ISSUE # 33

SY 20152016

MIDDLE SCHOOL
WEEK OF:

Friday Bulletin

Weekly Publication for Middle School Parents

MAY 23 TO 27

Dear Parents,
We had an exciting start to the week as we learned
that our MS Bearcats won gold over the weekend in
the MS Mixed Touch Rugby competition. The girls
team came in 4th overall and boys team came in
5th. The students had an enriching experience in
Jakarta and brought back an amazing trophy that is
now proudly displayed in the MS Office!

Yesterday, the G5 students in Ms.

Arrietas G5 Strings class visited the
office to play three musical pieces. Their final piece, Dont Stop Believing was dedicated
to Ms. Susan Aguila as she retires at the end of this school year. Students wanted Ms.
Susan to never stop believing that she will always be part of the MS family! It was a very
touching tribute and the students delivered an impeccable performance!
THIS WEEK:
MS Spirit Week
This fun-filled week has finally arrived! Below is an overview of the daily themes
so you can remind your child each evening!

Monday, May 23rd

Spirit Day: Twin/Triplet Day
Student who do not wish to participate must wear their regular ISM uniform
Tuesday, May 24th
Spirit Day: Pajama Day
Student who do not wish to participate must wear their regular ISM uniform
Wednesday, May 25th
Be the Change No Uniform Day. Cost= 50 pesos
Student who do not wish to participate must wear their regular ISM uniform
Thursday, May 26th
Spirit Day: Crazy Hair or Hat Day
Student who do not wish to participate must wear their regular ISM uniform
Friday, May 27th
Project Awesome No Uniform Day (CRIBS donation/ collection)
Student who do not wish to participate must wear their regular ISM uniform

Inside this issue:

Fine & Performing Arts

Cashiers Office
Clinic

Operations & Security

Athletics & Activities

Parent Community
Association

Admissions & Advancement

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ISM Upcoming Events

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ISM Upcoming
Events Events:
MS
Upcoming
MAY:
K-8 DANCE RECITAL
Saturday, May 14
MS SPIRIT WEEK
May 23 to 27
AFAC CONCERT
Tuesday, May 31

Need to top up?

ISM goes cashless in SY16-17!
Starting SY2016-2017 ISM will implement a full
debit system in the MS/HS Canteen. The debit
system provides customers with a cashless payment system once the customer's ID has been
loaded with funds.
Parents and Students are encouraged to start
using the debit system if they aren't already
doing so.

Click here for details.

NEED TO KNOW:

NEXT WEEK:
Tuesday, May 31st
AFAC Recitals
Time : 3:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Location: Little Theater
Check out the AFAC Blog for more details.

MS Concert
Time: 5:30 p.m.
Location: FAT
This will feature performances by the MS Band,
Strings and Choir students

Wednesday, June 1st

Math Carnival!
Time: 8:30 - 11:00a.m.
Location: Lofthouse
For their final unit on probability, all students in
Grade 7 Honors Mathematics have been busy
designing and creating games of chance. All of
these games will be combined to form the second MS Math Carnival Day. All members of the
ISM community are invited to attend and help
the Grade 7 students apply their knowledge of
probability to real life. Come along and join in the
fun!
Thursday, June 2nd
Advocating for Change Day
Who: G8 students
Time: All Day (Opening assembly is at 7:30)
Location: Various locations
Thursday, June 2nd
Advocating for Change Day
Who: G8 students
Time: All Day (Opening assembly is at 7:30)
Location: Various locations
Friday, June 3rd
G8 to G9 Transition Morning for Students
Time: 7:30 - 12:00 noon
G8 students will spend the morning rotating
around different HS classes so they can learn
more about their upcoming transition to HS.
Students who are departing ISM at the end of
this school year, we have a separate program
focused on transitions.
G8 students are dismissed at 12:00 noon so they
can go home and get ready for the Dinner Dance.

G8 Dinner Dance
Time: 7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Location: Lofthouse
Please note this is a student event and parents
do not attend.

