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

F R I D A Y
BULLETIN WEEKLY PUBLICATION FOR PARENTS
Issue # 13 week of November 27 December 8 SY1718

Dear Parents,
Welcome to a double edition of the MS Parent Bulletin! This
weeks bulletin contains all information for the coming week
(Monday, November 27th - Friday, December 1st) as well as the
following week (Monday, December 4th - Friday, December
8th). This is due to the fact that there is no school on Thursday
and Friday and we thought it would be more effective to com-
bine the respective Parent Bulletins.
It is hard to believe that as of Monday, there are only 13 school
days between now and the end of the first semester - I guess
the refrain, Time flies when youre having fun really is
true! The end of the semester is always action-packed so please
read on to learn more about whats happening in the next two
weeks as well as all the key dates coming up between now and
the end of the semester.

THIS WEEK: NOVEMBER 27 - DECEMBER 1

Monday, November 27th
All Strings Concert
Time: 5:30 - 7:00 p.m.
Venue: FAT
Monday, November 27th - Tuesday, December 12th
MS Art Show
Opening Event = November 27th at 3:00 p.m.
Venue: FAT Lobby
Whats
Inside?
Wednesday, November 29th
All Bands Concert
Time: 5:30 - 7:00 p.m.
Venue: FAT

Thursday, November 30th and Friday, December 1st MS Play 4

No School
MS Activities 5
Bonifacio National Holiday (Faculty In-Service Day)
Friday, December 1st: Campus Card 5
No Parent Bulletin! Alumni News 5
There will be no Parent Bulletin next week due to
the fact we are not at school. AMIS Honor Choir Festival 6
Please note that all information for next week is
summarized in the section below. Athletics & Activities 7
Admissions & Advancement 8
Is your child too sick for school?
ISM Upcoming Events 9
SICK DAY GUIDELINES
CLICK HERE
 NEXT WEEK: DECEMBER 4 - 8 NEED TO KNOW:
Monday, December 4th: Campus I-Card:
MAP Student Progress Report (SPR): Please be aware that our Campus i-Card loading machine is a
Your childs SPR will be uploaded to PowerSchool little temperamental. This means that it will not consistently
and parents can access them via the Parent Portal. accept all bills that students try to insert. This is related to the
Please see the detailed overview in the Need to fact that the machine has to be coded for each note before it
Know section of the bulletin. has the capacity to read and accept them. Some of the Peso
bills have been updated and the machine does not yet have the
Wednesday, December 6th:
capacity to read all versions. Please remember that to avoid
MS Drama Festival (AFAC Drama) unwelcome frustration, students can pay cash at the Cashiers
Venue: AMR Office and parents can also load money directly onto the card
Time: 3:20 - 4:30 p.m. via PayPal. We are also encouraging MS students to load money
Open invitation to all parents, staff and students. onto the cards in advance, rather than waiting until lunch time
The AFAC Drama students will be sharing a scene to do so. This will help students avoid long lines at the Campus
from Shakespeares Macbeth and scenes from musi- i-Card loading machine.
cal theatre.
The students will be presenting work they have de- Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) - Results
vised during the Drama Club afterschool activity. As you are aware, ISM conducts the Measures of Academic Pro-
gress TM (MAP) twice a year - once in September/October and
Thursday, December 7th: again in March. After each test event, we communicate the re-
PCA Faculty and Staff Appreciation Lunch sults to parents via an individual Student Progress Report. This
Venue: LT report communicates your childs results in the areas of Read-
Time: 10:30 - onwards ing, Language Usage and Mathematics. Your childs Student
Please see the Need to Know section below. Progress Report will be uploaded to PowerSchool on Monday,
December 4th. Parents are asked to follow the step-by-step
Friday, December 8th: instructions in order to access this report quickly. Please note
House Shirt Day or Team Jersey day (year-round that these instructions are attached to this weeks Parent Bulle-
sports only) for MS Students tin email.
Students must wear school shorts not jeans!
We appreciate that some of our parents are new to the MAP
Saturday, December 9th:
tests and so we have included some FAQs below:
ES/MS/HS Dance Recital
Time: 3:00 - 5:00 p.m. What do the numbers mean?
Venue: FAT The results of MAP tests are reported in RIT (Rasch Unit)
scores. RIT scales are a different type of score from a
Saturday, December 9th: typical test. Test items match student performance on
MS Saturday Service the given day of testing and are reflective of the num-
Service Partner: Childrens Chosen Village ber of questions a student answered correctly and the
Faculty Sponsor: Vida Vergel level of difficulty the question was pitched at. MAP
Time: tests are adaptive, so the difficulty level adjusts ac-
Depart ISM at 7:30 am cording to students answering correctly or incorrect-
ly. The RIT scores are then normed to offer grade level
Return to ISM at 2:30 p.m.
equivalencies. RIT scores range from about 100 to 280.
Students typically start at the 180 - 200 level in Third
COMING UP IN THE Grade and progress to the 220 to 260 level by High
LAST WEEK OF THE SEMESTER! School.

