AIAN will be a widely respected school providing a model US based educational program with an internationally minded community. 19th August 2011 Dear Community, On behalf of the Board, Parents Teachers Association, Administration, teachers and support staff may I, once again, warmly welcome all of the AIAN community to school for School Year 2011/12. We hope that everyone had a fantastic summer and the students are rested and prepared for an exciting new year of inquiry, learning and personal growth. The opening of school over the week was very successful with one hundred and thirty students enrolled in school. We have many new students, teachers and parents. Please be patient with us as we endeavor to answer your questions, requests and concerns. Other items for your general information are: OPEN HOUSE AIAN is hosting an Open House on Tuesday, August 23 rd from 6.30 p.m. until 8.30 p.m. This time frame has been adjusted since the original letter was sent home due to suggestions a later start may help both parents in a family to attend the event. The purpose of the event is for parents of the school or other parents interested in enrolling their children in AIAN, to meet the teachers and learn about the programs we offer. A letter containing specific details in regard to the Open House was sent home earlier today. Children are welcome to attend and must be supervised by their parents. If parents are planning on students staying at school until the Open House starts please contact the school office on 86869999 and let Susan and Lilian know this clearly. Those students who stay in school will be asked to remain in the canteen or allowed to play on the school field. Another possibility is for students to stay with friends for a few hours in the LiRen subdivision. Whichever option is chosen, kindly inform the office so we can carefully dismiss the students at 3.30 p.m. LEADERSHIP TEAM We have made some adjustments to the leadership structure of the school. This year the Leadership Team (LT) will be comprised of the Head of School (Mr. M. Bretherton), the Elementary School Head of Department (Ms. B. Park), the Middle School Head of Department (Ms. A. Higley) and the High School Head of Department (Ms. Silva). Please know that our doors are open and we hope that you will come along and see us when you feel you need to. SCHOOL ORGANISATION AND EMPLOYEES LIST SY2011/12 We are proud to inform you we have a quality international academic staff comprised of twenty-seven returning and new academic colleagues, supported by six Teaching Assistants (TA'S). The faculty is ably assisted by the administration and support staff included in the complete alphabetized employee list below.
NEW MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY Every international school has new students, parents and teachers joining their community at this time of year. May I ask the returning community to remember when they first arrived at AIAN? Please take those memories and use them to ensure that the new members of our community feel welcomed and supported over the next few months so they can settle in comfortably. LANGUAGE POLICIES International Schools are language rich communities. Often times the common language of inclusion, socialization and instruction is not the first language of many of the community. At AIAN the common language is English. To help foster a community sense of developing English as the common language the following philosophy will be promoted • All teachers are considered Language Arts teachers and hold responsibility to help promote quality English language literacy skills for all members of the community, especially students. • Community members are expected where possible to use English as the medium of inclusion and communication. • Use and maintenance of the mother tong of all students is actively encouraged and supported by AIAN in the appropriate circumstances. The school will be producing a common vocabulary list of core words students need to be familiar with in each grade level. We hope to have these lists translated in to a number of languages, certainly Mandarin. This is to help parents be involved in expanding their children's English literacy skills. Chinese Language is the second language formally taught in AIAN and all students participate in this program. COMMUNICATIONS Clear, concise and timely communication is one of the corner stones of a successful organization. AIAN continues in its effort to improve how we communicate and our channels of communication. There will be heavy dependency on the use of email by the teaching faculty. The school will publish the Eagle Eyes Newsflash approximately every two weeks. We will continue to use the text broadcast system, not just for emergency situations, but as a general tool to help everyone stay abreast of school information. So, ensure that your correct email addresses and cell phone numbers are accurately recorded with the school. Please, also be guided by the person to person channel of communication that AIAN will use. Student or parent matters, issues or concerns must pass through the following channels. 1) Classroom teacher 2) The Counselor 3) The Head of Department for the school level concerned. 4) Head of School. It is expected that most matters will be clarified though the classroom teachers. If the classroom teacher is not able to resolve the matter then it will progress along the channel until it is clarified and resolved. Please see the Parent Student handbook on page 14 for more information. ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS (ELL) AND MANDARIN The school has adopted an immersion policy for students who are learning English and Mandarin. Thus, all children who need ELL support will receive this in the mainstream classrooms. ELL students will rarely be pulled out of mainstream classes for ELL support. All students will also be involved in Mandarin classes according to their level. CURRICULUM AND LEARNING Many of the Western Association of School's and colleges (WASC) action plans established two years ago were directed towards increased student learning and curriculum improvement. The school will continue with its ongoing curriculum review and improvement process. The entire faculty is supporting these initiatives and we will be reporting our progress over the year. This year the faculty and staff will be preparing a report for the WASC visiting team that will come in April. We will be asking for community volunteers to work on the various WASC committees that help to generate this report. One of our first tasks this year is to revisit and possibly amend the school's Mission Statement. This, we hope, will bring the Mission Statement more in line with the Vision Statement created last year. CALENDAR CORRECTION The published calendar in the Parent Student Handbook has an error and this has now been corrected. The last day of school for SY2011/12 is a Wednesday. Originally, it was marked as the June 12 th . This has been corrected to June 13 th . There will be the same number of school days, 180. We are looking forward to a cooperative and successful year that focuses on individualized student learning. To ensure that this occurs please know all decisions taken by AIAN as an organization will be based first and foremost on what is in the best interests of the student body. Thank you. Regards, Mark Bretherton, M.Ed. Head of School |