Newsletter from QSI International School of Atyrau: January 11, 2019 No Images? Click here January 11, 2019 QSIA NEWSUpcoming Events: Coffee with the Director - January 24, 10:00 am Success Orientation Assembly - January 29th Literacy week / 100 Days of School - February 11 - 15 MSA Team Reaccreditation Visit - February 18 - 21 Do you see images in this newsletter? Every week we publish many great images and flyers in our newsletter. If you do not see any pictures, please ensure your email is displaying images. You can also click the "No images? Click here" link at the top of this email. MSA (Middle States Association) Accreditation Team Visit February 18-21The team will be looking at 12 standards and 3 objectives that need to be revisited every 7 years for a school to be accredited. When the MSA team arrives, they will expect that teachers, students, and parents know the 3 main objectives for the school community. Mission - Governance and Leadership - School Improvement - Finance Facilities - School Organization and Staff - Health and Safety - Educational Programs Assessment and Evidence of Student Learning - Student Services Student Life and Student Activities - Information Resources MSA has given a final approval for our objectives but not before proposing some slight changes to our science and mathematics objectives. Please familiarize yourself with our updated objectives below. Organizational Objective 1: Service LearningBy 2025, QSI International School of Atyrau will increase the quality and quantity of Service Learning opportunities measured by: 1) 80% of community members (parents, students, staff) responding “satisfactory” or higher on a survey distributed each spring on the overall quality and quantity of Service Learning opportunities offered each school year. 2) A 10% increase each year in the number of hours of Service Learning opportunities organized per capita by the school. Student Performance Objective 1: MathematicsBy 2025 students at QSI International School of Atyrau will improve their mathematical application skills as measured by: 1 )100% of the student population will meet their fall to spring projected RIT mathematics MAP growth goals. 2) Overall 10% improvement from fall to spring on a multi-step problem, relevant to a current unit, scored by rubric by the end of September, and again by the first week of June. Student Performance Objective 2: ScienceBy 2025, students at QSI International School of Atyrau will increase their application of scientific thinking acquired through Science units at their appropriate level, as measured by: 1) 100% of the student population will meet their fall to spring projected RIT Next Generation Science Standards MAP growth goals (8-year-old and above). 2) A yearly average increase of 5 points in a science investigation/inquiry, using appropriate technology, that is measured by the age-appropriate rubric for that level. Our New Dutch TeacherThis week mrs. Leandra Lok started as a Dutch teacher in our school. She teaches Dutch mother tongue to our Dutch children in school. After two years in Qatar and three years in Hong Kong she is excited to be with us in QSI Atyrau. According to her own words, the first week was great. "I got to know the Dutch children well and they are really great. I am looking forward to get to know the other students as well in the future!" Literacy in the 7yocThis week, the 7YOC began our essential literacy unit on drama! In small groups, we are writing short plays which we will perform at the next Success Orientations assembly about having concern for others. Happenings in Advanced Russian ClassSecondary students translate texts using dictionaries, and are pleased with their results. 8 and 9 year old class creating presentations about already learned before topics. 10 and 11 year old class independently work about the topic "Seasons," and "Weather." All the students are interested in doing work during Russian class. Science InvestigationsQSI’s Newly Adopted New Generation Science Standards (NGSS)Curriculum The new science curriculum is heavily embedded with inquiry, experiments, using technology, and the scientific method. It gets students to look at “Phenomenon.” According to Kervin from the 9-year-old class, “phenomenon is something you want to observe and investigate or an observation of a fact or event.” As the elementary teachers roll out the new curriculum students are having fun learning! 7-year-olds had to compare strengths and weaknesses of design solutions by building a spaghetti tower that would not collapse when a marshmallow was placed on top. They could only use uncooked spaghetti, tape, string, and marshmallows. Our MSA Accreditation Science Objective fits nicely with the investigation aspects of our new curriculum. MSA requires that we have an outside assessment data point which is our new science MAP assessment and an internal assessment data point. For our internal data point, students will be graded on an experiment they will complete at the beginning of the year and one at the end of the year. Each experiment/investigation will be graded by one of the age-appropriate rubrics (see the link below). At the end of the year, hopefully, we will see a 3-5-point improvement in their scores from the beginning to the end of the year. Literacy Week February 11 – 15Book Exchange on Friday, February 15thTeachers and the PSG are currently planning a week full of wonderful literacy activities! We need your help! Two weeks before the book exchange, we will be collecting age appropriate children's books in any language! When your child brings in books, they will receive tokens for the books they bring. Then, at the book fair, they will get to use those tokens in exchange for other books. As many of you may be traveling back home, this would be a great time to bring a few books back with you. Find used children's books at a garage sale. Buy your child a new book to read on the trip home. They could use this book to trade for another book during the exchange. Happy holidays and happy book hunting! Adult BadmintonAdult Badminton Club: every Wednesday, 7:30 - 9:30. Please contact Mrs. Freeman at +7 705 124 31 31. This is a social game, so all levels including complete beginners are welcome. Interested in teaching at Quality Schools International?Each year QSI seeks to hire qualified educators, who love working with children, and who have the expertise to administer an English language, North American-style, international education. If you are a certified teacher or school administrator and would like an interview, QSI is hosting a recruiting event in Almaty, Kazakhstan on January 19-20, 2019. Email teach@qsi.org, include your CV, and note you want to attend the Almaty event. QSI recruiting events are by invitation only. Please do not book any hotels, or flights until QSI sends you an invitation to attend a QSI Recruiting Event. Each teacher or school administrator hired at a QSI Recruiting Event (not Search, ISS, GRC or UNI) will be credited with a $300 stipend to help cover travel expenses to the event. |