MIDD LE SCHOOL

Friday Bulletin
Weekly Publication for Middle School Parents

From the Middle School Office

Dear Parents: The Middle School Play takes the stage and this years production, The Wiz, is sure to excite everyone. During our assembly this week, the play preview gave us a peek of whats to come and its bound to be entertaining. The show opens on Thursday, May 2 at 6:30 P.M. with additional performances on May 3 at 6:30 P.M., and May 4 at 2:30 P.M. and 6:30 P.M. Tickets are available through the Cashier so make plans to enjoy some family entertainment. The cast and crew have worked extremely hard and hope to see you there! This week we also have the opening of the Middle School Art Show on Thursday, May 2 at 3:00 P.M. Student work will be on display in the lobby of the Fine Arts Theater and is sure to inspire. The creativity and the designs are phenomenal and will leave you in awe of what our students can do. On Monday, May 6 we welcome visiting author Peter Lerangis whose work is popular with many of our students. He will be meeting with students in grade 5 and 6 to talk about his writing and the writing purpose. We are fortunate to have this opportunity to gain firsthand experience with a published author. Please see the letter included in the bulletin for more details. Looking aheadThe month of May brings with it a number of events and activities. In the coming weeks we hope you will find time to visit the Art Exhibition and attend the Finale Concert and Beginning Groups Concerts. Transition activities will take place for the current grade 4 students as they prepare to enter Middle School and for the grade 8 students as they look forward to High School. As we enter this busy time of the year, please support your child by encouraging them to get ample amounts of sleep, eat balanced meals, and prioritize their time so that they can arrive at school ready to learn and have fun. Please note that Wednesday, May 1 is a holiday and school will be closed. Classes resume on Thursday, May 2. Additionally, Monday, May 13 has been declared a holiday due to elections so there will be no classes; please mark your calendars. Enjoy the weekend! Yours in Education, Simon Gillespie Middle School Principal Clarissa Sayson Middle School Assistant Principal

ISSUE # 31
W EEK OF APRIL 29 TO MAY 3, 2013

Inside this issue:

From the Office of Admissions and Advancement - Withdrawal procedure for - Demographic Update Guide From the Treasury Department From the Human Resources Department: Cashless Campus From the ATAC Office From the HS Guidance Office Author Visit: Peter Lerangis Service Learning @ISM PTA Elections June Summer Sports Camp ISM Community Art Auction MS PlayThe Wiz 2

3 4 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

POWERSCHOOL UPDATE
MAY
10 Progress Reports Distribution

The Yearbook Pictures are now available for pick up in the MS Office.

End of Year Activities

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From the Office of Admissions and Advancement

Withdrawal Procedure for Students Leaving ISM
For those students who will be withdrawing from International School Manila this year, the following procedure applies: Parents are obliged to inform the School officially through a WITHDRAWAL NOTIFICATION FORM, dren will not be returning to ISM.

on or before May 10, 2013 , if their chil-

Failure to do so will lead to a deduction of US$1,000 from the Facilities Upgrade Deposit (FUD), in compensation for having held a space for the child and thus preventing the School from offering that space to another child prior to the summer holiday break. The Withdrawal Notification Form can be obtained from the Admissions Office or directly from the ISM website www.ismanila.org under Admissions > Re-Enrollment & Withdrawal > Withdrawal STEP 1: Return the Withdrawal Notification Form to the Admissions Office or scanned and e-mailed as an attachment to admissions@ismanila.org . Upon receipt of the Withdrawal Notification Form by the Admissions Office, a copy will be forwarded to the appropriate School Office and the Finance Office for their action. The School Office, upon receipt of the Withdrawal Notification Form, will initiate the student clearance procedure which requires a Middle or High School student to have the Student Clearance Slip signed by the indicated teachers and offices for clearance. For Elementary students, the Elementary Office will handle the withdrawal clearance. Note that school transcripts and records will be available from the particular school office approximately fifteen working days after the childs last day of attendance at ISM. Please coordinate directly with the particular School Office if you require other arrangements. STEP 2: If required, and when completed, the Student Clearance Slip must be taken to the Cashiers Office. Only after the Cashier has received and signed the completed clearance form will the childs transcript or school records be released from the Elementary, Middle or High School Office. Please note that one copy of the transcript is provided free of charge, additional copies cost P100 each, payable at the Cashiers Office before release. Please coordinate directly with the particular School Office if you require more than one copy of school records. STEP 3: In order to receive your Facilities Upgrade Deposit or FUD (formerly the Special Project Deposit) refund, the following must be submitted to the CashiersOffice: 1) Signed Student Clearance Slip 2) Signed Facilities Upgrade Deposit Certificate Please note that the FUD refund will not be released before your childs last day of school and may take up to thirty ( 30) days. Only the person whose name appears on the FUD Certificate may claim the refund at the Cashiers Office. For any questions related to FUD certificate, please call 840-85-22 and look for Ms. Rhodora Villa or Marissa S. Dulay at 840-85-06. Please allow the withdrawal process to go smoothly by starting the process early. Thank you for your help and understanding. If you will be withdrawing before the end of the school year and wish to receive your childs YEARBOOK please submit the appropriate form to the School Office. The forms are available through the web site: Admission > Re-Enrollment & Withdrawal>Withdrawal 1. Elementary School Yearbook: ALAALA 2. Middle School Yearbook: SALINLAHI 3. High School Yearbook: KAWAYAN Sincerely, Stephanie H. Hagedorn Director of Admissions & Advancement admissions@ismanila.org

