| |
|
The 2005-06 calendar is now posted on our website
and is also available on the credenza in the front office.
|
|
Welcome to ISM's weekly newsletter for the week of
September 26 - 30, 2005. Please note that the ISM news brief is now available
to ISM families during regular school weeks via our website no later than 7:30 p.m. each Monday (Tuesday, if Monday is a holiday), unless otherwise noted. To request hardcopy notification, please contact Business Administrator / news brief editor Lisa Griffin Burns
at lburns@ismonterey.org
or call at 583-2165.
Please note: Past newsletters can be found
here.
: Unbelievably, we are just days away from our glorious two-week Fall Break, a first in the academic scheduling for ISM. Previous fall recesses have ranged from three days to one week. As our schedule is now in alignment with the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District (MPUSD) calendar, we will be enjoying the upcoming two week hiatus from Monday, October 3rd - Friday, October 14th; school will resume Monday, October 17th hopefully with all of us refreshed from outings to Disneyland, Hawaii, Big Sur, or just enjoying a slower pace in our backyards. A reminder for those families that have signed up for one or both of the October Break camps. During the first week off, we will be offering Spanish Camp October 3rd - 7th from 8:00 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. with providers Senorita Candia and Miss Lisa Wichael-Loomis. During Week 2: October 10th - 14th, Miss Sarah and Miss Anna will host Dramatic Arts Camp during the same time hours.
An informational flyer can be found on our website at here.
Please note that the campus will not be open during the break except for the camp programs, camp program providers, and ISM's custodian, Mr. Glen Baker. The admin office will not be open during this time. Stay safe during your respective holidays and we look forward to seeing everyone again on Monday, October 17th.
: This morning at 9:40 a.m., we successfully conducted our first joint Fire Drill of the school year, in which all 140 Manzanita Elementary and 301 ISM students participated. We really would like to compliment our students for taking the process seriously and ever so quietly exiting their classrooms and lining up on either the upper or lower playground blacktops. Grades 3, 6, 7 and 8 reported to the upper blacktop with their respective teachers, while the remaining classes headed down to the lower blacktop. Staff was extremely pleased with the drill and we would love for parents to follow-up with positive feedback at home as well.
However, we still have 12 percent of ISM families that still have not completed or updated registration paperwork -- to include Emergency contact information -- for this 2005-06 school year. This obviously poses a potential for danger as staff may not have the "latest greatest" contact information for parents and guardians in the event that a student is ill or involved in an emergency on campus. Administrative Assistant Karen Kushel will be sending emails directly to involved families by this coming Wednesday, September 28th requesting that they immediately schedule a time to complete the required paperwork in the admin office, preferably prior to the upcoming break. We thank you for your understanding in this matter and our efforts to maintain a safe school environment.
: In an ironic turn of events, we were writing the update for this news brief on the status of school orders through Schoolpop when we received formal notification that Schoolpop, Inc. has filed a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy case with the United States Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of Georgia. Chapter 7 Bankruptcy is defined as:
"the most common type of bankruptcy proceeding. It is a liquidation type of proceeding (as opposed to a reorganization proceeding). All of the debtor's assets, with the exception of "exempt" property, will be sold, and the proceeds will be used to pay their debts. If the proceeds are not enough to pay off all the debts, unpaid amounts on "dischargeable debts" will be discharged."
What does this mean for ISM and for those families that still have not received their school supplies and whose bank accounts or credit cards have been credited? As a first step, we would like to hear from those families with outstanding orders so that we can compile a count and total cost to those affected for forwarding to the bankruptcy court, if necessary. As we receive more details on this process, we will keep you informed. We deeply regret the inconvenience that our association with Schoolpop has caused ISM families, especially those that received materials belatedly or not at all. When choosing Schoolpop, Inc. last Spring, we were hoping that ordering school supplies through that vendor would be an efficient, affordable, and convenient process. Unfortunately, we were mistaken and we will be spending time in the coming months to research an alternative for next year. Feedback is always welcome, so feel free to inform us of options successfully implemented at other schools. Thank you for your understanding.
 : Here at ISM, we appreciate and are pleased to have the participation of our ISM parents on a continual basis. It is through the efforts of "TEAMwork" from both staff and parents, that ISM continues to flourish, grow, and provide our children and students with the best educational opportunities to achieve their highest potential.