Thursday, December 14th: What is the Student Score Range?

MS Sports Day If your child were to take this test again tomorrow, it is
Time: All day - but parents are encouraged to come most likely that his / her score would fall within this
to the afternoon section on the HS Field as of 12:10 range. The middle number in bold is the RIT score your
p.m. child received for this test event.
Thursday, December 14th: What is the Norm Group Average?
MS ATAC and AFAC Activities The Norm Group average is the average RIT score for
Please be aware that this date marks the last day students in the United States in the same grade for MAP
for all MS ATAC and After School Activities for this tests taken at the beginning, middle and end of the
semester. school year, according to 2015 data. The US Norm group
study results were based on over 20,000 student sam-
Friday, December 15th:
ples for each grade level from over 13,000 schools.
Last Day of the Semester
Early dismissal at 12:00. What is the District Average?
Please note that there will be no ATAC or AFAC ac- The District Average is the average RIT score for all stu-
tivities on this date. dents at ISM tested at the same time within the same
School buses will depart ISM at 12:15 p.m. and this grade level.
is the only bus service on this day - no late bus! 2
What is Student Growth and Typical Growth?
Student Growth shows your childs growth in RIT score
from the previous Fall (beginning of the school year) to
the Spring (middle or end of school year). Typical
Growth is the average growth in RIT score, according to
2015 data, for students in the United States in the same
grade. Students receive Student Growth and Typical
Growth data only once a year.
What is the reason for doing MAP testing?
MAP tests make up one part of the external assessment
practices, as outlined in the ISM Assessment Policy.
These tests provide the school with data to inform
teaching and learning, and provide a reference point for
the ongoing development of the school-wide curricu-
lum.
They also give data that allows us to look for trends
within certain areas of our curriculum.
At ISM, we believe that sound assessment involves creating a
multitude of ways to measure and communicate student learn-
ing over time a photo album versus a single snapshot. As such,
we are mindful of the role standardized testing plays in the as-
sessment of student learning. We are also informed by the in-
ternal assessment data designed by our teachers and aligned
with ISMs curriculum and adopted standards. Furthermore, our
students self assessments also provide very useful instructional
data.
If you have any questions about your childs results this semes-
ter, please speak to your childs counselor, Math teacher or Eng-
lish teacher. You may also wish to consult the NWEA (North
West Evaluation Association) website at www.nwea.org for the
Parent Toolkit as this contains more in-depth information.
If you experience difficulty accessing your childs MAP Student
Progress Report, please contact the MS Guidance (Grace Gabay)
and she will be happy to help you.