Library Renovations and Revised Book Check Out Dates:

Please remember the library is being renovated this summer! The revised schedule below will help you stay organized
in regards to book returns and summer check outs.
May 3rd -12th = Normal daily operations- all resources
available for usage and check-out.
May 11th - 20th = Summer check-out for students/
parents/faculty commences - resources in the non-fiction
section will be limited.
May 20th = All books/resources must be returned from
students/parents - except those on summer borrowing!
May 23rd - 25th = MSMC is open but no book/resource
check-outs will be available
May 26th = Library closes for the 2015/16 school year.
Last Day of School:
The last day of school for students is on Thursday, June
9th. Students will be dismissed at 12:00 noon. If you are
taking your child out of school before this date, please be
sure to email the MS Office.
Kind regards,
Rachel Harrington, Middle School Principal
Amanda Pekin, Assistant Middle School Principal

PROJECT AWESOME (Grade 7)

7th grade Cobras are going to donate school supplies
to an organization called Springboard which will pass
them on to schools in need.
If you have any backpacks or school supplies that you
can donate, please bring to advisory during upcoming
weeks.
If you want to know more about this organization
Springboard, you can visit this website:
http://springboard-foundation.org/
If you have any questions about this, please ask Ms.
Lepp (leppm@ismanila.org) or Mr.Richardson
(richardsone@ismanila.org).

The ISM Fine & Performing Arts Office films many performances throughout the school year. Unfortunately, due to copyright
laws, we cannot post many of these events to a public access site such as YouTube. In order to make access to these events
easy for ISM families, we have now added a Google folder containing the films in the "Quick Links" list of the Parent Portal.
Here is a screenshot of this link:

Once you have clicked on this link, you will be taken to the Google folder that contains folders label by the school year.
Click on the year in which the event you want to watch took place and a list of video files will appear.
Because the file sizes are so big, downloading the video you want to watch to your personal computer is recommended.
This also means you will retain access to it after you leave ISM and it will be easy to share with family members via file
share sites such as Google Drive or Dropbox.
You can download by clicking on the video file you want. A similar screen as seen below will open and then you select the
download tab, which is located at the top-center of the screen:
You will be asked to select where you want to
save the file on your personal computer.
Currently we only have events for this year
available, but will work on shifting over the last
two years as well in the coming weeks. We will
also eventually include folders containing photos taken by our ISM student photographers at
some events.
SHARING POLICY
The videos in this folder are provided for private family viewing only. These videos
SHOULD NOT be uploaded to the internet for public access. If this becomes an issue, we will have to stop providing the
films in this manner. You can certainly share your downloaded files to family members in other countries but please make
it clear to them that these videosSHOULD NOT be uploaded to any social media or public access site.
Happy viewing!
Marsha Hillman
Fin and Performing Arts Director

YEAR-END CLEARANCE REMINDERS:

NOTE 1 : Student charges will be FINAL on June 07,2016 . Kindly view the ISM Web Online and settle the remaining outstanding balance(s) in time for year end clearance SY2015-2016 .
NOTE 2 : In anticipation of the year-end clearance for SY2015-2016, please note that only students with fully
paid SY2015-2016 fees will have their clearance forms signed by the cashier and will then have access to
school documents such as report cards and transcripts.
Likewise, for next school years incoming Pre-School 4 to Grade 4 old students, section cards will be released
by the Accounting Office on June 9, 2016 and thereafter only if current school year (2015-2016) fees are fully
settled.
NOTE 3 :Please be informed that for the purpose of clearing the accounts of students for SY15-16, Only CASH payment will be accepted by ISM cashiers both for dollar and peso payments after the cut off dates
below :
Peso checks will no longer be accepted starting on May 23, 2016 (Monday) while US$ checks will no longer
be accepted starting on April 25, 2016 (Monday). This is to allow enough time for the check to get cleared by
the bank in time for the student clearance in June. Please also note that US dollar coins are not accepted by
the cashier, however, the same can be converted to its peso equivalent to settle the remaining fees.

