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

F R I D A Y
ISSUE # 36
SY1617

BULLETIN
WEEKLY PUBLICATION FOR PARENTS

Issue # 8 week of October 16 20 sy1718

Dear Parents,
COMING UP SOON!
There is a lot of information in this weeks Parent Bulletin, so
lets get straight down to business! Monday, October 23rd, Tuesday, October 24th and
Wednesday, October 25th.
Middle School Parent Teacher Conferences
THIS WEEK: (PTCs)
What: PTCs
Monday, October 16th - Friday, October 20th 2017 Where: Classrooms
CIS/WASC Accreditation Visiting Team Individual Timeslots: 10 mins per subject area
What: 10 year accreditation visit Event Time Frame: 1:00 - 6:00 p.m each day
When: This week ISM is hosting members of our Please be sure to sign up for your final 4 slots via
accreditation visiting team. The teams role is to the online sign-up system.
report out on the self-study that we submitted at Please see the Need to Know section below.
the beginning of the school year.
Why: The accreditation process allows schools to Friday, October 27th
take an introspective look at all aspects of school Filipiniana
life and reflect upon areas of relative strength
What: Filipiniana - A school-wide celebration of
and areas for future growth.
our host country!
Wednesday, October 18th - Friday, October 27th 2017 Time: 12:00 onwards
Philippine Cultural Club (PCC) T-Shirt and Brace- Please see the Need to Know section below.
let Sale:
Students who wish to purchase a PCC shirt or
bracelet, in order to support this years Filipini-
Whats
Inside?
ana event, may do so this week.
T-shirt = 500 pesos
Bracelet = 150 - 200 pesos
Sale Location = Outside the Kantina during lunch
time and after school
Transportation Office 4
Friday, October 20th 2017
No After School Activities: Campus Card Corner 4
Due to all staff and faculty needing to attend a
CIS/WASC meeting on October 20th there will not MS Activities 4
be sufficient supervision of activities.
Please note that all ES/MS after school activities Alumni News 4
will be cancelled on this day. MS Service Learning 5
MS/HS tryouts for competitive sports will continue
as scheduled (3:15 p.m.) Admissions & Advancement 6
Students will be dismissed at 2:35p.m. on this
day. Clinic 7
The school bus service will operate according to
our normal schedule. Athletics & Activities 8
Filipiniana: Pista sa ISM 11
How to Download and Log into Powerschool
on your Apple iPhone ISM Upcoming Events 12
CLICK HERE!
 NEED TO KNOW
G5 - G6 Tech Parent Coffee: (From Patrick Phillips)
Thank you to all parents who attended this morn-
ings parent Coffee.
The presentation slides can be found using the
link below:
Grade 5 & 6 Parent Technology Coffee Morning
G7 - G8 Tech Parent Coffee (from David Collett)
Thank you for coming to the recent Parent Cof-
fee - Technology Session.
If you couldn't make this event, please feel free
to review the information covered here and in
the video at the end of the presentation.
Following Up on Parent Questions:
A question was asked about how to access com-
ments and the standards grades in Powerschool
and so please click here to review this process.
There were questions related to a recommenda-
tion for a system to secure the internet at your
home and to try to filter objectionable content.
The most commonly recommended solution to
this is called OpenDNS. It is a system developed
by Cisco Systems and so is an industry standard.
Here is a tutorial on how to use this. Please note
that in some cases there have been reports that
it can cause your internet connection to slow
down.
Finally, there was interest in a set of tutorials on
how to use certain social media services
(snapchat, instagram, etc) so as to have a better
idea of how students are using them and to en-
gage your children in a dialogue about them. I
will create these and get them out to you ASAP
in subsequent bulletins. There was also interest
in specific parent sessions where we go over the
uses of social media and technology generally in
more detail. These would be after school and
most likely run as a series (to be repeated if ses-
sions fill up). Please express your interest via this
form so I can get an idea of numbers interested
and times before I send out an official sign up
form.
Once again thanks for coming and please feel free to
contact me at any time with questions at col-
lettd@ismanila.org
Sign Ups For Parent Teacher Conferences (PTCs):
If you have yet to sign up for PTC appointments,
please use your PowerSchool username and pass-
word to access the online sign-up system via the
Parent Portal. If you have forgotten this, please
contact the MS Office no later than Wednesday,
October 18th via phone (02) 840 -8550 or by
emailing Aida Chico (ms@ismanila.org).
Please remember that during the week of Octo-
ber 9 - 15th, parents were able to make 4 ap-
pointment slots and during the week of October
16 - 22nd, parents can make 4 additional ap-
pointment slots.
On Sunday, October 22nd at 4:00 p.m. the PTC
online system will close. It will then automatical-
ly generate and send individual emails to parents
confirming a summary of their respective PTC
schedules. Parents should receive this email
by 6:00 p.m.
Parents need to bring their individual schedule
with them to the PTCs. Please note that the MS
Office will be unable to print out individual par-
ent schedules, as we can only access the teacher
schedule viewer.
Filipiniana
On Friday, October 27th, the ISM community will
be celebrating Filipiniana! For those parents
who are new to ISM, this is a program of events
that has been carefully designed to honor and
celebrate our wonderful host culture of the Phil-