Our MAP testing results at ISM for students in Grades 3 MS Sports Day - Heads Up!
10 show that our academic program measures excep- On Thursday, 14th December the Middle School students will
tionally well against US norms. celebrate Sports Day. On this day, all MS students are off
schedule and will participate in an inclusive day for all, focussed
What if the report shows a decline in a growth target? on active participation and sportsmanship. Students will have
It is important to keep in mind that not all students will the opportunity to showcase their growing skill development
meet growth targets every time they test. Factors such while modelling high levels of collaboration and sportsman-
as sleep, time of day of testing, and how the student is ship. Students will take part in a mixture of competitive and
feeling can all affect results of a standardized test. In noncompetitive activities in the morning in a wide variety of
addition, it is possible that a student encounters ques- school venues. In the afternoon the whole of the Middle School
tions on the test that addresses content that has not will be doing fun water-based games on the high school field in
yet been taught. their House teams. Parents are more than welcome to join us
on the HS field (after 12:00 noon) if you would like to come and
What does ISM do with the information that MAP provides? spectate.
Teachers use the data from MAP testing to inform learn-
ing and teaching. It assists in determining, which skills PCA Faculty and Staff Holiday Appreciation Lunch
require enhancing, which skills students have already Please refer to the flyer below (or the separate email that was
developed, and which skills need to be introduced. send via the MS Office email account on Monday of this week) to
learn more about how you can help support the PCA Faculty and
MAP tests also provide our school with a reference point Staff Holiday Appreciation Lunch. Your kind donations are both
for the ongoing development of the school-wide curric- valued and appreciated.
ulum. This data allows us to look for trends within cer-
tain areas of our curriculum.

3

NICE TO KNOW!
Fall Academic Bowl Results!
Congratulations go to our Academic Bowl Bearcats who won
back the Academic Bowl cup from Faith Academy in a nail biting
contest on Wednesday. There were several rounds where the
teams were separated by only one point before ISM pulled away
and raced to first place!
ISM = 1st place
Faith Academy = 2nd place
Brent School = 3rd place
Wed like to extend our thanks and appreciation to the Academ- channel, please email fa@ismanila.org.
ic Bowl coaches - Holly Elwell and Holly Walker as well as Mark
pekin and Holly Chapman for their support of this event. A huge Kind regards,
shout-out goes to our dedicated students who have invested a
significant number of hours to research, understand and retain
all the information that was needed to become Academic Bowl
Fall Champions - Go Bearcats!
Congratulations to the All Choirs Students!
An amazing concert took place last Wednesday - the All Choirs
Concert! This uplifting performance showcased the depth of
learning that is engendered in ISMs blossoming choral pro-
gram. In talking with students about their recent performance
experience, it was warming to hear students talk about how
much they had grown both individually and collectively and how
being a member of choir has fostered a strong sense of belong-
ing.
Please note that ISM records all performances and uploads them
to ISMs YouTube channel. If you want to gain access to this
Rachel and Amanda

ISSUE # 36
SY1617

MS PLAY: PETER PAN

This years play is Peter Pan. It will be a devised production.

Auditions will start in the second week of January. More details to come.

Info lunch session: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday in the first week of December. - Any questions please see Ms. Rankin before
hand.

Season 2 - usually 1 - 2 rehearsal a week except for main cast. Ensemble - Wednesday.
Season 3 - Full commitment to the play.

Thanks,
Ms. Rankin and Ms. Grev 44
 MS ACTIVITIES
2nd Semester, SY 2017-18
January 8 to June 1, 2018
SIGN-UPS WILL BE
DONE ONLINE from
November 17 (4pm) to
November 24 (4pm)
http://ms-activities.ism
-online.org/
REGISTRATION IS FIRST
COME, FIRST SERVED.
Students confirmed activities
will be sent through email on
December 11th
ACTIVITIES WILL START
JANUARY 10, MONDAY.
CAMPUS CARD CORNER
Retrieving Campus Card Password
If you forget your password, send an email to
campuscard@ismanila.org to request for the
resetting to the original password.
For more information, visit:
http://campusonline.ismanila.org
For questions/concerns, email:
campuscard@ismanila.org
ALUMNI NEWS
Scott Gutsy Tuason 86 is a renowned underwa-
ter photographer. He has published three award
winning books. His most recent work, Black Water
Open Blue bagged the 2017 Underwater Photog-
raphy Book of the Year prize in the UK. Gutsy re-
cently visited ISM to share his passion with mem-
bers of the Ocean ActivISM Club, Sustainability
Council and Photography Club.
Please contact Maica Cruz of the Alumni Office at alum-
ni@ismanilaorg to share your Alumni Bearcat News!
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 ISSUE # 36
SY1617

AMIS Honor Choir Festival

AMIS Asian Middle AMIS Asian Middle
School Honor Boys Choir School Honor Girls Choir
Festival Festival
International School International School
Bangkok Bangkok
4-8 April 2018 4-8 April 2018
Melissa Richardson, Dinah Helgeson, Guest
Guest Conductor Conductor
Betty Chang, Accompa- Kate Meininger, Accom-
nist panist
website link website link

