Dear Parents,

Thank you to those of you who came to the Board AGM last night, and to all parents who participated and voted in the annual Board Elections. I would also like to show my appreciation to those of you manning a booth at the WCM finale today. Looking ahead, I see below that there are at the moment over 12 major ISD events involving Elementary kids in May at some level. This is always the nature of such schools as ours, but I do insist to teachers these must impact academic time as little as possible. We do appreciate your support at this busy time of the year!

Earth Day: On Monday, Pre-K through Gr 5 enjoyed many activities that we hope raised their awareness of sustainability. I hope you heard from your child about the activities they participated in. Kudos to the faculty who put together a lot of new items for the day. I'll be revisiting the "Earth Day Pledges" for each grade in a couple of weeks to see how they are going.

Here is a picture of the wonderful mural the Ms. Gina and Ms. Christy produced with the help of all the K-2 children - it is now next to the library:

World Cultural Month Finale: Here is the running order if you're coming to the event this afternoon. I'll have some pictures next week:

9:00-12:00        Students visit Booths of Nations

12.10-12.50       Lunch as normal

12:50-1:20         ES in rooms

1:30 pm             Gr 3 drumming, Gr 2 play and dance 

2:00 pm             Philip Monteiro - musician

2:30 pm             Parade of Nations

3:15 pm             Head to Class

There is also a great market going on in the Pagoda area, so bring cfa!!!

Grade 4 Thies Trip: Thanks again Mr. Schultz, Mr. Ishmael, Ms. Niassa and all parents who attended the overnight trip as chaperones. Here are some pictures from the Gr 4 trip to Thies. 

3rd Culture Kids: Many of our children's sense of home may be very different to ours as we grew up; they may be in a second country and also a different educational system to their home country. Your children may be part of a group that some term "3rd culture children", and this may be something you have thought of in the past. Here are a few sites that you might find interesting:

TCKWorld.com Interactionintl.org and Ori and Ricki 

Summer Camp: Ms. Gage has been working with trustees to look into the viability of running a Summer Camp. If there is enough interest from school parents, it would run the two weeks from June 17-June 28, counselors would be our TA's and the times, 9:00am-3:00pm. It would serve children ages 4-13, and the emphasis would be on FUN. She would need to know the level of interest to see whether it would be viable. There is much more information here in Ms. Gage's Director's Dispatch, including who to contact if you are interested.

Ball Games Outside School Hours - a request: I am informing children again in the Elementary that they cannot be at school before 8:00 playing basketball on their own. Please ensure they attend to this time. I am also reminding children in the Elementary not to play ball games after school, for safety reasons. 

6-Day Rotation Change: As you know, ISD has added the Pentecoste Holiday to the calendar on Monday May 20. This has led to a small amendment in the 6-day calendar. Please could you change the calendar you have and update it with the attached new ES 6-Day calendar below. Click here for the link to the one on the web site.

Book Character Murals: Thanks to Wendy Welander and Christy Kinkhabwala for coordinating our talented Middle School and Gr 5 ASA students who drew and painted these - all themselves! They are brightening the Early Childhood walls. We hope to add more characters next year.