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 # 4 week of september 11 15 sy1718

Dear Parents,
Thursday, September 21st:
I hope this weeks Parent Bulletin finds you and your family ESL Parent Coffee (MS and HS)
well and that you have all had a wonderful week. Theres Location: Little Theater
quite a lot of information in this weeks bulletin, so lets get Time: 7:45 - 9:00 a.m.
straight down to business! Please see the flyer for details

THIS WEEK:
Tuesday, September 12th:
Grade 7 Parent Forum
Location: AMR
Time: 7:00 - 7:40 a.m.
Focus: Supporting your child with organization
Facilitator: Marc St. Laurent
Note: Please see the G7 Viber group for more
details.

MAP Parent Coffee (MS only)

Location: Little Theater
Time: 7:45 - 9:00 a.m.
Who: MS Parents
Focus: MAP Tests - Measures of Academic Pro-
gress
What are the MAP tests?
Why do students from G3 - G10 take the
MAP tests?
How do the MAP tests work?
Whats
Inside?
What does ISM do with the MAP data?
Tips for supporting your child.

Thursday, September 14th:

PCA New Parents Meet and Greet
Location: FAT
Time: 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.
Who: New ISM parents
Campus Card Corner 4
What: Drinks, nibbles and time to chat MS Activities 4
COMING UP NEXT WEEK: Athletics & Activities 5
Monday, September 18th - Wednesday, September Operations & Security 6
27th:
MS MAP Testing Window: Admissions & Advancement 8
Please see the Need to Know section for more
details ISM Upcoming Events 9
 One feature of Google Classroom is the Classroom Email
COMING UP SOON: Summaries for Guardians. A sample of this email summary
can be found here and includes the following:
Thursday, September 28th and Friday, September
Missing workWork thats late at the time the
29th:
email was sent.
No School!
Upcoming workWork thats due today and to-
September 28th = Faculty In-Service Day
morrow (for daily emails) or work thats due in
September 29th = School Holiday the upcoming week (for weekly emails)
Class activityAnnouncements, assignments, and
Thursday, October 5th and Friday,October 6th:
questions recently posted by teachers
CWW Week (Classroom Without Walls)
Below is a brief overview of the upcoming CWW At present we have asked all teachers to turn the Classroom
events. (Please see the Need to Know section Email Summaries for Guardians function off. However, in
for more details!) the coming weeks, we will be testing this system, and hope
Grade 5: On Campus - no overnight to turn this feature on within the month. When we turn it
Grade 6: Off Campus at Island Cove on, parents will receive an automated email from their
(Overnight trip) childs teachers asking them whether they would like to re-
Grade 7: Off Campus at Club Balai Isabel ceive email summaries. Parents need to follow the instruc-
(Overnight trip) tions within the email to formally activate this fea-
Grade 8: Off Campus at Caliraya ture. Please Note: Guardians cant sign in to Classroom di-
(Overnight trip) rectly.

NEED TO KNOW: CWW (Classroom Without Walls) Week:

MAP Testing: In one months time our first CWW event will take place and
Currently, there are 370 international schools in 123 coun- so wed like to take the time to share some additional infor-
tries who use the Measures of Academic ProgressTM (MAP) mation with all parents.
tests. These adaptive computerized assessments are used at
ISM and students from Grade 3 through to Grade 10 take Our CWW program is a big hitter in regards to MS events and
them. ISM has two testing windows per academic year. The most of our students eagerly anticipate these trips. The key
first testing window takes place in September/October (Fall learning outcomes of our CWW program are summarized be-
testing season) and the second takes place in March (Spring low:
testing season). During each testing season students take
three different tests - Math, Reading and Language Us-
age. The assessments are untimed and take place in the
classroom setting during the regular Math, Social Studies and
English lessons.