ippines. The specific schedule for the day is
slightly different in ES, MS and HS, however,
there are some events that are common to all
divisions such as the Filipiniana Parade. In the
morning, MS students will operate on a shortened
schedule so that the afternoon can be dedicated
to different cultural events and activities. Below
is a snapshot of the MS student activities:
Schedule:
7:30 - 8:40 = Block D
8:45 - 9:55 = Block E
9:55 - 10:15 = Break
10:15 - 11:25 = Block F
11:30 - 12:00 = Advisory
12:00 - 12:15 = Parade
12:20 - 1:25 = Barrio Fiesta /Lunch
1:30 - 2:00 = MS Activities (in Vertical
Advisory groups)
2:00 - 3:00 = Program in the FAT
Staffing Update: Giovanni Bobisses replacement
Wed like to inform all parents that our search
for an Orchestra and Strings teacher has been
successful. Last week we interviewed John Chris-
topher (JC) Joya, who plays first violin for the
Manila Philharmonic Orchestra and has been
teaching Strings at Colegio San Agustin. After
being impressed with his interview, we invited
him to teach the High School Orchestra and a
Middle School Strings class so that we could ob-
serve his interactions with the students. He was
an instant hit with the students and we found
him to be very warm and nurturing. We are
confident that the students will be in good hands
as we continue through this year. Thank you for
your patience.
Spotting Fake News:
This week we had a fake, or hoax, message
about a drug that looks like candy. The fake mes-
sage was circulating on our email network among
Middle School students and briefly on one of our
Parent Viber networks. Many people now receive
news online or from social media and it can be
hard to tell what's real, what's fake and what is
satire? With advances in technology, anyone
with access to a phone or computer can publish
information online, and it's getting harder and
harder to tell what is true and what is a
hoax.
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 As more people go to Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter Although the activity is only 25 minutes long, we see
and other online sources for their news and infor- the benefits making an impression on many levels
mation, it's even more crucial that all of us -- espe- amongst the different stakeholders. For the MS girls,
cially children -- learn to decode what we read its a time to come together, forget about the social
online. These are always good conversations to be intricacies of their age group and organize them-
having as a family and in schools. Students in Middle selves to promote athletics as well as showing unity
School learn about media literacy and how to spot and love of themselves and others. For the ES stu-
fake news in English, Social Studies and compulsory dents, the MS Girls show the boys and girls in this age
Wellness course and our IT electives. Here is one of group that they deserve equal access to the sports
the resources we use at ISM. You can also use several fields and dispel some notions that support gender
trusted sites to check facts. Older kids especially stereotypes.
might enjoy learning tricks to spot fake news and
then as a family taking this quiz or this quiz to test Its such a pleasure to see the girls go down to the ES
out their growing ability to think critically and be playground and recruit the ES girls to come out and
media literate. Here are some tips from Com- play with the boys. It gives the ES girls the confi-
monSenseMedia for middle school students to help dence to go on the field and play with the boys. Its
spot fake news: also great to see these boys attempt to flaunt their
skills and then come to the realization that these MS
Look for unusual URLs or site names, including girls have a lot of skills on the field.
those that end with ".co" -- these are often trying
to appear like legitimate news sites, but they The ES kids absolutely love the fact these older kids
aren't. are out there playing with them and enjoying the
Look for signs of low quality, such as words in all same experience. The MS girls love how much both
caps, headlines with glaring grammatical errors, genders look up to them for their skills as well as
bold claims with no sources, and sensationalist their attention. At the end of the session when eve-
images (women in bikinis are popular clickbait on ryone is high fiving each other, smiles are beaming
fake news sites). These are clues that you should and theres a shared desire to repeat it again next
be skeptical of the source. week. All in all, everyone one comes out with a bet-
Check a site's "About Us" section. Find out who ter understanding of all the joys that these type of
supports the site or who is associated with it. If experiences enhance our lives.
this information doesn't exist -- and if the site
requires that you register before you can learn
anything about its backers -- you have to wonder
why they aren't being transparent.
Check Snopes, Wikipedia, and Google before
trusting or sharing news that seems too good (or
bad) to be true.
Consider whether other credible, mainstream
news outlets are reporting the same news. If
they're not, it doesn't mean it's not true, but it
does mean you should dig deeper.
Check your emotions. Clickbait and fake news
strive for extreme reactions. If the news you're
reading makes you really angry or super smug, it
could be a sign that you're being played. Check
multiple sources before trusting.
Below are some additional links that parents may
find useful:
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/blog/how-
to-spot-fake-news-and-teach-kids-to-be-media-
savvy
http://www.snopes.com/medical/drugs/
candymeth.asp

