SSIS eNews

Dear Parents,

The PTA Charity Bazaar is tomorrow!  It should be a wonderful time to see each other and so much to do.  Please come out to SSIS between 8:30 and 3pm for food, music, shopping, etc.

As I mentioned in last week's eNews, the mid-point of our school year and our midterm exams are rapidly approaching.  For core classes (Math, Science, English, Social Studies, and Foreign Language), these exams represent 20% of the semester grade.  You will see information about these exams on eNews today in a separate eNews article.  Today we held a student assembly in which the exam procedures and expectations were clearly explained.  Students received a handout of those expectations and the exam schedule.

A reminder:  During the "Exam Week" of Dec. 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, and 15...there are no regular classes.  Student will attend the testing sessions assigned to their courses.  There are no changes allowed to the schedule so students must adhere to the schedule.

Please see the notices and calendar items that follow to keep up with what is happening in the HS.  Please check the HS bulletin Board on the walkway as you are on campus.

Terry Fox Run, Nov. 27 (Sunday)

The registration for this event has taken place all this week in the Plaza.  There will be a booth at the Charity Bazaar on Saturday in case you were not able to register during the week.

The run will take place on Sunday, 27 November at 8 a.m. at the Crescent. Organizers are hoping to have 10 000 people participate this year, making it the 3^rd largest Terry Fox Run outside of Canada.  If you are new to HCMC, or haven’t participated before, I encourage you to take part this year.  There will be live music and games for kids at the race site. All money raised will go towards cancer research in Vietnam.  For more information, contact Pam McKinnon (  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )
 

Notices and reminders: 
1) Thank you to all parents of 10th grade students who attended our IB Information Night on Wednesday.  This meeting began our efforts to communicate with families that now is the time to be thinking about course choices for next year.  Students in 10th grade in particular have a lot to think about in advance of course selection assemblies (February) and course sign-ups (March).  Please begin to speak with your son or daughter about their choices for next year and begin conversations now with teachers, Mr. Goetz (HS Counselor), and Mr. Tyro (IB/AP Coordinator).

2) Our Model United Nations club (MUN) attended the recent THIMUN MUN conference in Singapore last week.  Club sponsors, Kevin Tyro and Nick Miller, accompanied 14 HS students to this large and prestigious event.  Our students performed very well and had a good experience there.  Good work to all those students and teachers involved.  Thank you for representing us so well!

3) Congratulations to Hai Long, a junior (11th grader) at SSIS.  Hai recently competed in the nationwide competition, 2011 Young Leader competition for 10th and 11th grade Vietnamese students and sponsored by IDP Vietnam in conjunction with Trinity College and the University of Melbourne.  The award highlights Vietnamese student leaders who are demonstrating excellent academic and community achievement.  There were thousands of entrants from all over Vietnam and I am proud to announce that Hai placed 4th place in that competition.  Excellent job, Hai, we are very proud of you!

4) The National Honor Society has organized a HS event called the "Secret Bookmark".  It is a book-swapping project that will start on Monday, November 28.  HS students are encouraged to bring in books to share (they will get them back) all next week to Ms. MacArthur's classroom.  On Friday, Dec. 2, the NHS will have all the books arranged in the Plaza during lunch for browsing and borrowing by our high school students.  Thanks to the NHS and the HS library for promoting reading with this nice project.

Thanks again for all your support and hope to see you on Saturday for the Bazaar.
Have a nice weekend.

all the best,

Paul Johnson
MS/HS Principal 

********************************************************************************
Calendar for the week

Monday, 28 Nov. (Day 7)
- Advisory class for all grades, 9-12: 12:40pm - 1pm

Tuesday, 29 Nov. (Day 8)
- HS Basketball @ SSIS

Wednesday, 30 Nov. (Day 1) - HS Alternative Schedule
- HS Assembly, 12:25am, HS gym
- HS Music Winter Concert, 7pm, auditorium

Thursday, 1 Dec. (Day 2) 
- HS Basketball @ ISHCMC

Friday, 2 Dec. (Day 3)
- Wildcard Meeting (12:40 - 1:05), all students in IB, Year 2 courses, C322
- MS/HS Dance recital, 7pm, auditorium
- End of MS and HS 1st semester After School Activities

Saturday, 3 Dec.
- Vietnamese classes
- MS/HS Track and Field Meet
- SAT Exam, HS gym

Upcoming Dates to be sure are on your calendar:
- Dec. 5, HS Basketball @ SSIS
- Dec. 7, Early Release Schedule, 12:15 dismissal (Free Dress Day for HS students)
- Dec. 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, Midterm Exams (no regular HS classes)
- Dec. 13, PTA Parents meeting, 1:30pm
- Dec. 16, Special Schedule, 12:00 dismissal
- Dec. 16, End of First Semester
- Jan. 9, classes resume, first day of second semester, PowerSchool closed to students/parents until Jan. 18 hardcopy reports.

- Jan. 18, hardcopy report cards for Semester 1 distributed in advisory, 2:50