year. I will be sending a survey requesting feedback on various areas of our MS program to give me food for thought throughout the summer. This will help with making plans for next school year. Your time for feedback will be greatly appreciated. 

I will also post any relevant information for the following school year to help you with summer "to do" lists. 

Enjoy your evening, 

Rhonda Isley

risley@acsamman.edu.jo