NICE TO KNOW:
Bringing Girls together empowerment (From Marc St.
Laurent)
A group of grade 5 - 8 female soccer enthusiasts
make 2 weekly visits to the ES playground to pro-
mote girls soccer during the ES and MS recess times
which happen to overlap. Several of the older girls
have been doing this for a few years and have taken
it upon themselves to seek out other interested girls Kind regards,
that want to show ES students that girls also enjoy Rachel and Amanda
and excel in sports. 3
TRANSPORTATION OFFICE MS ACTIVITIES
Dear Parents, Due to all staff and faculty needing to attend
Please be aware that the school bus service provider T a CIS/WASC meeting on October 20th there
Shuttle Services Inc. is contracted to provide busing for will not be sufficient supervision of activities.
students from home to school and back. This service is
not intended for the wider school community in the Therefore all ES/MS Activities will be can-
interests of efficiency and commercial viability. celled for that day. MS/HS tryouts for compet-
Recently, a significant number of parents have been itive sports will continue as scheduled.
turning up at student pick up points expecting to ride
the bus to school. Although in the past some Bus At-
tendants have, on an informal basis, accommodated
such requests these have not been sanctioned by the
management of the transport provider or the school.
Due to the limited seating on many of our routes, safe-
guarding and supervision issues, and for the sake of
consistency the Bus Attendants have been reminded
that unauthorized adults, including parents, should not
be riding the school buses.
On a case-to-case basis after advance coordination with
the school, and in the interests of student welfare,
there maybe occasions when a parent will be permitted
to ride with student for a limited period of time. In
such circumstances the school will notify T Shuttle Ser-
vices Inc. that travel is approved and a charge will be
made for the seat taken.
If you have further concerns about this matter, you
may contact the Transportation Office at 840-8540.
Thank you,
Transportation Office
# 840-8540
ALUMNI NEWS

