Friday Bulletin - Middle School

ISSUE # 03
SY 2015–2016
MIDDLE SCHOOL
WEEK OF:
AUG 24 TO 28
Friday Bulletin
Weekly Publication for Middle School Parents
Inside this issue:
Dear Parents,
We hope that you are all adjusting nicely to the pace and routine of the new
school year and are looking forward to the broad range of learning experiences
that await your child/children. Our efforts this week have centered around ensuring students understand transdisciplinary aspects of the Middle School program. Teachers have been explaining important MS systems as well as individual class routines and procedures. In addition to these elements, essential time
management and organization strategies have been introduced/revisited so
students are set up for success.
Below you will find essential information that all MS parents need to be aware
of. Please remember that if you would like additional information you can visit
our website (www.ismanila.org).
After School Activities:
Middle School After School Activities (AFAC) officially begin on Monday August
24th. Parents will receive communication this afternoon (Thursday) from the
AFAC office confirming what activities your child has been officially enrolled in
for semester one. Please be sure to communicate any changes in your pick-up
procedures with your child.
MS OPEN HOUSE:
Today the MS office has been engaged in the process of sending home individual parent emails about the upcoming MS Open House event. This email provides an overview of Open House as well as personalized schedules. Please
note that it is imperative that all parents bring the schedule with them on
Thursday. We are very much looking forward to seeing you all at this key event
so we can work collaboratively to support your child/children on their MS journey!
NO SCHOOL TOMORROW!
Please note that there is no school tomorrow due to the national holiday to celebrate Ninoy Aquino Day. If you choose to travel, we would like to respectfully
request that parents ensure that the family is back in Manila at an appropriate
hour so student have a good night’s sleep and are ready for school. We wish
you a relaxing and enjoyable long weekend with your family!
Kind regards,
Rachel Harrington, Principal
Amanda Pekin, Assistant Principal
MS Events & Activities
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MS Play
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After-School Activities
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Service Learning
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Operations & Security
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Athletics & Activities
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ISM Upcoming Events
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Campus Card Corner
Family Account vs. Individual
Accounts
By default, your ISM Campus Account is a
family account but you can request for
individual accounts. Here’s how:
Send an email to campuscard@ismanila.org and request for
individual accounts of your children.
Normally, the parents’ accounts are
attached/linked to the youngest child’s
account. If you wish to have a separate
account from your youngest child, kindly
include it in your email request.
For more information, visit:
http://campusonline.ismanila.org
For questions/concerns, email:
campuscard@ismanila.org
Middle School
We are pleased and proud to announce that the MS play this year
is Shakespeare's A Midsummer
Night's Dream. We are starting
preparations early this year because the play will be performed
outside in January--very exciting!
We have held auditions this week
after announcing the play in assemblies and via student e-mail. If you
have any questions, please speak
with your son/daughter regarding the e-mail and contact Ms. Rankin
(rankinc@ismanila.org) or Ms. Grev (grevc@ismanila.org) for further
follow-up as needed.
SEPTEMBER
MS OPEN HOUSE
Thursday, August 27th
Time: 17:00—19:30
Venue: Fine Arts Theater (FAT)
Purpose:
 Meet the MS Leadership Team and MS
Faculty.
 Obtain a broad overview of our beliefs
about MS education.
 Gain a deeper understanding of the MS
program and the MS schedule.
 Meet your child’s teachers and visit their
respective classrooms.
NATIONAL HOLIDAY
Monday, August 31th
SEPTEMBER
Thank you for your support! We hope you can attend the performances: January 29-30.
CLASSROOM WITHOUT WALLS
(CWW)
Thursday, September 17th and
Friday, September 18th
Locations:
 Grade 5: Amazing Race (on campus)
 Grade 6: Island Cove (overnight)
 Grade 7: Tagaytay (overnight)
 Grade 8: Caliraya (overnight)
Purpose: Team building and strengthening our
MS community
Reminder to all parents:
On days when your child
needs to be absent from
school, we ask that a parent
inform the Middle School
Office via phone at 840-8550 /
553 or via email at
ms@ismanila.org
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Dear Parents,
Access and parking within the campus are important security
and safety issues. For the well-being of all members of the ISM
community, those entering the school campus are requested
to take note of the information and procedures outlined below.
Parent IDs
Starting school year 2015-16 parents will no longer be required
to submit copies of the registration documents of their vehicles. They will instead be asked to confirm through the application form that the vehicle has minimum Third (3rd) Party
Insurance, is legally registered and is fully compliant for operation on the roads under Philippine Laws. For those vehicles not
registered in a parent’s name a letter of assignment will still be
needed.
