Newsflash: December 6, 2024

Principal’s Corner

by Mr. Benjamin Martin, Middle & High School Principal

Building and Maintaining Community Partnerships

Over the years, schools have started looking for ways to move from community service to service learning and community partnerships. For IB schools, this includes not only indirect service, often in the form of fundraising, to more direct service through building and maintaining community partnerships that will last over time. This has always been something that I have been interested in and I have presented on this topic at various conferences. I have learned through my own experiences and mistakes in working with an orphanage over the past ten years that there are five areas of consideration that can really help to build and maintain a strong community partnership.

1. Trust Matters: Who are our longest community partnerships? How did these partnerships develop over time? Where has trust been lost or gained? How do we keep the trust of our community partners?
2. Culture Matters:  Where do we see cultural conflicts in your community partnerships? How can we better prepare for and respond to cultural misunderstandings? How can we find common ground when it comes to using innovation to solve problems while also respecting traditional values
3. Local Matters: Who will carry the torch with our community partnerships? Besides students, who among your local staff should have more input in maintaining community partnerships? How can we sustain these relationships over time?
4. Communication Matters: How often do we communicate with our community partnerships? How do we make them feel valued? How do we find out what they need from us? How does community partner feedback shape our programs?
5. Reflection Matters: When do we give time to reflect? What changes have we seen over the years? In what areas of authentic community partnerships could our school grow? What is going well? What needs to be improved? How will we adapt to changes in systems and personnel?

Using these considerations and  the IB framework as our guide, the students move through four steps of the service learning process: investigation, planning, taking action, and reflection.

This year, in addition to fundraising with Operation Smile, we have reconnected with five more communities for yearly ongoing projects to learn more from them and to come up with solutions together to meet the needs of their communities. For the next five days, our MYP students will go on field trips to these communities to use investigation as their first step before moving to the planning stages. We are lucky to have already had contact with these communities in the past and with the help of Mr. Ace Pierra, who has developed these relationships over time, and Ms. Julie Sykes, who has worked extensively on developing the learning aspect of these experiences over time, we will now be able to grow these community relationships more frequently throughout this year. Then for the future, our students will connect with different communities over a five year period during the MYP. By the time the get to performing their CAS experiences, they will not only be able to choose their way to collaborate with the communities but hopefully they will understand more about the communities themselves to meet our goal of moving past sympathy (we feel bad for you) and even empathy (we feel bad with you) to true compassion (we feel that we can act to solve problems together).

Upcoming events of note

• Sat, Dec. 7: Tree of Giving
• Sun, Dec. 8: Public Holiday (Immaculate Conception)
• Fri, Dec. 13: End of Semester Assembly / End of Sem. 1 / End of Q2 (half day)
• Dec. 16 – Jan. 4, 2025: Christmas / Semester Break
• Mon, Jan. 6: Teachers’ In-Service Day (No classes)
• Tue, Jan. 7: First Day of Sem. 2 / Q3 Start

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

Language Acquisition Classes

by Ms. Evangeline Belono-ac, KG1 and G4/5 LA-English Teacher  and Ms. Jessa Luntayao, G2/3  LA- English Teacher 

This semester, students in the Language Acquisition-English classes have been engaged in various interactive learning activities designed to cultivate proficiency across the four language domains. Through engaging activities, students have delved into the exploration and acquisition of new vocabulary directly relevant to their units of inquiry. These linguistic connections not only deepen their understanding of subject-specific concepts and themes but also foster the expansion of their overall vocabulary repertoire and enhancement of comprehension abilities. They have been doing role-plays, playing games, reading, sharing, and writing stories related to their units of inquiry and utilizing grammatical rules. 

Kinder and Grade 1
The Kindergarten and Grade 1 students are currently exploring the concept of transportation as part of the unit “Where We Are in Place and Time.” As part of their grammatical instruction, they have engaged in activities focused on verb tenses, prepositions, and adverbs. Applying their new knowledge, the students have crafted descriptive sentences and personal narratives.

