Weekly Update: May 9-13

It’s been great to see the emergence of new ideas in the HS this year.  While we have seen many of these new additions this year, like House Leagues, there have been a number of other great initiatives that have started with less fanfare.  This week I’d like to highlight one of those groups.  About six months ago Jeff Ratliff approached me with an idea of promoting code programming and business plans for our female students at SSIS.  Jeff wanted to know if he could get a group of girls together through the Technovation program to develop mobile apps to address social needs.  Jeff has spent the last few months coaching these students twice a week, five hours at a time.  Katie and Wai Mun also supported these girls in the development of the apps and business plans for competition.  Additionally, Coderschool (a local programming school) sent some of their adult students to mentor our kids in the last few weeks of the planning and development.  The founder of Coderschool and their students were extremely impressed with the work of our young ladies and invited them to showcase their work at a competition of adult programmers.

Fast forward to Thursday night (May 5).  Our girls were invited to the “Grand Demo Day” hosted by Coderschool.  At this event, a number of adult students at Coderschool were pitching their web and app ideas to judges and venture capitalists in HCMC.  Our students were eloquent, concise, confident and presented an app and business plan that was frankly superior to many of the other groups.  It’s amazing what our kids can do with our guidance and support.  I would like to thank you all for what you do to support our student’s growth outside the walls of the classrooms here at SSIS.

Have a great weekend,

Jacob

Friday, May 6
Day 5- CDAB
AP Exam AM: Art
IB Exam AM: Physics

Monday, May 9
Day 6- GHEF
Group Meeting Schedule
AP Exam AM: Biology
IB Exam AM: Physics
IB Exam PM: History
HSLT Meeting, 3:15-4:45 (HS Conference Room) Agenda Here

Tuesday, May 10
Day 7- DABC
IB Exam AM: Spanish
IB Exam PM: Maths
University Visit: Southville International School Affiliated with Foreign Universities (SISFU) Philippines, Lunch (Library)

Wednesday, May 11
Day 8- HEFG
AP Exam AM: English Lang & Comp
IB Exam AM: IB Maths
IB Exam PM: Spanish
AS PD: WASC Home Group: Assessment, 3:15-4:30 (Auditorium)

Thursday, May 12
Day 1- ABCD
Last Day for Seniors
AP Exam AM: World History
IB Exam AM: Chemistry
IB Exam PM: History

Friday, May 13
Early Dismissal
Day 2- EFGH
AP Exam AM: Microeconomics
IB Exam AM: Chemistry

On the Horizon
Senior Final Exams, May 16-18
HS Prom, May 21
Final Exams, June 2-6 Schedule Here

Staff Action Needed

• Send Jacob and email by Friday, May 13th if you are interested in joining the HSLT in the 2016-17 school year.

Department Heads 2016-17– We are looking for new faces to join the High School Leadership Team in the 2016-17 school year.  I am especially appreciative of many of our outgoing departments heads that stayed on an additional year to help ease my transition to the school.  Thank you Andrew, Nick, Mike, Kris, Bill, Colin, Charmaine, Nomer, and Alison for your support and guidance this year.

If you are interested in joining the HSLT in the 2016-17 school year please email Jacob by Friday, May 13.  These roles are critical, as we work to enhance the learning opportunities for our students in our division.

Master Schedule– We are closing in on finalizing the master schedule for next year.  At this point your department head can share with you the courses you will be teaching.  We are not quite ready to share the exact blocks for each of your classes yet.

All School Food Drive– The message below will be shared in the student Moodle page for the next couple of weeks.  Please promote this with your students and advisories.  The message from the coordinators (Natalie and Brian) is below.

SSIS is preparing for its annual food drive to benefit Anh Linh School in Ho Chi Minh City. Anh Linh is a free school for children of underprivileged families who could not otherwise afford the fees to attend public school. For a number of years, SSIS has collected food for the students of Anh Linh School to take home to their families for over the summer months when they are away from school.

You can do your part this year to help our friends at Anh Linh School by bringing in non-perishable food items (such as rice, oil, instant noodles, powdered milk, canned fruits and vegetables, etc.) during the week of May 9 through 13. Collection locations for the food with be in the elementary school office, the high school office, and room A205 in the middle school building.

For more information or if you have any questions, please contact Brian Benck (bbenck@ssis.edu.vn) or Natalie Beals (nbeals@ssis.edu.vn) in the middle school. Please help support our neighbors at Anh Linh School by making sure that they have enough to eat this summer!

Graduation: Save the Date– Graduation is only five weeks away on May 28th at 4pm at the GEM Center.  This is a great opportunity to celebrate with our students and families.  Attendance is required for all high school staff.  Dress is formal, but no gowns are necessary.  There will be a bus from SSIS to the GEM Center at 2:30 pm.  Arrival will be about 3:15.  At that point you will be able to interact with our graduates in a private area designated for students and staff before commencement.  There is a reception immediately following which we encourage you to attend as well.  Additionally, there is a beautiful restaurant called The Log on the top floor that might be an excellent after ceremony dinner option for you.  The bus back to school will depart at 6pm.  More information to follow, but wanted to get you an early preview.

Master Schedule