International School Moshi Moshi Campus News - 27th September 2009
Dear Parents,
So far, it has been an exceptionally busy first quarter of the school year and our thoughts are now turning to the plans for the second quarter - in particular, this includes ISM's 40th Anniversary celebrations:
ISM - 40th Anniversary - from the Director
Join Us for the Celebrations
International School Moshi will celebrate its 40th anniversary this coming month, October. The celebration will take many forms offering multiple opportunities for the school and surrounding community to recognize what we have accomplished over the years.
Celebration 1 (Students, Staff, Parents, Alumni)
Each campus will organize an opportunity for the campus population to gather to sing Happy Birthday to the school followed by a traditional sharing of birthday cake. This will take place during school hours but all are invited. Please keep an eye out for the details concerning this part of the celebration on your campus.
Celebration2 (Students, Staff, Parents, Alumni)
The Physical Education staff is planning a Sports Weekend activity for our secondary students on the Moshi Campus on Saturday/Sunday, October 24/25. Parents are invited to observe, cheer and perhaps participate in a range of events. Details will be forwarded in the coming editions of the newsletter as to the events and times of the Sports Weekend.
Celebration 3 (Students, Staff, Parents, Alumni, general public)
Buy a Ticket! In fact, buy two! As we celebrate our success of forty years as a provider of education in the Kilimanjaro Region, our anniversary offers us an opportunity to give back to our host country Tanzania. This giving takes the form of supporting our Scholarship Program. It is through this program that two Tanzanian students per year are sponsored so that they can participate in the IB Diploma program. For more details on the program please consult www.ismoshi.org/scholar.htm.
The Parent Association has been very busy collecting prizes that will be raffled off. We will be selling tickets for the raffle throughout the broader community of Arusha and Moshi. A list of the fantastic prizes will be published when the tickets go on sale. All proceeds from the raffle will be donated to the Scholarship Fund.
Celebration 4 (Staff, Parents, Alumni, invited guests)
The fourth and final level of celebration is designed as the setting for the raffle outlined in Celebration 3. The drawing for the prizes will take place at a formal event, a dinner/dance. This event will be held in Arusha on Friday evening, October 23rd. It will provide us an opportunity to do something special for this special occasion. It will also offer an opportunity to raise the level of awareness outside our school community of our commitment to support local students through the Scholarship Program.
We invite you to join us for one or all of the formats that are being developed to help us recognize our achievements and celebrate our anniversary.
Bob Woods Director, International School Moshi
ABRSM Exams
The ABRSM theory exams are scheduled to take place in both Moshi and Arusha on Wednesday, 30th September. Registrations for these exams were completed some time ago.
P5/6 Field Study
The P5/6 class will be travelling to Marangu on Thursday, 1st October. We want to experience what early explorers might have felt as they discovered routes to unknown lands. Students will make their way down to the waterfall area and make a map of the route they take, plotting landmarks on a grid, and making a note of compass directions.
SAT and TOEFL Tests
The next set of SAT tests in Moshi is on Saturday, 10th October. It will be assumed that Boarding students who have already registered for these tests will be staying in boarding on Friday night, 9th October unless we are advised otherwise by parents.
SAT Reasoning and Subject tests are also available in Moshi on Saturday, 7th November. Students who wish to register for these tests must do so before Thursday, 1st October. Any student who wishes to register and who needs help with making the credit card payment must contact myself (Keiron White) by Monday, 28th September. This test may be the last opportunity for D2 students to take the SAT test in Moshi.
The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) is to be offered in Moshi on Saturday, 14th November. The final registration date for these tests is 12th October. However any student who needs help with making the credit card payment for registration must contact myself (Keiron White) before Monday, 5th October. This may be last opportunity for D2 students to take this test in Moshi.
D1 students will be advised to take SAT and TOEFL tests during 2010.
Hard Labour Weekend
The Hard Labour Community Service group will be undertaking a second Hard Labour weekend on 3rd/4th October.
Secondary Reports
All secondary students will be receiving a school report this quarter and these will be issued in paper copy on Wednesday, 7th October. D2 students will receive a detailed report with full details on all subjects that they are studying. M1 to D1 students will receive a single page interim report - full reports for M1 to D1 students will be issued at the end of the semester in December. If you would like to receive a digital copy of your child's report, please email me at after 7th October.
End of Quarter Arrangements
Classes will finish for the end of this quarter on Friday, 9th October. Secondary students will be free to leave school after 10:15 am on that day. From 10:30am to 12 noon, secondary teachers will be available in Karibu Hall to meet with parents and to discuss any issues regarding your child's progress or arising from his/her report.
Primary students will remain in class until the usual time of 12:35pm on that day.
We strongly urge parents not to ask for their children to leave school early for the break and particularly request that students travelling to Arusha or Dar es Salaam do not leave the campus before the scheduled end of classes. If you wish for the school to assist with booking flights or making arrangements for airport transport, please contact Sunita Somaiya on . Students flying will be free to travel on the Friday afternoon flight or on Saturday morning.
Boarding students are expected to return to school before 6pm on Tuesday, 20th October. Classes resume for the 2nd Quarter at 7:30am on Wednesday, 21st October.
Krista Peterson
Krista has been working in the school since the beginning of this school year as a student teacher in secondary Humanities. She has now returned home to continue her teacher training course. We thank Krista for her input to ISM and wish her all the best for the future.
Flu
Over the last week or so, a number of students and staff in Moshi Campus have had some some flu-like symptoms (cold, cough, aches). Some students also stayed at home after the long weekend (17-21 Sep) and did not return to school until this weekend becuase they were suffering from flu-like symptoms. So far all symptoms exhibited by students have been mild and all students have been well within a few days - it has not been possible to confirm what strain of flu these students have had. No boarding students are ill in school as at this morning. We will continue to regularly update our Flu Update Page on the school website.
This newsletter has been sent to you from International School Moshi. Please advise me if your email address changes or if you would like me to add another email address to this mailing list.
Join Us for the Celebrations