02 NOVEMBER 2016
VOLUME 7 ISSUE 6
ISG Jubail School Administration Newsletter
JAGUAR
JUNCTION 2016-2017
Principal’s Corner Dear ISGJ Community, I hope you enjoy this edition of the Jaguar Junction! I hope you were able to make it to our ES Coffee Morning and MS/HS Evening Forum. I have linked the presentations by Mr. Pethan (MS/HS Evening Forum) and Mr. Ahmed (ES Coffee Morning) on the latest at ISGJ by way of learning and systems. These will give you some insight into what we have been focused on at ISGJ. I welcome you all to have a look and peruse the slides. I have noticed just today a change in the prevailing winds in Jubail. Let’s hope this ushers in the cooler months; I’m sure our PE teachers would welcome this trend. It did instigate some reflection on my part. I have been working with the teachers and reflecting on their practices. This is highly rewarding for us and hopefully initiates a shift in levels of abstraction, or elevation on how to implement more effective teaching strategies.
Our secondary focus has always been to improve communication and we are always striving to improve in our instructional practices. As we design meaningful units we also keep cross checking to measure our commitment to our ISGJ Principles of Learning. These continue to guide us as we plan the learning for our students. Our School Advisory Council met last week to discuss a number of topics relevant to ISGJ. The minutes from the meeting are linked here. The next School Advisory Council meeting will be prior to winter break. Please see this link to the latest Jaguar TV message from our students. We are working on what it means to report FACTS and opinions in media. Our students are having fun while working on what it means to be up to date with media practices and reporting the news. The latest version of Jaguar TV is entertaining; please enjoy.
As you know at ISG Jubail we have three primary academic and systems goals we have been striving to accomplish over the past 20 months. These areas are:
We wish you the best of luck on Sunday, November 6th, during Virtual School. We hope all goes well and the learning is able to continue, with your support!
Curriculum Design Template
Enjoy the weekend.
Differentiated Instruction (getting to know the learner)
Dan Mock,
Commitment to strengthening the group Thinking Collaborative Website
Principal Follow me on Twitter
Quick Notes November 3: No School for Students November 4: U-14 Volleyball Boys in DHS & Girls in Dammam November 6: Virtual School (Students work from home) November 8: ‘Screenagers’ Movie @ 5:30 PM, MPR November 9: PTO Meeting @ 8:00 AM November 13-17: MS/ HS Week Without Walls November 17: ES Fall Community Building Fundraiser Events Calendar
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Important Announcements Virtual School on November 6th
No School for Students There will be no school for students tomorrow, Nov. 3. All the faculty will attend a conference in the District.
Who: All PK-12 students, all subjects. Why: To ensure that teachers and students are prepared if the school has to close for any reason (for example: weather /medical epidemic /political unrest). Where: Students can work anywhere (except school) with Internet access. When: Work will be posted from 7:45am onwards. Teachers will be online (in most cases) during the scheduled class time (for example if your child has Block 1 English, their English teacher will be available from 7:45 to 8:55 to answer questions and help students if needed). Students and parents use Google Classroom, Class Dojo and/or Hangouts (easier and faster) to contact their teachers with questions. Please keep in mind that the teacher may be conversing with another student, parent or supporting their own children during the time you are trying to connect with them; therefore they may not be immediately available but they will endeavour to respond as soon as possible to your question. What: Teachers plan activities that relate as closely as possible to current class content or skills. The activity will reinforce existing understanding or introduce new content that will be continued to be covered in class. How: Students in grades 2-12 will access their content via Google Classroom, students in PKG1 will access their content through Class Dojo. Help: Our Digital Learning Coach made a video for Google Classroom to assist you. Please have your child show you that they are able to access their Google Classroom. Parents of PK to G5 students please contact your child’s teacher if you have not yet connected to Class Dojo.
Nurse’s Office Our Nurse’s Office has announced that November will be Diabetes Awareness Month. More information to follow. Meanwhile, Ms. Louw and Ms. Jayme-Ladsak will be happy to answer your questions by phone, ext. 499, or by email - jubailnurse@isg.edu.sa. Please keep your child’s vaccinations updated. Here is Required Inoculations Document.
