2013_05_03 Bulletin

The American International School of Rotterdam

SHARK

Bulletin...

03.05.13.

From the Director “... I am happy to report that the app is ready for use...”

Happy Friday everyone! At about the time we launched the website, I mentioned that we were developing an AISR app for the iPhone, iPod and iPad. I am happy to report that the app is ready for use. You will find the app in the Apple App Store - just do a search for “AISR”. The app is free of charge.

Overall the app is functional, but two areas will not be “active” until the new school year - Bulletins and Athletics. All other sections are active and the feeds are ready. Below is an overview of specific functions Bulletins: These are pulled from the e-notify announcements which are designed to only be visible to logged-in users. Until we reach a point where parents, students and staff log into the site to view specialized portals, this feature will not display content on the app. We expect to enable this function in the upcoming school year.

Athletics: This section will be fed by the Athletics Manager portal on the website. Work on this module requires a certain amount of data gathering that will be collected and input into the portal over the summer.

Calendar: The Athletics calendar in addition to the parent/community calendar have been enabled. Other calendars may be added in the upcoming school year and users can select which calendars they would like to see.

Contact: Provides standard school contact information.

Directory: Provides school contact information for each school employee.

Media: We enabled some videos and photo galleries in this section. Additional media will be added in time.

News: This section is pulling news items from our current news feed on the website - the news in the app matches the news on the website.

We will work on developing the AISR app further over the course of the next school year and see how we can increase its effectiveness. In the meantime, it is available in the App Store for anyone who would like to give it a try.

Thank you and have a great weekend!

Best regards,

Neal Dilk Director neal.dilk@aisr.nl

1/3

Elementary Principal’s Message “.... students in Middle and High School visited students in the Elementary School to take part in a ʻBuddy CORʼ lesson...”

Elementary Student Council The Elementary Student Council were very pleased with the turnout for their first after - school activity! Everybody had a great time and as they were leaving, the students said they can’t wait until the next fun activity! More details about that event will be in the next Shark.

Last week, many students in the Early Childhood and Elementary School submitted their pictures for the Young Authors Cover Competition. The pictures were very beautiful so once again, it was quite a challenge to choose the winner for the front and back covers! After much deliberation, the winners for the 2013 Young Authors Book are as follows: Front Cover - Ceres Brouwer - Grade 5 Back Cover - Jawa Al-Blayyes - Grade 1 Congratulations to both students. The books will be ready for distribution at the Creative Arts evening on Thursday May 30. The evening will start at 6:30 – there will be an art exhibition, musical performances and of course, readings from the 2012-2013 Young Author’s Book. Once again, donations from the book will go to the Ronald MacDonald House for needy children.

Last week, students in Middle and High School visited students in the Elementary School to take part in a ‘Buddy

COR’ lesson as part of our Community of Respect program. I have included some pictures of COR Moments throughout the school. We thank all of our students who model the values of our Community of Respect each day.

From the classrooms: This week, it is the turn of the EAL Department to tell you about some events that are taking place in their class.

“In Kindergarten EAL we’ve been learning about healthy foods in the IPC unit We Are What We Eat. We looked at the artwork of the famous Italian artist, Giuseppe Arcimboldo, who created faces from fruit and vegetables. We identified all of the fruits and vegetables in his artwork and we talked about where he put it all on the face. We practiced lots of new vocabulary through this activity.

After reading Oliver’s Fruit Salad we also decided to make our own delicious fruit salad where we peeled, chopped and ate lots of delicious fruit. It sure was yummy!

Now we’re starting a new IPC unit called Hooray! We’re Going on Holiday! We’ve been looking at all the different destinations that people can visit around the world, and we made a poster of some very interesting places, so if you’re looking for an idea for your next holiday, stop outside of the EAL room to see get some new ideas!”

From Ms. Sherritt and the EAL Department:

Have a lovely weekend.

Sincerely,

Anne-Marie Blitz anne-marie.blitz@aisr.nl 2/3

Secondary Principal’s Message

“.... AISR's 14th annual Prom was held this year on April 27 at the Hilton Hotel in Rotterdam.”

Dear Parents, On Wednesday, May 22nd, I will be hosting an information night for all secondary parents. The purpose will be to update you on some of the plans with regards to the secondary school for the 2013-2014 academic year. It will run from 6:00pm-7:00pm in the cafeteria. Please R.S.V.P. to me directly no later than Wednesday, May 15th, if you plan to attend. Hope to see you there!

AISR Prom AISR's 14th annual Prom was held this year on April 27 at the Hilton Hotel in Rotterdam. It took place in the Coolsingel suite overlooking the fabulous Coolsingel by night and the famous Hofplein fountain. There was a gourmet sit-down dinner with three choices of starters and main course and of course, the fabulous Prom cake afterwards. Brian and Natalia were voted Prom King and Queen, and Samuel and Sophie were Prom Lord and Lady. We certainly received royal treatment at the Hilton! There was a great DJ for the music and those who attended had a most wonderful evening as you can see from the photos. Be sure to check out the slideshow on the AISR website. Onwards and upwards to the next Prom!

Here is the link to the slideshow movie of the Prom pictures: http://youtu.be/K06Iwmmm26g

Grade 7 Cultural Trip Since 1997 our school has been involved with the Marnix College from Ede. This Dutch High School has an 'English Stream' and at the time was looking for an international partner to set up an exchange program. We have organized the meet between their students and ours in different ways. The last 8 years we have been hosted by them at their beautiful location in Friesland. The school owns a pavilion overlooking one of the Frisian lakes. It is a wonderful location near the pittoresque village of Langweer. Our contribution over the last years has been organizing a guided tour for their students on The Batavia. A combined effort of Dutch class, social studies and drama has prepared the students to be knowledgable guides on the replica of this 17th century Dutch ship. Our students concentrated on the story of the Batavia, which is a story about one of the deep tragedies in the history of shipping.

Our students did a wonderful job sharing this story with their Dutch peers. Mrs. Modic, Mr. Temminck and two colleagues from the Marnix provided the group with a wonderful learning experience. They learned a lot about Dutch history in the 17th century, but also about themselves and each other. The students were involved in cooking and cleaning, and they were able to use the boats on the lake. The program started on Monday the 22nd and lasted until Wednesday the 28th. On Tuesday they had a workshop with a professional rap artist. The raps they made were performed on the last evening. During the activities our students worked well together and with the others, and overall it was a great trip!

Enjoy the sun and kind regards,

Alison Lipp Secondary Principal and Curriculum Director alison.lipp@aisr.nl

3/3