Newsflash: April 26, 2024

Principal’s Corner

by Mr. Benjamin Martin, Middle & High School Principal

Operation Smile and Feeling Grateful at CIS

The MHS Student Council and the Operation Smile Club collaborated to pull off a wonderful month of gratitude in April!

StuCo first presented a gratitude matrix where students filled in the boxes by answering prompts related to gratitude. Students were able to share with each other and remind themselves of all of the blessings in their lives.

Next, Operation Smile ran a series of fundraising activities through donations and selling flowers gifts to show our gratitude for others. All proceeds will be given to  our friends at Operation Smile Philippines.

Finally, StuCo took colored post-its and asked students to use pictures, words, and sentences to talk about what they were thankful for. Then they put all of these post-its together to create a mural for all to see!

As we close out the month of April, I hope we can remember the words of Oprah Winfrey in remembering to be grateful all the time!

Upcoming events of note

• Apr 24 – May 16: IBDP Exams
• Apr 30: PTA Coffee Morning
• May 1: Public Holiday (Labor Day)
• May 3: PYPx
• May 6-10: Arts Week
• May 11: Touch Rugby
• May 18-19 & May 25-26: MFC x CIS Friendship Cup
• May 24: G12 Graduation (no classes in PM)

Please refer to the CIS Event Calendar for the complete calendar of school events.

Grade 5: Action and Engagement in the PYP

by Mrs. Aimee Underwood, Grade 5 Homeroom Teacher/Asst. PYP Coordinator 

Central to the Primary Years Programme (PYP) is the concept of “action,” which arises both as a direct response by students to meaningful learning experiences and from intentionally designed activities that honor their voice, choice, and ownership. Our campus has recently been buzzing with action, from Early Years students showcasing their musical composition skills to Grade 3 students creating skits about exploration, and Grade 5 students initiating environmental and literary projects outside of class. These student-driven initiatives not only extend learning beyond the confines of the classroom but also ensure that it has a tangible impact on the world around them, reflecting the PYP’s emphasis on meaningful action. 

The PYP defines five types of action: Participation, Advocacy, Social Justice, Social Entrepreneurship, and Lifestyle Choices. This framework encourages students to cultivate a proactive mindset, nurturing responsibility and autonomy from an early age. At CIS, we further enrich this framework by integrating learning experiences with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), empowering students to see themselves as active agents of change. By aligning the development of Approaches to Learning (ATL) skills and IB Learner Profile attributes with the SDGs, we prepare students for informed, ethical decision-making and equip them for meaningful change. This approach not only resonates with the IB Mission but also reflects CIS’s commitment to nurturing the unique potential of all students to contribute to a better world.

Celebrating the PYP Exhibition: A Community of Inquiry and Impact

The PYP learning journey culminates with the PYP Exhibition (PYPx) —an 8-week collaborative community inquiry that encapsulates students’ learning and action under the Central Idea, “Through inquiry into our personal passions, we can discover responsible ways to influence change in the world around us.” The Grade 5 students have been inspired to explore local and global perspectives and experiences, driving them toward innovative, sustainable solutions.

Notably, this year’s PYP Exhibition saw significant enhancements in collaborative community involvement. These changes reflect the positive impact of our community’s involvement in student learning and development:

• Increased Parental Engagement: Nearly 90% of parents engaged in interactive, hands-on workshops with the students on campus this year, strengthening our foundational home-school partnership.
• Expanded Mentorship: Staff members from various roles served as PYPx mentors this year, alongside PYP, MYP, and DP teachers. They met regularly with students on a four-day cycle to provide a wide range of insights and guidance, thereby enriching project depth and diversity.
• Deeper Interdisciplinary Support: Subject teachers and community members across disciplines shared their expertise, offering students a diverse set of information, perspectives, and skills.
• Wider Community Engagement: Students actively engaged the broader CIS community through surveys and interviews, both on-campus and off-campus. This helped students enhance their research and the overall impact of their actions, as well as provided real-life opportunities for them to practice skills such as composing emails to request interviews, sending calendar invitations, following up, and practicing interview etiquette.

As the final PYP Exhibition showcase date approaches, we extend a warm invitation to the CIS community to witness our students’ inspiring journeys on Friday, May 3, 2024. PYPx is not merely a celebration of the Grade 5 students’ growth but also an acknowledgment of our school-wide dedication to fostering a community committed to making a difference.

MYP – English-Language Acquisition 

by Ms. Angelica Campos, English MYP G6-10/ Mary Rose Tudio, MYP EA

The end of the year is approaching, and with that the time for our students to work hard on their formative assessments to be ready to do their best on their summative. As an IB school, at CIS, we remind our students of the importance of the ATL Skills. One of the Social Skills we have been promoting during the past weeks in the English-Language Acquisition class is Help others to succeed. For that reason, our students in grades 6-9, were given the time and space to work on their formative assessments helping and being helped by their peers. Allowing students to help each other, helps us break paradigms about traditional testing, as well as remind them how together we can always achieve more. 

Grade 6/7 Purpose of communication assessment

Students in grade six and seven, are working on Advertisement analysis, they have learned about camera shot types, camera angles and camera movement, as well as how these tools help us achieve our purpose for communication. These topics are preparation for their summative assessment next month, where they will have to show their knowledge on author’s purpose, camera usage, and of course their English writing and speaking skills!

Grade 8/9 Empathy and relationships assessment 

Students in grade eight and nine are reading the book The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa, a book published in 2003. Told from the perspective of the housekeeper, is a lovely story that has kept our students interested and engaged with each character. We have been reading together in class, while our students are practicing annotating skills chapter by chapter. Their formative assessment challenged them not just to remember the facts from the story, but to interpret the characters’ attitudes, and to predict how their actions will impact their relationships.

College & Careers Counselor Corner

by Ms. Jenny Basa, College Counselor

Ask the Counselor

Question: As an 11th grader, may I start applying to universities to get a head start on my college applications?

Answer: If you are applying abroad, you cannot apply to college yet.  Applications open in August 2024.  However, you may start writing your college essay(s) to get a headstart.  In the Philippines, the University of the Philippines has opened applications in order to take the UPCAT (UP College Admissions Test) last April 15th, Part 1 of the application has to be completed by May 15.  

SAT Update

2023–24 School Year Test Dates

To register for the SAT, you may click on this link.  If you need assistance or have any questions, please feel free to email Ms. Jenny Basa at jbasa@cis.edu.ph.