The MS MAP testing window runs from Monday, September

18th through to Wednesday, September 27th. On Tuesday,
September 12th, before our September/October MAP testing
window commences, we are hosting a MS Parent Coffee in
the Little Theater from 7:45 - 9:00 a.m. (Please note that ES
will be hosting a separate Parent Coffee closer to the ES MAP
testing dates.) If you would like to learn more about these
standardized assessments, why we use them and how we use
the data collected, why not plan on joining us? Please note
that this is a repeat presentation and there is no need to at- Grade 5
tend if you have already seen these presentation in the past. On Campus (no overnight component)
G5 students will remain on campus and will work
with our Service Learning Partners from Papaya
Google Classroom: Academy. They will engage in a wide range of
As many parents are aware, this year we are using Google team building activities, participate in a scaven-
Classroom across the Middle School. So, what exactly is ger hunt and build empathy and understanding
Google Classroom? by helping others.

Google Classroom is a blended learning platform developed Grade 6

by Google for schools that aims to simplify creating, distrib- Off Campus at Island Cove (Overnight trip)
uting and grading assignments in a paperless way. Teachers The G6 students head off to Island Cove where
can create classes and invite their students to join team building and pool-based activities are high
them. Through Google Classroom teachers can quickly dis- on the agenda. There is a talent show in the
tribute materials (drawings, video clips, images, and docu- evening and a dinner that is filled with fun,
ments), track students progress on assignments and share friends and fantastic feats!
feedback on submitted work. Students receive materials and
Google Classroom automatically organizes the materials so
nothing gets misplaced or lost! If you are interested in
learning more, please feel free to check out this two minute
video - Google Classroom 101. 2
 Grade 7
Off Campus at Club Balai Isabel (Overnight trip)
Grade 7 students will be participating in an ac-
tive experience as they hike, kayak, swim, and
play team games while at Club Balai Isa-
bel. They have an action-packed schedule and
are looking forward to the game of glow in the
dark Capture the Flag.

Grade 8
Off Campus at Caliraya (Overnight trip)
Caliraya is our G8 CWW destination and students
will be working with our Service Learning Part-
ners at Lewin Elementary School and Caliraya
School. Students will have the opportunity to
interact and develop a relationship with the cul-
ture of the Philippines as they work with local
students.

Grade Level CWW Letters:

On Monday, September 11th we will be distrib-
uting the respective grade level CWW let-
ters. These will be sent home electronically NICE TO KNOW:
from the MS Office and students will also receive
a paper copy during Advisory. Please be on the Filipiniana:
look-out for these letters so you can learn more Filipiniana is a school-wide celebration of our host coun-
about these exciting experiences! try that takes place on Friday, October 27th. This excit-
The CWW permission slips (if applicable) need to ing event is organized by the High School Philippine Cul-
be completed in full and returned to school no tural Club (PCC) along with Filipino parent volun-
later than Monday, September 18th. teers. Filipiniana typically kicks off with a parade and
then students rotate around different activities that con-
nect with an aspect of Philippine culture and/or tradi-
We appreciate that some parents may feel a little anxious tions.
about the prospect of their child spending a night away from A highlight of Filipiniana is the Barrio Fiesta. During this
home - especially if you have recently moved to the Philip- part of the day, students are given the opportunity to
pines and are still adjusting to life in a new country. Please sample a wide range of delicious Filipino delicacies and
note that all our CWW sites go through a robust security take in the scents and flavors of Filipino cuisine.
screening process that includes ocular visits by our security Parents can help support Filipiniana in the following
team as well as the teachers who are in charge of each of ways:
the grade level sites. We also conduct risk-analysis assess- Volunteer their time and energy to man the vari-
ments on the learning experiences that students will engage ous food stalls within our Barrio Fiesta. This
in so we can anticipate and help prevent or reduce any po- includes helping to set up the stall as well as
tential hazards. manning the stall as the MS students come for
lunch.
The poem below - Children are Like Kites is a great parent- Make a donation to the PCC Filipiniana fund via
ing reminder as we prepare for the CWW trips. Middle the school cashier. Please note that all funds
Schoolers need to have opportunities where they can experi- raised during the Filipiniana event support the
ence increased levels of independence and freedom. They schools long term service partners.
need their parents to let out the string a little so they can Historically, it is our Filipino parents who support
have new experiences and learn to manage the wide range of this event, however, please know that we are
emotions they will naturally experience when they are away open to donations of money and hands on sup-
from home. port from all members of our international par-
ent community!