TEAMwork is a valued component at ISM. Teachers and parents are key contributors to a child's development and learned behavior attributes. In line with student academic and behavior performances, TEAMwork underscores the significance of creating home and school environments promoting open communication, daily dialogue, and habits of responsibility that become second nature. TEAMing up to encourage daily communication and dialog (in addition to assisting with homework) provides a precedent for teaching our children and students to become life-long learners, creative and critical thinkers, effective problem solvers, and establishes the foundation to become positive and wise decision makers in our society.
Remember the following:
T - together
E - everyone
A - accomplishes
M - more
Continuing to build a strong and successful partnership with home, school and community is TEAMwork at its best! Thank you for your continued support.
: A couple of weeks ago, ISM's diligent staff began to focus considerable effort into writing the first round of self-study reports for joint accreditation by the Council of International Schools (CIS) and the Western Association of Colleges and Schools (WASC). The process looks at several facets of the school, such as curriculum, governance, resources, and several more. It also invites us to weigh these against the CIS standards for accreditation in light of the school's mission, philosophy, and objectives. Given that this self-improvement process centers on ISM's mission, philosophy, and objectives, it is timely to invite renewed community focus onto our stated mission statement, which currently reads as follows:
The mission of the International School of Monterey is to educate all students toward becoming conscientious, compassionate, and responsible citizens of the world by:
* Creating a strong sense of self-motivation in all students to discover and develop their uniqueness while striving to reach their full potential.
* Incorporating proven standards and effective practices using a recognized and innovative international curriculum.
* Generating a multicultural environment that promotes respect, understanding and appreciation of diversity.
* Building a strong partnership with home and community.
* Developing the whole child including adaptability, self-confidence, autonomy and creativity.
We thank you for helping us focus on the above. For more information on accreditation, see http://www.cois.org/accreditation/accred.htm .
:
KION is sponsoring Kidfest 2005 on Saturday, October 8th and Sunday, October 9th at the Monterey Fairgrounds from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. both days. This event promises to be one of the biggest FREE family events on the Central Coast and ISM stands to benefit financially from this event if we are able to provide 50 volunteers for both days. If we meet this goal, KION will donate $500 per day for a total of $1000 to the International School of Monterey for our organizational volunteer service. Parents and youngsters are encouraged to volunteer together and the list of options includes: costume characters (4 volunteers), parking (6 volunteers), carnival games (13 volunteers), prize central (14 volunteers), sports zone (4 volunteers), and relief and hospitality providers (9 volunteers). Kidfest volunteers will receive a free event t-shirt and lunch (sandwiches and chips), in addition to breaks throughout the day. Stay tuned for more information in coming weeks. Those community members eager to volunteer for this special event are asked to contact Administrative Assistant Karen Kushel at kkushel@ismonterey.org.
: Kudos to staffers Mr. D, Grade 3 instructor, and Mr. Robby, Instructional Aide for Grades 7 & 8, for "scoring" a plethora of boogie boards and surf boards last Friday evening, thereby ensuring the continued existence of surfing SEMs and other surfing-related classes here at ISM. Mr. D, who is a master when it comes to reaching out to the community for donated materials and supplies, joined forces with fellow colleague and surfer Mr. Robby to request support from "Ed" of ClubEd who operates a renowned surfing school in Santa Cruz. (For more information, refer to his website at www.club-ed.com.) Deeply discounting his prices for used boards, Ed generously provided 12 boards in total, to include six boogie boards and six soft top boards (one 7 foot, four 8 foot, and one 9 foot). We thank him for his kindness and urge surfing buffs in the community to stop by when in Santa Cruz to support his business. Stay tuned for more details about a possible surfing camp the first week of summer to be provided enthusiastically by Messrs. Dvorak and Fabry.
:
Coordinators of the ISM Family Association, to include Volunteer Coordinator Ellen Gaucher, invite you to attend an introductory organizational meeting on Thursday, September 29th at 7:00 p.m. in the ISM Library. The multiple goals of this group are to help plan, coordinate, and organize school-wide special events, recruit new volunteers to assist with these events, and to work together as a group to ensure success and to further strengthen community bonds. If your forte is organizational and creative event planning, please consider joining this group to help design and offer ISM's Halloween Festivities, the Winter and Spring holiday programs, Earth Day celebrations, Friday fundraiser luncheons, and as-yet undetermined events. The regular meeting time will be the last Thursday of each month at 7:00 p.m.
