SHARKThe American International School of Rotterdam

From the Interim Director and Elementary Principal

During the next two weeks, you will receive information about the annual Parent Survey, which will be made available to the AISR Community on Monday February 6. As a school, we value the feedback from our families very much. This information will help us to improve the programs we offer at AISR.

I would also like to thank all of those families who have responded to the survey requesting information about your child(ren)’s attendance at school next year. We still need to hear from quite a few families, so if you have not already filled in the form, please do so as soon as possible and return it to the Front Office.

There are several very exciting events happening at AISR over the next couple of months. In February AISR is hosting the ECIS “Literacy Coaching” Conference. Apart from two of our teachers attending, Tenley Elliott and Beth Willen, there will be twenty-seven teachers from International Schools all over the world in attendance.AISR will host the NECIS Basketball Tournament from March 2 – March 4. If you get the opportunity, do try to support our teams during that weekend!

Nina Markham and Sanne Heinonen are very excited about the following event. Here is a message from the Science Department. “Mark your calendars for March 8, 2012! AISR is hosting a Family Science Night from 17:00 to 19:00 about “Discovering Your World”. Local schools and businesses will be invited as well. You won’t want to miss out on this fun night of science based activities and competitions for the whole family. Keep your eyes open for the invitation!”

The teachers and students in the Elementary School will be working with a program called “Commonsense Media – Digital Literacy and Citizenship” during the rest of this quarter. This is a program designed to educate adults and students on how to be safe on the Internet. We also think this would be a very worthwhile workshop for parents. If there was enough interest we could organize an evening session especially for you. Please find an introductory leaflet attached in this mail.

Please send me an e-mail if you would like to attend such an evening – my address is: a.blitz@aisr.nl.

Important dates: • January 31: MAP Parent Training Session in the Media Lab.• January 30 - February 10: MAP Testing• February 14: Coffee, Croissants and Curriculum, with a special emphasis on Elementary Math.

The PTSA Annual Dinner Dance will take place on Saturday March 17. Further information about this wonderful evening will be sent out at a later date. We still need some more volunteers – so you do have time to send your name in!

Change of date: The next Board Meeting will take place in the School Library on Tuesday, February 28, (not February 14) starting at 7p.m.

Have a lovely weekend,Anne-Marie Blitza.blitz@aisr.nl

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SHARKThe American International School of Rotterdam

From the Secondary Principal and Curriculum Director

May I start by saying a big thank you to members of our MAP Parent Group for facilitating our upcoming training session for parents on the 31st: Margaret Kenyon, Christie Rocks, Azidah Siti and Kelley Gurvis.  We look forward to seeing many of you at one of our sessions.

In the Classrooms:I have had the pleasure of visiting several secondary classrooms this week and really enjoyed observing the learning that was taking place. Teachers are working hard to create stimulating learning environments for our students and I managed to learn a few new things myself; from neurons in IB Biology, to new Dutch vocabulary, to challenging math problems and lively literature discussions, it has been a busy week!

Upcoming Dates:• MAP Testing for students has begun • MAP Parent Training on Tuesday, January 31st• Middle School Basketball players are competing on Saturday, Jan. 28th

Food for ThoughtThis week's topic comes from the magazine of the International Baccalaureate, "IB World." An IB World Student Survey was administered to more than 1,100 IB students from all over the world about everything from the IB Learner Profile to their hopes and dreams for the future. The purpose was to know from students what life is really like for a learner in an IB programme. Here is a summary of the response to the question: What are the most important qualities for an IB student?

1. Hard work2. Academic excellence3. Time management4. Creativity5. Teamwork6. International outlook7. Curiosity

Please don't hesitate to contact me at anytime for further information or if you have any questions or concerns. I can be reached at a.lipp@aisr.nl or by calling the school at extension 316.

Enjoy your weekend!

Regards,Alison Lippa.lipp@aisr.nl

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Bulletin...27.01.12

SHARKThe American International School of Rotterdam

From the AISR Board

Dear AISR School Community,

On behalf of the AISR Board of Directors, I am extremely happy to announce that Mr Neal Dilk has accepted the position as Director of the AISR with effect from 1st July 2012.

For the last 11 years, Mr. Dilk has worked at the Aoba - Japan International school and has filled a variety of positions including Middle School Principal and Director of Curriculum. For the last 2 years, he held the position of Director. Mr. Dilk looks forward to taking on the Director's role at AISR, learning about new cultures, and developing programs for students and broader school communities that will help them both not only realize their full potential, but provide the kind of community support that ensures a full and rewarding international school experience.

He earned his Master of Education in Educational Leadership at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA. He completed his Principal’s training at the Principal Training Center in London, England, and attained his Bachelor of Education at Brandon University in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada. Mr. Dilk has lived and worked in schools in Japan, Korea and Canada, but is originally from Kenora, Ontario, Canada. He will be accompanied by his wife, Yoshie, who is from Okayama, Japan. They have two children: Phoebe who is two and a half, and Aidan, who is just four months.

We would also like to take this opportunity to express our sincere gratitude to the AISR community. We truly appreciate the tremendous amount of work and effort from the many teachers, staff, and AISR families that took place over the last 3 - 4 months during the Director search process.

This is a very exciting time for our school. The AISR is extremely lucky to have found someone of Mr. Dilk's experience and quality to be our next Director. Neal is very much looking forward to working with our excellent Leadership Team, staff, and students as well as meeting and being involved with our fantastic parent community.

We would like to wish Mr. Dilk every success in his new role as Director at AISR.

Kind regards

Tim ChambersAISR Board Chairman

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