Calling G5 Filipino Parents!

We already have a strong network of Filipino parents
from Grade 6 to Grade 8 who are all set to support this
event. However, as our G5 parents are new to Middle
School, we need to solicit help specifically from our G5
Filipino parent community. If you are interested in join-
ing the G5 parent network to support this years Filipini-
ana event, please contact the PCA.
If you would be interested in supporting this years Barrio
Fiesta in any way or you are a G5 Filipino parent looking
to support this event, please email [email protected]

3
Getting Connected!
While we are talking of our PCA - we want to
make sure you are all connected to our parent
networking groups. The PCA is a wonderful
source of support whether its navigating life at
ISM, Manila or the Philippines. The recent Bear-
cat Welcome was a phenomenal success and it
was wonderful to see so many parents and teach-
ers supporting this event. If you are interested in
connecting more with our PCA powerhouse,
please check out the information on the flyer!

Kind Regards,
Rachel and Amanda

CAMPUS CARD CORNER MS ACTIVITIES

Login:
Ways to log in to your account?
www.ismanila.org Select Student Services Cam-
pus Card System; Click the link (here) to log in.
http://campusonline.ismanila.org

What are your login details?
Log in to your account using your family ID number as the
username and password. E.g. Student ID Number is
112233.
Username: 112233
Password: 112233
Once logged in, we recommend that you change the
password.

Top-up:
You can top up the account online for a minimal fee. If you
happen to be on campus, you can also top up at the kiosk or
through the cashier.
For more information, visit:
http://campusonline.ismanila.org

For questions/concerns, email:

[email protected]
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 ISSUE # 36
SY1617

ATHLETICS & ACTIVITIES

Well done to all our festival soccer teams that played in the C, E, G shop for all information related to the competitive ISM sports pro-
and MS girls festivals held at ISM and BSM last Saturday. The next gram.
festival date is Sat Sept 16.
Upcoming Events:*matches at ISM unless specified as *away ven-
Also well done to our MS/HS Cross Country runners who raced at ue. Check ATAC game schedule at the parent portal for all the mid-
Faith last Saturday morning. Today we host the ISM twilight XC week and weekend matches upcoming. Please check on a regular
meet 5pm MS race 3.2km and 5:30pm HS 5km race. Come out to basis as venues and time do change at short notice. Players will
support our runners against teams from Faith/Brent/BSM. always be informed by their coaches if times/venues change.
Sept 8 ISM Twilight XC race #3 5pm MS 3.2km race
We also will be hosting HS volleyball today vs Faith and Brent and 5:30pm HS 5km race.
from 4:15pm. All matches will be 3 sets with the 3rd set to 15pts. Sept 8 HS volleyball vs Faith and Brent
HS Gym- 4:15pm ISM VGirls and Boys vs Faith Sept 9- local league Volleyball and Soccer matches/
MS Gym- 4:15pm ISM JVGirls and JV Boys vs Faith Wall climbing team at Climb Central Comp/Chess team
HS Gym- 5:30pm VGirls and Boys Brent vs Faith at Brent meet.
MS Gym- 5:30pm JVGirls and JV Boys Brent vs Faith
HS Gym- 6:45pm ISM VGirls and Boys vs Brent Information on our ES/MS Activities program is available on the ES
and MS Activities blogs. Links to these blogs are on the helpful
MS Gym- 6:45pm ISM JVGirls and JV Boys vs Brent shortcuts menu on the home page of the ATAC blog or accessible via
the ISM website.
Sept 15-17 is the first pre IASAS exchange weekend. ISM will host
the boys and girls soccer tournament with ISB/TAS flying in along
For our Sailfish swim team program please check information about
with Ateneo University mens/womens team joining us for a great
tryouts at Sailfish blog
weekend of soccer.
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.

