Year 10 Newsletter 3

September 14, 2007

From our Director, Mr. Fred Runkel:

The FIS is an IBO World School, and members of the Council of International Schools and the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, both of which have granted accreditation to our school following the visit of a team of educators from schools in their respective institutions in school year 04-05. As a member of these organizations the FIS supports the standards and practices of the accreditation process which leads the schools in both CIS and NEASC to further improve their standards of excellence.

During the past years, the FIS has supported accreditations in various parts of the world by supplying qualified members of our staff to serve on visiting teams who are evaluating schools who are in the accreditation cycle. In this regard, Mr. Thorpe, Mrs. Obermanns and Mr. Lawler will be away from Herzo, each for one week during the next two months, having been invited to serve on visiting accreditation teams at another international school in the quest for re-accreditation.

The 07-08 school year here at the FIS has gotten off to a good start. We have more students than ever before (308), more teachers than ever before, and a much larger parent community than at any time in the school’s history. There are many activities being planned by the teachers to supplement the learning that is happening in each class. Additionally, our After School Activity Program will soon be starting up again. All the pieces are in place and we will move into the fall and winter portions of the school year with plans which center on the education and social activities for our children.

Middle School Parent Information Night: Is scheduled for Monday, September 17^th to give the parents of students in Grades 5 to 8 the opportunity to meet their child’s teachers as well as give all of these teachers the opportunity to present their program and expectations for the school year. The Middle School Parent Info Night will be held at the Convent Campus beginning at 7:00 pm (19:00) and should be finished by 9:30 (21:30). If it is possible, please leave your children at home. The PTO will also provide refreshments. The evening is scheduled as follows:

· 7:00 Opening remarks and introductions by Mr. Peter Thorpe

in the Cafeteria

· 7:10 Information Technology (IT) – Mr. Rene Löhnert/Mr. Doug Manning

· 7:15 Art – Ms. Hanna Müller

· 7:20 Music– Mr. Peter Thorpe

· 7:25 Ethics and Counselling – Mrs. Michelle Ang

· 7:30 PE –Mr. Adrian Haug/Mrs. Mila Fischer

· 7:35 Student Support Services – Mrs. Deb Obermanns

· 7:40 Break – refreshments in the foyer provided by the PTO

The program will continue at 7:55 with parents visiting the homeroom teachers. The following schedule will take effect after the coffee break:

Time

Grade 5 Rooms

Grade 6 Room

Grade 7S/ Art Room

Grade 7M Room

Grade 8 Room

Library

7:55

Homeroom

with

Ms. Bouvier & Mrs. Astorino

Homeroom

with

Mr. Althoff

Homeroom

with

Mr. Sayer

Homeroom

with

Mr. Manna

Homeroom

with

Mr. Landmann

8:00

Grade 5 Math

with

Ms. Bouvier

Grade 6 Language Arts

with

Mr. Althoff

Grade 7

Social Studies

with

Mrs. Astorino

Grade 8

Beginner German

with

Mrs. Kaiser

Grade 8

Advanced German

with

Mrs. Thomas

Grade 8 Intermediate German

with

Ms. Kraus

8:15

Grade 5 Language Arts/ Literature

with

Mr. Althoff &

Ms. Bennett

Grade 6

Social Studies

with

Mrs. Astorino

Grade 7S Intermediate Spanish

with

Mrs. Carballes

Grade 7M Intermediate Spanish

with

Mrs. Sandoval

Grade 8

Spanish

with

Mrs. Pontones

Grade 7/8

Beginner Spanish

with

Mr. Manna

8:30

Grade 5

Social Studies

with

Mrs. Astorino

Math:

Level 76

with

Ms. Bouvier

Math: Algebra ½ with

Mr. Sayer

Math:

