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 # 9 week of October 23 27 sy1718

Dear Parents,

This week ISM hosted a team of 14 educators from the Council

of International Schools (CIS) and Western Association of
Schools and Colleges (WASC) for our joint accreditation team
visit.

Accreditation is an evaluation process that drives a schools

continuous improvement and takes place in two distinct phas-
es:
Phase 1 - A rigorous self-assessment against inter-
nationally-agreed standards.
Phase 2 - A one-week on site visit by a team of
educators.

The Self-Study Process:

The Self-Study process is the most important part of the whole
evaluation and accreditation cycle, both in terms of time and
effort and in the value for the school. While identifying and In an exit report this afternoon, the co-chairs of the accredi-
validating the schools strengths, this process also involves the tation process were very complimentary about our school and
identification of areas for improvement and initiates actions our wider community. More details about the accreditation
to address them. Schools find that considerable improvements commendations and recommendations will follow after we
in alignment with the CIS/WASC School Evaluation Standards have had the opportunity to read the final report.
and Evaluation Criteria occur during this vital Self-Study
stage. A Self-Study normally takes between 12 and 18 months
to complete.
Whats
Inside?
TEAM EVALUATION
After the submission of the Self-Study Report, the school is
visited by a team of volunteer Peer Evaluators. These are
suitably qualified and trained school leaders and teachers
drawn from other CIS/WASC accredited schools.
Transportation Office 3
The evaluation team assists the school by providing an objec-
tive evaluation of the conclusions of the Self-Study and the Campus Card Corner 3
process taken. The evaluation team visits the school for up to
a week, with evaluators observing all types of learning con- MS Activities 3
texts and talking with students, parents, faculty/staff and
members of the schools Board/Governing Body. The team MS Service Learning 4
analyses all aspects of the school in the light of the Self-Study
Report, the school's own Guiding Statements, and the CIS/ Admissions & Advancement 5
WASC School Evaluation Criteria
Clinic 6
Athletics & Activities 7
Filipiniana: Pista sa ISM 8
How to Download and Log into PowerSchool
on your Apple iPhone ISM Upcoming Events 10
CLICK HERE!

THIS WEEK:
Monday, October 23rd - Friday, October 27th 2017
Filipiniana
Philippine Cultural Club (PCC) T-Shirt and Brace- On Friday, October 27th, the ISM community will be host-
let Sale:
Students who wish to purchase a PCC shirt or
bracelet, in order to support this years Filipini-
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
Monday, October 23rd, Tuesday, October 24th and
Wednesday, October 25th.
Middle School Parent Teacher Conferences
(PTCs)
What: PTCs
Where: Classrooms
Individual Timeslots: 10 mins per subject area
Event Time Frame: 1:00 - 6:00 p.m each day
Please be sure to sign up for your final 4 slots be-
fore the online sign-up system closes on Sunday!
Please see the Need to Know section below.
Friday, October 27th
Filipiniana
What: Filipiniana - A school-wide celebration of
our host culture!
Time: 12:00 onwards
Please see the Need to Know section below.
Monday, October 30th - Friday, November 3rd:
School Vacation
Please remember school opens on Monday, No-
vember 6th
We respectfully request that parents do not ex-
tend the scheduled vacation period.
COMING UP SOON!
Tuesday, November 14th
MS Parent Coffee
Focus: MS Curriculum
Time: 7:45 - 9:00
Location: Little Theater (LT)
Facilitators: Rachel and Amanda
NEED TO KNOW
Parent Teacher Conferences (PTCs):
On Sunday, October 22nd at 4:00 p.m. the PTC online sys-
tem will close. It will then automatically 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 parent schedules, as we can only
access the teacher schedule viewer.
We are asking all teachers to strictly adhere to the allo-
cated time slots during the upcoming PTC event. As most
teachers have a full schedule, we ask that parents are
mindful of arriving on time and not going over their allot-
ted time slot.
Please note, if you arrive late and miss your appoint-
ment, you will have to reschedule your appointment for
another time. This can be arranged through the MS Of-
fice.
ing its annual Filipiniana event! The schedule for this ex-
citing host culture celebration is summarized below and,
despite what your middle schooler may tell you, parents
are welcome!
MS Filipiniana Schedule:
7:30 - 8:40 = Block D (regular class)
8:45 - 9:55 = Block E (regular class)
9:55 - 10:15 = Break
10:15 - 11:25 = Block F (regular class)
11:30 - 12:00 = Advisory (October Theme = Host
Culture)
12:00 - 12:15 = Parade (parents welcome to
watch)
12:20 - 1:25 = Barrio Fiesta /Lunch (parents wel-
come to sample food)
1:30 - 1:55 = MS Activities (in Vertical Advisory
groups - no parents)
2:00 - 3:00 = Program in the FAT (students and
staff only as space is limited)
This years theme is Pintados, which refers to a term early
Spanish colonizers used to characterize the heavily tat-
tooed indigenous people here in the Philippines. The tat-
toos were symbols used to represent an individuals brav-
ery or courage in battle. Literally translated, Pintados
means painted.
In addition to a cultural experience, Filipiniana also serves
as a platform for ISM students to raise money for our vari-
ous service partners and ISMs Disaster Relief and Sustain-
ability Funds.
In celebration of Filipiniana next week, we will be having
a Tiangge (bazaar) in front of the Kantina, 8:30am to
3:30pm. Please feel free to come and see the variety of
Philippine products on sale!
NICE TO KNOW:
Third Culture Kids - Counseling Department
Last week our Counseling Team hosted a parent coffee on
Third Culture Kids. As part of this event they created a
set of tips that explained How to Help Your Child with
their TCK Transitions. If you are interested in taking a
close look at this, please click on the link!
Kind regards,
Rachel and Amanda 2
TRANSPORTATION OFFICE MS ACTIVITIES
Dear Parents,
All MS Activities will be canceled
Please be aware that the school bus service provider from October 23rd - 25th due to
T Shuttle Services Inc. is contracted to provide bus-
Parent Teacher Conferences.
ing for students from home to school and back. This
service is not intended for the wider school commu-
nity in the interests of efficiency and commercial
viability.

