ISY Elementary Blog

Six Weeks Left

Mike Simpson, Elementary School Principal

April 29, 2022

I hope that you were all able to take the opportunity today to meet with your child(ren)’s teachers. Our teachers are always happy to hear from you so always feel welcome to contact them as we finish the year. We have six weeks of school left. This time will pass quickly and we will make the most of it! We are working hard to make sure every child finishes the year strongly and is confidently looking forward to 2022-2023. As always, thank you for your support.

COUNSELOR’S CORNER with Ms. Patty:

Preparing for Parent-Teacher Conferences

This post appeared in last week’s blog:

Next Friday, April 29th are Parent-Teacher Conferences. These meetings are important opportunities for you to talk with your child’s teacher about how your child is progressing this school year. They are also opportunities for you to learn how you might best support your child. Here are a few things to keep in mind when preparing for the conference.

Before the appointment:

Talk with your child. Let them know that these meetings are routine and necessary for you and their teacher to best support their learning. Ask your child if they have any concerns or questions they would like you to discuss with the teacher. Find out what your child most and least enjoys about their school day. This can often be shared with the teacher to help them better understand your child.
Review the progress report.
Make a list of any questions or concerns you have about your child’s learning. Teachers want to help you better understand your child’s learning so take a moment to reflect and determine what areas you are most interested in learning about.

At the conference:

Be ready to collaborate. Teachers often seek parent’s ideas or suggestions. When teachers share areas of concern, they are typically doing so to help your child be more successful not to place blame. Teachers want to partner with you to support your child’s growth.
Ask for clarification. When teachers speak about test scores, assessment criteria or other educational jargon, don’t be afraid to ask for clarification.

After the conference:

Share with your child what you learned and what strategies are in place to help them be successful.
Keep in touch. Parent involvement is a key factor in academic achievement.

If you have any questions or concerns, Ms. Patty is available to support. She can be reached at escounselor@isyedu.org

Patty Amundson-Geisel

Pre-K to Grade 6 Counselor

Swimming

All students will be swimming in PE from May 2 through May 30. Students will be in the pool every day that they have PE.

Students will need to bring swimming clothing – swimsuit or swim trunks. PE shorts or non-swimming shorts are not allowed. All students must wear a swim shirt and two piece bathing suits are not allowed. Please Bring Goggles and a Towel. A swim cap is optional.

Donations can be made at

https://isyedu.org/life-at-isy/online-ordering/

Care to the Least Center Donation Drive

The student service learning group working with one of our partner organizations, the Care to the Least Center, will be having a donation drive starting from next week. Baskets will be put out on the front steps for the purpose of collecting new and used school supplies, clothing (including flip flops), toys, games and even bicycles. If there are any other items you wish to donate, please do not hesitate to contact Mr. Davis (sdavis@isyedu.org) to see if they can be used. More information about the Care to the Least Center can be seen on this great video made by a group of ISY students.

Online Learning

It is important that we prepare students for the end of the hybrid program and with this in mind we are setting a goal to phase out the hybrid program during the remainder of this year. After the Thingyan break, only students who are residing outside of Myanmar will be able to continue to learn virtually for the remainder of this school year. Students in Myanmar who wish to continue to attend the hybrid program will only be able to do so with special permission from their principal and only for select periods of time. If you think your child has a special reason to attend the hybrid program after this time, please email Mr. Simpson on msimpson@isyedu.org to make an appointment to discuss this.

Moving forward, we are also setting a goal to eliminate the hybrid /virtual program for the 2022-23 school year. The only exception to this would be interruptions due to directives from the Myanmar authorities, or short term COVID spikes causing class, grade level, or full school return to virtual learning for short periods.

Many thanks in advance for your cooperation.

Hats

It is very hot and sunny and we need to be careful that our students are protected from the sun. Please make sure that your child brings a hat to school to wear outside. Starting next week, students will only be allowed to play outside if they are wearing a hat. Please also make sure that your child has a water bottle and put sunscreen on your child before they come to school in the morning.

Elementary School Bracelets – Please return

Before the pandemic, Elementary School students used bracelets (see picture) to enter the campus. If you have a bracelet at home, could you please return it to school by putting it in the box on the Front Steps.