CAMPUS CARD CORNER

e-Account
Would you like to know how much you have spent for a
specific period or what items you have purchased using
the Campus Card? Here is how:
Log in to your account Go to Reports tab Click e-
Account Report (or Card Activity Report) Select your
dates Click Show Results tab.
You have the option to print it too.
For more information, visit:
http://campusonline.ismanila.org
For questions/concerns, email:
campuscard@ismanila.org
Currently a junior at Columbia University, alumna
Bianca Gotuaco 15 is Captain for the womens Ar-
chery Team. She won gold at the recent US Colle-
giate Championships. As well as one of ten to make
it to the Collegiate Archery Program All-American
Team, Columbias first National Title for Archery.
Please contact Maica Cruz of the Alumni Office at alum-
ni@ismanilaorg to share your Alumni Bearcat News!
4

In the Middle School, students have various opportunities to en-
gage in service learning projects that connect their passions, inter-
ests, talents and concerns. The emphasis is on exposure and reflec-
tion, with opportunities to go deeper. There are three main layers
to service in the Middle School: Classroom Without Walls (CWW),
Saturday Service, and service learning embedded within the curric-
ulum.
Service learning projects are a component of CWW, which occur
twice a year at each grade level. CWW projects include partnerships
with schools for underprivileged and disabled children, interaction
with indigenous communities, and environmental projects such as
tree planting, organic farming, and coral reef preservation. CWW
gives students the opportunity to explore a variety of issues, con-
tribute to sustainable solutions, and reflect on their experiences.
ISSUE # 36
SY1617
Service Learning
Throughout the year, students also have an opportunity to partici-
pate in 15 to 20 Saturday Service events organized with ISM Service
Partners ranging from animal shelters to focused educational pro-
jects to recycling. These trips are planned and promoted by Service
Clubs that meet during lunch and after school. Middle School Satur-
day Service is open to all ISM students and their parents
Various examples of service learning also occur through class con-
tent connecting global issues with the Middle School curriculum.
Some examples include math classes that measure and report on
waste produced by the ISM community, drama classes that use the-
atre as a a medium for advocacy, and the Be the Change elective
course, which engages students research, planning, action, and re-
flection to address local and global concerns.
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 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 childs 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

CLINIC
Dengue Fever Vaccine approved by
WHO and FDA Philippines!

Made available to
the ISM Community!
Please mark the date: We offer the third shot of Dengvaxia (the only approved dengue fever vaccine) on Wednes-
day, November 8 from 7:00am 4:00pm in the clinic. The complete series of three sessions reduc-
es cases of Dengue fever symptoms by about 60%, and severe cases by about 90%.
Everybody 9 45 years of age at the beginning of the series can avail the vaccination, since it has been approved by
the Philippine FDA for this age range only, as of now. Excluded are pregnant and lactating women, and immune de-
ficient individuals. It has also to be made sure that an interval of 28 days is observed to conception, a dengue infec-
tion or any other vaccination. If you had been given Dengvaxia before dont forget to bring your vaccination rec-
ord!

We offer Dengvaxia (Sanofi Pasteur) for 3,300 PHP per vial*

Everyone with a valid ISM ID may be vaccinated. Please complete the vaccination payment form HERE and vaccina-
tion consent form HERE. Forms are also available from the cashiers office or the clinic and can be downloaded from
the ISM website. Please make your payment to the Cashier (open Mon Fri 7:00am 3:15 pm). Payment must be
made not later than Thursday, October 26. The vaccines will then be ordered and no further registration can be ac-
cepted.
Please note that vaccines will be solely administered at the clinic and cannot be handed out. If you are unable to
receive the vaccine on November 8 for medical reasons please get in touch with the clinic, otherwise all unused
vaccines will be forfeited.
If you have any questions please contact nurse
Jowell Custodio or Dorothee Binsfeld
Clinic numbers: 840 85-82 (Jowell) / -81 (Dorothee)
Email: clinic@ismanila.org

Please take note that vaccination requires three shots,

therefore the total cost will be PHP 9,900 over the period of one year
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 ISSUE # 36
SY1617

