Week Ahead: May 3-7

I hope that you found the long weekend refreshing and rejuvenating. Or at least a nice pause in an otherwise very busy 4th quarter. Here we go with our 3rd 4 day week in a row!

Here is what’s up this week:

Saturday, May 1
*Happy Birthday Thao Dinh!

Monday, May 3
No School – International Labor Day
*Happy Birthday Tam Tran!

Tuesday, May 4
Day 5, CDAB
*Happy Birthday Lisa Chute!
8-9:15 Band and choir students off time table for band rehearsal (C block)
4:30 U15 Boys and Girls Volleyball games v. CIS
6-7:30 MS Band Concert

Wednesday, May 5
Day 6, GHEF
[Note: Star360 Screener scheduled for today during Dragon Time has been postponed]
3:15-4:30 Divisional Mtg MS/HS Schoology, MPR2
3:30ish U13 Boys and Girls Volleyball v. BVIS

Thursday, May 6
Day 7, DABC
3:30-4:30ish Rebecca J’s Apple Presentation Transforming Art with iPad (you can still register)

Friday, May 7
Day 8, HEFG
1:00-1:40 MS Band Concert during Dragon Time (auditorium, masks required)
3:30 U13 Badminton away
4:30ish U15 Badminton v. RISS

Upcoming (on the radar) new items will appear in blue from here on out
Season 3 Sports Schedule/Games

• May 11 – Advisory Team Lead mtg
• May 12 – STAR Math Screener during Dragon Time
• May 13 and 14 – MS Art Exhibition (day show; class visitation sign ups)
• May 21 – G5 Step Up Day, StuCo Executive Council Election; special schedule
• May 25 – HS Theory of Knowledge collaboration / fair
• May 25 – Advisory Team Lead mtg
• May 26 – Talent Show during Dragon Time
• May 27 – Sr. Graduation Walk, 1:15ish
• June 1 – G8 Promotion rehearsal (G8 off time table for last block)
• June 3 and 4 – MS Drama Productions (time to be determined)
• June 7 – G8 Promotion rehearsal (G8 off time table for last block)
• June 7 – Grades and Comments for Q4 / S2 due
• June 8 – Library Book Bingo Reward Field Trip
• June 8 – G8 Step Up Day, 10:35-11:45
• June 9 – G8 Promotion in AM (all grades attend – hopefully); Splash Day 1-3:00

Morning Announcements: Each day you teach first block, please be sure to show the students the morning announcements. We count on this method of communication to keep students and teachers informed of upcoming events, opportunities and reminders.

STAR360 Screener:  I apologize for having to postpone the STAR360 screener scheduled for this week. We will still be doing the screener next week and administration information will be coming soon. Thank you for your patience and flexibility.

Safety Presentation for Students: Hillary has been asked to help educate our students about Grooming and how to recognize the signs to keep themselves and their friends safe. A parent email will be sent from Catriona to our parent community to educate our parents as well. The Advisory Overview doc has been updated w/this information.
These lessons will take place next week in the MS gym by  grade level during DEAR time: G6 on Wednesday, May 5; G7 on Thursday, May 6; and G8 on Friday, May 7.

Planning for 21-22:  We are still working on the master schedule for next year. I am hoping this week I will have a version ready for review at the department level. Another “look for” this week will be a survey to get teacher feedback on advisory, Dragon Time, and our daily schedule. This feedback will assist us as we seek to best use the two programs as well as our schedule for next year. At this time, we expect to maintain COVID safety measures for the 21-22 school year which will mean continued impacts on our schedule and programs.

Tech Tips – Printing Issues: Printing Steps for those having Printing Issues. Tech is continuing to work to resolve the printing issues.  In the meantime, we have come up with a temporary solution.   Here are the steps for printing if you are having issues:
1. Download the file as a pdf.2. Open Adobe Acrobat Reader3. Make all the Printing options (Copies, Two-sided, pages)4. Click on ‘Advanced.’

5. Click on ‘Print As Image.’

6. Click OK and then Print

Travel Survey: For those people that traveled outside HCMC this long weekend, please remember to complete the SSIS Travel Questionnaire before returning to school on Tuesday morning.
If you completed the questionnaire and your travel plans changed then please send me an email. If you visited one of these locations, then send me an email:

• Ha Nam province
• Hung Yen province
• HaNoi City, Dong Anh district

Student Ambassador program: The following students have been selected for the Middle School Ambassadors Program: Jasmeh Bali, Minseo Cha, Su-Han (Janet) Hsieh, ChaeYi Ka, An Le, Kuan-Wei (Derek) Lin, Dhishana Majumdar, Sangeun Park, Anh (Angela) Tran
Our first induction meeting will be on Wednesday, May 5th from 12:15 to 1:40.  The Ambassadors will miss DEAR and Advisory during this time.  If there is a concern about missing advisory on this day please let me know.  Thank you to all the teachers that completed teacher recommendations.  I appreciate how thoughtful you were in your choice of words to describe these students and how they could make an impact in the middle school.