AP Exams Payment Payment for AP exams is due on Thursday, March 23, 2017. The cost is SAR 450 for each AP subject, including Studio Art. Please arrange payment with Ms. Angela Jucal, the school accountant. Thank you!
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Upcoming Events ISG Jubail will be hosting a documentary ‘Screenagers’ for all the parents next Tuesday, November 8, from 5:30 to 7:30 PM, in the MPR. The movie will be followed by a 30-minute discussion based on the watched material. ‘Screenagers’ is about the impact of the digital age on children and how to help them minimize harmful effects and find balance. The goal of this movie night is to make parents feel more confident and better equipped to establish balance around their children's screen time. Check the movie's official trailer to get more information about it. Please fill in a short form confirming your attendance.
Elementary School Winter Concerts
G4-5 Family Reading Night
Please join our librarian, literacy coordinator, and classroom teachers for an evening filled with a fun reading skit performance, exciting stories, and quiet family reading time. The Reading Night will take place next Wednesday, November 9th, at 6:00 PM, in the Library.
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NASA Engineer at ISG Jubail! Grade five had the privilege of having a guest speaker from NASA come to speak to our class. Cassandra Rodriquez is an aerospace engineer who spent over nine years supporting human space exploration. As part of NASA Mission Control, Ms. Rodriquez performed duties as a Flight Controller and Astronaut Instructor for the International Space Station Program and was involved in over 28 ISS Expeditions and 21 Shuttle Missions. Her responsibilities were to prepare and support astronauts to perform maintenance in outer space which included providing remote instructions and real-time monitoring for all Space Station internal maintenance and assembly activities. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Ms. Rodriquez is a Texas native and has enjoyed her time living in Jubail and exploring the world. When she returns to Texas this January, she will continue to support human space flight as a liaison between visiting spacecraft (i.e. SpaceX Dragon, Orbital Cygnus) and the International Space Station. The grade five students enjoyed listening to her stories and learning from her experiences. This was a wonderful addition to our standards about Earth's place in the universe, as well as Earth's systems.
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Me to We Corner Spirit Week Thank you for participating in Spirit Week! Because of you, Spirit Week was a success for the ME 2 WE club and the school. Thank you again for participating. Here are some pictures of the kids and teachers dressed up in Spirit Week.
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MS Monster Mash Smash! Almost 50 students attended the Middle School Monster Mash on October 31st. Students enjoyed pizza, cupcakes, a scavenger hunt, Five Nights at Freddy's computer game competition, music, creepy mystery boxes, raffles, and a costume contest. The MS Student Council would like to thank the following people for their extra help in making the Monster Mash possible: Mr. Rein, Mr. Mathew, Mr. Babu and the MCC team, the Biscat team, Ms. Saleh, Mrs. Timm, Ms. Lopez, Ms. Stuart, Dr. SarahKate, Mr. Netzler, Mr. Dobbs, Ms. Botha, Ms. Alvarez, Ms. Sanchez-Baute, Ms. Reema, and Ms. Liehanie.
Spirit T-Shirt Design Contest from PTO Design a shirt that could be printed and worn by the whole school this year! YOUR TO GET STARTED: DESIGN Use a regular 8 1/2 ” x HERE 11” printer paper, design with the page turned like a tall rectangle (portrait), not a wide rectangle (landscape). Middle School/High School students: You have the option to design art for a black shirt if you choose. Please hand-draw your design with pen or marker (not pencil or crayon). Your design may be created using 4 or
more colors – but remember that if your design wins, only 4 colors will be used to print it onto the t-shirt. T-shirt colors will be white (or black for MS/HS), please take this into consideration when designing your shirt! HERE ARE SOME IDEAS TO GET STARTED: The school mascot is: Jaguars The school initials are: ISG The school colors are: Gold and Black The school motto is: ROAR
Make sure all the work is yours and not a copy of something. We can’t wait to see your designs!
Who? All students When? Designs must be submitted by December 1st Why? Show your school pride and artistic ability How? Email image file (in jpeg format) jubail.pto.president @isg.edu.sa or drop sealed envelope in PTO drop box in the blue room. Don’t forget your full name, grade, class on the back.