Weekly Update: March 5 – 9

What a vibrant community we have established at SSIS.  I was reminded of this last weekend when I was on campus with my sons.  EcoSSIStem’s first Go Green Day which brought together a number of community partners, students and adults to bring an awareness to environmental issues in Vietnam.  Smile Bank’s League of Legends Tournament brought schools together across HCMC to compete with each other with contributions going to the Agent Orange orphanage.  Lastly, Bliss for Youth was working with our local staff’s children teaching them English.  These are great examples of empowering our students to better our community.  I know there are so many other examples of this across our division, but I was truly struck by our impact on Saturday.  Thank you all for your mentorship of our student leaders.  This work has such a profound impact.

Have a great weekend,

Jacob

Friday, March 2
Day 5- CDAB
Birthday Celebration, First Break (HS Faculty Room)
SSIS Idol, 6:00pm (Auditorium)

Monday, March 5
Day 6- GHEF
Advisory Schedule
IB Mocks

Tuesday, March 6
Day 7- DACB
IB Mocks

Wednesday, March 7
Day 8- HEFG
IB Mocks
School wide Action Plan, 3:15-4:30 (Various locations)

Thursday, March 8
Day 9- ABCD
Advisory Schedule
IB Mocks

Friday, March 9
Day 10- FGHE
Meet David Chadwell (new CD) and Amy Coquillard (New HS Librarian), 7:30-8am (HS Faculty Room)
IB Mocks

On the Horizon

• District 7 Saigon International Teacher’s Social, March 16 4-6pm (Pitchers)
• PTC’s, March 22 (4-8pm) and March 23 (8am-1pm)
• IBDP Core Night, March 22 during PTC (Plaza)
• End of Quarter 3, March 22
• Spring Break, March 24-April 1
• PSAT 9, April 4: Blocks 2 and 3 (Gym)
• Sunshine HS Beautification Project, Afternoon of April 14

Staff Action Needed

• Begin your report card comments for Q3 using the new template from our PD from the beginning of February.  Report Card Comments PD Presentation Report Card Comments Exemplars
• What’s in your grade book?  There’s only three weeks left in the quarter.

IB Mock Exams Next Week– Just a reminder that the IB Mock Exams are next week.  These mocks are formative in nature and should not impact the overall grades of your students.  They should still be entered in the grade book to share the results with students and families with no weight or point value.  This information will give our students and families a big picture view of where they are and evaluate their strengths and growth areas headed into the final weeks leading to exams in May.  Students and parents will receive an email explaining the purpose of the IB Mocks formative nature.  Additionally, Jacob and Tim spoke with each grade 12 advisory class on Thursday to reinforce the importance of the mocks.

District 7 Saigon International Teachers Social (Mar 16)– Come out and meet your international teaching colleagues from the district 7 area at Pitchers on March 16 from 4-6pm.  The school will provide some drinks (beer or soft drinks) for those who attend.  We hope the following schools will be in attendance:  CISS, SSIS, AmIS, RISS, ABCIS, BVIS, SIS.  This is a great opportunity to connect with other educators and expats in our community.  In the future, we are looking to bring the district 2 and 7 schools together.

PSAT 9– All grade 9 students will be taking the PSAT 9 on April 4th during blocks 2 and 3.  We have transitioned away from MAP testing and now will be using the PSAT 8/9 and PSAT 10/11 in grades 9-11.  We feel that these tests will provide us with more relevant data and prepare our students more effectively for the SAT in the junior and senior years.  We will be on a regular schedule on April 4.  All grade 9 students will miss their 2nd and 3rd block classes.  If you teach a grade 9 class, you will likely be asked to help proctor during blocks C and/or D that day.

Learning Walks Resume– Tim and I have finished our formal observations in January.  We have been a bit busy with the last minute counseling position, but will be returning to classes with Learning Walks next week.  We look forward to seeing more of the amazing work you do with students.  We will have our laptops for these visits.  In our conferencing with you in semester 1 some staff said they wanted continued feedback in the 2-3 components of focus on Danielson while other wanted to use our Learning Walk form we have used in the past that focuses on engagement, assessment and tech integration.