|
|
Weekly Newsletter
September 30, 2010
|
|
Student Presentations Mark End of Unit
One
With
the end of the first Unit of Inquiry ,
many classes have been hosting
presentations for parents and classmates. A class presentation especially connected with a summative assessment, is
a great opportunity for our students to get on stage or in front of the class and
show their talents. This week the school
has been buzzing with these presentations at all grade levels. In Grade 1
parents were instructed in how we organize our school. Each Grade 2 student
presented a component of their identity and Grade 3 students simulated the
production and marketing of a product. Grade 5 students transformed themselves into famous inventors and Grade
4 will put on musical productions explaining some of the history of California. One such presentation will be held in the gym
on Friday at 13:10 and all are invited.
back to top
|
News from the Head of School
Members Meeting Launches
International Middle
School
Over 60 people were in attendance for our first  Members Meeting of the year on September 29th. With the school off to a positive start it was
now time for the Board and the school administrative staff to highlight the
goals and objectives of the year. Board President Andreas Wendker reviewed the
Board's role in the school and illustrated the enrollment numbers and trends.
Maike Silver and Dominic Liechti gave a detailed presentation on the
implementation of the IB Middle Years Program and how this connects to the
Primary Years Program. Following this was a description of the new International
Middle School which will
be launched in August of 2011. Besides
an overview of the rationale for the program and how it will be structured,
information was presented on the implementation plan, financial considerations
and a fairly comprehensive list if FAQ's. Board Committee presentations
focused on the budget, fund raising programs, facilities projects and the
year's marketing strategy. The full presentation
slides can be found on our website
under the Parents tab in the log in section.
back to top
|
IB Corner by Maike Silver
The IB mission statement
incorporates developing intercultural understanding. Some of you might ask what
we at GAIS are doing to promote this kind of understanding. During all of our
team meetings we discuss best ways to integrate this component. The best sources
for us are our own families. We find out things such as what languages are
spoken in different families, what traditions are celebrated, what special foods
are eaten and how cultural experiences differ. Often teachers ask students to
interview parents about their perspective on things with the goal of involving
the parents in the students' education, as well as to gain different
perspectives. As a school, we look at parents as partners with a clear
role in supporting the children in their education. But we don't stop there. In
first grade, with the help of their teachers, students wrote to schools in Egypt and Germany to help them compare their
school with those of other children. We also created a partnership with the
Lexington IB School in Los Gatos to
share learning experiences. Guest speakers, field trips, multi-cultural
literature, and personal exchange with people from around the world help us to
promote intercultural awareness and international-mindedness.
back to top
|
Preschool Corner by Heike Schmalstieg
This year, as we focus on
creativity, we want to  spend some time throughout the school year, explaining
and demonstrating how we focus on creativity in the Preschool and why it is so
important. When you walk through the Preschool, you get a sense of all the
creativity, by watching the children paint, admiring their finished art work or
simply by wondering what your child did during the day to come home with such
colorful clothes.
What you will not see is a
row of mostly identical art work that were re-created by children copying the
teacher's model or that simply involved gluing pre-cut shapes onto paper. There
is also no right or wrong way to create art. Art should be imaginative, cows
might be purple, the sky could be pink and cats might have six legs. The
children in our program have many opportunities daily for exploring their ideas
and expressing themselves through their art work. We provide a wide assortment
of materials, and encourage the children to use them in different ways. The
results are often abstract and sometimes very cleverly designed with a very
specific purpose in mind.
Art is a vital part of the Early Childhood Program,
contributing to all aspects of the child's development. As they draw, paint,
and sculpt, children think creatively, make decisions and solve problems.
Children's fine motor skills develop naturally by painting, drawing, cutting,
gluing and prepare the children for writing in later years. Language is
developed as children talk about color and objects, describing their work to
others. Instead of asking: "What is it?", ask children to tell you
about their picture. Instead of saying the picture is nice, be more specific
and comment for example on the choices of colors instead. Showing interest in
their art and displaying it at home will increase the child's
confidence. And remember, that at this age the process of
creating something is much more important than the end product.
back to top
|
Middle School Information
Breakfast - October 7
A reminder that Dominic Liechti, Director of Academic Programs
and Peter Metzger, Head of School, will hold an information breakfast on
Thursday, October 7th starting at 8:30 am in the Library. This will be a great opportunity to hear
about our new Middle School concept, ask questions and give input. If you attended the Members Meeting this is
a great chance for follow up discussion, and if you didn't attend, it is a
must.
back to top
|
Staff News
I am happy to introduce our
new  English Support Teacher, Sari Spector. Ms. Spector joined our English department
last week and will be supporting various English classes through the entire
Grade 1-8 range. She has had extensive
experience in private and public Elementary and Middle schools in the Bay Area,
including experience with limited or non-English speakers. Sari and has a
Master's Degree in Education from Boston
University. She originally comes from Wisconsin
where she did her undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin.
back to top
|
Keyboard Donations
The Middle School is still
asking for donations of music keyboards so students can practice at home. If
you have one to donate or have any leads please contact Dominic Liechti at dliechti@gais.org.
back to top
|
Fall Break
Please note that Friday,
October 8th is not a holiday and there will be regular school. Our Fall
Break is from October 11 - 15. As in the past, we will offer HORT from 8:30 am
to 6:00 pm during the break. Spaces are limited, therefore sign-up or email to
the office to reserve a spot. The deadline is October 5.
back to top
|
German Book Fair October 26 - 30
The
German Book Fair will take place in the GAIS Library at the end of October. The Team organizing the Fair is already busy
with the preparations for this important event. At the Book Fair, parents can
view hundreds of books, audio cd's and dvd's and order those that they wish to
purchase. The orders will take about
two/three weeks to arrive after the Fair. In conjunction with the Book Fair,
the Library will also be conducting a donation drive for German language books
specifically for beginning and emerging readers. Parents who wish to contribute
to the Library will be able to select a donation book from a list prepared by
the library staff. The donated book will
have a donation plaque inserted and give years of reading pleasure to GAIS
students.
The
Book Fair will be open Tuesday October 26 to Friday, October 29 from 8:30 -15:30 and on Saturday, October 30 from 9:00 till 12:30.
back to top
|
|
For
newsletter information, questions or article submissions, please
contact Dagmar Stullich at offmgr@germanamericanschool.org. or call the
office at 650-324-8617.
back to top
|
|
|