: The October lunch menus are out! All meals are made fresh daily, which requires weekly shopping for proper quantities to be on-hand based on orders submitted. Once again, the deadline to turn in menus to Program Provider Lisa Wichael-Loomis is the Wednesday prior to the coming week. Late menus will not be accepted after Wednesday as shopping is conducted by staff each Thursday and Friday. Any late menus will be returned to families to be adjusted and can be resubmitted for the correct timeframe.
All orders for the entire month of October or the first week of October are due by Friday, September 30th to ensure that proper quantities are available for meals following the October break. An important reminder when completing the menu: please complete all important information, to include the full name and grade of your child (as we do have multiple children on campus with the same name) as well as the dates for which you are paying. We are regularly trying to decipher forms lacking this critical info, which makes tracking students' individual orders extremely difficult.
Flyers and signup sheets can be found
here.
AFTERSCHOOL INTERNATIONAL / LATE PICK-UPS AFTER 3:45 P.M.: Any students who have not yet been picked up by 3:45 p.m. (a full 25 minutes after the end of the school day) by an authorized family member or friend will be forwarded to the After School program for further caretaking. Parents/guardians are then responsible for paying the $10 per hour fee, payable at the time you retrieve your child from the ASI program. Checks may be made payable to "ISM". Thank you for your cooperation!
: There is still time to submit information for the ISM directory currently being compiled by parent volunteer Tara Clark. Regardless of whether families are interested in purchasing a directory, student and family information can be included for the benefit of all community members. We would ideally like to receive a form from each family currently attending ISM, so if you have not yet turned in your form, please do so at this time. Additionally, we are utilizing the information collected on the directory forms to double-check our address, email, and phone information included in the enrollment database maintained in the admin office, and important discrepancies have been corrected.
For those interested in purchasing a directory, the cost is $5.00 per copy payable to "ISM"; please submit payment when submitting the directory form to us. For those families who have already turned in a directory form and have not yet paid for it, please forward $5.00 in either check or cash to the office. If unsure whether you have paid or not, just ask; we'll be happy to check for you. Forms need to be turned in to the admin office no later than Wednesday, September 28th to be included in the 2005-06 directory. Thank you!
: Registrations are still being accepted for the current session of Chess which is currently in its fourth week this coming Wednesday, September 28th. The program is offered once per week on Wednesdays from 3:45 - 4:45 p.m. Late registrations will be prorated $10 per class and beginners are quite welcome. Additionally, those students who have previously studied with instructor Lev Frenklakh are being enthusiastically invited to return to class. Contact Business Administrator Lisa Griffin Burns at lburns@ismonterey.org for more information.
: This year's yearbook editor is ISM parent Richard Herbert who has assisted with the yearbook since Year 1 and who produced the wonderful staff badges that we all currently wear. He is interested in collecting a core group of photo / yearbook enthusiasts early on to help produce an outstanding memento of the 2005-06 academic year. Please contact him at 238-4224 or per email at richardherbert@Comcast.net to express your interest in the creative yearbook process.
:
Volunteer Extraordinaire John Nahas, his wife Lourdes (a great ISM volunteer in her own right) and their son Anthony have made it safely to Oaxaca, Mexico - a road trip of some 2,600+ miles! John sends the following message: "What an experience and an education. Wouldn't trade it for the world. We love Anthony's little school (we are already very involved). He has a number of friends already." John sends his best to all.
:
Listed below are a few things desired by community members:
* Carpooling: 1) There has been a request for carpool / ridesharing from Salinas to ISM. If any of our families living in the Salinas area are willing to participate in carpooling students, please contact Dr. Neli Volante, ISM Counselor [583-3141] and she will assist in connecting the interested parties.
2) ISM Parent Merilee Kolpaczyk is undergoing orthopedic surgery in a few weeks and needs carpooling assistance for several weeks thereafter while she recuperates. The Kolpaczyks live in Monterey, in the area behind Monterey High. If you can help out, please contact her directly at 655-0961.
* Nurse's area: We still are looking for some cozy items for the nurse's area to help "warm up" the room for ill students. In particular, larger, cozy blankets and pillows for our older students are greatly needed. Additionally, donated reading materials for 4th - 8th graders would be appreciated. These come in handy while students are in the nurse's area awaiting pick up by parents.
|