The parent IDs issued since SY 2013/14 (black) will continue to
be valid for the new school year. Standard parent cards will be
issued free of charge. Parents may, however, elect to apply for
a smartcard ID which will be usable with the cashless payment
system introduced into the school for SY 2013-14. There will
be a fee of P250.00 for a smartcard.
Each ISM family will be issued one vehicle sticker free of
charge. Any additional stickers will be issued following payment of P100 to the cashier’s office.
All students will be issued with new ID cards at the beginning
of the new school year. The cards will be compatible with the
cashless payment system. There will be no need for returning
students to visit the Security Office as we will be utilizing the
photographs taken for the yearbooks.
Vehicular Access
In order to facilitate the easy recognition of authorized cars at
the gates, the stickers should be affixed to the top right corner
of the windshield. ISM stickers issued in previous years must
Applications for parent IDs can be processed through the Secu- be removed.
rity Office
Vehicles not displaying a current car sticker will not be allowed
Student IDs
regular access from September 1, 2015.
During drop-off and pick-up times, vehicles may enter the campus through Gates 2 and 3. Those entering through Gate 2
should proceed to the drop off area and, once the student has
alighted or boarded, they should exit via Gate 1. Those vehiSchool Passes
cles entering through Gate 3 must turn into the covered parking area and use the designated drop-off areas. All vehicles
School passes issued to parents’ employees and representa- must exit through Gate 1.
tives need to be replaced for this school year. As of August 31,
2015 the dark green bordered passes will be invalid.
Please note that Gate 2 may only be used by those drivers and
passengers who have an ISM ID card and who are in a vehicle
The security office is now accepting applications for new school displaying a valid ISM vehicle sticker.
passes. These passes will not be compatible with the cashless
payment system.
Alternatively, vehicles entering through Gate 3 may park in the
covered car park. The spaces reserved for parent-driven cars
Each family will be given two free school passes. Additional should only be used by those vehicles which are driven by parschool passes may be obtained after paying a processing fee of ents themselves. Vehicles in which parents are traveling, but
Php100.00 each to the Cashier’s Office.
which are driven by a driver, should not use these spaces. Rather, they should park elsewhere in the covered car park or
Visitors’ Passes
make use of the outside spaces next to the power center.
All visitors must secure a pass from the guardhouse at Gate 3. Visitors to ISM must enter through Gate 3. There is an area for
Before entry will be allowed, a telephone check will be made short-stay visitor parking near Gate 1.
with the relevant office to confirm the visitor’s business within
the school. Visitors will need to surrender a photo-ID upon The Pedestrian Gate
entry to campus.
The pedestrian gate is located in the perimeter fence mid-way
Car Stickers
between Gate 1 and Gate 2. There is a paved area between
the road and the perimeter fence, allowing easy access to the
The car stickers for school year 2015/2016 are available from gate. The pedestrian gate is solely for the
the security office.
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entry of members of the ISM Community at the beginning
of the school day. It will only be open between 7:00 am and er than 30 minutes before dismissal time. Those who repeat7:45 am (8:00 am to 8:45 am on Wednesdays).
edly fail to comply with the regulation will have their access
privilege suspended.
Due to parking restrictions, and in the interests of security, it
will not be open in the afternoon for pick-ups. During the time Only those vehicles carrying parents or other people with busiit is open, it will be under the supervision of members of the ness within the school will be allowed to return to the campus
ISM Guard Force.
before the scheduled pick-up time.
Drivers should stop adjacent to the paved area and students
should alight from the right side of their vehicle. The driver
should then move off, clearing the space for other vehicles
dropping off students. Under no circumstances should a student be dropped off from the middle lane. This is dangerous
as the student would need to walk in front of another vehicle.
Drivers are reminded that traffic regulations forbid parking on
the roads around ISM. Therefore, vehicles should only be stopping for the brief time it takes for a student to alight. Drivers
must not wait for anybody to return to the vehicle.
Drop Off/Pick Up Passes
There are designated areas for unaccompanied drivers, yayas,
helpers and security escorts to wait for parents and students.
Unless specifically authorized, they may not enter any other
area. In the interest of security, and to prevent congestion at
the pedestrian entrances to the covered parking area, parents
are requested to emphasize to their employees the importance
of cooperating with the security staff and remaining in the
appropriate areas.
Firearms
All members of the ISM community are reminded that it is
strictly forbidden for firearms to be brought onto the campus.
This includes concealed weapons carried by bodyguards for
close protection. Any person arriving at the school with a firearm should inform the gate guard, and arrangements will be
made for the weapon to be safely and securely stored during
the visitor’s stay.