Algebra

with

Mr. Landmann

8:45

Grade 5

Science

with

Ms. Bouvier

Grade 6 Beginner German

with

Mrs. Pontones

Grade 7

Language Arts

with

Mr. Althoff

Grade 6 Intermediate German

with

Mrs. Kaiser

Grade 8

Social Studies

with

Mrs. Astorino

Grade 6

Advanced German

with

Mrs. Thomas

9:00

Grade 5 Beginner German

with

Mrs. Pontones

Grade 6

Science

with

Ms. Bouvier

Grade 7

Science

with

Mr. Sayer

Grade 5 Intermediate German

with

Mrs. Kraus

Grade 8

Language Arts

with

Ms. Bennett

Grade 5

Advanced German

with

Mrs. McGettigan

9:15

Free to leave

Grade 6 Beginner Spanish

with

Mrs. Pontones

Grade 7

Beginner German

with

Ms. Kraus

Grade 7 Intermediate German

with

Mrs. McGettigan

Grade 8

Science

with

Mr. Nagler

Grade 7

Advanced German

with

Mrs. Kaiser

9:30

Program Finished

9:45

Building Closed

Elementary School and High School Parent Info Night: Our FIS Team would like to thank all of the parents who attended our Elementary School Parent Info Night on Monday and our High School Parent Info Night on Thursday. Approximately 90% of our students were represented. The evening was designed for the teachers to give an overview of their program to the parents, and for the parents to get to know the teachers in the classroom setting where the children are learning each day. At each evening, the opening introductions of the school’s staff were followed by information presentations on German, the IT program, on our Music and Student Support programs, Sports and on Ethics and the counselling program. The High School information evening also focused on the overview of the IGCSE and IB programs, including the CAS program. The presentations by the classroom/subject teachers later in the evening had parents both participating in simulated class lessons, as well as receiving a general yearly plan of topics to be covered in the respective classes. A thank you to all parents who attended and had the opportunity to begin the important process of home-school communication for this school year. A thank you also to our PTO for providing coffee and refreshments, and to our babysitters, Briony Smith, Brittany Fowler, and Alina Rehorst who did a great job with the children during the Elementary School evening.

After School Activity Program: Our popular After School Activity Program will begin on October 1^st. The courses will run for ten weeks and therefore end prior to the Christmas holidays. A list of offerings was emailed home last week and should by now have been returned. Letters informing you about which activities your child has been placed will be sent home in the next weeks.

Added Course for the After School Activity Program: As part of their CAS program, two FIS students, Adrien Murillon and Anton Plier, will be offering a course entitled “Beginning DJ Skills” to any students in Grades 8 and above. The course will be held on Wednesdays and will explore the basics of becoming a disc jockey, including sound mixing and the operation of the school’s DJ equipment. Students who wish to sign up should contact Mrs Wiegel in the Convent Campus office. There is a limit of five students for the course.

Girl Scout Registration Tuesday 18th September: If you would like to register your daughter for Girl Scouts this year then please come along to the Elementary School between 3.30 and 5.30 next Tuesday. Places in our Daisy Girl Scout troop are limited and dependant on further adult volunteers. Please bring along with you emergency contact information, 25 euro registration fee and new or transferring members will also have uniform costs of approx. 20 euros. All girls are welcome to come to our meeting this Tuesday and see if they like it before they register. Hope to see you there. Any questions then please contact Sarah Sharpe tel. 09135 722267 or sharpe_de@hotmail.com.

Cub Scouts is starting: Friday, October 5^th will be the kick off day for any new Cub Scouts. We would like to invite any newcomers to our pack from 1^st to 5^th grade to come and join us at the Dassler Villa right after school. The meeting will last until roughly 3:15. Parents can come at 3:15 for info packets and a brief discussion about Cub Scouts, how it works and how you can help us help the boys. For information regarding this meeting or Cub Scouts in general please call either Kathleen Kostouros @ 09133 767 802, Roohee Heyl @ 09132 746 559, Carole Williamson @ 09132 745 555. We hope to see you there!!

Toddler Group at the FIS: Come and play, make crafts and sing at the FIS Toddler Group. We meet every Thursday from 9:00-10:30 a.m. in the Art Room of the Dassler Villa. Contact Sarah Sharpe 09135/722267 or sharpe_de@hotmail.com for more information.

