Recently we have seen a number students with strep throat. We are taking all necessary precautions, but would like to help parents understand what strep throat is, what to look for, treatments, and prevention.

Symptoms? The hallmark symptoms are a fever & sore throat developed suddenly and simultaneously. Stomach aches and headaches are common in children with strep throat. Most people with strep do not have prominent congestion (stuffy nose), cough, or diarrhea. Symptoms may also include difficulty swallowing, a raw red appearance to the back of the throat, white pus on tonsils, tender high lymph nodes in neck, and rash.

See your doctor if you suspect strep. Early treatment may help prevent strep from developing into a more serious problem, such as rheumatic fever.

Treatment?  Doctors do a “rapid strep” test by touching the back of the throat with a small cotton swab to catch some of the germs. It takes about 15 minutes to get results. If the test is positive, the doctor will prescribe antibiotics and the strep will be cured.

How Can I Prevent Strep Throat? The best way to avoid strep throat is to avoid close contact with someone who is already infected. It may also be helpful to reduce stress, get plenty of rest, and fortify your body’s natural defenses. Frequent hand washing can help prevent infection as well. The bacteria are spread by sneezing, coughing, shaking hands, putting your hands to your face or eyes, or close contact with people who are infected. You can also pick up strep by touching objects such as books, doorknobs, tables, or other hard surfaces that were touched by a contaminated person and then touching your eyes, nose, or mouth. Hand washing or using alcohol-based hand sanitizer can help prevent this.

Kevin Hawke, EMT/Security, KevinH@intlschool.org

Looking for photos of TIS kids on field trips – shots with individuals or small groups of children.  Please e-mail them to marketing@intlschool.org or easily upload to www.yogile.com/2011-2012. Thank you!

Volunteer work you can do from home! Please post your short or long review of TIS to tell our story to prospective families. Click here for details. Thank you!

See the entire calendar – for this year and next – at intlschool.org/parents. Click on the big yellow “Calendar” button.

May is Walk & Bike to school month! Get in shape & save our air. How many car-miles can youavoid?

April 30 – May 4: State testing week for 3rd & 4th grade students.

Friday May 4: Scrip sale outside Stearns Hall

Friday May 11: No school for students. Teacher professional development day.

May 14 – May 18:  State testing for 5th grade students.

May 14 – May 25: TIS Student Art Show. See it all in Stearns Hall – every child will have artwork up!

Saturday May 19, 6pm: Cinco de Mayo Auction Party. Contact dev@intlschool.org with questions.

Tuesday May 22: 1st-5th grade mile run at the Duniway Park Track. Many volunteers needed! Click here to see run times & volunteer.

Thursday, May 24, 6:30pm: TIS Annual Meeting. All parents are encouraged to attend. Agenda includes election of new Trustees and Officers, bid farewell to Trustees exiting the Board, reports on the state of the school from Alfonso (strategic plan), Rob (finances), and Jan (admissions). TIS Gym. Visit intlschool.org/childcare to reserve childcare space (TIS students & their siblings age 3+).

Volunteers needed also:

• To help plan & work at the Wine Tasting June 2 – contact wine@intlschool.org
• To work the Scholastic Book Fair June 4-8 – contact marketing@intlschool.org

TIS Spirit Wear: Thank you to everyone who purchased! All ‘old logo’ gear is still on sale, but quantities and sizes are limited. Get yours while they last – at the Stearns Hall reception desk or securely on-line at intlschool.org/spirit. (On-line orders will be checked against available inventory, We will issue a credit if your ordered items are not available).

Dear Friends (of the TIS Fund),

First up huge congratulations to the grade 5 students and to their teachers Hong, Wen, Constanza and Taka for a first rate PYP exhibition last Friday. Thank you also to PYP Coordinator Teresa Wirsching who worked with all classes preparing for the exhibition, to our new Tech Man Mark Usher who made sure all the tech was set up, as well as to the ubiquitous prima ballerinas Frank and Eros. The student presentations and visuals and videos and graphs of their findings during their cultural trips were really enjoyable and illuminating. The students also showed great endurance and poise, presenting to one group after another for almost the entire day! Click here to see more photos.

We had a fun time last week with the TIS Fund, and thank you for responding. Let’s keep going until we get to 100% of our TIS Fund goals. Eros and Frank were especially good sports (Happy Birthday today, Frank! Have a fund day).

