The Owl Weekly Parent Newsletter 11/11/19
Spirit Day this Friday! NEW Adult-sized tees!
We have a ISP Spirit Day this Friday, November 15! Please have your child wear their ISP t-shirt or any other type of ISP gear. Due to popular demand, adult-sized baseball t shirts are now available in the ISP store! We provide sizes from Adult Small – Adult 3XL. https://intlschool.org/spirit-shop PS. Looking for adult XS? Buy a Youth size XL! TOMORROW: Keepin’ It Clean Campus Walk – All Grades
Parents in ALL Grades are invited to participate in our campus Keepin It Clean Walk TOMORROW, November 12, 2019 from 8:15 am to 9:15 am. Meet at Hilltop front gate. Gloves, pickers, and trash bags provided. International School of Portland is surrounded by several open areas. While they are not part of campus property, we would like to help keep them clean and safe. As such, ISP has “Keepin’ It Clean” walks that operate in partnership with Friends of Riverplace (a neighborhood organization) and the City of Portland’s Office of Community and Civic Life. During these events, groups of volunteers walk the land surrounding the school to pick up trash, remove graffiti, and report concerns. These are not required, but we hope to encourage ISP parents, relatives, or caregivers to walk together, socialize, and to keep our campus safe and clean. Your help is needed! These count towards parent volunteer hours! Adults only. School Year Calendar
Keep on top of all important dates for the school year by subscribing to our calendar! It can always be found here: intlschool.org/calendar Subscribe to our detailed up-to-date Google Calendar, or download a printable version of our No School Days / Global Kids schedule PLUS! Be sure to check out the Parent Network Events Calendar! They are looking for a few more volunteers for events; please sign up here! Family Survey – Global Kids Class Options Dear Families, Please take a few minutes to complete this VERY brief survey to let us know which activities your children would like to take next semester in Global Kids. This will help us select which classes to offer out of all of the options below. We are excited to be able to offer so many fun and exciting classes! It takes 4 minutes to complete! Please respond now – this survey will close this Wednesday at midnight. Direct link to survey is here. Enrollment for next semester of Global Kids and 3rd Party Classes begins December 11. Thank you for your input! – Global Kids Management Team (Kate Cooper & Maria Abad) PS. Want to know what Handball is? Check out this video for more information, courtesy of Coach Jan! November Learner Profile Trait: Inquirer
The ten International Baccalaureate Learner Profile traits are school values, and are means by which to support healthy social and emotional development. Our faculty focuses upon one of them each month as means. We will be sharing a description of each trait with families in The Owl, as well as tips for how to model and support these traits at home. For November, faculty have been focusing on “Inquirer” Descriptor: We develop our natural curiosity. We acquire the skills necessary to conduct inquiry and research and show independence in learning. We actively enjoy learning and this love of learning will be sustained throughout our lives. HOW TO SUPPORT AT HOME Inquiry Games: Have sheets of paper, a marker, found items (it could be anything, bottle caps, missing game pieces, etc), glue and tape. Present your child with a challenge:
Book Recommendations for “Inquirer”
Japan Capstone Trip – Capstone Blog
Our Japanese track 5th graders are currently on a life-changing experience – Capstone Study Abroad! They live with host families, attend school with their peers, and visit cultural and historical sites they have studied in school. Want to know more about what they are up to? Students, parents, and teachers will regularly contribute to blogs of the their trips. Check out the Japanese Track Capstone Blog here! PS. The Spanish and Chinese track Capstone trips are in March! Parent Social this Saturday!
Book the babysitter and come join fellow ISP parents for a little fun and chat! This casual mixer will be a nice way to catch up with old friends and get to know new ones. Organized by the ISP Parent Network! Parent Fall Social Credit or Cash Bar. Dinner and Appetizers also available. Love ISP? Tell the World About Us!