Recently, a significant number of parents have been

turning up at student pick up points expecting to
ride the bus to school. Although in the past some Bus
Attendants have, on an informal basis, accommodat-
ed 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, safeguarding 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.
CAMPUS CARD CORNER
On a case-to-case basis after advance coordination
with the school, and in the interests of student wel- e-Account
fare, there maybe occasions when a parent will be Would you like to know how much you have
permitted to ride with student for a limited period spent for a specific period or what items you
of time. In such circumstances the school will notify have purchased using the Campus Card? Here is
how:
T Shuttle Services Inc. that travel is approved and a Log in to your account Go to Reports tab
charge will be made for the seat taken. Click e-Account Report (or Card Activity Re-
port) Select your dates Click Show Results
tab.
If you have further concerns about this matter, you
may contact the Transportation Office at 840-8540. You have the option to print it too.

For more information, visit:

Thank you, http://campusonline.ismanila.org
Transportation Office
# 840-8540 For questions/concerns, email:
campuscard@ismanila.org
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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
Deadline next week
Thursday!
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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ATHLETICS & ACTIVITIES
To the IASAS S1 teams a huge well done and congratulations for
your efforts in Bangkok at Soccer and Volleyball/Cross Country in
Singapore this past weekend. ISM teams gained 5 medals with the
highlight being GOLD for girls soccer in Bangkok, Silver and Bronze
for girls/boys volleyball, Bronze for girls cross country and an indi-
vidual Bronze medal for Yosuke Nakao in the 5km cross country with
a fantastic time of 16:55.26. Boys XC team placed 4th and boys soc-
cer placed 5th. Thank you to all players and coaches on a great
season one.
IASAS XC race results links Boys XC results Girls XC results
On the home front this past weekend congratulations to our MS A1/
A2 soccer teams who both won the Rifa League finals on Sun-
day over Zobel 1-0 and Claret 2-1. A wonderful achievement from
both teams all season. Our MS C1 soccer festival team also played in
finals at Xavier school and placed 3rd in the plate division final.
Well done also to the MS girls gold volleyball team who placed 3rd
in the ISSA MS girls league.
Our ES Rifa soccer season came to an end at ISM with the finals on
Saturday with the E2 team placing 3rd and the G1 team placing 4th
in cup finals. Congratulations to all our players, coaches and par-
ents for their support of the S1 soccer seasons.
For upcoming IASAS events.Season 2 and 3 ISM proudly hosts Ten-
nis in S2 and Track&Field/Golf in S3.
Season 2 tryouts and practice schedule are now released (see links
below) and are on the ATAC blog schedules page and are posted on
notice boards around school.
Tryout and Practice Schedules for S2 sports SY 17-18:
(MS- Basketball/Touch/Rugby/Tennis)
(HS- Basketball/Touch/Rugby/Tennis&Varsity Swim team)
MS 2nd season tryout schedule
HS 2nd season T-outs schedule
2nd season Practice schedule
For our year round teams practice schedules are posted on 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 pro-
gram.
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.
Oct 20 VBoys soccer local league semi final vs Zobel
away 4:30pm
Oct 23-24 No HS training due to parent conferences
(early release 12noon/Oct 23-25 No MS training due to
ISSUE # 36
SY1617
parent conferences (early release 12noon)
Oct 26 S1 sports awards at Fine Arts Theatre *new
format this year. This year a new format for the HS
sports awards will be used as follows5:30-6pm Light
snacks/refreshments at the Fine arts Theatre Lobby
area, 6pmawards begin in the Fine Arts Theatre with
MVP awardees recognised for JV&Varsity teams, along
with 4 year recipients and any special IASAS awards.
From 6:45 to 7:15pm teams will go to break out areas
for final team talks/coaches speeches relevant to the
teams season and highlights. Parents are welcome to
attend both the formal presentation of the major
awards and break out sessions for the coaches season
end talk specific to their son/daughters team.
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 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 at-
tending 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.
In order to clear the campus prior to 5pm all after school 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.
Parents and students please take some time to peruse the ATAC
blog it has a wide variety of information and links to our sports and
activities program. If you have any questions regarding the competi-
tive 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!
Best Regards,
Mark Pekin
Director of Athletics & Activities 7
 ISSUE # 36
SY1617

FILIPINIANA: Pista sa ISM

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 ISSUE # 36
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ISM UPCOMING EVENTS

This years High School musical, In the Heights, opened for a 3-night run on Thursday, October 19th. Tickets are avaliable from the
ISM Cashiers Office, the Electronic Kiosk or on the door. Here are the essential details:
Show Times: Thursday, Oct 19th @6pm/ Friday, Oct 20th @6:30pm/ Saturday, Oct 21st@6:30pm
Run time: 2 hour and 5 minutes, which includes a 15 minute intermission.
Tickets: 150PHP for students/ 300PHP for adults
Outside Guests: If you have friends or family from outside ISM who wish to watch, please communicate with ISM security to
arrange clearance. As an ISM ID holder, you can vouch for them to enter the campus. This should be done in advance to avoid delays
for your guests.
For more details about plot and suitability for MS students, please read this post on the Fine Arts Office blog.

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