Dear Parents,
The ISM Music Department is delighted to invite all grades 6, 7, & 8
male and female singers to audition for the 2017-2018 Honor Choir
Festivals in Bangkok, Thailand! The festivals are hosted by the Associ-
ation for Music in International Schools (AMIS pronounced like the
French word for friends ah-mee). This is a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity to participate with some of the best young voices
throughout Asia.
What is an Honor Choir Festival?
An Honor Choir Festival is a chance for like-minded students to come
together for three days of rigorous and fulfilling music-making. Stu-
dents will attend from throughout Asia, and will rehearse, learn, and
play with top-tiered talent and leadership. The culminating perfor-
mance or "Gala Concert" will take place on Saturday, April 7th, at
6:00pm in the International School Bangkok's Chevron Theater.
Who will attend?
Twelve students (6 boys and 6 girls) will be invited to attend the festi-
val, based on auditions to be held in December (see details below),
consisting of a 1-minute solo of the student's choice, singing exercises
led by the teachers, and the singing of repertoire excerpts provided
by the teachers.
Where will the festivals be held?
The festivals themselves will be held simultaneously at International
School Bangkok in Bangkok, Thailand. The girls' choir will be under
the direction of Dinah Helgeson, and the boys' choir will be under the
direction of Melissa Richardson. The students, Ms. Grev, and Ms.
Provencher will leave from ISM on Wednesday, April 4th, and return
on Sunday, April 8th.
Where will the students stay?
The students will be housed with host families from International
School Bangkok. They will likely (though not definitely) be paired or
grouped with other students from our school, and will no doubt have
a wonderful time with their host family!
What is the cost?
The festival fee is 170GBP. The other two costs are the flight and
pocket money for some snack food. A flight to Bangkok is around 350
-400USD for the times we want to travel, but it is too early to give an
exact price.
Some additional important details:
AMIS is a prestigious event. Once your son or daughter is select-
ed to attend and signs the commitment form, he/she is com-
mitted to attend all rehearsals prior to the event. We will be
rehearsing on Wednesdays after school, starting in January, as
well as 1-2 Saturday intensive rehearsals.
Accepted students will be required to spend time on their own
learning and perfecting their music. Practice tracks will be made
available.
An experience such as an honor choir festival can be life-
changing, and we highly recommend that all members of choir
and other choral students try out for this opportunity! Although
only six girls and six boys will be chosen, the act of auditioning
alone builds confidence and experience, and is an important part
of growth as a performer. Students may begin signing up for 10-
minute audition slots next week on Ms. Grev's classroom door
(1149) for one of the following time blocks or, for 7/8 students
currently in choir, during class:
Monday, December 4, 12:40-1:15
Wednesday, December 6, 11:00-11:40
Thursday, December 7, 12:40-1:15
Friday, December 8, 12:40-1:15
callback session on Wednesday, December 13th - 3:00-
4:00pm
Please feel free to email Ms. Grev (grevc@ismanila.org) or Ms. Pro-
vencher (provenchera@ismanila.org) with any questions, comments,
or concerns you might have. We look forward to hearing many fan-
tastic auditions, and appreciate your support of your daughter/son
and the arts at ISM.
Best Regards,
Ms. Grev & Ms. Provencher 6
 ISSUE # 36
SY1617