Here’s a volunteer opportunity that you can do from home, and on your own time: Review ISP! Prospective families look to online reviews on Yelp, Google, etc to help learn about schools from an “insider” perspective. Many of the reviews are a little dated, so if you wouldn’t mind submitting your thoughts, I would greatly appreciate it! It’s your review, so say whatever you want! Some ideas to talk about: how your child is learning here, their general experience, the teachers, or what it’s like to be a parent here. Obviously, since the more positive reviews, the better, I would much prefer it that you highlight the things that you love about the school. Here are links to International School of Portland’s profile/reviews on common sites: Google <— Scroll down to the reviews, and click on “Write a Review” Facebook.com –> Click on the grey “Recommend” button towards the top of ISP’ page. Niche.com ← scroll down to Reviews, then click “Rate It!” privateschoolreview.com NOTE: Private School Review asks a LOT of questions. You don’t have to answer them all if you don’t want; you can just provide a general review if you prefer. Once you are done, please remember to record your volunteer hours so that we can properly credit you! That link is here: https://intlschool.org/volunteer Thank you thank you thank you!! – Kat Simons Please Check Our Lost & Found!
If your child is missing their jacket/sweater/water bottle, please give it a look. Our VERY FULL Lost and Found bins are located at:
Please pick up by Friday, Nov 22. We will need to donate these items if not picked up by then as we have no more room! Please label jackets, sweaters and water bottles with names, rather than initials, so we can get items to back their owners! One-Question Survey Coming this Week
Twice a year, we offer a very short survey that provides a simple way for you to let us know what we are doing well and where we can improve. It is a simple one-question per student in your family. The feedback from this survey helps us to shape our activities and priorities, both schoolwide and in specific areas. Later this week you will be getting an email from Maria or Bodo that asks for your participation in this survey. It will take no more than a few moments of your time. The more people that participate, the more actionable and valuable the feedback will be to the school. We would like to reassure you that this approach is additional to our normal channels of feedback, including the Annual Parent Survey. We encourage you to continue to give us direct feedback (positive and negative) anytime! Please look for the “One Question Parent Survey” email this week! Thank you for your feedback. Upcoming Events
TUESDAY, NOV 12 Keepin’ It Clean Walk – ALL GRADES. Join ISP parents as we walk the perimeter of the school picking up trash, removing graffiti, cutting back invasive plants. Trash bags, pickers, gloves, graffiti removal supplies provided. Adults only. 8:15 to 9:15am, Hilltop Gate. ——————— FRIDAY, NOV 15 Library Work Party (Friday option). Hey Parents, Grandparents, Other Adults! Join your ISP Librarians for a work party to get our books in order! Do you love books and yummy food?! Are you willing to spend just a couple of hours making sure our students have easy access to great library resources? Then this party is for you! PLEASE RSVP to Heidi at hevans@intlschool.org. Friday, November 15th from 12:30p to 3:00p (lunch snacks) ——————— SATURDAY, NOV 16 Library Work Party (Saturday option). Hey Parents, Grandparents, Other Adults! Join your ISP Librarians for a work party to get our books in order! Do you love books and yummy food?! Are you willing to spend just a couple of hours making sure our students have easy access to great library resources? Then this party is for you! Kids are welcome at the Saturday event for quiet reading, drawing or maybe even a movie in the art room! PLEASE RSVP to Heidi at hevans@intlschool.org. Please include kids in your RSVP so we have plenty of tasty treats available! Saturday, November 16th, 9:30a to 12:00p Parent Fall Social. Book the babysitter and come join fellow ISP parents for a little fun and chat! This casual mixer will be a nice way to catch up with old friends and get to know new ones. Organized by the ISP Parent Network! Credit or Cash Bar. Dinner and Appetizers also available. 6:30-8:30pm, Von Ebert Brewing Pearl, 131 NW 13th Ave, Portland, OR ——————— FRIDAY, NOV 22 Early Dismissal Day: Curbside and walk up pickup will be available. Dismissal begins at 12:15pm. **Global Kids Open from 12:15- 3:10pm only.** Please pick up your student by 12:45pm unless they have been registered in Global Kids. ——————— MONDAY, NOV 25 – FRIDAY, NOV 29 NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS. Thanksgiving Break Global Kids Open November 25- 27: Open 7:30am- 3:30pm. Must enroll in all three days of program.
Weekend Host Families Wanted for Japanese Students Pacific International Academy (PIA) is a small nonprofit that creates language and culture programs for high schools in Japan. We have a large group coming this spring for a school trip, and we are seeking host families for one weekend, March 20-23. This is a really fun program, and younger kids would love having Japanese guests for a weekend! PIA works directly with their host families to provide them with support throughout their student’s stay. If you are interested in becoming a host family, please contact: housing@piaschools.edu Here’s a link to our organization too, if you’d like to check it out: https://www.piaschools.edu/ |
