Welcome Back! Week of Aug. 1-5
Welcome back to a brand new school year! One where we get to start with students on campus. One where we get to start with parents on campus. Heck, even one where even we get to start on campus! I love that in our profession we get to start fresh each fall. It’s the sense of excitement and energy that each new school year brings that consistently creates joy for me – even as I start my 27th school year as an educator. So let’s get started!
New Colleagues:
We have some amazing new colleagues joining us this year. 66 total across the school – and 15 of them are in the middle school.
- Bryce Boudreau – Math, Team 8
- Chia Lun (Ivory) Chang – Mandarin, Team 7
- Blaire Hart – EAL, Team 8
- Matthew Hart – PE, Social Studies
- Danial Hogg – PE, Team 6
- Megan Kottwitz – Science, Team 6
- Ann Laros Weaver – Learning Support, Team 8
- Patrick O’Brien – ELA, Yearbook, Team 8
- Lan Pham – Tech/Computer Sci, Team 6
- Meghan Ricker – Counselor
- Juan Jose Sanz del Alamo – Spanish, Team 6
- Janelle Sculley – Math, Team 7
- Carlos Simon – Spanish, Team 7
- Lisa Strock – Math, Team 6
- Phil Wendel – Associate Principal
You can get to know them a bit by viewing their flipgrid. And maybe get to know them even better by listening to their playlist. Want to add your favorite, “makes me dance” song? Just email it to Molly.
Summer Construction and Work:
As with every summer, a huge amount of work has been done all around campus. Be prepared for some very visible changes as we get set for construction to start. Here is a run down of just some of the work that was done (or very close to being done, out of customs):
- Relocated walkways and campus entry plans (moved breezeway and tiki-hut walk)
- New furniture and ping pong tables for the Dragons Den
- New classroom formed out of the art room
- New whiteboards for Phase 1 rooms (replace whiteboard paint)
- New stools for Design Lab
- New lighting and sound system for Black Box Theater
- Whole range of maintenance things that we don’t really notice 🙂
Full Faculty Inservice Plans:
David Chadwell has shared the faculty inservice schedule and plans. There is a lot happening this coming week. If you have questions about the schedule, please ask right away. You may have noticed a significant amount of time has been dedicated to leadership training. This is in support of our work to grow our middle level leaders as well as to help us onboard and reboard our community with intentionality. 75% of the middle school faculty is in their 1st or 2nd year at SSIS. This is a huge opportunity for us affirm the aspects of our divisional culture that are at the heart of what we do and a chance to grow and develop into something even stronger. During our divisional time, we will be focusing on connection, collaboration, and assessment.
COVID Things:
Things are much better here in Vietnam! This means that some of the practices we had been using are no longer needed. For example, you no longer need to complete a daily health declaration using the SSIS app. We will not have to social distance in the classrooms and other spaces. Parents will be allowed on campus fully. One thing that has not changed is the requirement to wear masks at all time (except when eating, exercising, or performing). Much more detail will be provided to us during the week, but I hope this give you an idea of what to expect when you return.
Schedules:
MS Master Schedule is complete! You will find the S1 and S2 schedules, room assignments, a tab dedicated to showing where co-planning and team preps are located, a tab with the rotation and bell schedule, and a full list of our faculty and staff. We are 49 people strong in the MS this year! You can see the members of our different teams on this document. While there will be student course schedule changes and adjustments (as normal for the start of the year), the numbers you see in your classes in PowerTeacher are likely to be about right.
New addition (7/30): We will return to the rotating, cascading schedule of pre-COVID years. This means that we are on an 8 day rotation cycle that accounts for missing days (we will consistently move between A-D and E-H days ensuring equity), and we will cascade the blocks. This ensures no block is impacted by time of day.
| MIDDLE SCHOOL ROTATION SCHEDULE | |||||||
| Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 |
| A | E | B | F | C | G | D | H |
| B | F | C | G | D | H | A | E |
| C | G | D | H | A | E | B | F |
| D | H | A | E | B | F | C | G |
Dragon Days:
Dragon Days is an essential part of the start of the year for middle school. It ensures a successful transition and orientation to the structures, processes, skills, and routines of middle school. The sequence of these lessons were reviewed for a physical start and have been updated based on feedback from previous years. The scope and sequence as well as the lessons through Aug. 31 will be provided to you, and we will review them as an entire division to ensure a smooth start to the year for all of us and our students.