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From the Office of Admissions and Advancement

Demographic Update Guide
Dear Parents, Please be reminded that keeping your contact information updated is vital to facilitating communication with the school. If you would like to view/change any of the details on your current record, simply follow these steps:

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From the Treasury Department

Dear ISM Parents: This is a reminder to please view and check the ISM Web Online at http://community.ismanila.org/d/2/ for the latest update on your billing statement and settle any remaining balance of account(s). Please note that the 2nd semester Tuition fee for SY2012-2013 was due last December 07,2012 while other school fees on your billing statements are already due as billed. For those who havent settled yet, we appreciate your immediate settlement of the accounts. For related billing and payment questions including any username and password concerns, please call 840-8522/ 840-85-06/840-85-12 and look for RHODA VILLA (Accountant) or MARISSA DULAY (Treasury Supervisor) and Elmer Esguerra ( Cashier). You can also email us at villar@ismanila.org or dulaym@ismanila.org. and esguerrae@ismanila.org.

From the Human Resources Office: Cashless Campus

Dear Parents and Students, The end of the school year is fast approaching, and we wanted you to know that, starting in August, we shall be introducing a Campus Card payment scheme. This system has been in the research stage for some time now, and we have been consulting carefully with our colleague schools in IASAS, all of whom make use of a card for payments on their campuses. The system works through an individual identity chip that is implanted into student ID cards. One of the main purposes for making this move to is to provide a debit system in the canteen. Some of the benefits are: Limit the amount of money that studentsare obliged to bring to school. Speed up canteen lines during breaks since cash exchange will not be needed. Give online access to parents so they may see what their children are eating at lunch. The intention is to run parallel cash / debit system initially, but in time we intend to move towards a complete debit system during school hours. Parents and students will have several options with regards to topping up their card. They can do this online by credit card or paypal or through an accredited bank (all for a minimal fee), at kiosks (similar to ATMs) located in two different areas on campus, or at the cashiers office. In addition to purchasing food at the canteen, the Smart Card may be used for paying other activities that take place on campus: school plays, Family Fun day, concerts, T-shirts, etc. We also hope that the Uniform Shop will be able to accept payments in this way. Parents and helpers may also apply for an ID card complete with chip should they wish to use a debit system on campus rather than cash payments. In conjunction with the debit system, the Smart Cards issued in Middle School will allow students to access the new lockers we are purchasing. We shall be sending out more instructions on how this system will work later in the school year and again in August. Like any new system, we suspect that there will be some teething problems, but we are confident that we shall overcome these and that the card system will be beneficial for the entire school. Sincerely, Michelle Mapua Director of Human Resources

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From the Athletics & Activities Office

4th season practices are now taking place for some of next years HS teams to start training. This is open for current gr.8s who will be freshmen 9th grade next year to join these practices. If you have questions talk with the coaches. Thanks to Coach Andy and the sailfish coaches for running a great meet last weekend with great feedback from the visiting overseas schools that attended. All results are available via the sailfish blog. We look forward to hosting an invitational Tae Kwon Do(TKD) meet tomorrow at the MS gym and the following week we host the local Judo competition at the covered court. ISM is the host venue for these events however the meets are coordinated and run by the local TKD and Judo associations. Best of luck to all our ISM martial arts competitors in these upcoming meets. Please remember the swimming facility will close for renovation works on May 17 and the planned reopening of the pool is set for September 1st. We are building a new 2 level grandstand, new locker rooms, new storage area, new coaches locker rooms, additional restrooms for the public and resurfacing the pool surrounds. ISM Summer Sports Camps information is now available on the ATAC summer camps blog page. The informational flyer will also be in the parent bulletins. Sign ups are on a first come first served basis! A great way to stay in touch with the ISM ATAC program is to subscribe via RSS feed to the ATAC blog and also to follow via twitter (see twitter feed on the blog home page). Each Monday, I will post the weeks happenings and highlight important events for students and parents information on the ATAC blog and in the regular Friday parent bulletins. GAME SCHEDULE PDF (access to game schedule information): Information about all mid-week/ weekend fixtures for ISM teams can be found via the ATAC blog. Please note the game schedule does change often due to involvement with many local schools, so please check the page regularly to find out the latest information of where and when the Bearcats teams are playing. Click on schedules tab or the Bearcat logo to be directed to the power school secure site http://powerschool.ismanila.org/public/ You will need your power school user name and password to access the game schedule pdf. BEARCAT DEN: http://atac.ism-online.org/bearcat-den/ Our Bearcat Den is open for business, please drop by to check out the range of Bearcat products. We have a great team of volunteers who run the den and are always looking for more people to help out. If you are interested in joining a fantastic group, please contact any of our den members during den opening hours. If youre interested in joining the Den volunteers, please contact Carolyn Ching for details at carolynqching@yahoo.com. We are always looking for new volunteers and encourage parents from ES/MS to join our group. Please note end of year lunch for Den volunteers is May 30 th from 11:30am (venue to be announced) Final selling day for the Den will be June 4th, Den will be closed for inventory and summer pack up June 5. The den will re -open for business in the new school year on Wednesday August 14th 2013 Regular Opening Hours for the Bearcat Den: Wednesdays and Fridays from 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. and each afternoon from 2:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Sincerely, Mark Pekin Director of Athletics/ Activities