These skills have been reinforced through targeted practice sessions and engaging classroom discussions, helping them understand how accurate use of verb tenses, prepositions, and adverbs enhances sentence structure. Additionally, the students have delved into story writing, deepening their understanding of story elements and written expression.

This process has not only sparked their creativity but also refined their writing skills, as they learned to organize their thoughts clearly and ensure coherence in their compositions.

Grade 2/3
Under the transdisciplinary theme, How the World Works, Grade 2 and 3 English language learners are actively inquiring into cause-and-effect relationships to uncover connections between events and their causes. This exploration supports the development of skills essential for everyday life, such as explaining events and their reasons, while deepening students’ understanding of how natural phenomena and human actions shape the world.

In alignment with PYP practices, students have honed their critical thinking skills by analyzing how specific events result from interconnected causes. To enrich their learning, they read nonfiction books about natural disasters, creating meaningful transdisciplinary connections with their homeroom unit of inquiry on natural phenomena. They also practiced organization by managing their time effectively and ensuring task completion.

As budding writers, students are utilizing the Stoplight Paragraph graphic organizer to structure their ideas, crafting expository paragraphs that explain the causes and effects of their chosen landform or natural disaster. This activity has strengthened their communication skills and built confidence in expressing their understanding through writing.

Throughout the inquiry, students have demonstrated curiosity, critical thinking, and responsibility in their learning. Their engagement not only fostered a deeper appreciation for the natural world but also enhanced their ability to use language as a tool for understanding and explaining complex ideas.

Grade 4/5 
In their current unit, “How the World Works,” Grades 4 and 5 are exploring traditional literature. As they develop a deeper understanding of this genre, students are learning to summarize texts, identify themes, analyze media, and compare similar tales. They also hone their public speaking skills through presentations and role plays.

Recently, their inquiry has centered on fables. Students have been comparing fables from different countries and crafting their own. Using the grammar concepts they’ve learned, such as quotation marks, commas in dialogue, and varied sentence structures, they composed fables that incorporate key elements of the genre. To support their growth as assessment-capable learners, students used a checklist to guide their writing and reflect on their progress.

Sharing and comparing fables from their cultures led to thoughtful reflections on why these stories often have multiple versions. Here are some of their insights:

• Dominic: “Countries have different languages and histories. Fables show the culture and beliefs of a country.”
• Peter: “There are changes when fables are told to others. Also, there might be changes in translation.”
• Jack: “There’s one version (original) of the story, and it was passed down from generation to generation, changing over time until it has many versions.”
• Rain: “There are different versions of a fable from different countries so we can understand them better.”

This inquiry has encouraged students to connect with diverse perspectives while strengthening their writing and analytical skills.

Science Laboratory Class

by Ms. Haydee Montero, Science Lab. Teacher/Lab. Technician

Collaborative Science Project

Just in time for the Collaborative Science Project (CSP 2024), the Science department has acquired a new Ultrasonic Labware Cleaner, which is already invaluable in maintaining sterile laboratory environments. This device ensures a higher level of sterilization by eliminating microbial contamination and chemical residues from lab equipment, leading to more accurate and reliable experimental results, especially in experiments sensitive to trace impurities. The ultrasonic cleaning method is chemical-free, reducing the need for harmful cleaning agents and minimizing students’ exposure to potentially hazardous substances, making the lab a safer place to work.

In addition to improving safety, the Ultrasonic Labware Cleaner also boosts efficiency in the laboratory. By cutting down the time spent manually cleaning glassware, students can enjoy more hands-on lab sessions, allowing for greater productivity in a busy academic schedule. Thanks to the generous contribution of the PTA through this year’s Student Learning Enhancement Fund (SLEF), this equipment will enhance the quality of learning and help more students complete their experiments with ease and accuracy.

College & Careers Counselor Corner

by Ms. Jenny Basa, College Counselor

Alumni Spotlight

SAT Update

SAT 2024-2025 Test Dates

SAT Registration Is Now Open

*Additional Fees apply
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.