Parent Bulletin Issue 25 SY1314

8/12/2019 Parent Bulletin Issue 25 SY1314

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25 - 31 MAP Tesng

7 MS Party

3 - 7 Spirit Week

3 - 7 Course Registraon

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MIDDLE SCHOOLMIDDLE SCHOOLMIDDLE SCHOOL

ISSUE # 25

SY 2013 –2014

WEEK OF: Weekly Publication for Middle School Parents

Friday Bulletin

Inside this issue:

Events & Acvies:

2 MAP Tesng

10 ISM Upcoming Events

8 Admissions & Advancement

7 Athlecs & Acvies

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Superintendent’s Oce

Service Learning

Aer-School Acvies

MARCH 3 TO 7

10-

14 MAP Tesng

Dear Parents:

Starng on Monday, March 3 students will register for courses for school year2014-2015. You and your child should have received informaon about theprocess through your email address. If you did not, please check the MS BlogHomepage at hp://ms.ism-online.org/ to access the informaon. This pastWednesday during assembly me each grade level was informed of the pro-cess and the opons that were available. They were also strongly encouragedto discuss the opons with their parents so that they are prepared to registerfor classes. Students will register for courses during the school day. Aer reg-

istering, the student will be sent a conrmaon email with an aachmentsummarizing the courses that were selected; parents will also be copied withthe conrmaon. Please print out the conrmaon sheet, sign it and returnthe form to the Middle School Guidance Oce by March 14.

For parents of grade 8 students, please remember that there is a High SchoolCourse Selecon Meeng scheduled for Wednesday, March 5 from 5:30 – 7:00P.M. in the Lile Theater. Please plan to aend so that you can hear moreabout high school and what lies ahead for your child.

On Monday, March 10 we will start the second round of MAP (Measures ofAcademic Progress) tesng. Please see the separate leer included in the bul-len for more details. In the event that your child misses a tesng session, wewill hold make-up sessions on Wednesdays starng at 7:30 A.M. If your childrequires a make-up session, the MS Oce will nofy you and we ask that youmake the necessary arrangements to bring your child to school early onWednesday.

Looking ahead…On Thursday, March 20 students will be released early at12:00 noon, and we will have an aernoon of Student -Led Conferences, whichprovides an opportunity for students to share their learning with their parents.In the coming weeks we will provide more detailed informaon about theaernoon schedule, quesons you can ask your child during the conferences,and a goal seng sheet.

On that aernoon parents will accompany their child to each class for approxi-mately ten minutes and have the opportunity to discuss samples of work.There will be two sessions, 12:30 – 2:30 and 3:00 - 5:00, with students dividedaccording to the alphabet. It is recommended that students with surnames A-

K aend the rst session, and students with surnames L-Z aend the secondsession; however, this is exible. If you are unable to aend the recommended

session me, you are welcome to parcipate in the alternate session. For stu-dent-led conferences, parents will not need to schedule appointments. Pleasenote that if both parents are unable to aend the student-led conference,your child is expected to go home at dismissal and not remain on campus.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Yours in Educaon,

Simon Gillespie Clarissa Sayson

Middle School Principal Middle School Assistant Principal

3 Treasury Department

MARCH

27 Grade 5/6 All Strings

Concert

27 Student-LedConferences



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To All ISM Parents:

Important Advisory : US dollar Checks from Cibank NA - Philippine Branch

In accordance with the recent advisory made by Cibank N.A. Philippines, please be informed that

starng January 01,2014 , CITIBANK US Dollar Account checks drawn from Cibank N.A. Philippine

Branch will no longer be cleared through Cibank N.A. Agana Guam.

In eect, CITIBANK checks deposited to a local bank or bank abroad will be treated as collecon

checks

with clearing period of not less than

45 days.

The said checks will no longer be acceptable foroutright credit to both foreign currency deposit unit (FCDU) and PESO account unl the receipt of

credit advice from Cibank NA Philippines.

A collecon fee will also be imposed by depository banks (please see charges from BPI and HSBC

below).

BPI charges 1/4 of 1% for every Php 1.00 or a fracon thereof plus a xed postage fee of Php 6.50

and minimum charge for outward bills for collecon is Php 100.00 excluding postage fee.



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HSBC charges USD$3 for credit to USD account and Php100 for credit to Peso plus other addional

processing fee that maybe charged by the receiving bank.

Furthermore, the student's account paid by the Cibank check will not be considered as seled /

paid for unl such me the check is advised to have been cleared by Cibank. Addional surcharge

maybe computed at the me that the check has not yet cleared and already falls aer the due

date.

