Bilingualism Talk October 27

All GAIS parents and friends are invited to a special evening featuring a talk by a leading local expert in the field of Education. This evening we are again honored to have Dr. Henriette W. Langdon, Professor of Education at San Jose State University, who will speak to us on the topic of Bilingualism and Education. Dr. Langdon gave this talk last year which was praised as being both informative and engaging by those who attended.  She will review the latest research in the area and elaborate on last year's talk based on the lively discussion that the talk generated.

Professor Langdon has been a full-time professor of Education at SJSU since 1997. She has written and lectured extensively locally, nationally and internationally on topics related to bilingualism and speech and language disorders. Her latest book titled 'Assessment and Intervention for Communication Disorders in Culturally and Diverse Populations' was published by Cengage in July. She is fluent in English Spanish, French and Polish.

Following the talk we invite you to learn about our various school programs.  We will hold two sessions running simultaneously starting at 7:30 pm. Parents are encouraged to learn about programs that their children will be moving into in the years ahead. The sessions will be lead by Heike Schmalstieg and Maike Silver for the Preschool/Vorschule levels, and Peter Metzger and Dominic Liechti for the Elementary and Middle School sections.   

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News from the Head of School

Great First Unit     

This week marks the end of the first unit in the Primary Years Programme (PYP) and roughly corresponds to the end of summer and the onset of autumn. GAIS has been buzzing with activity these past few days and many classes have organized presentations for parents and fellow students.  The quality of these student summative assessments is a testament to the outstanding work that the GAIS faculty has done in the first unit.

Besides full out student engagement, there have been a number of parent based activities organized over the past weeks.  Our thanks go to Dominic Liechti and Amanda Afshar for a highly informative workshop on Assessment in the MYP. PYP parents were treated to a very hands-on workshop on Inquiry by Maike Silver.  Our thanks to the class reps for hosting a general welcome coffee morning last week.   In addition we have had a series of well-attended class coffee mornings for Preschool and some Elementary School classes.  More of these will be scheduled after the break.

Last week we had a well-attended Members' Meeting with around 50 in attendance and thus achieved a quorum.  On the agenda was an important discussion and decision to use proxy voting in the future.  This will allow for greater parent participation in important decisions for the school.  The minutes of the meeting will be posted on the school website in the login area. We will advise you when this occurs.   

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PYP Corner by Maike Silver  

This week was the final week for the first unit in all the PYP classes. Students prepared their summative assessments and many parents came to see the students work in the form of presentations and/or open classroom exhibits.   The summative assessment is the culmination of the teaching and learning process, and gives students an opportunity to demonstrate what has been learned. It can assess several elements simultaneously: it informs and improves student learning as well as the teaching process while measuring the understanding of the central idea. Following the summative assessment the teachers now spend time reflecting in their grade level teams on what worked well in the unit and what might be in need of revision. The cycle of writing, planning and assessing the curriculum is what makes this program so powerful and ensures that teachers alongside the students continue the journey of lifelong learning

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Preschool Corner by Heike Schmalstieg     

Our first unit of the year is ending. All classes worked on the unit "Hey, that's me". They learned and shared a lot about themselves (what they like, what they are good at, how tall they are, how many siblings they have, what they look like...) and compared themselves to others. They children were busy measuring, comparing, weighing, observing, sharing, listening,...They also talked about their roles and responsibilities within the classroom. (watering plants, feeding the animals, collecting name cards after lunch, etc.) and talked about ways that facilitate positive interaction. Together in the group, they discussed rules that are important in order to be able to get along with each other and how to respect each other. We introduced our rule that "You can't say - you can't play" and talked as well as practiced conflict resolution with the children. It was a busy unit and provided excellent opportunities for the children to get to know the preschool and their own class in particular.

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Board Meeting   

The Board is scheduled for tonight, starting at 7:30 pm. 

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Student Leadership Academy

Halloween Project      

The student council is busy planning a haunted house for the students October 31. To raise funds for the materials they are planning a Bake Sale for October 27. More information will be posted. As your children are planning their Halloween costumes, please note that the school has a rule against weapons, scary masks and blood as part of the costumes.
 

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Carpooling at GAIS     

Reminder to please submit a request to find a carpool match this week.  Also vehicle registration forms are due to the office.  Families will automatically receive SOV parking placards who have not returned the forms.  Also, thank you to all families for extra patience this week in parking for summative assessments.
 

Written by Jennifer Trainor from Redwood City, mother of Charlie in 2nd Grade:   

We are in our third year of carpooling at GAIS. This year, our five family carpool operates ten trips a week and involves a total of 8 kids, who range in age from 2nd grade to 6th.  Most trips to and from school involve the children from a combination of 3 of the families which means that each of us only drive a few times a week. In the mornings, my neighbor, Debbie Scott,  and I carpool with the Jakoby family.  And in the afternoons, the Odenwalds, the Nocks, the Jakobys, Debbie, and I work together to get all 8 kids home with a minimum of drivers.

The logistics at first seem daunting as we negotiate playdates, after school activities and work schedules. But the carpool's benefits outweigh its logistical challenges. Being part of a carpool has expanded our sense of community -- even just the act of waiting with Debbie every morning for the third member of our carpool to pick up Francesco and Charlie has opened up possibilities for conversation and community on our street, as neighbors walk and drive by, sometimes stopping to chat. More importantly, the carpool has taught Charlie the values of reciprocity, responsibility,
tolerance, and neighborliness. These are benefits that make carpooling, in spite of its occasional challenges, more than worthwhile
 

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Auction Party  

You had better order your tickets today, if you don't want to miss the Performance of the "GAIS Jagger Chicks". The catalog is about to get into printing and you will be surprised by the items the whole community came up with. We have over 45 Subscription parties for adults and kids...better be there at 6:30pm to get a spot for your desired party. We are looking forward to see you all there!

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