Austin International School
May 7, 2014
 

As usual, there's so many great educational events going on at school this month, as we wrap up the school year with our annual book fair (tomorrow and Friday), our 30-donations-in-30-days Annual Fund final push, Les Explorers Summer Camp registration and an avalanche of information from our awesome busy bees in the PTO (Splash Day Picnic, anyone?). Thank you for taking a moment to keep up with all the school happenings.
Summer Camp -  Come Learn about Les Explorers as you head inside to Tomorrow's Book Fair

AIS has got you covered for summer and cover-to-cover! Need a bookmark for that fantastic summer time read you'll surely find at this week's International Book Fair? Then stop by the Les Explorers Summer Camp table at the book fair and get all your summer camp information plus a super fun bookmark.

 

Just like our trilingual library and book fair opens your child's mind by opening the pages of a book, Les Explorers Summer Camp opens the world up for your child! Were taking children on a global culinary, scientific, artistic, dramatic and creative adventure!

 
Learn more about our Les Explorers Summer Camp on our webpage. Visit Laurence, our summer camp coordinator, in front of the school before you head into the International Book Fair during pick up time, 3:15 to 4:15 p.m. Pick up a bookmark and meet with her - together you can explore the best session for your child to have their best summer camp experience yet.

"My daughters absolutely loved summer camp at AIS. Never before have I seen both children excited to get up in the morning, and they couldn't wait to get started each day! They are very proud of learning new languages and about other cultures. The instructors are kind and gentle, and make everyone feel welcome. This program is a winner for us!" - parent Stacie George
 
05-07-2014 16:56:21 PM

Students in Ms. Mathilde's Pre-K/PS class have been learning about caterpillars and butterflies in a scientific way. Now, they get a little P.E. while pretending to be those very same insects! Don't you wish you were 3 years old again?...»

 
 
 
04-23-2014 17:43:06 PM

Hello everyone! The International Book Fair will be held May 8 and 9. We will be working with two vendors, Barefoot Books and French Media Resources. The book fairs at AIS are some of my favorite things... Read More...»

  
 
 
 
 
 
Announcements
After School Activities
Make-up class schedules:
Chess tournament on Wednesday (today) at 3:30 pm
Drama performance on Monday, May 12, at 4:15 pm
Piano recitals on May 23, last 15 minutes of each class (4:15 and 5:15 pm)

Summer camp
Join the awesome Les Explorers team during their enrollment/information table tomorrow, May 8. Come join us as in front of the school as you head in to the book fair 3:15 pm to 4:00 pm and get jazzed about summer camp! Pick up a summer camp bookmark if you register at our table!

Community Book Drive
Several AIS Girl Scouts are conducting a charity book drive to benefit BookSpring of Austin. If your child's home library is getting a little full, now is the time to donate some of those gently used (or new) books to a good home. Look for the donation box near Hilary in Reception. Thanks for helping us support our community! For any questions, contact Tracey Manuel: 512-897-7994 or jtcmanuel@gmail.com. 
Dates to Know

Did you know our full school calendar is available online?  

 

Parents, please be reminded that students are not permitted to bring items from home (such as jewelry, cameras, phones, games) that are not specifically authorized by the teacher for use in a class activity.

 

May 8 (7:30-9:30 a.m. and 2:30-5:30 p.m.)

Support the library and stock up on your child's summer reading by shopping for English, French and Spanish-language books during our book fair, a library fundraiser. The library will team up again with Barefoot Books to provide you with a fantastic selection of high quality reading material. Bring your friends - it's open to the public.
Come check out these great finds:
French Media Resources:
  • high quality French language materials
  • translated and original works
  • fiction, non-fiction, multimedia & literature
  • books with CD 
  • french materials for ages 2 to middle school
English and Spanish resources:
  • Great selection of Spanish and bilingual Spanish/English
  • Titles include children's fiction & nonfiction books, including topics in multiculturalism, folk tales and nature.


Yearbooks arrive!

CM2 Graduation Ceremony
Save the date for our CM2 graduation ceremony, to be held in the foyer. We look forward to celebrating our fifth graders' successes and sending them off to a new educational journey!
Annual Fund - See the Big Picture!

We are so grateful for the incredible generosity you have already shown in support of this year's Annual Fund. As you know, our ultimate goal is to have 100% participation from our parent community. 

