From the Director

What I am excited about this week…
 
Please consider hosting! We still need more beds to host the ISSEA Band and Choir Festival from 20-22 February. This is a great honor for us and a wonderful opportunity to show off our impressive music program. This is the largest ISSEA event in terms of participants and will stretch our hosting abilities to their limits. To support this great event, please consider hosting two or more visiting students at your home. Please contact the Activities Department ([email protected]) to volunteer or to ask questions. Many thanks to those who have already agreed to help. 
 
ISSEA and AMIS! This is an exciting week for our Secondary School students, with four different international trips. Our ISSEA basketball, rugby, and swimming teams are in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Mozambique, respectively. You can get more information and, in many cases, follow livestreams at www.isseafrica.com.  Meanwhile, our Middle School Choir students are in Madagascar for the AMIS festival. Updates for all these events are also available on our FaceBook page. One of the special aspects about an AISL education is our students’ access to these highly-engaging enrichment opportunities.  
 
100th Day of School! Next Thursday, the Primary School will mark the 100th day of school with loads of fun “100”-based activities and some tasty treats. Many thanks to the PTA for always helping to support our 100th Day celebration.
 
Grade 10 IB DP & University Retreat and Parent Information Session! When students enter Grade 11 at AISL, they need to make decisions about the program and subjects that they wish to take over the coming two-years. This can be daunting for students and their families. For this reason, the IB Diploma Coordinator and College Counselor provide not only a parent information session to inform decision-making, but also a two-day retreat for all grade 10 students. During the retreat, students learn about the accredited programs that AISL offers (IB Diploma; IB Diploma Courses; and US High School Diploma), the subjects that they can take, and the implications of their decisions with regard to their post-secondary goals. Students have opportunities to visit DP classes to get a taste of the subject, and they may take into consideration recommendations from their current teachers with regard to the level (higher or standard) that is most suited to them in various subjects. During February and March, the IB DP Coordinator and College Counselor hold meetings with all students and their parents to provide individual evidence-based advice regarding academic choices. The parent information session will be held on 4 February at 07:30 in the Palm Pavilion and the student retreat will be on 6 & 7 February.