Assessment Focus:
In keeping with our focus on assessment, we will be administering the Star360 reading and math assessments at the start of the year. This will be done in ELA and math classes. As a division, we will analyze this data along with CTP data and determine general as well as individual student needs.
Tech Support and Instructional Tech Coach:
There are a lot of tech needs when we start the year. In order to provide the best support possible, please keep the following in mind:
- Technical Issue: All technical issues must go through the helpdesk:
- Sound isn’t working?
- Screen won’t share?
- Camera isn’t functioning?
- Fan sounds like an airliner taking off?
- Can’t log into Schoology or other school product?
- Students aren’t appearing correctly in Schoology?
- Material aren’t showing up in Schoology?
- These are all issues for the helpdesk
- Pedagogical Issue: Issues related to teaching and learning will be supported by the Instructional Coach for Technology, Daniel Mendes.
- How do I use a particular tool?
- Can we add a particular web-based service or app?
- What is a tool that could help me accomplish XXX?
- How can I use Hapara (or other school system) more effectively?
- How do I achieve XXX?
- How can I assess XXX?
Keeping Organized:
Keeping track of all things middle school can be tricky. One thing to check is to make sure that you are viewing the following Google Calendars. Events are only located on 1 calendar … this is based on who the target audience is. So if it’s something that parents/students need to know, its on that calendar (even though it also applies to faculty as well). This is so that when changes are made, the changes only need to be made on 1 calendar (this reduces the possibility of miscommunication). If you need assistance in turning these on, check out this article on the Link. So please ensure the following calendars are always visible on your personal calendar:
- MS Day Calendar
- MS Faculty Calendar
- MS Parent/Student Calendar
- AS Faculty Calendar
- AS Parent/Student Calendar
- Professional Development
Faculty Bussing:
Each year, SSIS provides morning and afternoon bus transportation in Phu My Hung (and Riviera Point). Here is the schedule for this year. If there is not a stop near your location, please contact Ms. Vy (vytran@ssis.edu.vn).
Bus 1
Pick up in the morning:
- 07:00 Happy Residence (GS25 shop), My Khang, Corner of C street & street # 22
- 07:05 Canh Vien 3, Midtown Signature
- 07:10 Greenview
Bus 4
Pick up in the morning:
- 06:55 Riviera Point (bus stop area – Gate Tower 3-4-5)
- 07:00 Crescent 1,2
- 07:05 Scenic Valley (Pizza 4P)
- 07:10 Happy Valley (Gate R18)
Bus 6
- 7:00am Oakwood
Drop- off in the afternoon
- First trip @ 3:45pm
- Second trip @ 4:30pm
- Every Wednesday the second trip @ 4:45pm
Here is what’s up in the next 2 weeks:
Saturday, July 30
- Happy Birthday Ellen Mussleman!
Monday, Aug. 1
Happy Birthday Deborah Jones!O0ps! It’s actually Aug. 7 🙂- Full Faculty Inservice Schedule
Tuesday, Aug. 2
Wednesday, Aug. 3
Thursday, Aug. 4
Friday, Aug. 5
Monday, Aug. 8
- Happy Birthday Dan Long!
- Full Faculty Inservice Schedule
Tuesday, Aug. 9
- Orientation Schedule
Wednesday, Aug. 10
- Day 1: ABCD, Dragon Days
- 3:15-4:30 Divisional Meeting, Library
Thursday, Aug. 11
- Day 2: EFGH, Dragon Days
Friday, Aug. 12
- Day 3: BCDA, Dragon Days
Upcoming (on the radar)
- August 20 – First Aid Training
- August 22 – Early Dismissal, PD with Jan Chappuis
- August 25 – Curriculum Night, 6-8:30pm
- September 1, 2 – No School, Vietnamese National Day
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