In this regard, we would like to advise our parents to deposit CITIBANK checks directly to the ISM

CITIBANK account. Please DO NOT DEPOSIT CITIBANK Checks toother ISM local banks such as HSBC

and BPI to prevent above-menoned problems. Also remember to use your new set of dollar checks

as advised by Cibank to you. As per Cibank, they have previously issued nocaon leers to

their account holders regarding this change.

For any query on your payment , please contact our Treasury Department - Cashiers ( Elmer Esguer-

ra and Nerissa Felipe) 840-85-12, for billing ( Rhoda Villa 840-85-22 ) or Marissa Dulay at 840-85-

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USD Check Clearing Services

Please be advised that eecve January 01,2014, US Dollar checks issued from your Cibank, N.A

Philippine Branch Dollar Checking Account can no longer be presented and cleared through Ci-

bank, N.A. Agana, Guam, U.S.A. under US Federal Reserve System. All US Dollar Account checksdrawn from Cibank N.A. Philippine Branch, which are deposited in a local bank or in a bank

abroad, will be treated as a collecon item by presenng bank. The clearing period will thus change

from 15 days to esmated 45 days depending on the process of the presenng bank on collecon

items.

in addion, beginning December 15, 2013, please refrain from issuing any unused exisng US Dollar

Checks to your payees. We encourage you to order a new set of US Dollar check books for future

use.

Should you have any quesons please contact Ci Service at 802-6000.

Important Advisory : HSBC Bank Charge for HSBC Check Deposits

Please be informed that starng January 01,2014 , HSBC has imposed a $4.00 bank

charge for each HSBC check deposit . Over the counter HSBC check deposits from parents and com-

pany sponsors are also covered and charged by the same amount. In this regard, we would like to

remind all our parents and sponsoring companies to please add $4.00 when paying HSBC check(s)

or demand dra to ISM Cashier's Oce or for direct deposits, to HSBC. For your reference and

guidance.



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Re-enrollment: SY14-15 Returning Students Medical Update

Dear Parents:

As you may know, for a number of years we have had required medical check-ups for students at dierent stages

in their school lives: G1; G5; G9. In recognion of the increasing concern about heart health, especially in conjunc-

on with physical exercise in a tropical climate, we shall be introducing a mandatory Electro-Cardiogram (ECG)

test for older students.

Sudden Cardiac Death in Adolescents, especially during sporng acvity, is a recognized syndrome and well over

100 children a year die of this in the USA. Medical advice is that it makes sense to test only students who are 12

years old and beyond. In light of this, we shall now have two thresholds for medical examinaons instead of the

present three. These will be in Grade 1 and Grade 6. At Grade 1, there will be a physical examinaon performedby a duly accredited doctor as is the case at present. At Grade 6, there will be a similar physical examinaon but

with the added component of an ECG. All new students between G1 and G5 will have a physical examinaon; all

new students from G6 onward will have a physical examinaon and the ECG.

In order to "grandfather out" our present cohort of students, please note:

· Incoming G6 students will have an ECG, but will not need a physical examinaon, since this was done when

they entered G5

· Incoming G9 students will have the full medical examinaon and an ECG.

· Incoming G7 and G8 will have the full medical examinaon and an ECG when they enter G9.

·

We shall connue to encourage very strongly all athletes parcipang in Varsity sports to take an ECG.

Over the course of the next years, this will mean that all ISM students from G6 onwards will have had a basic heart

check-up. The ECG is not denive, and there is a more sophiscated check that the doctor will recommend if any-

thing in the ECG causes concern. The test itself is very reasonably priced and is readily available at St Luke’s and

Maka Medical Center as well as other hospitals.

Please take a moment to review our re-enrollment me-line and procedures for all students returning for school

year 2014-2015: RE-ENROLLMENT

I do understand that adding this requirement of an ECG may be seen as an addional chore for parents and stu-dents at the me of re-enrollment, but if such a test saves even one life then it will be well worth the extra eort.

Sincerely,

David Toze

Superintendent



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MS Saturday Service Dates

March 8 Papaya Academy

CRIBS Foundaon

March 15

Chosen Children’s Village (CCV)

March 22 Philippine Community Fund (PCF)

March 29 Philippine Animal Welfare Society

April 5 Tzu Chi Foundaon Recycling Center

To sign up, get a Permission Slip in the MS Oce and prepare to…

[Get awesome!]

Middle School Tennis already started last week. If your child is conrmed in this acvity,

please make sure that he/she noes the Tennis coach of his/her preferred schedule.

Fee for this acvity is Php 5000.00 which you may sele at the cashier.

Third season acvies resume this week starng February 26th. Acvies such as Bad-

minton, Cricket, Ulmate Frisbee and Volleyball have started.