We were to have begun State testing this morning with reading for third graders but there was a computer glitch that our friends at the State Testing Office had not alerted us to.  You may ask “Why do we take state tests?” A very good question (especially after this morning’s issues). Well, many parents are interested in linking to an outside objective standard to see how our kids are learning, in addition to the DELE test from Spain, the HSK from China and the Japanese Proficiency Test. We too like to know how we stand with schools out there on their metrics.

For tomorrow, May Day, we received this announcement:

“On Tuesday May 1, the Portland Police Bureau anticipates a number of May Day protests, including a rally and march beginning in the South Park Blocks at 3:30 p.m. After the rally, a parade will begin at 4:30 p.m. traveling north on Broadway, east on Burnside, south on SW Second, west on Columbia and back up to the South Park Blocks.  Expect delays and temporary street closures through the afternoon.”  It seems there is a great hysteria to give to the TIS Fund.

Wishing you a good week,
Alfonso
Dr. Alfonso Orsini, Head of School, AOrsini@intlschool.org, 503-226-2496 x122 

What was your favorite costume last week: super heroes, funny hats, tutus or the money costume? We shared the message in a funny fashion, but it is no joke, we really do need everyone to support the TIS Fund.

Sixty two families contributed last week! Thanks to your generous support, we are now over half way to our goal of 100% participation. If you have not yet made your contribution, will you please donate by May 15? You will receive an email this week gently reminding you.

This week we will also begin breaking down our big goal into smaller parts (by class) so we can celebrate our success along the way. Posters will be put on classroom doors to let you know how your class is doing. A big congratulations to Jennifer Zhu’s class – the first class to reach 100% participation! Seven other classes are just a few families away.

To donate securely on-line, simply click the “Donate Now” logo or go to intlschool.org/donatenow. You may also make out a check to TIS and bring it to any reception desk or mail it to the attention of Development Office, TIS, 025 SW Sherman St, Portland OR 97201. No matter how you donate, we will send you a tax receipt. Thank you!

Kelsey Cleveland, Development Director, dev@intlschool.org, 503-265-8635

Each week leading up to the event we will feature one of our participating wineries.  This weeks featured winery:

Utopia Vineyard will support this year’s wine tasting and spring social with their renewed boutique vineyard. Utopia, a TIS family owned producer of small-lot, handcrafted estate wines, has a special emphasis on Pinot Noir. The Vineyard sits on one of the most prestigious wine growing areas in the Willamette Valley, and as a boutique winery, only releases a few hundred cases each year.

Ten dollar Raffles!
This year the event is raffling off two weekend getaways. Raffles are only $10 and you do not need to be present to win. Raffle tickets can be purchased with event tickets or separately – yes, you can win even if you cannot attend the event. Are you a busy exhausted TIS parent and could use a weekend? Buy a raffle ticket, support our library, and try for one of these wonderful getaways.·

• One night stay at The Alison Inn & Spa
• Two night stay at The Mosier House Bed & Breakfast

Buy your tickets early to take advantage of the early bird discount – before May 7th: $40, after May 7th: $50  

Buy securely online at intlschool.org/wine or stop by our table outside Stearns Hall.  All proceeds from this event support the Library Media Center.

Lee Rahr & Kathy Guilfoyle, wine@intlschool.org

Do you have photos from field trips that you would be willing to share? I’m looking specifically for photos with our kids – preferably not whole class shots but one or more children. Prefer high resolution. I’d appreciate it! If you have a few good ones please e-mail them to me, or else easily upload a trove to www.yogile.com/2011-2012. Thank you!

Linda Bonder, Marketing & Communications Director, marketing@intlschool.org, 503-477-5231

Please share your TIS experience with other parents by writing a review and posting it on the sites below. Whether 10 words or 100, your review is very valuable. You can write once (somewhere you can save it), copy & paste, and then head to intlschool.org/volunteer to get credit for your volunteer hours. Thank you!!

• Kidzlist.com
• Yellowpages.com
• The Savvy Source – a web site for preschool parents
• Portland CitySearch
• Greatschools.net
• Superpages.com
• DexKnows
• UrbanMamas
• Guidestar.com
• Portland Business Directory – preschools
• Portland Oregon Business Directory – elementary schools

Linda Bonder, Marketing & Communications Director, lbonder@intlschool.org, 503-477-5231

Read all about it: Asia is local girl’s research hotspot!