For non-regular drivers without ISM identification who entering school to drop off or collect visitors or members of our
community, but who do not intend to park within the campus,
a drop off pass will be issued. Our regular checks to confirm
the identity of a driver and their purpose for entering the campus will continue to be made, but we will not retain a photo-ID
in return for the issued pass. The use of these new passes will
avoid delays at the Gate 1 exit and reduce traffic congestion at Security Staff Directions
busy times.
Our security team is endeavoring to make the school as safe
and secure an environment as possible for all members of our
Vehicle Checks
community.
The practice of inspecting vehicles will continue. During offpeak hours, all vehicles will be checked before they are al- We ask that everybody cooperate with us in this important
task. In particular, all those entering our campus are requestlowed to enter the campus.
ed to comply with any directions given to them by members of
our guard force.
During peak hours (drop off and pick-up times), all vehicles
without valid stickers and randomly selected vehicles with
If you are confused or unclear as to the purpose of such instickers will be asked to undergo an examination.
structions, please seek clarification from the security office.
Please note that it is the parents’ responsibility to advise their
Whether an examination is conducted or not, it is important
staff accordingly.
that the security staff at the gates are able to identify the occupants of vehicles entering the campus; therefore IDs must be
clearly displayed. Vehicles with tinted windows must roll down Thank you for your cooperation. We are looking forward to
another great year at International School Manila.
windows to allow a clear view of the interior of the vehicle.
Drivers, Helpers and Bodyguards
Drivers, helpers and bodyguards should not wait on campus for
students throughout the school day. After dropping off students they should exit the school grounds and not return earli-
Best wishes,
Mike Flynn
Director of Operations and Security
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This week and next week are short weeks with Friday Aug 28th HS V& JV Volleyball vs Brent from 4pm
Aug 21st and Aug Mon 31st being national holidays.
For our Sailfish swim team program please check the
Tryouts have concluded and team selection has been Sailfish blog for information. Squads are now confinalized for our Season 1 teams.
firmed and Sailfish training has started in earnest
from this week. Good luck to all swimmers for the
Soccer Rosters can be found at the links below:
year ahead. http://sailfish.ism-online.org/
ES Rifa festival teams -ES Rifa festival rosters 2015
MS Rifa festival teams - MS Rifa Festival teams 2015
MS/HS Rifa League 11 a side teams - MS/HS Rifa
League 11 a side teams 2015
Thanks to all our community members who came out
for Friday night lights last week, it was a beautiful
Manila evening of sports with our ISM Bearcats winning all matches against Faith Academy. Congratulations to players and coaches for a great start to the
season and a big thanks to PCA, Bearcat Council and
Student Ambassadors for supporting this event.
Well done also to our MS/HS Cross Country teams
who ran very well last Saturday morning at our ISM
home XC meet. Race results can be found at this
links XC race results A big thanks to Bearcat Council
for their support as marshals and finish line officials
at this meet. A job very will done. The next race of
the local season will be Sept 5th at Brent.
Please note the practice times for ATAC programs for
SY 15-16 are as follows: ATAC all year round teams3:15-4:30. See schedule for our All year round
teams program here…
See Sailfish blog for swim squad start and finish
times. Gymnastics team starts 3:10-4:50.
All HS seasonal teams practice from 3:05- 4:50pm
each day. MS seasonal teams practice 3:10-4:40pm.
In order to clear the campus prior to 5pm all after
school programs will conclude by 4:50pm or earlier.
The last bus is 4:55pm this is due to the ever increasing traffic concerns in our area.
Parents and students please take some time to peruse the ATAC blog it has a wide variety of information and links to our sports and activities program.
If you have any questions regarding the competitive
program of sports at ISM after reading the information on the blog please send an email
to pekinm@ismanila.org and I will endeavor to assist
you as best I can.
Upcoming events:
Aug 20th VGV'ball vs Shisa HS Japan 3:30pm
Bearcat Den- drop by our fantastic spirit store. There
is a new school year sale on at the moment and a
Aug 20th Boys Midgets A1 and Aspirants Soccer vs La range of new products and items to purchase includSalle @ 5pm
ing items from our service partners. Bearcat Den
hours of operation- 7am-4pm Mon-Fri.
Aug 20th VB Soccer vs La Salle @ 6:30pm
GO BEARCATS!
Aug 22nd Wall Climbing team at ROX competition
Best Regards,
Aug 22nd VG Soccer vs Assumption 9am
Mark Pekin
Director of Athletics and Activities
Aug 24th VGSoccer vs CSA 5pm
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We hope you received your copy of
the ISM SY 2015—2016 school calendar. If you have not yet received your
copy or if you want to purchase extra
copies, please stop by the Communications Office. We are located near
the Admission Office.
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