We're almost there! If we got just one new gift every day from now until the last day of school - that's about 25 gifts - we would reach our goal! Every donation is important, no matter the amount, and each donation helps us get closer to our goal. If you haven't made your fully tax-deductible gift to the Annual Fund yet, and have just five minutes to give five dollars, you can help us reach 100% participation from our community. 
Contribute today and helps us see the bigger picture!

Why is 100% participation so important? Not only does it show a sense of solidarity and a strong foundation of support from our community, but it is also something that most outside funders ask to see when considering awarding grants to the school. Read more about the importance of the Annual Fund and how you can be a part of it here. 


Many thanks again to everyone for your amazing support. Have a great break! 
Be a Library and Media Center Founding Donor!
Celebrate Literacy with Us!
We have already received more than $18,500 in committed donations for the library - thanks to our amazing grandparents and two very special leading gifts above the "Muse" level. 
 
Donate securely online or with the Donation cards (attached) are in the reception area - just fill one out and drop it in the grey box! If you would like to be part of supporting the library, but prefer to make your gift in the 2014-15 year or wish to make a larger donation in installments, you can commit your contribution via our online pledge form to be paid at a later date. Please contact Kyle for more details or to further discuss these options. Thank you!
PTO News 
 
The AIS Facebook Group is the unofficial hub of PTO chatter, and it's bustling! Join up and get in on the conversation.
 
Splash Day and End of Year Picnic
Splash Day and End of Year Picnic will be held right after the End of Year Performances on Saturday, May 17th from 10:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on the school's big playground.  Please mark your calendars and join your AIS families, teachers and staff in celebrating another wonderful school year.
 
Splash Day Participation for your Children. We will have 2 water slides and there will be snow cones!  

1.  Please complete the Waiver form which is online; please click here to complete. Please submit them online no later than end of day Wednesday, May 14. Waiver Forms must be submitted for your children to participate, siblings are welcome.

 

2.  Items to Bring. Please bring a bathing suit, water shoes, towels and sunscreen for your children.

 

End of Year Picnic is a time for everyone to enjoy each other's company, celebrate the school year and enjoy the time with their children. To allow as many parents as possible to have this time to enjoy with families, we will be making this a casual affair again this year and limit parent volunteers needed.

  • Bring Your Own Picnic. Please bring a picnic for your family - food, drinks and snacks.
  • Trash Pick Up. Please keep track of all the trash you and your children generate, pick them up and put them in the trash receptacles before you leave. If you see trash on the ground, please help the school by picking it up and putting it in the bins. The playground is our childrens' play area, please help us keep it SAFE and CLEAN for them.
  • Just a friendly reminder:
    • The school has a no nut and no candy policy. Please adhere to these guidelines
    • Please do not bring glass containers or glass items. 

Childcare: There will be no childcare at this event since this is a family event. Supervision for waterslide safety will be provided and these counselors will be focused on monitoring for safety.

 

Volunteers Needed: We will still need a few volunteers for a minimum amount of time, so parents can spend as much as mingle with friends and family as possible.

  •     2 volunteers to help with Splash Day activities right before the Splash Day activities start to hand out wrist bands to students participating. May need 2 groups depending on the end of year performance schedule.

     2 volunteers to close down foyer after performance and tape plastic down

  •     3-4 volunteers at the end of the picnic, supervise cleanup. (No more than 30 mins)
    •     6-8 to bring coolers and 3-4 bags of ice

 

Please contact David Houston (lbjaggie@yahoo.com) if you can volunteer. If you have any questions, please let us know.

 

Thank you!

AIS PTO Volunteers: David Houston and Kirsten Shepard

                   
Campus Cleanup on May 10 - THIS Saturday!
On May 10, the PTO will be sponsoring a Campus Cleanup.  We'll start at about 9:30 am and pick up trash and do what we can to tidy up our beautiful campus before the end of year performance and picnic.  The PTO will provide snacks (and Starbucks coffee!) and gloves and bags.  Please come and join us and bring the kids for this community activity.