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From the High School Guidance Office

Dear HS Parents, We are very pleased to introduce/reintroduce you to an exciting initiative developed back in 2010 by the HS Guidance Department in cooperation with the HS Administration:

Bearcat Career Experience

As we all know well, high school for students is (among many things) a time of self-discovery. It is a time where our students begin to better acknowledge their aptitudes/likes, where they hone their strengths and where they begin to sort through that rather complicated map known as their educational and future career path. Unfortunately, it is often a map with gaps between what they learn in their academic classrooms and the real world their teachers are working to prepare them for. In short, we hope to help bridge that gap for some of our high school students through a five-day summer internship (June 10th 14th, 2013) with various companies in the Metro Manila area. Last year we were very fortunate to place over 120 ISM high school students (sophomores and juniors) with 30 companies (including Alaska Milk, Asian Development Bank (ADB), and Makati Medical Center to name a few) in the Metro Manila area. This year, we definitely feel those numbers could increase. However, in order to make this a reality, we need reputable companies from a variety of industries to form partnerships with us and take part. As parents of our dedicated and motivated HS students, you may own, be employed by, or know of a company interested in supporting this very worthwhile endeavor. We ask for your support in helping us develop potential Career Experience placements and subsequently, lasting positive relationships with companies in the Metro Manila area. We ask that you take time to reflect on this important initiative (currently in its 3rd year) and its value for our ISM community. Please take a look at our website here http://bearcat-careers.ism-online.org/what-is-a-bearcat-career -experience/ . This page should give you an idea of what the program is all about. You might also want to check out this video too. http://bearcat-careers.ism-online.org/media/ If you are in a position to take one or more of our students at your company or know of an interested company, please let me know. Please also contact me at mcqueend@ismanila.org if you have any questions or need further clarification. Information about how your son or daughter (current sophomores and juniors only) could apply for a Career Experience position will be communicated to all of you at a later date. You can also get more informed and up to date posts about the Bearcat Career Experience by liking our facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/BearcatCareerExperience Thank you very much for your support and I look forward to hearing back from some of you. J Sincerely, Doug McQueen High School Counselor

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Author Visit: Mr. Peter Lerangis

Dear Parents of grade 5 and 6 students, Peter Lerangis, author of 160+ books and also the author of several books in The 39 Clues Series (very popular with 5th and 6th graders!) will be in the Philippines for a book signing at National Book Store in Glorietta on Saturday, May 4th. Through a special arrangement with National Books, he will be able to come to ISM for a talk and bring along some signed books (students will be able to purchase signed copies) on Monday, May 6th from 9-10am. He really is an excellent writer for grades 5 and 6, and we are hosting a combined assembly for those 2 grade levels with the author speaking, and the opportunity to buy his signed books at a discounted rate. His newest book, and the first of his new Seven Wonders series, The Colossus Rises, will be the signed book featured. If your student would like to purchase one, the costs are:

Please discuss with your child to see if they would like to buy a copy over the weekend. I will need to let National Books know on Monday, April 29th, approximately how many signed copies will be needed for the assembly, and if hardback or paperback is requested. Students should bring their money on May 6th and pay the National Book Store representatives directly before or after the assembly. Other titles of Mr. Lerangis will be available at a cost of approximately Php 400.00 each. Correct change is always appreciated! It is very exciting to have this author visit; I am sure he will be an inspiration to many promising authors here in the middle school! Kind regards, Meg Parry Grade 6 English and Social Studies

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There are still art pieces available! Visit the Advancement Office at the Plaza Level until April 30, 2013 or call 840-8662 / 840-8606.

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