The “TED Talk” for this week is an interesting look at how others are using design thinking to make positive changes in the world.
Thank you!
- Sarah Ko, for leading the parent book club “Nurture Shock”. You are providing parents with the tools they need to make well-informed decisions.
- Sarah Ko, Elaine, Eric, and Feliz for presenting at the Alternatives to Hagwons parent workshop.
- Esther, for continuing to run parent workshops for JK/K parents. Your continued efforts are ensuring that we have a well-informed parent community.
- Mareena and April for getting the ES Electives for Q4 ready to sent out to parents. We have some great offerings for students again. Thank you, teachers, for sharing your passions with students.
- Allan, Francis, Layne, and Nancy for putting in long hours and extra days to prepare or students for the ES Musical. Your efforts will pay off in an amazing performance and happy students!
Communication in the ES
This week I met with the ES PAB for two hours. During that time we discussed some minor concerns and many of the amazing things we are doing in the ES. Here is the agenda from the meeting. Overall, our parent community is very happy with the level of education our students are receiving. Of course, this is because of the dedicated professionals we have in the ES.
ES Trivia Compeition
On March 25th the ES will have a trivia competition. We would like to include fun facts about ES staff. If you have a fun fact about your life you would like to share please fill out this form. Do not tell anyone because these questions will be part of the trivia competition.
Calendar for 2019/20
As you begin to plan for next school year, here is the 2019/20 ES School Calendar. This document is designed to provide you with a year at a glance. We will update it with important events but refer to the Elementary School Google Calendar for day to day updates.
Let’s Chat
This week I have 3 times booked for you to come in and chat or I can come to your classroom to read to students.
Monday 11:30 to 12:00
Tuesday 9:30 to 10:00
Wednesday 3:00 to 3:30
ES Leadership Team SY19/20
Please join me in welcoming the ES Leadership Team for the 2019/20 school year!
JK/K: Margaret Goff
G1: Sarah Millar
G2: Tess Cameron
G3: Sean Doran
G4: Eric Rosenthal
G5: Cody Comerford
ELL: Angela Campagna
ES Athletics Coordinator: Rhys Meredith
ES Counselor TL: Esther Hockey
ES Specialist: Layne Todd
The Month Ahead for March
March is a busy month. Please take a moment to look over these dates and come see me or Mareena if you have questions. We can also give you some ideas as to how you can spread out the tasks to reduce stress.
Dates to Remember
March 11th - All grades are entered into PS
March 12th - Report card drafts are sent to teachers for a final check
March 13th- Report cards are checked by the Team Leaders for alignment
March 15th - PTSC
March 14 & 15 - ES Musical @ 6:30 pm
March 25th - ½ day for students full day for faculty (PD in the afternoon)
Additional Information:
From TED X
TEDxKISJ organizing committee would like to inform that the date of the TEDx conference has been moved to Tuesday, April 23rd, 2019.
The theme for this year's talk show is 'Time', and there will be speakers from KISJ, NLCS, and SJA. We also have surprise performances during the intermission.
The ticket sale will begin from next week.
If you have more questions, please contact through jwmoon19@kis.ac or dejung20@kis.ac
TEDx Organizing Committee
Updates From Mareena
Focus on Responsibility:
It’s break time, and you are heading to the deli for a coffee when you witness an incident between two students. As students are walking to the field, one boy trips another. The second child stumble to the ground. He gets up and pushes the other student.
How should you deal with this incident? What responses are available to you?
Communication
A reminder that all staff should refer to the weekly leadership notes and read the weekly update each week. Bi-weekly Tuesday NB meetings are used to highlight important information.
Electives
For Q3, please add your grade for responsibility to the roster spreadsheet by Thursday, March 7th. (ES Dragons rubric for reference)
Conference Notes
Conference note documents for new students have been added to your conference notes folders. These are also linked on the faculty/class list spreadsheet. Fill out Q3 details in the second chart.
Book Week - from Jenni
Here is the schedule for the week, April 1-5, 2019. Be sure to also refer to the ES Faculty Volunteer Readers document to sign up to read or find readers for your class.
Family communication
A weekly family communication is sent through Seesaw to all families. The linked document is shared with staff so that you’re aware of the information that has been sent as reminders to families.
Friday, March 8th Grade 1 - field trip (no recess space required) Grade 2 - lunch recess at PLAYGROUND Grade 3 - lunch recess at STADIUM FIELD Snack recess will remain on the MS field. Teachers can choose to take their class to watch the game during recess, but those with duty should report to their location or switch with someone. Students cannot be left unsupervised at the soccer game. Confirmation of game times will be sent out once we receive them!
Friday, March 8th Grade 1 - field trip (no recess space required) Grade 2 - lunch recess at PLAYGROUND Grade 3 - lunch recess at STADIUM FIELD Snack recess will remain on the MS field. Teachers can choose to take their class to watch the game during recess, but those with duty should report to their location or switch with someone. Students cannot be left unsupervised at the soccer game. Confirmation of game times will be sent out once we receive them!