IDs for the New School Year

Parent IDs
The previously issued black and white parent IDs will continue to be valid for the new school year. Standard parent cards are 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.
Applications for parent IDs can be processed through the Security Office.
Student IDs
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.
School Passes
School passes issued to parents employees and representatives need to be replaced for next school year. As of
August 31, 2016 (Wednesday) the brown bordered passes will be invalid.
The security office is now accepting applications for new school passes, however the cards will not be available
for collection before July 1, 2016. These passes will not be compatible with the cashless payment system.
Each family will be given two free school passes. Additional school passes may be obtained after paying a processing fee of Php100.00 each to the Cashiers Office.
Car Stickers for the New School Year
The car stickers for school year 2016/2017 will be
available from the security office beginning July 1,
2016.
To obtain a new vehicle sticker please submit a completed vehicle sticker form. Applications for vehicles
registered with companies or other institutions
should be supported by a letter of assignment.
Each ISM family will be issued one vehicle sticker free
of charge. Any additional stickers will be issued following payment of P100 to the cashiers office.
I would like to thank all members of the ISM community for
their cooperation across this school year in helping us maintain ISM as a safe and secure environment for our children.
Sincerely,
MIKE FLYNN
Director of Operations
and Security
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Congratulations to our MS Mixed Touch team who played at their

end of season tournament at Jakarta last weekend. The mixed
team won Gold, the girls team placed 4th and boys team placed
5th. Well done Bearcats players and coaches.

Thank you and well done to all that took part in the Sailfish Aquathon at the ISM pool and MS field last Saturday morning. Next
week the Sailfish season comes to and end with the annual pool
party and Sailfish awards on Tues May 24th. To all sailfish swimmers, parents and our coaching team led by Coach Holly and Hazel well done on an excellent year. Sailfish tryouts will begin the
first full week of the school year in August, stay in touch via the
Sailfish blog for announcements for new student tryouts and returning sailfish member tryouts. If you will not be participating in
Sailfish next SY please contact Coach Hazel to inform her so that
squad numbers can be sorted and spaces allocated for new members.

End of year awards/certificate distribution for our all year round

ATAC teams will take place this year at the final training session of
the year the week beginning June 1st. Snacks/drinks will be provided at the last session and coaches will present participation
and individual awards to conclude the year for Table Tennis,
Chess, Wall Climbing, Aikido, Tae Kwon Do and Judo teams.
ISM summer camps information/flyer is posted to the ATAC blog.
Summer camps are offered the first 3 weeks of the summer vacation. Please note due to the large amount of facility construction
planned for this summer camps will only be offered in the mornings and all sessions will end by 12 noon or before. http://
atac.ism-online.org/atac/atac-summer-sports-camps/
S4 runs from April 11 to June 3 and the practice schedule is posted on notice boards and on ATAC blog schedules page . S4 practices are open to all Gr 8-11 student athletes. Current Gr 8's who
will be freshmen next SY are encouraged to come out as it is a
great opportunity to meet the coaches and other HS athletes
while getting in some pre season practice in readiness for next SY.
ATAC
Season 4 ATAC HS seasonal sports sessions offered areGirls- Soccer/Volleyball/Basketball/Touch
Boys- Soccer/Volleyball/Basketball/Faculty/Student Basketball
Please note due to the very hot weather ISM reserves the right to
cancel activities on short notice if the use of our outdoor facilities
is deemed too hot on any given day. Every effort will be made
where possible to schedule S4 practices on the shaded MS field or
in a covered facility.
Upcoming events:
May 24 Sailfish end of year pool party and awards evening
June 1 Bearcats for street soccer MS/HS fundraiser for charity
May 30-June 3 End of year awards presentations for ATAC all
year teams(Chess/Table Tennis/Wall Climbing/Aikido/TKD/
Judo)

June 3 Last day of AFAC and ATAC training

Aug 4,5,8,9 S1 HS Tryouts (Volleyball/Soccer/Cross Country)
Aug 8,9,10 S1 MS Tryouts (Volleyball/Soccer/Cross Country)
Aug 8,9,10 Tryouts/Registration for ES Rifa League Soccer
Gr1-4.
Aug 8, 10, 12- Tryouts/Registration for ATAC All Year teams
( Sailfish swim squads, Gymnastics, Wall Climbing, Table Tennis, Chess, Akido, Judo, TaeKwonDo

