Lantern Parade Numbers Grow

This year a very large number of people attended our St. Martin's Parade and activities.  It was estimated that the crowd was in the range of 600-700.  The event was admirably organized by Stella Klose with the help of many parent volunteers. This year, as an experiment, the program involved a collaboration between the Preschool staff and GAIS Drama Club Director, David Giesen. The students depicted the traditional story of St. Martin with an unusual Texas twist which clearly highlighted our year of Creativity. 

Parent support and involvement is one of the strong points of our school. As the classes are winding down the second unit we would like to invite all parents to come to the Open House to view yours' and other students' work. This is a good opportunity especially for those parents who normally don't have the time to be as involved in the students' school life. It gives you the chance to talk to your child more in depth about how their learning is structured or how their thinking has changed about a specific topic or concept. Taking an interest in your child's work and appreciating their efforts is the key to support them in their quest to become life long learners. I hope to see many of you during our Open House and during our presentations about where our school is heading in the future with the MYP.

Scavenger Hunt in the Preschool!

On Saturday, we will have our Open House to show off our school and of course our fabulous Preschool. Hopefully, some of you will be here to learn more about all the programs the school has to offer and also share your experience with interested parents. For our current students, we will have a scavenger hunt in the Preschool. To let new parents know, what our current (or former) parents think of our Preschool, I would like to ask you to describe our program in three words and send those to me by email to heike@gais.org. I look forward to hearing from you.

Don't forget our Open House is this Saturday November 20, from 1 to 4 pm. All parents and students are invited to attend and visit the classrooms which will have lots of materials on display from the end of the second IB Unit. The choir will perform a number of songs starting at 1:00 pm.  We encourage you to invite friends, neighbors and anyone who might be interested in our school.

Vendors for our Winterfest

We are still looking for more vendors to participate in our annual Winterfest on Saturday, December 4^th from 2 - 5 pm. This is a great opportunity for vendors to sell their Arts and Crafts. GAIS will provide tables and vendors can start setting up their products around noon the day of the Winterfest. Vendors usually donate about 10% of their sales to the school. Please pass this on to anyone who might be interested! For more information please contact Stella Klose at sklose@gais.org

Please come to the GAIS Stammtisch which takes place tonight, Thursday, Nov. 18, at 7:00 PM at the Gourmethaus Staudt in Redwood City.  The Stammtisch is an informal get together

http://www.gourmethausstaudt.com

Goodbye Kathrin Winter!

Three years ago we were in need of a Preschool teacher mid way through the school year.  By a stroke of great fortune, Kathrin showed up on our doorstep and easily convinced us that she was the ideal candidate.  Amazingly, three years have truly flown by and now Kathrin will soon be on her way back to Germany, having completed the three years of her visa in the USA. Kathrin has made a huge contribution to the GAIS Preschool program with her knowledge and creativity and will be greatly missed by her students and colleagues. Her last day at GAIS will be on December 17^th.  

Free Books and Games

Last week the Library team started placing a cart with books and games in front of the office. Those books and games are not needed in the Library and take up space. Please feel free to take as many books and games as you like. A small monetary donation is always welcome to buy new books.

Vorschule Playstructure

For years we have thought about ways to use the area behind the gym which is very popular with our Vorschule students.  Thanks to a plan developed by Laura Gottsmann, this is now being transformed into a new and improved play area. Beside the sand box which is already in existence, we will add a dome climbing frame and a wooden play structure built around one of the redwoods. This will have a slide, cargo net and fire pole. The actual building is being done as a volunteer activity by construction company owner Bill Dillon, father of Jack (VS) and Karina (Grade 4). Our sincerest thanks to Bill and Laura for making this possible.  

Yearbook Pictures

Have you taken some greats photos during one of the many GAIS events? We are looking for more pictures taken at several events that we can use for the yearbook. In particular we would like to have pictures from the GAIS Campout, Beach Party, Halloween, Peace Day, and St. Martin. If you do have pictures to share for our Yearbook please send them to the office at offmgr@gais.org.

Race to Nowhere - Free Showing at GAIS

As a holiday gift to our parents, we will be showing the controversial documentary on the state of today's education, "The Race to Nowhere", on Tuesday, December 14th. According to reviews, it features the heartbreaking stories of young people in all types of communities who have been pushed to the brink, educators who are burned out and worried that students aren't developing the skills they need, and parents who are trying to do what's best for their kids, Race to Nowhere is a call to action to challenge current assumptions on how to best prepare the youth of America to become healthy, bright, contributing and leading citizens.

 "Every once in a while, a film comes along that has the potential to change the culture," said New York Times bestselling author Rachel Simmons (Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls).  "Race to Nowhere shines a light on the crisis of learning and meaning facing American education. The film is both a call to arms and a beacon of hope, a source of relief and outrage and a way forward for all of us."