Volunteer Presenters Needed: Parents, would you like to share some information about your career with the FIS high school students? As the students are thinking more and more about what they will be doing after high school, we would like to bring in speakers to talk about what they do in the world of work. If you are interested and are available to attend our Career Morning on Friday 7 December and speak about your career, the training required, how you got your job, and what your day-to-day responsibilities and life are like on the job, please contact Michelle Ang at ang@the-fis.de. Any other parties interested in speaking are also very welcome!

Request for Participants in a University of Erlangen Study: A study is currently being conducted at the University of Erlangen concerning families' reintegration into their home country after having lived and worked abroad. The department running the study is asking for families who have experienced moving away from their home country, and who speak German, to fill out an anonymous survey. These surveys can be found in the offices at both the Dassler Villa and Convent Campuses, in a blue upright magazine holder. Completed surveys can be returned to the same place. Your participation is much appreciated!

Baker Book Order: The Baker Book order forms have arrived and were distributed to the students today. Please return the order forms, including money, in an envelope labelled “Book Order” to the school office by no later than Friday, Sept. 21.

Please Note: 1 pound = 2 EUR. Please disregard the Euro price in the catalogue as the school must pay shipping.

Parent-School Relations: During the school year there sometimes are issues of concern for you as parents. If a concern or problem arises, please discuss it with the appropriate teacher first. If the problem is still unresolved, please contact the appropriate division Principal. These are; Kindergarten & Elementary School – Mr. Glenn Lawler, Middle School – Mr. Peter Thorpe, and High School – Mr. Liam Browne. Should a further meeting be necessary, an appointment with the School Director, Mr. Runkel, may be scheduled.

School Pictures: Individual and class pictures will be taken on Tuesday, October 16 (Whole School Photo, sibling portraits and Middle and High School class pictures and portraits) and Wednesday October 17 (K/ES students’ class pictures and portraits), by D.i.g.i.t.@.l Schulfotografie. Processing time will be approximately two weeks, after which the pictures will be given to the students on a purchase or return option. If any families would like to have a special sibling sitting for brothers and sisters, please advise Mrs. Potrykus or Mrs. Wiegel by no later than Wednesday October 11^th, and we will schedule this as well.

Grand Opening: Moira Drexler, mother of Lucas (Grade 2) and Alkira (K5) would like to invite you to the grand opening of her new shop AUSTRALISS at 18:00 pm on Friday, September 21st. Please come by (Martin-Luther-Platz 5, Erlangen) and enjoy a glass of sekt in order to celebrate this special day with the Drexler family. Please RSVP to Moira moira.drexler@online.de by September 18^th if you will be attending.

Susie Boehm Music: Susie, mother of Chloe in grade 4, will be performing an evening of original folk-rock music on Saturday, September 22nd at the Dehnberger Hof Theater near Lauf. For those of you not familiar with Susie and her music, she is often compared to the likes of Tracy Chapman, Paula Cole and Sheryl Crow. She has opened for such notables as "Hootie and the Blowfish", "The Doobie Brothers" and most recently, this summer for Suzanne Vega. Joining Susie onstage will be Sigi Hoga, Marko Bittner, Stefano Renzi and Rainer Boehm. Also, Chloe will be onstage from time to time, adding her special brand of mojo. The Dehnberger Hof Theater is a beautiful converted barn, state of the art theater with a lovely atmosphere, a restaurant and a bar. For tickets and more info contact: www.dehnbergerhoftheater.de www.sonicbids.com/susieboehm

NEXT WEEK AT THE FIS

Monday Sept 17	19:00-21:30 – Middle School Parent Info Night at the CC
Tuesday Sept 18	Girl Scouts at the DV
Wednesday Sept 19
Thursday Sept 20	9:00-10:30 - Toddler Group at the DV
Friday Sept 21	13:30-15:15 - Cub Scouts at the DV

Newsletter on web page: Our newsletter, and other important school information, can also be found on the school’s web page. Newsletters are usually placed on the web site (http://fis.ecis.org) a day or two after publication and will remain there until the end of the school year.

FIS School Newsletter The FIS newsletter is published on a weekly basis, and is emailed home each Friday. The newsletter contains items of information relating to school operations, PTO News, for-sale items placed by members of our community, and much more. Contributions to the newsletter can be emailed to the school. The editor reserves the right to… edit…