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The new calendar is now posted on our website
and is also available on the credenza in the front office.
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Welcome to ISM's weekly newsletter for the week May 2 - 6,
2005. Please note that the ISM news brief is now distributed to
ISM families primarily via email, unless otherwise requested,
thereby saving time and money. We appreciate your continued diligence
in accessing the information contained in this document. To request
hardcopy notification, please contact editor Lisa Griffin Burns
at lburns@ismonterey.org
or call at 583-2165.
Except for Grades 4 and 6 today, all ISM students in Grades 2 through 7 participated in STAR testing this morning between 8:45 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., depending on the grade. For the remainder of the week, all grades will begin testing promptly at 8:30 a.m. each morning and concluding some time between 9:20 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. each day. Once again, we remind parents to send students - healthy ones that is - to school well rested, nourished, and on time, so that testing can be accomplished successfully with a minimal of students needing to participate in make-up testing next week.
A STAR testing tradition here at ISM is to provide parent-donated snacks for participating students each day during the morning testing break. Today, the families of Grades 2 (Miss Diamond) and Grade 2/3 (Mr. Spedding) supplied an enviable array of snacks ranging from fruit, celery and peanut butter, home-baked goodies, to juice and fruit cups. A flyer was distributed last week regarding this STAR treat, but in case you missed it, the schedule for the remainder of the week is as follows: Grade 3 - Tuesday, Grade 4 - Wednesday, Grade 5 - Thursday, and Grades 6 and 7 for Friday. Please consider providing nutritious, healthy snacks for this "STAR snack buffet" only! Thank you!
The ISM school day concludes at 3:20 p.m. and it our expectation that parents will arrange for the timely pick up of their children at day's end. We reiterate this expectation as we have had a fair number of students
who do not participate in one of the numerous After-school activities - After School International (ASI), remediation tutoring, Middle School math tutoring, Chess, Tae Kwon Do, and Piano -
or who do participate in these programs later in the afternoon found to be wandering around campus until pick up or until their program begins. This poses not only a safety issue for the students, but a liability concern for ISM. Please either make appropriate after-school arrangements, for example, After-School International in which a child can be in a safe, monitored program and yet can participate in other enrichment-related activities on campus, or remind your child to wait in the office until an authorized person comes to collect him/her. We appreciate your consistent diligence to this matter!
Unfortunately, there was yet another accident in front of the school last week during early morning drop-off that did involve ISM community members. Since we have moved to this location, at least three known vehicle accidents have occurred during the drop-off / pick-up times of the day. Luckily, none of these incidents resulted in an injury, especially to one of our students; however, the possibility certainly existed. Once again, we would like to stress the importance of being fully focused on the task of driving cautiously, slowly, and defensively when approaching the Manzanita campus and once in the parking lot or the front driveway. Life is busy for all of us and we all have so much on our minds that we do not always find ourselves focused on the "here and now", rather what is next on our to-do list. Last week's mishap is a reminder to all of us to slow down and practice patience and consideration when accessing school grounds.
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During last Friday's inter-session SEM break, we held our first-ever school-wide spelling bee. Nearly one-third of our students in Grades Kindergarten through 7 enthusiastically stepped up on stage to take on the multiple challenge of (1) spelling grade-appropriate words correctly, and (2) doing so in front of the entire student body. In typically supportive fashion, ISM youngsters clapped for their colleagues who not only successfully mastered their presented word, but also those who got "tripped up" by the trickiness of the English language. At day's end on Friday, approximately 20 stalwart spellers remained and will compete in tomorrow's final phase. We invite you to support these "super spellers" at
10:45 a.m. tomorrow following the conclusion of the STAR testing process.
In another first, students, staff, and parents from the ISM and King campuses will be treated to a Taiko drumming presentation on
Wednesday, May 4th at 1:30 p.m. Featuring one our own very talented and supportive parents, Denise Hasegawa (mother of Lesley (Grade 7) and wife of ISM Board member Chris Hasegawa), this drumming troupe will perform on the King campus play field, adjacent to our playground. Mrs. Hasegawa donated her time earlier this year to teach a Taiko drumming SEM and it was fascinating to watch her introduce this mesmerizing art form to our students. Taiko, roughly translated means "big drum" and refers to a particular type of hollowed-out Japanese drum and to Japanese drumming itself. Please stop by to enjoy this wonderful experience first-hand!
Rescheduled from last week, the multi-purpose room will be transformed into a vision of springtime for the Middle School Spring Dance this
Friday, May 6th, 6 -8 p.m. ISM 6th and 7th graders and Chartwell middle schoolers are invited to attend in their dancing shoes. Students planning to partake in the fun are welcome to bring one guest, a student of grades 6-8, with prior permission from parents and notification of the school. Guest forms are available at front desk in the administration office. Free dress reflecting the theme of spring is permitted and encouraged within the ISM dress code. To volunteer as a chaperone, or for more information, please contact Erin Morita at 583-2168. Students should contact Jordan Kausin, student body president.
Mr. Spedding's Grades 2/3 class wishes to announce the WORLD PREMIERE of the Chinese folktale Yeh-Shen on
Tuesday, May 10th, at 9:05 a.m., during the regularly scheduled school assembly. Yeh-Shen is thought to be one of the oldest forms of the Cinderella tale. This presentation of Yeh-Shen will be performed in the style of Chinese Opera, with full make-up, lavish costumes, and featuring live music, performed by the ISM Chinese Opera Orchestra. Reeve Grobecker stars as Yeh-Shen, with Izzie Leahy as The Stepmother, Kirk Worley as The Old Man, and Daniel Kanak as The King.
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Please mark your calendars for the next in the series of scheduled parent meetings:
Thursday, May 12th at 6:30 p.m. in the multiuse room. Designed to discuss parent evaluations of our progress as well as solicit input on the future direction of our school, these meetings play a vital effort in strengthening the curricular and communication goals of ISM. provide parents an on-going forum to share. The final meeting of the 2004-05 academic year will be held on
Thursday, June 2nd at 6:30 p.m. Please plan to attend.
One of ISM's hallmark end-of-year events, the International Festival, has been moved one day from Saturday, June 4th to Sunday, June 5th; please mark the change on your calendar of events and plan to attend. As this special event is now being organized by key staff and volunteers - and not as an ISM Foundation event, we are eagerly requesting volunteer assistance in the areas of entertainment (to include the carnival), food, and support. If your reserve of volunteer energy is still alive and well, please register your interest and availability with either Development Director Erin Morita
(emorita@ismonterey.org)
or Business Administrator Lisa Griffin Burns
(lburns@ismonterey.org).
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