Volume 20 November 20, 2009 Number 2

REMINDERS....

Director's Message

1ST QUARTER REFLECTION

The end of the first quarter is a time of reflection for the staff at AISF. We take time out to reflect on our overall performance in meeting our objectives set. It’s a great time for this as it is the first quarter end, and we have time to dialogue and make adjustments to better meet the needs of every student.

I hope this quarter ending has been a time of reflection for you and your child as well. What are you doing with your child at home that could be adjusted to help your child succeed? Is there quiet time for your child to read everyday and complete homework? Do you discuss school with your child and do fun activities together? Do you set an early bed time that will allow your child a fresh start in the morning? Is your child eating healthy meals and snacks that will help them think and focus better? Are you limiting how much TV is watched and what type of programs? These are just some of the questions parents can reflect on and become more aware of factors that could help boost your child’s performance and overall development.

Please check out our parenting magazines in the library!! They are full of great ideas like fun projects you can do with your child, quick and easy recipes for healthy snacks/meals, up to date helpful health information, and expert advice on a variety of topics for parents.

Save the Date:

School will be closed Thursday November 26 and Friday November 27, 2009 for Thanksgiving.

This is a national holiday in which families and friends get together to give thanks and share in a traditional dinner in the United States.

Thursday December 10, 2009 at 6:30pm is our mid year musical program. This is an evening to remember as students showcase their musical talents for friends and family. We usually ask parents to bring in traditional finger foods from their home country for us to share after the program. We look forward to another great evening of music this year.

WELCOME NEW FAMILIES

I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome some new families that have joined us in the past few weeks. We heartily welcome the Nally, Lwamba and Jalloh families to our AISF Family this year.

A great turn out for Parent Conference Day last week. I hope parents took this time to discuss any concerns they might have with the teacher and strengthened the partnership needed for your child to succeed. Recommended learning plans are being put together for students who are falling below standards in any subject so teachers, parents and students have a plan of action to work on next quarter. Thanks to all parents for filling out our parent survey for 2009. Parents gave a lot of helpful comments and suggestions that we will look at as a staff and identify ways we can improve the school. Please make sure all students complete and return the student surveys to school. This is a valuable tool students can use to reflect on their performance the last quarter. Parents can work with students not only on what to improve, but helping them with the how.

The water dispensers are back in the building. We have two new water dispensers that students can use throughout the day. Please continue to send your child with water, as the dispensers are only a back up in case they run out during the day. This should not be the only source of water for your child. The embassy will continue to run regular checks of these units to help us maintain health and safety.

PARENT TEACHER ORGANIZATION (PTO)

Congratulation and thank you to our PTO class reps for 2009-2010. As we gather momentum for the start of the PTO – We will call our first meeting of the parent reps when we return from Thanksgiving break to set up a format that will work for the year, and the agenda for the first meeting. The PTO was quite visible last year. Mrs. Linda Fallah and Mrs. Suzanne Bode stepped up to lead the PTO last year. This collaboration of the leaders, the class reps and teachers, led to some great events for our students - namely the movie nights which the students really enjoyed. Mrs. Linda Fallah and Mrs. El Chehni also put forth a lot of effort last school year in contacting sponsors for the sports tournament, which the PTO expressed interest in hosting this year. The first priority will be to set the goals for this year and appoint two parents who can co lead the PTO for the year. It was decided last year that it was better to have two parents who could share the responsibility of leading the PTO.
During the Association meeting on November 3, 2009, we took the opportunity to do some brainstorming of ideas for PTO activities this year. A lot of great ideas from teachers and parents present were compiled by Yene Assegid, and will be used as a starting point at the first meeting.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

NAME	BIRTHDAY
Luba Johnson	October 10
Davide O'Connor Retreage	October 15
Neyata Daniel	October 18
Sarah Kay Mbayo	November 7
Prince M. A A Turay	November 7
Josephine De Cataldo	November 15
Doris Baimba	November 19
Ifunanya Ezechukwu	November 21
Anais Bash-Taqi	November 24
Russell Karim Chang	December 1
Gwendolene Jarrett	December 3

HOW ARE WE DOING?

We are always looking for feedback from the parents about how you think the school is doing in meeting the educational and overall needs of your child. Please feel free to let us know if we are doing well or not so well and make some time to come in and discuss it with us!! We need your support to make this year a success!! Thanks to everyone!!
Ndye Njie
Director, AISF

Contintued next page

AFTERSCHOOL

After school activities for the second quarter have started. Patt Mills and Juliette Lardge have done a great job of coordinating some great activities. Some new activities for this quarter include Web design, football, Krio, Batik, gaming, tennis and movie clubs. Best of all..parents are invited too!!! Please let us know if you would like to join one of our after school clubs during the week.
In an attempt to provide parents an alternative to picking one child up at 3pm and another (signed up for an after school club) at 4pm, the homework club at AISF has been created. This is also for parents who are finding it difficult to pick up their child(ren) at 3pm. Students will be supervised in the classroom from 3-4pm while they work on home work assignments. This is supervised time for students to work on homework assignments.
Reference materials (dictionaries/encyclopedias, almanacs, etc) will be readily available for students. If students do not have home work they will read a book/magazine quietly or work on puzzles/challenge sheets that will be available in the room.

Students cannot be left in school after 3pm without supervision. This becomes a safety concern for the school as we have to make sure all students are accounted for during this time. Any student that stays in school after 3pm must sign up for an after school activity. We are asking parents to please cooperate with us and either pick up students at 3pm or sign them up for an after school activity. We appreciate your understanding and assistance in making this transition time a safe one for your child. Also if any parents would like to volunteer time after school to help with the homework club it would be of great help. Thanks!