 

End of Year Picnic
On May 17, the PTO will host the End of Year Picnic on campus.  The PTO will provide a water slide, bounce house and snow cone machine, you just bring some lawn chairs, blankets and lunch and enjoy a fun afternoon with friends!  These festivities will run from about 11 am until about 2 pm.  Please mark your calendar and plan to join us for this fun annual event.  This event is FREE to all AIS families but we do asks that you clean up after yourself.  
 
Volunteer Opportunity
Jessica is still looking for volunteers to help with the book fair.  She still needs one more volunteer for Thursday from 2:30-5:30 pm (If you're volunteering, you will not be charged childcare if your kids stay in aftercare - just let them know at the front desk).  Volunteers get first dibs on the awesome books! Email Jessica at library@austininternationalschool.org.
 
Bakery Sale
Have you seen the weather for Friday? Looks like rain!!! Hurray! The bad news is that usually means not such a great turnout for the bakery sale so we'll be ordering less this week. Be sure to get to school early on Friday if you want some pain au chocolat, croissant, or baguette!  We'll be somewhere near the book fair to make it one-stop-shopping easy this week!
 
CM2 Donation
The profits of the PTO bakery sale last week came to $160!  Thank you!  That will all go to the CM2 class for their upcoming trip to France. The PTO will be kicking in an extra $40 from our coffers to make it an even $200. Thank you!
 
Last PTO Meeting - May 14!
The last PTO meeting of the year will be held NEXT Wednesday, May 14!  Please be sure you mark your calendar and plan to attend. We'll be holding elections for Vice President (President Elect), Treasurer and Secretary and we need YOU there to help elect next year's PTO leaders.  Even if you didn't join the PTO this year, you are eligible to vote since you will be a member next year.  It's also a chance to stock up on discount uniforms for next year ($2 a piece!).  Free childcare is provided for the meeting, you just need to make sure to sign up before noon on May 14th.
 

Parent-Teacher Potluck

The annual parent teacher (and staff!) potluck hosted by the Loyd's will take place on May 24.  Please mark your calendar for this annual, fun event!

 
PTO is organizing a Uniform Exchange ("Bourse aux vêtements" in French)  
Bring the gently used uniforms your kids cannot wear anymore and in exchange for each item you will get a ticket.  With the ticket, you can choose another uniform item from the stock of uniforms brought by other parents.  If you don't have any tickets (or not enough), you can buy uniform pieces for $2 each.  If you don't find what you need, you can keep your ticket(s) for the next Uniform Trade!  The profits from the tickets sale will go to the PTO.

We will be collecting the uniforms from May 7-13.  The procedure for exchanging your uniforms is as follows:

-  Drop your CLEAN, gently used uniform pieces in the collection box by the front desk.  Please put them in a bag with your name and your child's name on it.  
-  The PTO will sort the uniforms and determine if they are in sellable condition.  Items with rips or holes will be discarded and no credit will be given.  
-  Tickets for each sellable item donated will be left in your student's folder for use at the uniform exchange (please NOTE:  the PTO will not be tracking your tickets.  It is up to you to keep track of them and the PTO will not replace or honor lost tickets). 

 

On May 14, at the next PTO meeting, you will have your first chance to have a look at the uniforms and exchange your tickets or to purchase pieces.  Your next opportunity will be on May 17 at the end of year picnic.  We'll also be back at the Meet the Teachers event on August 15 just before school starts up again.

We hope this will help make getting your uniforms easier and less expensive.  Please contact us with any questions you may have.
 
And the Box Tops Competition Winners Are . . . 

 

It was a photo finish between the amazing CP1 and GS1 classes!   

 

Please congratulate the outstanding students, families and supporters of CP1 for winning this year's Box Tops Competition with the highest average-per-student Box Tops total, with 1351 Box Topscollected by 17 students (that's 79.47 Box Tops per student!).

 

Please also congratulate the equally outstanding students, families and supporters of GS1 for collecting the highest overall total of Box Tops, with a whopping 1374 Box Tops collected by 18 students!  (76.33 Box Tops per student!)

 

Thank you to the entire AIS community for a super year.  Together, we collected 5905 Box Tops at school and surpassed last year's total by nearly 800 Box Tops.  Six classes brought in more than 400 Box Tops each!  Adding the 1042 additional online and bonus code Box Tops you contributed, our grand total this year is 6947 Box Tops ($694.70) this school year.  Thank you again!