Newsflash: June 2, 2023

Admin News

by Dr. Gwyn Underwood, Superintendent

It is with an abundance of thankfulness that we come together in person to celebrate our graduating students this evening. I hope we see many of you there! Our results and accreditation feedback give us the confidence that our students’ time at CIS has provided the tools needed to enable them to continue to develop their unique potential and confidently face the challenges they will be presented with to contribute to creating a better world. As they transition to CIS Alumni, we are also confident that they will continue to be responsible, respectful, and prepared.

It is wonderful to see the evidence of learning in so many ways throughout the school, as the various grades demonstrate what they have learned in their recent units. These vary in style, from essays and end-of-year exams in G11, to writing, tests, projects, dramas, presentations, etcetera in G6-10, to projects, presentations, demonstrations, and celebrations of learning (as in the Philippine Language and Culture (PLC) “Festival of Festivals” shown in the picture) in the elementary school.

Another celebration was had at our last Parent Coffee Meeting of the year last Tuesday morning. It was great to see so many faces, as we celebrated the end of the year with performances by our G4 students (using PTA-donated ukeleles) and a G10 duet (using PTA-donated wireless head microphones)! We are looking forward to a year of parent action in SY23/24 – please do join to not only contribute to the school, but you will also gain benefits from your involvement too.

While students are excited about the upcoming summer break, it is also with some sadness that we approach our last week of school next week. For those who have not read it, please do take time to review the transition “RAFT” (introduced in the May 5th Newsflash) to help both adults and students to approach the upcoming transition in a positive manner. 

Have a restful weekend ready for our busy last week of SY2022/23 next week! 

📢 Yearbook Announcement! 🎉

The Language of Identity in the Elementary Classrooms

by Ms. Maureen Juanson, Assistant Principal – PYP

In our last full week of school, the Elementary classroom continues to buzz with the excitement of students engaged in their learning. Our PYP learners are all taking on various roles to demonstrate and share the skills, understanding, and dispositions that they have been developing throughout their final units of inquiry.

The Early Years 2 and 3 game designers are busy building and creating games that will provide opportunities for players to explore how their 5 senses can work together. As they develop their games, they demonstrate their creativity, resourcefulness, and enthusiasm.

The Kinder and Grade 1 visual artists are experimenting with different materials to create art pieces to creatively express themselves. By providing feedback to each other, they learn to appreciate another artist’s effort and be open-minded to feedback in order to improve their artistic skills.

The Grades 2 and 3 authors and illustrators are discovering their writing styles as they employ the Six Traits of Writing in completing their story books. They demonstrate their understanding of perspective by creating the illusion of depth in their drawings using different types, such as bird’s eye view, worm’s eye view, street view, zoom in, and zoom out.

The Grade 4 filmmakers are stating their opinions and perspectives about human rights through the short films that they are producing. In the process of filmmaking, they are able to employ their writing skills and storytelling techniques by writing their own scripts. Through these films, they help raise awareness about the global and local issues related to equity and fairness.

The Grade 5 doctors-in-training are evaluating the importance of the six major body systems and justifying which is most important. Learning about the functions of each body system enables them to predict the problems they might encounter as a result of the physical, social/emotional, and intellectual changes as they grow. As they create plans to help each other to make safe and healthy choices and respond to challenges that they will encounter moving up to middle school, they demonstrate empathy and care and learn to advocate for their rights and needs.

In their Philippine Language & Culture classes, the upper elementary tour guides are showing appreciation for the host country’s culture by welcoming tourists to their festival booths. As they decorate their booths and share information about their chosen festivals, they gain a better understanding of Philippine culture and history.

In the PYP, we believe that deeper understanding takes place when students engage in authentic learning experiences. When students are given an opportunity to view themselves as members of the subject or fields that they are inquiring into, learning becomes more tangible to them. Ron Ritchhart, a senior research associate at Harvard Project Zero, has identified language as one of the 8 cultural forces that learning communities must acquire in order to shape students’ development as powerful thinkers and learners. He explained how the use of “language moves” can help facilitate the creation of a culture of thinking in the classroom. These include 

• The Language of Thinking
• The Language of Community
• The Language of Identity
• The Language of Initiative
• The Language of Mindfulness
• The Language of Praise and Feedback
• The Language of Listening

At CIS, we use the Language of Identity to help students assume roles and engage in the thinking and key processes that are important in the fields that they are inquiring into. Throughout the year, the Elementary students have taken on many different roles that challenged them to be engaged and become positive contrib

MYP: Student Emotional Learning (SEL)

by Ms. Evangeline Villagonzalo, Counselor/Psychology Teacher

These past few weeks, the Grades 6 to 8 students took some time to reflect and listen to important messages on child safeguarding and healthy relationships. The talk aimed to promote positive attitudes, beliefs, and values related to healthy relationships and provide an overview of the school’s child protection and safeguarding program.

While grasping the idea of consent, personal space, and boundaries, we talked about the difference between “safe touch” and “unsafe touch”. Students participated in activities that gave them an opportunity to recognize safe and unsafe situations and the impact of making smart choices in protecting themselves when faced with difficult situations. Additionally, students explored the difference between ‘wanted’ and ‘unwanted’ touches and the feelings associated with them in their broadest context. Specifically, the discussion included the value of taking responsibility, advocating for oneself, and learning how to say ‘no’ when faced with uncomfortable situations.

Here are some of our students’ learnings after the activity.

College/Careers Counselor Corner

by Ms. Jenny Basa, College/Careers Counselor Corner

SAT Update

Digital SAT Dates for 2023-2024
The College Board has confirmed the SAT Testing Dates for next school year.  CIS will be open for SAT testing for the following test dates: