Thank You

My sincere thanks to the whole AIS community for the tremendous amount of work done in preparing for the recent visit from our accrediataion body, WASC. The visit went very well and the Visiting Committee left us with a very positive and supportive report. This report will be submitted to the WASC Commission at their next meeting in California at the end of April. They will review the report and the Visiting Committee's recommendations before announcing their decision on the next term of accreditation. This decision will be sent on to me by mail at the end of May. I look forward to sharing this with you all as soon as it arrives.

WASC Visiting Committee

Over the past few months, I have been busy preparing for the school's next accreditation visit by WASC. With the teachers, I have just completed an in-depth self-study report about our school, which has now been submitted to the five members of the visiting committee scheduled to arrive at AIS on Monday, 17 March 2008.

For your information, the members of the committee are as follows:

Co-Chair
Dr. Gary F. Davis
Commissioner, WASC
California
USA

Co-Chair
Ms. Karen Moreau
Director of Curriculum and Staff Development
Taipei American School
Taiwan

Dr. Ann T. Clapper
Director
Korea International School
Gyenggi-do
Korea

Mr. Samuel D. Cook
Head of School
North Jakarta International School
Jakarta
Indonesia

Mrs. Sydney Conzemius
English Department Chair
Surabaya International School
Indonesia

The five-person team will be on-site with us from Monday, 17 March through Thursday, 20 March. During this time they will be inspecting the school, looking at our programs, visiting classrooms, meeting with students and teachers, and talking with as many people as possible from our school community, including the PTA. At the end of their 4 days with us, the visiting committee will give us a report that will used to determine our next accreditation term as well as assisting us in our long-range plans for the school's ongoing development.

This is an extremely important visit for us, as it is now 3 years since we last welcomed WASC to the school.

Much has been done since then, and with noticeable improvements across the whole school, I am genuinely looking forward to sharing all we have done with the WASC visiting committee.

I will keep you informed of our progress.

Cameron Fox
Head of School

Parents and Teachers

One aspect of my job that I have always enjoyed is the opportunity to meet with parents. Although there have certainly been times when these meetings may have been less than easy, I still firmly believe that getting the chance to speak personally with families about school is an extremely valuable experience for everyone involved in a child’s education.

A few weeks ago we had our first PTA meeting of the year, which started with me sharing this thought with the assembled audience. I mentioned that one clear sign of a positive school climate was the frequency and extent of parental involvement. Common sense backed by significant educational research tells us that children will develop a positive outlook towards school if their parents are seen to be involved. If school is important enough for parents to take time out of their schedules to meet with teachers then a powerful and significant message is being sent. With close to 40 parents attending, I was actually very pleased with the turnout. However, with approximately 450 families in our school community, a turnout of less than 10% is certainly something I think we can build on.

As you will know from the agenda I sent out before the meeting, we had a number of issues to discuss including our upcoming WASC accreditation visit, school uniform, our annual Cultural Fair and perhaps most significantly the election of this year’s PTA Executive. The election of this year’s executive was very straightforward. Contact names and numbers of this year’s elected office-bearers will be e-mailed to our whole community later this week. I would like to take this opportunity to extend my sincere thanks to all who served on the executive last year, especially Frank Sze, who took on the President’s role. It was a genuine pleasure working with Frank and I look forward to continuing to do so this year, especially with our plans to make the annual PTA Golf Tournament bigger and better.

Extra-Curricular Activities

Last week, a teacher told me how pleased she was that so many students had shown an interest in an extra-curricular activity she was sponsoring. Clearly it really made her feel good about giving up her time to support an after-school activity that students genuinely appreciated.

Extra-curricular activities are an important part of school-life. At AIS we are committed to ensuring our students are given the oppprtunities and encouragement to participate in a broad range of learning activities, both in and out of the classrooms.

This year I am pleased to say there has been a significant increase in the range of opportunities open to students across the school. Every day we are seeing students of all ages getting involved in activities after school. In addition to the competitive sports teams and their fixtures in the International Schools Sports Federation competitions, we have teacher-sponsored clubs and a number of external providers coming into school.

Details of extra-curricular activities have been sent out to all families through the school e-mail. Please check this regularly as we will continue to offer new activities throughout the year. Most recently we have welcomed after-school soccer training by the Hong Kong Football Academy. Gymnastics has also been recently added, with professional coaches taking classes in the hall every Wednesday after school. We are also hoping to start a schoolwide martial arts program with options to learn Karate, kick-boxing and self-defense.

It is important for children to have the chance to discover new interests and talents. In supporting a well-rounded educational experience, I would like to encourage students and their families to continue looking at the extra-curricular options available at school and to get involved. Do not hesitate to contact us if you would like further information on the extra-curricular program - it's great for the students and makes the teachers happy too!

Cameron Fox
Head of School

Family Orientation Evening 2007

Thank you to everyone who came along to our annual Family Orientation Evening held in the school hall on Wednesday, 5 September 2007.

The evening was a great success, with our largest turnout ever. It was very pleasing to see so many parents and teachers mingling and chatting to each other, getting themselves introduced and generally enjoying the relaxed atmosphere. With a fine selection of snacks and refreshments prepared by our school caterers, Cafe Concepts, everyone welcomed the opportunity to get to know each other a little better.

Our revised Expected Schoolwide Learning Results, and statements of purpose, mission and vision were presented, and our preparations for the upcoming WASC Self-Study and school visit were explained. Parents were invited to read through these updated statements and to forward any comments directly to me.

After this short presentation, parents in our elementary school were invited to meet with their teachers, finding out more about the program they will follow this year. Middle School and High School teachers remained in the hall and spoke with parents about their programs and some of their objectives for the weeks and months ahead.

Aroung 7.15pm, everyone was invited to take a walk through the new high school campus to see the new classrooms, recess areas and of course the new pool. Expertly assisted and guided by a volunteer group of high school senior students, teachers and parents strolled through the new campus, visiting classrooms and admiring the new facilities.

It really was a lovely evening and a perfect way for our school community to begin the new year.