Dear Families of Middle/High School,
Thank you for your flexibility and patience with our recent requests to collect students early on bad weather days. We understand the disappointment of a game postponed or an activity cancelled for the day. However the most important for us is the safety of all at AISK - and that may include prompt pick up at 2:40pm. Please let us know if you did not receive the SMS message so we can tighten up this process.
You have all received a copy of your child's Mid-Quarter Progress Report. This was sent home on Thursday, September 26 via the students and you will also have received an electronic copy via email. These reports are an initial snapshot of the academic achievement of the students and may be made up of one or two assessment tasks. Please review these and I encourage you to contact teachers directly if you have concerns or questions.
Whilst teachers are available to all students during the hours of 2:35pm and 3:35pm from Monday to Thursday there may be times when they are conducting an after school activity. In addition they may be targeting specific grade levels on specific afternoons. Teachers are communicating with students about these sessions and the schedule they have arranged. Having said this, if any student needs support they would be welcome to go to a session out of their grade level.
Grade 12 students are furiously constructing applications for their academic lives beyond AISK. It is College and University Application time and this is in addition to the rigorous academic demands of their classes. Ms. Weekes is working with the students individually on their plans and for some their plans are global - the world is their oyster. We as a school, and you as parents, need to help them to focus their choices and turn thinking towards practicalities. Colleges and universities look at a student's profile in a holistic manner - this includes their Academic Transcript, Faculty Recommendations, Extra-Curricula Activities including Service Learning, SAT scores and the essay they will write. It often seems daunting to students, we need to support them through this process as a team. Please discuss this with them and if you feel uncertain of the plan, please make a point to meet with Ms. Weekes and discuss this plan. Most importantly, students need to request recommendations from their teachers at AISK. A good recommendation takes time. Students need to be asking for recommendations from two teachers, and in addition, from Ms. Weekes, as College Counselor. It is important that you know who is writing their recommendation, and more importantly, that the student has requested this from the teachers, giving them all the information they need.
It is an exciting time ahead where we have the opportunity for Grade 10-12 students to attend the TedX Jamaica talks on Saturday October 12. For more information please visit the website www.tedxjamaica.org . There is a cost of $3000 JMD with a discount of 15% for every 15 students. I am hoping we have more than this for this event - an event that promotes critical thinking, academia, curiosity and research. Please review the speakers and have a conversation with your child and determine if this would be something that would inspire and motivate their love of learning.
Our IT Director, Mrs. Watkins is working hard to get Schoology up and running and in a state where we can invite parents into this communication site. Unfortunately there have been delays caused by the difficulty in transferring data from PowerSchool and Turnitin. There is continuous work to solve this and once this is completed AISK aims to release an invitation to parents to log into Schoology. In the meantime, PowerSchool and Turnitin continue to be available as usual to check student grades and for students to submit work.
Sincerely,
Susan Canobie
