From Jacques: Bonne Année ! ¡Feliz Año Nuevo! Happy New Year!
I hope that everyone enjoyed a lovely holiday season, full of connections with people old and new. It's hard to believe that we're already in 2023, but with every new year comes new possibilities, new connections, and new adventures. We wish all AIS students, families, faculty, and staff an amazing year ahead living out the values that make our community so strong.
Bienvenue ! Welcome! ¡Bienvenidas!
Please join us in wishing a very warm welcome to three new members of the AIS community:
- Ms. Adam Aubin Camara joins AIS as the new Director of Finance and Administration from Hong Kong where she most recently held financial leadership roles at the Harbour School and the French International School of Hong Kong. A native if Sénégal, Ms. Adam completed her education in France and worked in finance for large international corporations such as EDF, Lacoste, and Ahlstrom before moving into the non-profit sector. We will share more details of her background and experience in a special announcement next week.
- Ms. Ligia Jarquín de Flores joins the AIS community as the substitute Spanish teacher in GS and CP during Ms. Isabel's maternity leave. Ms. Ligia recently moved to Austin from El Salvador where she taught Spanish language acquisition at the American School. With a Bachelor of Science in Education with a specialization in Early Childhood Education and nearly 20 years of experience in the classroom, we know that our young AIS Owls will be excited to learn under her guidance.
- Baby Ignacio joined the Gonzales Ruiz family (and the world) today! Ms. Isabel is doing well, and we wish them restful nights and all the best!
Registration Closes Tonight (1/6) for Spring Afterschool Activities
Before the break, we sent out the Spring Afterschool Class Activity schedule and registration information. Registration closes today. Please keep in mind you will be making course requests (unconfirmed until finalized), as some classes have minimums in order to occur. Next week, we will finalize lists and send confirmations of your requested class schedule. Class CHANGES (between classes or adding if someone else has dropped out) may be made until January 20th, after which point, you are committed to continuing in the class and incur billings. After January 20th, all registrations are final.
Key Dates:
- Course request registrations end tonight, 1/6/23
- The first day of Spring Activities is not until 1/17 and the last day is 5/19 (in order to allow for make-up classes)
- Course changes (drops, adds, moving between classes) can happen until 1/20/23.
- Once a class ends, if your child is not regularly in the Extended Care program, please make plans to pick up your students daily until the end of the school year at regular dismissal. Please note classes do not begin immediately when school resumes in January. Likewise, please make pickup arrangements before classes begin on January 17th.
To Make Your Course Requests:
- Sign-up via your Family Portal as shown on the final page of the Spring 2023 Afterschool Activities Schedule by following the steps below.
- Log into your Family Web account with your user id and password. (Our school code is ai-tx).
- Access the Student menu on the left.
- Open up Course Requests.
- Make your course requests (one per drop-down field).
- You must scroll to the bottom and hit SAVE, to retain your requests.
AIS Basketball Team
We are so excited for our 4th/5th Grade girls and boys basketball team and our Middle School girls basketball team to participate in the APSA league beginning next week. Plus, they will have the opportunity to play at the HEB Center before Austin Spurs games. We will keep you updated with the schedule to help cheer them on. Go Owls!
MKL Day/No School - Mon., 1/16
The school will be closed in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on Monday, January 16th. We encourage all our families to discuss the special significance of this day with their child(ren) and we will have a week of Service Learning to follow.
Report Cards Disseminated - Fri., 1/20
Semester One report cards will be sent out on Friday, January 20th via email. You will receive a link to your child’s report, which will be valid for 14 days. We recommend saving a digital copy and printing a copy for your records within two weeks of receiving the link.
Save the date-AIS 12th Annual Art Gala
Plans for one of the most amazing events of the year, our Annual Gala, are well underway from the Silent Auction Committee and we are thrilled that it will be returning in person to the Austin Central Library on February 25th! For new families, this event is our biggest fundraiser of the year and includes fantastic packages in our silent auction, a live art auction of AIS student artwork, and a raise the paddle event which funds scholarship funds for teacher's students attending AIS. So, please mark your calendars for the event.
Don't forget, if you have any items or gift cards you received over the holidays which you can live without - pass them over at drop-off and we will incorporate them into our auction and list you as an amazing donor. More event details to come and thank you in advance for your participation. We look forward to seeing you there!
Gala Wine Collection - 1/23 - 1/27
As part of our annual gala, we ask that members of our community donate a bottle of their favorite wine for each student which we will bundle together by class into amazing wine cellars. Each class cellar will then be auctioned off at the event in great libation packages as part of our silent auction! Be on the lookout for more event information and mark your calendars to have a delicious bottle of vino on hand to be passed off at morning drop-off the week of January 23rd to help support this fantastic community celebration.
AIS Board Meeting - Tue., 1/24, 6:30 pm
The AIS Governing Board of Directors will meet on Tuesday, January 24th beginning at 6:30 pm. Members of our community are encouraged to observe the Open Session of the meeting with an opportunity for public comments at the conclusion of the open portion.
January Spirit Night at the Austin Spurs-Thur., 1/26, 7:30 pm
We hope you can join us for a special Spirit Night on Thursday, January 26th at 7:30 pm as the Austin Spurs take on the Dallas Texas Legends at the HEB Center in Cedar Park! AIS will have a group spirit section to watch the game. PLUS, as part of our spirit night, 10 - 15 AIS students from grades CE1 and up can sign up to be Anthem Buddies (will need a game ticket as well) and be on the court with the players during the National Anthem. The first 15 students who register here (from grades CE1/2nd to 4e/Middle School) will participate as an Anthem Buddy. If registering a sibling, please close the form and enter another entry for the 2nd or 3rd child (tickets must be purchased separately). AIS tickets are on sale now here, and are $26 each. Go Spurs!
MAP Assessments Begin - Mon., 1/30
Austin International School uses the Northwest Education Association's (NWEA) Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) Growth assessment to track individual student growth during their time at AIS. Students in Kindergarten and up complete assessments three times per year, after which student growth data is shared with teachers and families. MAP Growth data points are important in identifying areas of strength and areas of focus for each student. As such, MAP forms an important part of the work that we do to support individualized student learning at AIS. Please stay tuned for a more detailed assessment schedule and review this video here for more information.
January Student Birthdays
Happy Birthday, bon anniversaire, and feliz cumpleaños to the following students with January birthdays: Lucie B., Mily G., Colome C., Miya N., Mahé M., Augustus H., Alessandra F. Jonathan L., Lucia V., Youssef E., Nia D., Sam S., Olivia N., Melina B., Maxime G., Madeleine W., Madeleine W., Samuel N., Noah G., Mathieu F., & Galen V.
Save the dates
Mark these important upcoming dates on your calendars.
- 1/6 ASA Registration Ends
- 1/16 MLK Day/No School
- 1/17 1st Day of Spring Afterschool Activities
- 1/17 - 1/20 Service Learning Week
- 1/20 Report Card Dissemination
- 1/23 - 1/27 Gala Wine Collection
- 1/24 Board Meeting
- 1/26 Spirit Night @ Austin Spurs
- 1/30 MAP Assessments begin
- 2/2 PTO Coffee
- 2/4 New Year Virtual Open House
- 2/10 Spirit Night @ Blaze Pizza