ATHLETICS & ACTIVITIES

are posted on notice boards around school.
To the IASAS traveling teams best wishes as you represent
ISM at Soccer in Bangkok and Volleyball/Cross Country in Sin- Tryout and Practice Schedules for S2 sports SY 17-18:
gapore. Live stream and results can be accessed (MS- Basketball/Touch/Rugby/Tennis)
via www.iasas.asia. Tournaments begin Thurs Oct 12,13,14. (HS- Basketball/Touch/Rugby/Tennis&Varsity Swim team)
IASAS match fixtures and times can be found at http://
atac.ism-online.org/iasas/iasas-schedules/ Go Bearcats! MS 2nd season tryout schedule
HS 2nd season T-outs schedule
For Season 2 and 3 ISM proudly hosts Tennis in S2 and
Track&Field/Golf in S3. 2nd season Practice schedule

Congratulations Girls Soccer Rifa League Champions 2017 5-1 For our year round teams practice schedules are posted on
win over Miriam College notice boards around the school and on the schedules page
of the 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 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 the midweek and
weekend matches upcoming. Please check on a regular basis
as venues and time do change at short notice. Players will
always be informed by their coaches if times/venues change.

Sat Oct 14th

E2 and G1 ES soccer teams Rifa festival finals at
ISM 8am
Well done also to our VBoys and Girls Volleyball teams who C1 MS soccer team Rifa festival finals at Xavier 10am
finished 4th and 3rd respectively in the ISSA league finals this MS Girls Gold Volleyball playoffs at
past weekend. Brent 10:30am/2:15pm
ISM Chess team away at LSGH 8am/ISM Table Tennis
Power Up Tandang Sora, the first commercial climbing gym team away at Xavier9am
in the Philippines hosted 3rd leg of the Young Wild & Free
Climbing Series last Saturday. Competitors from all over Sun Oct 15th
Metro Manila went and tried their best against the new boul- TKD team away at Don Bosco
dering wall of Power Up. ISM Climbers were able to snatch 1 MS A1 soccer final vs Zobel 8am at ISM
Gold and 2 Silvers in the hot and humid morning of the gym. MS A2 soccer final vs Claret 10am at Claret
Congratulations to: Gold Gabie O, Silver-Ruitong L and
Ethan L. Well done to Anya, Josh, Ananda, Liling and to Oct 26 S1 sports awards at Fine Arts Theatre *new format
Laura for exciting everyone with their performance. Power this year. This year a new format for the HS sports awards
Up ROX will host the next leg at the end of the month. will be used as follows5:30-6pm Light snacks/refreshments
at the Fine arts Theatre Lobby area, 6pmawards begin in the
This week was the final week of Season 1 training for our MS/ Fine Arts Theatre with MVP awardees recognised for
HS teams. JV&Varsity teams, along with 4 year recipients and any spe-
cial IASAS awards. From 6:45 to 7:15pm teams will go to
Good luck to our MS Girls gold volleyball team and to our MS break out areas for final team talks/coaches speeches rele-
A1/A2 soccer teams who play finals this week. See schedule vant to the teams season and highlights. Parents are wel-
below for match times and venues. come to attend both the formal presentation of the major
awards and break out sessions for the coaches season end
Season 2 tryouts and practice schedule are now released (see talk specific to their son/daughters team.
links below) and are on the ATAC blog schedules page and 8

Information on our ES/MS Activities program is available on
the ES and MS Activities blogs. Links to these blogs are on the
helpful shortcuts menu on the home page of the ATAC blog
or accessible via the ISM website.
For our Sailfish swim team program please check information Parents and students please take some time to peruse the
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.
ISSUE # 36
In order to clear the campus prior to 5pm all after school
SY1617
programs will conclude by 4:50pm or earlier. The last bus
is 4:55pm this is due to the ever increasing traffic concerns
in our area.
ATAC blog it has a wide variety of information and links to
our sports and activities program. If you have any questions
regarding 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.
Bearcat Den- drop by our fantastic spirit store. There is a a
range of new products and items to purchase including items
from our service partners.
Bearcat Den hours of operation- 7am-4pm Mon-Fri.
GO BEARCATSin 2017-18!
Regards,
Mark Pekin
Director of Athletics & Activities
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FILIPINIANA: Pista sa ISM

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ISM UPCOMING EVENTS

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SY1617

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