Week Ahead: Sept. 24-28

Another great week down in the books!  Thank you for your support and enthusiasm during the Wild Rhino assembly.  Having our students hear first hand from those working on important issues is such a great opportunity!  Let’s keep looking for opportunities like this.

Here is what’s up next week:

Monday, Sept. 24
Day 6, GHEF (Adv)
*Happy Birthday Khanh Tran
*Author Visit
8:30-9:15 SST
1:30-3 Sr Admin Meeting (Molly attends)
3:15-4:30 MS Leadership Team Meeting (agenda)

Tuesday, Sept. 25
Day 7, DABC (DEAR)
*Author Visit
7:15-7:45 New Faculty Mtg (Topic: Comments and Grading, Q1)
9:00 Evacuation Drill (see below)
9:45-11:15 New Family Check In Meetings
3:15-3:45 Repeat New Faculty Mtg (Topic: Comments and Grading, Q1)

Wednesday, Sept. 26
Day 8, HEFG (Early Dismissal)
*Author Visit
1-4:30 PD: Vision 2030; Faculty Xperience (in auditorium)

Thursday, Sept. 27
Day 9, ABCD (HL Event)
8-11:30 Admin Mtgs (Molly attending)
9:30-11 New Family Check In Meetings

Friday, Sept. 28
Day 10, FGHE (DEAR)

Saturday, Sept. 29
10-1:00 Family Fun Day (see below)

Upcoming (on the radar)

• Oct. 5  End of Quarter 1
• Oct. 6-7, EARCOS Weekend Workshop at SSIS (Jacob Humes leading, Emotional Coaching)
• Oct. 8  Grades/Comments due by 3:00; verification reports printed by 3:45
• Oct. 9  Verification reports due by 3:00
• Oct. 11  Principal Coffee, 8:15-9:15  Topic: Parenting Adolescents
• Oct. 11   Early Dismissal
• Oct. 11 and 12  Parent Teacher Conferences (4-8 on Oct. 11; 8-1 on Oct. 12)
• Oct. 15-19   Fall Break

Evacuation Drill on Tuesday: We have had 2 really successful training drills.  Please offer sincere appreciation and congratulations to your students / advisees.  They have done an excellent job.  We will do the final practice on Tuesday at 9:00.  I will try to have people on each floor to sound the “alarm” and get us moving.  Teachers who are on prep at that time should assist with monitoring stairs and exits, helping keep students in single file lines.  New Information: We had a big backlog down the main hall.  As we are exiting the building we should be having two advisories walk out of the door way at the same time.  This should be led by the teacher.  So if you are coming down the main hall to the exit to the atrium, you will walk through the door on the right side and bring your group close to the building to continue to the field; if you are coming down the stairs and exiting the atrium, you will walk through the door on the left side – and swing your group wide into the atrium.  Once we achieve this, we could possibly have 2 advisories walk side by side down the stairs as well (let’s not try that yet).

Family Fun Day:  This is the first PTA event of the year for the community.  All faculty members are expected to attend at least a portion of the event.  It is a great opportunity to meet parents in a relaxed setting, get to see student groups, and come to know different community organizations.  PTA does need additional help as well – so you could spend your time volunteering … here is the information from the PTA:

We need your help!  On Saturday, September 29th, SSIS will be holding its annual Family Fun Day.  To give the kids the best time they’ve ever had, we are asking for parent volunteers to help cover shifts at Family Fun Day.  Signing up is easy! Here’s how to do it:

1. Follow this link:    FAMILY FUN DAY VOLUNTEER SIGN-UP
2. Put your name next to the activity and the shift that interests you.
3. Look for the activity that interests you and then sign up for the shift that interests you.
4. You will be asked to attend a volunteer briefing on Thursday, September 27th at 3:00 pm in the PTA office.
5. If you have further questions, please don’t hesitate to contact the PTA at pta@ssis.edu.vn.

New Student Transition Support Group:  Bonnie will be starting a student support group for new students who are not quite sold on living in Vietnam (students who may be doing fine at SSIS but are really struggling to enjoy their new home).  This theme came up in several of the new parent check ins, and we believe a support group for these students is warranted at this time.  We are hoping that they will find support and realize they are not alone in what can be a difficult transition.  Bonnie will pull this group from DEAR 1 time every 2 weeks.  She will share out the students and when the meetings will be with affected advisors next week.

Switch in Phone Numbers: Just to make sure you saw David Perkin’s email about the upcoming change to Vietnamese cell phone numbers, here is the information again.  Using the app made the update very quick for me.

Please note that all 11 digit phone numbers in Vietnam will change to 10 digit today.
From September 15, 2018 to November 14, 2018 both 11 and 10 digit numbers will work.
After November 15, 2018 only 10 digit numbers will work.