Updates From Ryk
Friday Morning PD Time
Please note the following Friday PD times (8:00-8:50)
Friday March 1 - Powerschool Input (Due March 11). Please work as a team to make sure your assessments on Powerschool are the same. You may also wish to discuss your grading expectations.
Friday March 8 - Prep for Parent/teacher/student conferences. On March 14 your notes should be ready for Admin to view. PTSC are on March 15.
PD Opportunity
If you missed the Newsela ‘Ed Current’ PD with Dr. Rhonda Bondie from Harvard University's School of Education, here is the link to the recorded webinar. She unpacks the research behind differentiated instruction, and provides valuable classroom tips and strategies for differentiated instruction.
FAQ’s About Student Reports
An extract from ES Grading & Powerschool (currently slide 37)
Q - Do new students get a report?
A - A student must have been at KIS for 30 days during the quarter to receive a report for that quarter. The teacher will fill in grades that are available, and mark NA if grades are not available.
Q - If a student is leaving do they get a report?
A - Students leaving before the end of a term will not receive a report.
Please note the following Friday PD times (8:00-8:50)
Friday March 1 - Powerschool Input (Due March 11). Please work as a team to make sure your assessments on Powerschool are the same. You may also wish to discuss your grading expectations.
Friday March 8 - Prep for Parent/teacher/student conferences. On March 14 your notes should be ready for Admin to view. PTSC are on March 15.
PD Opportunity
If you missed the Newsela ‘Ed Current’ PD with Dr. Rhonda Bondie from Harvard University's School of Education, here is the link to the recorded webinar. She unpacks the research behind differentiated instruction, and provides valuable classroom tips and strategies for differentiated instruction.
FAQ’s About Student Reports
An extract from ES Grading & Powerschool (currently slide 37)
Q - Do new students get a report?
A - A student must have been at KIS for 30 days during the quarter to receive a report for that quarter. The teacher will fill in grades that are available, and mark NA if grades are not available.
Q - If a student is leaving do they get a report?
A - Students leaving before the end of a term will not receive a report.
Updates From Mr. Vento
On February 18-22 I was fortunate to participate in the Child Protection Foundation Workshop and Child Protection Deep Dive Workshop offered by the Council of International Schools (CIS) with learning materials developed in conjunction with the International Task Force on Child Protection (ITFCP).
As a result of these workshops, several specific steps were identified to strengthen KISJ child protection systems and processes. The following list is not exhaustive and is intended to be a starting point for our focus on child protection at KISJ.
Review, revise and align the following documents:
KISJ Child Protection Policy including peer on peer abuse and online safety
Staff Code of Conduct policy in KISJ Faculty & Staff Handbook with a required signature from all KISJ employees.
Reporting Policies
- Make child protection visible throughout KISJ by publishing appropriate policies on www.kis.ac in English & Korean and creating signs on campus
- Mandatory Child Protection PD training for all faculty, staff, support staff, cleaning staff, security: “Everyone is responsible for child protection”
- Safe Recruitment Policy & Commitment to Child Protection Statement on www.kis.ac landing and careers page
- Develop a Visitor Code of Conduct
- Centralized child protection file (repository for child protection concerns)
- Develop shared / better understanding of Korean laws (reporting, defamation) and international protocol throughout the entire organization to the highest levels
- Develop physical intervention and restraint policy
- Risk Assessment document that includes child protection for school activities
- Background checks for all employees including security, business, and outside instructors
- Campus hotspot mapping exercise
- Develop well-defined roles, responsibilities and team members for:
- Child Protection/Safeguarding Team
- Crisis Management Team with Crisis Management/Communication Plan
- Online Safety Committee
Most of these steps will require a collaborative approach and will likely fit well with our WASC focus group work.
Our current KISJ campus restroom policy requires students and adults to use separate restrooms and was a topic of discussion during the child protection workshops. Child protection best practices seem to indicate that students and adults should not use the same restrooms but that scheduled supervision will help prevent detracting behaviors and peer on peer abuse from occurring. This will be discussed during divisional meetings in the coming weeks. Please remember that all adults on campus should be using the adult only washrooms for their personal needs.
This week the KISJ Faculty Council and I met to review several important issues. The public minutes will be released on Friday and will include the new Faculty Council members for the 2019-20 school year. I would like to recognize and thank Stacy Breckell, Brian Elshoff, Caitlin Wampler, Chris Kleynhans, Daniel Wickner, Dave Gagnier, Elaine Costeira, and Tyler Echols for representing their colleagues in bringing forward concerns, improving communication and collaboration, and making KISJ a better learning community for all. I look forward to welcoming our new members of the Faculty Council to the next meeting.
As always, please feel free to reach out with any questions, concerns, or ideas.
Communication in the ES
Your feedback is appreciated as the ES strives to improve communication. As always, submissions are confidential. I have posted the QR code on my office door for continued feedback as the year progresses.
Here is the ES Suggestion Box. This form is for ideas, solutions or comments about issues that matter to the ES community.
Sunshine Weekly
PD Schedule
3/8 - Prep for PTSC
Upcoming DRAGON Dialogue
March 26th - Parent Choice
May 8th - Class Placement
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