For our Sailfish swim team program please check the Sailfish blog
for information. http://sailfish.ism-online.org/
Please note the practice times for ATAC programs for SY 15-16
are as follows: ATAC all year round teams- 3:15-4:30. See schedule for our All year round teams program at ATAC blog schedules
page
All HS seasonal teams practice from 3:05- 4:50pm each day. MS
seasonal teams practice 3:15-4:45pm. 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.
The ATAC game schedule pdf which is updated regularly by Triz
Gonzalez (ATAC Athletics Coordinator) gives the most up to date
information on where/when and who our Bearcat teams will be
playing throughout the school year. Access to the game schedule
is now via the ISM parent portal not via power school as in the
past. A navigation guide is available here. ATAC Game Schedule
Users Guide.
Access the parent portal via this link, log in with your user name/
password and then look for the ATAC Game Schedule tab under
the left side quick links. Don't forget to refresh the pdf page each
time it opens so you access the most current schedule. Please
note this schedule does change often and at short notice due to
involvement with many local schools and organizations.
Check it regularly for the most up to date information. For security purposes....access to the ATAC game schedule pdf must be
linked via the secure parent portal and details should not be
shared with non ISM community members.
Bearcat Den- drop by our fantastic spirit store for year end sale
items. Get some Bearcat gifts for friends and family Bearcat Den
hours of operation- 7am-4pm Mon-Fri.
Best Regards,
Mark Pekin
Director of Athletics and Activities

Important information on Re-Enrollment for SY 2016-17

Dear Parents:
We will begin On-line Re-Enrollment for school year 2016-17 on Monday, April 4. As before, parents will have to log into
PowerSchool in order to do this. Below are instructions to help. If you are not sure of your PowerSchool log-in or need support, please contact the Middle School Office.
Please note that you must complete re-enrollment Steps 1 & 2 by 4pm on Friday, May 27 at the latest. PowerSchool will close
on that date until the start of SY16-17. We have over 500 students on our waitlist, and we will assume that your children are
leaving if you have not completed the re-enrollment process.
If your child/ren will not be returning for SY16-17, you MUST follow the Withdrawal Procedure and submit a Withdrawal Notification Form on or before Friday, May 13. Click here for more information.
Online Re-Enrollment
Step 1: Visit www.ismanila.org and click on Parent Portal under the Quick Links drop-down menu. Log-in to the Parent Portal
and click on PowerSchool. Please refer to the attached guide on How to Access Online Re-Enrollment.
Step 2: Look for the Re-Enrollment Clearance icon on the left hand panel. Click on the icon. Create your Re-enrollment Clearance Form and click submit after updating. You will receive an email notification verifying that you have been successful updating your childs record.
Step 3: Submit Forms (if applicable)
Students entering Grade 6 will be required to download and complete the Standard Physical Examination Form
(with ECG) which should be submitted to the ISM Health Clinic as soon as possible.
Students entering Grade 7 will be required to download and sign the ISM Drug Policy Form which should be submitted to the MS Office as soon as possible.
Step 4 You must settle all charges for SY15-16 which may include incidental fees not covered by company sponsorship (ATAC
uniforms, instrument rental, payment for lost textbook, etc.).
Step 5: You must pay the first quota of tuition fees for SY16-17 to receive your FINAL CLEARANCE NOTIFICATION for your
child to attend class on August 4, 2016.
Tuition and Fees: Please settle your accounts through our Cashiers Office.
Successful completion of required steps will generate a NO REPLY email confirmation. Completion of all steps is necessary in
order to receive your FINAL CLEARANCE NOTIFICATION.
To check status of Re-Enrollment, please visit the Parent Portal page.
Class Schedule distribution dates are as follows:
August 01, 2016: Grade 5 and 6 (MS Intersection)
August 02, 2016: Grade 7 and 8 (MS Intersection)

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