Newsflash: February 21, 2020

Admin News

by Dr. Gwyn Underwood, Superintendent

Week Without Walls (WWW)

As we welcome our students back from their Week Without Walls activities today, it is great to see a lot of tired but happy students who report they had a lot of fun! I look forward to seeing their reflections, as while it is great they had fun, we also have specific objectives for having a WWW! I thought it would be timely to share these with you now so you could ask your children to report back to you in more depth than the social aspects they might start with!

Philosophy behind having a Week Without Walls (WWW)

Cebu International school’s Guiding Statements highlight our belief in the importance of experiential, constructivist learning, and the explicit development of a wide range of skills and attributes identified as Approaches to Learning (ATL) and Learner Profile (LP) attributes.

We believe providing an extended period of time outside the classroom to engage in purposefully planned activities enables our students to develop many of these skills and attributes in ways that are not possible, or are more difficult, in a classroom setting.

All of our WWW activities are designed around the promotion of one or more of the following areas: creativity, activity, service learning and/or intercultural mindedness. In addition, interdisciplinary/curriculum links are encouraged when opportunity presents, but these should not be forced.

As a school CIS has identified service learning as a particular focus, and therefore aspects of Service Learning will be included in all WWW activities (unless there is approval not to do so for a specific reason), and activities will therefore follow the objectives of Service Learning at CIS.

Here are a few pictures for you to see what some groups were up too. Over the next few weeks, we will be featuring the activities in the Newsflash, so you have something to look forward to!

Coronavirus Update

Please ensure you read the the comprehensive Info Brief on this topic that was sent to your registered email address yesterday. (All parents were sent this email, so if you did not get it, please check your spam folder first, and if it is still not there, please contact your divisional secretary to check you email is current.)

Contact Details

Please remember to update the school with all contact details (including addresses if you move, but especially your mobile phone number) so we can update our HUB database to ensure you get our communications, and to be able to get in touch with you without delay in the event of an emergency.

Enjoy your 4-day long weekend, and students, see you back refreshed next Wednesday (which will be a day A).

Middle and High School News

by Ms. Ma. Socorro Laplana, MHS Asst. Principal/IBDP Coordinator

Mock Exams – Why do they matter?

While the whole middle and high school have been preparing for Week Without Walls, our grade 12 students have also been preparing for their mock examinations. You might ask, what are these mock examinations for? These mock examinations help gauge where students are, to see if they’re on the right track and are also useful for letting students know what they might need to revisit. For teachers, results of mock examinations provide not only with some basis of the predicted grades they will give their students but also information and feedback on what areas may need some more review (reteaching) and because it is given at this time of year, there is still time for students to revise for the May IBDP examinations.  Furthermore, these mock exams provide simulation to the actual IBDP examinations conduct and protocol so students get to practice taking exams patterned after past IBDP papers in the actual venue and under the same examination condition. Lastly, students would get an idea of how to make effective use of reading time which is very crucial for any paper.

The grade 12 students started their mock examinations last Friday, February 14 and ended today, February 21. We hope that the mock exams were an insightful experience for our grade 12 students and we wish them all the best as they complete remaining course requirements in the last few months prior to the May IBDP examinations.

Media Center News

by Dan Monfre, Noelle Aliño, Mary Jean Cordova

Love Month at the Media Center

Love was in the air at the Media Center last week with students, faculty, and staff participating in some Heart’s Day fun. Members of the CIS community enjoyed writing anonymous letters to loved ones inside and outside the campus through the Anonymous Love Messages board. Several learners also borrowed books from the suggestions on the “Books We Love” Bulletin Board. It was good to see many students interested in books about caring and loving. Lastly, on Valentine’s Day everyone got the chance to open love-themed fortune cookies from bowls in the staff room and MHS couches. A few brave souls looked up the books they got in their fortunes.

We hope to see more students and other members of the community reading in the Media Center!

Dragon’s Print

Have you ever wondered what “mock exams” mean? This year, we dive into an exclusive with our current seniors, asking them about their experiences and narrating one of the last obstacles they will have to face before graduating in May. Read our latest interviews, “Mocking the Seniors”.

http://dragonsprint.cis.edu.ph/

College/Career News

by Ms. Jenny Basa, College/Careers Counselor & Alumni Liaison

Ask the College Counselor!

This issue discusses financial aid in US institutions, please watch this space for financial aid in other countries.

1. What is financial aid?

Financial aid is funding that helps one pay for college education.

2. What are the types of financial aid?

Financial aid may be:

• Merit-based : based on a student’s accomplishments in academics, talent and/or extra-curricular activities.  Eligibility to this type of aid is not based on a family’s ability to pay or family finances.
• Need-based : eligibility of a student is based on an evaluation of family finances
• Grants/Scholarships/Gift Aid: awards that do not need to be repaid
• Loans – funding that must be repaid

3. Does a student need to apply to qualify for financial aid?

It depends on the institution. Some universities will automatically award merit-based scholarships based on a student’s application portfolio which includes academic reports, extra-curricular activities, personal essays and teacher/counselor references

In some cases, institutions will indicate that a student needs to apply for a scholarship if they need financial aid to go to college.

4. What does the Cost of Attendance to college include?

Direct Costs:  tuition & fees, room and board (if on campus) Indirect Costs:  Books, supplies, transport, personal expenses. Universities publish the costs of attending their institution and usually have a tuition price calculator.

5. What is FAFSA and the CSS Profile?

FAFSA is  the Free Application for Federal Student Aid which is completed by current and incoming college students to receive federal aid.  FAFSA is only for American Citizens. Filling in the FAFSA is free.

The CSS Profile is the College Scholarship Service profile which is a form on the College Board website.  This is used by colleges to determine a student’s eligibility for scholarship. This is used by international students (non-American citizens) to qualify for financial aid in most US universities.

Both FAFSA and CSS Profile will require in-depth information into a family’s finances which includes income, expenses, assets and liabilities.

6. Why do some American citizens still need to submit the CSS Profile?

FAFSA provides federal grants, loans and other types of government assistnace while the CSS Profile is used to gauge how much non-federal financial aid a student may need.

7. Where can one find scholarship opportunities in the USA?

There is a “financial aid” tab on almost any university’s website.  Take time to do your research and look at eligibility requirements and how much scholarships are awarded versus the total cost of attendance.

This link is also a useful scholarship search tool provided by the College Board: https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/scholarship-search