ATHLETICS & ACTIVITIES

For upcoming IASAS events.Season 2 and 3 ISM proudly hosts
Tennis in S2 and Track&Field/Golf in S3.
Housing forms for hosting IASAS tennis players Jan 31-Feb 4 is
available here. If you are participating in our tennis program S2
or were housed at a S1 IASAS event in Bangkok or Singapore
please help out by housing a pair of tennis players. Bearcat com-
munity support is encouraged and needed to support these
events.
The S2 practice schedule is posted (see link below) and is on the
ATAC blog schedules page and are posted on notice boards
around school. S2 sports SY 17-18: (MS- Basketball/Touch/
Rugby/Tennis)(HS- Basketball/Touch/Rugby/Tennis&Varsity
Swim team)
2nd season practice sched 17-18
For our year round teams practice schedules are posted on no-
tice 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
This past Saturday at the ISM Climbing wall we hosted the final
round of the Young Wild and Free wall climbing series. ISM
Climbers had a great day bagging 3 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze
medals. ISM hosted the fifth and final leg of the Young Wild and
Free Climbing Series 2017 last November 18. Competitors from
all over Metro Manila climbed their best to accumulate enough
points to be hailed as the overall Champion this year in their
respective categories.
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.
Fri Nov 24th Friday Night Lights #2- Touch and Basketball vs
Brent and Rugby vs Brent/BSM/Faith from 4pm
Nov 25 Rd #3 Local Touch league at ISM from 1pm
Nov 25 Rd #2 Local Rugby league at Brent
Nov 25 HS and MS Tennis ISTA league at CSA/ISM
Nov 25 Local league Basketball at ISM (MS/HS teams)
Nov 25 Sailfish Aquathon at Pool/MS field 7:30am-11:30am
Nov 28 Twilight Touch league games 5-7pm
Nov 28 Bonifacio Cup swim meet at ISM 3-6:00pm
Dec 2 MS Tennis at ISM/ES girls soccer team at ISM
Dec 9 Touch Rd #4 at Faith/Rugby Rd #4 at Faith
Feb 1-3 IASAS S2 Championships- Tennis at ISM/Basketball at
ISB/Rugby and Touch at TAS/Swimming at JIS
Information on our ES/MS Activities program is available on the
ES and MS Activities blogs. Links to these blogs are on the help-
ful shortcuts menu on the home page of the ATAC blog or acces-
sible 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
attending training sessions.

YWF Climbing Series 5th leg winners: J Please note the practice times for ATAC programs for SY 17-18
are as follows:
uniors A-Boys Patrick Peterson Bronze, Ethan Liu Silver.
Juniors A-Girls Li Ling Warwick Bronze, Gabie Ong Gold,
All year round team team training sessions are 3:15-4:30.
See schedule for our All year round teams program here
Juniors B-Boys Sebastian Phemister Bronze
See Sailfish blog for swim squad start and finish times after
Juniors A-Girls Ananda Abiad Silver Ruitong Liu Gold. the tryouts period has concluded and squads have been fi-
ISM joined in 4 out of the possible 6 categories and was able to nalised.
get 3 overall championships. OVERALL CHAMPIONS Ethan Liu Gymnastics team training is 3:10-4:50pm every M,W,F
Boys A Gabie Ong Girls A, Ruiton Liu Girls B. Congratulations
All HS seasonal teams practice from 3:05- 4:50pm.
to everyone in the climbing team for an amazing season!
MS seasonal teams practice 3:15-4:40pm.
Well done to our HS and MS Academic Bowl teams who placed In order to clear the campus prior to 5pm all after school pro-
3rd and 1st respectively at the Fall events this past Tuesday at grams will conclude by 4:50pm or earlier. The last bus
Faith and Wednesday at ISM. A big thanks to all the students is 4:55pm this is due to the ever increasing traffic concerns in
who participated and to the advisors, Mr Winters & Hobbins for our area.
HS and Ms Walker & Ellwell for MS. Your support to prepare the
Parents and students please take some time to peruse the ATAC
students is greatly appreciated.
blog it has a wide variety of information and links to our sports
Tomorrow we host the Sailfish Aquathon if you want to be a late and activities program. If you have any questions regarding the
entry contact Coach Holly or Hazel asap to see if you can still competitive program of sports at ISM after reading the infor-
get involved. Best wishes to all our students/parents/teachers mation on the blog please send an email
who will be taking part swimming and running- to pekinm@ismanila.org and I will assist you as best I can.
from 7:30 tomorrow morning at the MS field/pool area.
Bearcat Den- drop by our fantastic spirit store. There is a a
Please take the time to navigate the ATAC blog as it is our one range of new products and items to purchase including items
stop shop for all information related to the competitive ISM from our service partners.
sports program.
Best Regards,
Upcoming Events: Mark Pekin
*matches at ISM unless specified as *away venue. Check ATAC Director of Athletics & Activities 7
 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

ISM UPCOMING EVENTS

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ISSUE # 36
SY1617

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