Newsletter from QSI International School of Atyrau: November 2, 2018 No Images? Click here November 2, 2018 QSIA NEWSUpcoming Events: Saturday Youth Sports League (Soccer): November 3 PSG Meeting: November 6th Harvest Festival: November 9th, 5:30 - 8:00pm 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) AccreditationThe MSA accreditation team will be visiting our school Mid-February. They will be looking at our 12 standards and 3 objectives for our school to be reaccredited. The 12 standards are: 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 Thanks to all the hard work of teachers, students and parents who were on planning committees last year, we are nearly ready for the team to come. The past few months have been spent familiarizing ourselves with each standard and objective as well as revising and fine-tuning. Teachers who were here last year have been significant support in educating and training the new staff on each objective. When the MSA team arrives, they will expect that teachers, students, and parents know the three main objectives the school community would like to improve on. Each objective below also has an action plan that speaks to how we will accomplish each of these objectives. 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) 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. 2) 90% of the student population shows an increase in score range Fall to Spring on Algebraic Thinking on Mathematics MAP test. 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) A 2% yearly increase in average class scores on the MAP Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) benchmark test for each level (8-year-old and above), taken in September and April. 2) A yearly average increase of 3 points in a science investigation/inquiry, using appropriate technology, that is measured by the age-appropriate rubric for that level. 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. OPEN GYMEach Saturday during the year, from 1 PM to 3 PM, our gym is open to your family for your use. Non-QSI families will need to sign a release form before using the facilities. ScienceChemistry students make Play-doh then use it to build 3D models of molecules. Learning from History in the 10-year-oldsThe 10 Year Old Class went on a field trip to the Natural History Museum of Atyrau. Ms. Van Swol learned a lot about the region and the country. She had not known about some of the animals that were native to this region or about the worship of the sun god. She liked the golden man story and enjoyed seeing the craftsmanship that went into the yurts, clothing, furniture, tools, jewelry, and weapons. She wants to thank Mrs. Batyrkhanov for organizing a wonderful tour guide. The students each wrote about their favorite memory. Here are their most memorable moments “I liked the golden boat story because the story is really good and interesting. [The ruler had a beautiful gold boat made for his daughter when she died, he wanted the golden boat to be buried with her but advisors warned him that grave robbers would disrespect her bones to get to the gold. So he hired 9 men to securely bury his daughter and her boat where no one would find it. When they returned for their reward of horse’s head weight of gold, the ruler had their heads removed so that the secret would not be told.] I think it would be good if the boat was found and I think the boat will cost more than $100,000 and it will be placed in the museum. Another part that I liked was the punishment part. It was a good way to stop someone trying to do bad things.” “The punishments, for example, the hair [the prisoner’s head was shaved and a fresh animal skin was sealed to their head causing their own hair to grow inside their skull] when it goes to your brain. That was a bad punishment because you will have headaches and if you tried to take off the animal skin, you would have taken off your skin. If you did something bad to the ruler then all of your family would have been punished.” “In the museum was a room with a lot of architecture. On the right side of the entrance was a beautiful white and red yurt. Our kind tour guide told us that a yurt was a type of Kazakh tent. On the left side of the room was a brown traditional wide bowl that was for putting a goat head to eat. It had amazing symbols on the side. Then at the front of the room was a reproduction of the forest. In the middle was a hunter with a horse and a realistic golden eagle. We also saw a statue of a camel sitting on the grass.” “I liked the story about dombra and how it got its hole in the center. I always wondered why they would put a such a small hole in the middle of the two strings of the dombra. The story also taught me a little about Kazakh history. I thought the first story about the dombra was more interesting and realistic than the second.” “We went to the museum for our field trip. They had yourtas outside and they looked big. Believe it or not, I want to this museum for a field trip from my last school. If you go to the second floor, you can see my grandpa and great grandpa because they found oil.” Fall Festival Friday, November 9, 5:30 - 8:00Don't forget to pre-order your entrance bracelet and select your food options! Please fill out the order form attached and send it in with your child on Monday. If you love to bake, we could use your yummy treats for our PSG and Roots & Shoots Bake Sale for Fall Festival! |