The following acvies are sll available and if you want to sign up your child with these

acvies, you may do so at the AFAC desk: Chosen Children Village, Digital Imagery,

Math Counts, Minecra for Grade 7-8, MUN, Philippine Cultural Club, Robocs Electron-

ics Programming for Inventors, Yoga, Zumba, Ballet, Dance Mash, Tap Dance, Guitar, Ai-

kido, Aquacs, Chess, Judo, Tae Kwon Do, Soccer for Gr 7-8, Ulmate Frisbee and Volley-

ball.

http://www.slideshare.net/sbrokvam/ism-collaboration-with-papaya-academy-presentation


http://www.cribsfoundation.com/


http://www.chosenchildrenvillage.org/

http://www.p-c-f.org/

http://www.paws.org.ph/


http://www.tzuchi.org.ph/newsite/index.php

http://www.tzuchi.org.ph/newsite/index.php


http://www.p-c-f.org/

http://www.chosenchildrenvillage.org/





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3rd season pracce schedule for MS/HS stu-dents is posted on the schedules pages of the(ATAC blog) and on noce boards aroundschool.

Saturday Community Tennis has resumed andwill run through unl the end of May…. see theyer on the blog for exact dates and details.This is open to ISM community members only,outside guests are not allowed. Contact CoachCzarina to book lessons with our ISM TennisAcademy coaches (hp://atac.ism-online.org/

atac/saturday-community-tennis/).

Well done to all our MS/HS track athletes whocompeted at the 1st ISM meet for the seasonlast Saturday. Meet results can be foundhere hp://atac.ism-online.org/atac/3rd-

season/track-meet-results/

March 1st is the Sailsh Aquathon. See CoachHolly or Sailsh Blog for details.

March 1st Brent Track meet and Brent Badmin-

ton tournament for MS/HS teams.

New families please take some me to perusethe ATAC blog as this will help orientate youwith the wide variety of co-curricular programsISM oers.

A great way to stay in touch with the ISM ATACprogram is to subscribe via RSS feed to theATAC blog and also to follow via twier (seetwier feed on the blog home page).

Each Monday, I will post the week’s happeningsand highlight important events for students andparents informaon on the ATAC blog and inthe regular Friday parent bullens.

GAME SCHEDULE PDF: (access to game sched-ule informaon): Informaon about all mid-

week/weekend xtures for ISM teams can befound via the ATAC blog. Please note the gameschedule does change oen due to involvementwith many local schools so please check thepage regularly to nd out the latest informaonof where and when the Bearcats teams areplaying. Click on schedules tab or the Bearcatlogo to be directed to the power school securesite (hp://powerschool.ismanila.org/public/)You will need your power school user name andpassword to access the game schedule pdf.

The Bearcat Den (hp://atac.ism-online.org/

bearcat-

den/) is open for business, please dropby to check out the range of Bearcat products.We have a great team of volunteers who runthe den and are always looking for more peopleto help out. If you are interested in joining afantasc group please contact any of our denmembers during den opening hours or pleasecontact Carolyn Ching for details [email protected]. We are always lookingfor new volunteers and encourage parents fromES/MS to join our group. The Bearcat den is

now calling for volunteers to take on POR's(posions of responsibility) for next school year'14-15) as secretary, treasurer, volunteer coor-dinator, inventory/merchandise and snacks pur-chasing. If you are interested drop an emailto [email protected]

Have a great year at the Home of the Bearcats!

Regards, Mark Pekin

Director of Athlecs/Acvies

mailto:[email protected]





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UPDATE YOUR CONTACT DETAILS THROUGH

THE ISM PARENT PORTAL

Dear Parents,

We are pleased to inform you that your child’s PowerSchool account may be accessed through the ISM Parent Portal.

Aside from being a gateway to PowerSchool, the Parent Portal also provides informaon on school events, useful links,

as well as child-specic academic blogs and student porolios. Should you need to make any changes to your contact

informaon, visit the Parent Portal and follow the steps below:



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Leaving ISM?

For those students that will be withdrawing from Internaonal School Manila this school year (SY 13

-14), the following procedure applies:

Parents are obliged to ocially inform the Admissions Oce in wring through a Withdrawal No-

caon Form at least een (15) days prior to your child’s last day of school.

For those leaving at the end of the school year, you MUST submit a Withdrawal No-

caon Form on or before May 09, 2014.

Failure to do so will lead to a deducon of US$1,000 from the Facilies Upgrade Deposit (FUD) in

compensaon for having held a space for the child and thus prevenng the School from oeringthat space to another child prior to the summer holiday break.

The Withdrawal Nocaon Form can be obtained from the Admissions Oce or downloaded from

the ISM website here.

We hope that your child has had an enriching stay at ISM and wish you and your family the very

best in the future.

http://www.ismanila.org/page.cfm?p=853&pback=372






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Documents

Parent Bulletin Issue 25 SY1314