HS soccer team parents thank you to all who signed up to be host Parents and students please take some time to peruse the ATAC
families for the ISB/TAS teams coming in. Guest detail information blog it has a wide variety of information and links to our sports and
will be sent to you at the start of next week.That same weekend activities program. If you have any questions regarding the competi-
our Cross Country team will fly to Bangkok for a race weekend and tive program of sports at ISM after reading the information on the
our volleyball teams are off to Taipei. These exchange weekends blog please send an email to [email protected] and I will assist
provide great preparation for the season ending IASAS tournaments you as best I can.
in mid October.
Bearcat Den- drop by our fantastic spirit store. There is a a range
For our year round teams and season 1 sports teams practice sched- of new products and items to purchase including items from our
ules are posted on notice boards around the school and on the service partners.
schedules page of the ATAC (Athletics) blog and provided in links
below. Our S1 practice schedule runs from Mon Aug 14until Oct Bearcat Den hours of operation- 7am-4pm Mon-Fri.
13th. See schedule links
GO BEARCATSin 2017-18!
1st season 17-18-Practice sched
All season sports sched 17-18.xls 17-18 Regards,
Mark Pekin
Please take the time to navigate the ATAC blog as it is our one stop Director of Athletics & Activities 5
 ISSUE # 36
SY1617

OPERATIONS AND SECURITY

Dear Parents, Starting school year 2015-16, parents are no longer re-
quired to submit copies of the registration documents of
Access and parking within the campus are important secu- their vehicles. They are instead asked to confirm through
rity and safety issues. For the well-being of all members the applica
of the ISM community, those entering the school campus
are requested to take note of the information and proce-
dures outlined below. tion form that the vehicle has minimum Third (3rd) Party
Insurance, is legally registered and is fully compliant for
Parent IDs operation on the roads under Philippine Laws. For those
The parent IDs issued since SY 2013/14 (black) will contin- vehicles not registered in a parents name a letter of as-
ue to be valid for the new school year. Standard parent signment will still be needed.
cards will be issued free of charge. Parents may, howev-
er, elect to apply for a smartcard ID which will be usable Each ISM family will be issued one vehicle sticker free of
with the cashless payment system introduced into the charge. Any additional stickers will be issued following
school for SY 2013-14. There will be a fee of P250.00 for payment of P100 to the cashiers office.
a smartcard.
In order to facilitate the easy recognition of authorized
Applications for parent IDs can be processed through the cars at the gates, the stickers should be affixed to the top
Security Office. right corner of the windshield. ISM stickers issued in previ-
ous years must be removed.
Student IDs
All students will be issued with new ID cards at the begin- Vehicles not displaying a current car sticker will not be
ning of the new school year. The cards will be compatible allowed regular access from August 31, 2017.
with the cashless payment system. There will be no need
for returning students to visit the Security Office as we Vehicular Access
will be utilizing the photographs taken for the yearbooks. During drop-off and pick-up times, vehicles may enter the
campus through Gates 2 and 3. Those entering through
School Passes Gate 2 should proceed to the drop off area and, once the
School passes issued to parents employees and represent- student has alighted or boarded, they should exit via Gate
atives need to be replaced for this school year. As of Au- 1. Those vehicles entering through Gate 3 must turn into
gust 31, 2017 the light green bordered passes will be inva- the covered parking area and use the designated drop-off
lid. areas. All vehicles must exit through Gate 1.

The security office is now accepting applications for new Please note that Gate 2 may only be used by those drivers
school passes. These passes will not be compatible with and passengers who have an ISM ID card and who are in a
the cashless payment system. vehicle displaying a valid ISM vehicle sticker.

Each family will be given two free school passes. Addi- Alternatively, vehicles entering through Gate 3 may park
tional school passes may be obtained after paying a pro- in the covered car park. The spaces reserved for parent-
cessing fee of Php100.00 each to the Cashiers Office. driven cars should only be used by those vehicles which
are driven by parents themselves. Vehicles in which par-
Visitors Passes ents are traveling, but which are driven by a driver,
All visitors must secure a pass from the guardhouse at should not use these spaces. Rather, they should park
Gate 3. Before entry will be allowed, a telephone check elsewhere in the covered car park or make use of the out-
will be made with the relevant office to confirm the visi- side spaces next to the power center.
tors business within the school. Visitors will need to sur-
render a photo-ID upon entry to campus. Visitors to ISM must enter through Gate 3. There is an
area for short-stay visitor parking near Gate 1.
Car Stickers
The car stickers for school year 2017/2018 are available
from the security office.
6
 ISSUE # 36
The Pedestrian Gate
The pedestrian gate is located in the perimeter fence mid campus before the scheduled pick-up time. SY1617
-way between Gate 1 and Gate 2. There is a paved area
between the road and the perimeter fence, allowing easy There are designated areas for unaccompanied drivers,
access to the gate. The pedestrian gate is solely for the yayas, helpers and security escorts to wait for parents and
entry of members of the ISM Community at the beginning students. Unless specifically authorized, they may not en-
of the school day. It will only be open between 7:00 am ter any other area. In the interest of security, and to pre-
and 7:45 am (8:00 am to 8:45 am on Wednesdays). vent congestion at the pedestrian entrances to the cov-
ered parking area, parents are requested to emphasize to
Due to parking restrictions, and in the interests of securi- their employees the importance of cooperating with the
ty, it will not be open in the afternoon for pick-ups. Dur- security staff and remaining in the appropriate areas.
ing the time it is open, it will be under the supervision of
members of the ISM Guard Force. Firearms
All members of the ISM community are reminded that it is
Drivers should stop adjacent to the paved area and stu- strictly forbidden for firearms to be brought onto the
dents should alight from the right side of their vehicle. campus. This includes concealed weapons carried by bod-
The driver should then move off, clearing the space for yguards for close protection. Any person arriving at the
other vehicles dropping off students. Under no circum- school with a firearm should inform the gate guard, and
stances should a student be dropped off from the middle arrangements will be made for the weapon to be safely
lane. This is dangerous as the student would need to walk and securely stored during the visitors stay.
in front of another vehicle. Drivers are reminded that
traffic regulations forbid parking on the roads around ISM. Security Staff Directions
Therefore, vehicles should only be stopping for the brief Our security team is endeavoring to make the school as
time it takes for a student to alight. Drivers must not safe and secure an environment as possible for all mem-
wait for anybody to return to the vehicle. bers of our community.

Drop Off/Pick Up Passes We ask that everybody cooperate with us in this important
For non-regular drivers without ISM identification who are task. In particular, all those entering our campus are re-
entering school to drop off or collect visitors or members quested to comply with any directions given to them by
of our community, but who do not intend to park within members of our guard force.
the campus, a drop off pass will be issued. Our regular
checks to confirm the identity of a driver and their pur- If you are confused or unclear as to the purpose of such
pose for entering the campus will continue to be made, instructions, please seek clarification from the security
but we will not retain a photo-ID in return for the issued office. Please note that it is the parents responsibility to
pass. The use of these new passes will avoid delays at the advise their staff accordingly.
Gate 1 exit and reduce traffic congestion at busy times.
Thank you for your cooperation. We are looking forward
Vehicle Checks to another great year at International School Manila.
The practice of inspecting vehicles will continue. During
off-peak hours, all vehicles will be checked before they Best wishes,
are allowed to enter the campus. MIKE FLYNN
Director of Operations And Security
During peak hours (drop off and pick-up times), all vehi-
cles without valid stickers and randomly selected vehicles
with stickers will be asked to undergo an examination.

Whether an examination is conducted or not, it is im-

portant that the security staff at the gates are able to
identify the occupants of vehicles entering the campus;
therefore IDs must be clearly displayed. Vehicles with
tinted windows must roll down windows to allow a clear
view of the interior of the vehicle.

Drivers, Helpers and Bodyguards

Drivers, helpers and bodyguards should not wait on cam-
pus for students throughout the school day. After drop-
ping off students they should exit the school grounds and
not return earlier than 30 minutes before dismissal time.
Those who repeatedly fail to comply with the regulation
will have their access privilege suspended.

Only those vehicles carrying parents or other people with

business within the school will be allowed to return to the
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 ISSUE # 36
SY1617

ADMISSIONS & ADVANCEMENT

Instructions for
Demographic Update

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 ISSUE # 36
SY1617

ISM UPCOMING EVENTS

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ISSUE # 36
SY1617

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ISSUE # 36
SY1617

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