Week 32 in the Middle!

Grade 8 Visit to Cooking School:

The 8th grade continued its wonderful work with the Budapest Blind School, at Thursday's excursion to the Kukta Tanoda cooking school. In this truly authentic and interactive exchange program, fifteen of our 8th graders worked with their blind-school partners to make pizza and pancakes from scratch. The event's most significant challenge was not cooking, however, but communicating.  

In the end, the students were highly successful, producing some delicious food for all to enjoy!

Progress Reporting:
We encourage all MS parents and students to access the most recent progress report which is now live on Veracross.  Our final report of the school year will be published on Thursday, June 16th.  Please feel free to contact teachers directly should you have any questions about student progress in subject specific classes.

MS Assembly:
We had a wonderful performance by our MS Band students, led by Ms. Davidoff at our assembly this past Wednesday.  It was truly impressive to see and hear the progress our students have made over the course of the year!

PSA Update:
Sincere thanks to Mrs. Anna Jankovich for speaking about the "Parent-Teen Relationship" at our MS PSA meeting this week.  For those that were unable to attend, the session focused on three key tenants: 
1.  Curiosity: forming specific questions (rather than factual questions) to our kids about their daily experiences
2.  Listening: take time to actively listen / ask permission to either "listen" or "provide feedback" which empowers kids and makes them feel appreciated.
3.  Self-management: actively self-manage our behavior when engaging with our kids / model positive behaviors / try: "I'm sorry I missed what you said, can you repeat that?" 
The presentation on each of the above points presented opportunities for thoughtful dialogue amongst those present.

The final PSA meeting of the year will be on June 6th from 9:00 - 11:00 - we look forward to seeing you there!

AISB Color Run - Friday May 27:

On Friday, May 27 AISB will run our first-ever Color Run. The run will take place from 4:00-5:00 pm around school. The goal of the Color Run is designed and run by our National Honor Society (NHS) students and will be financially supported by the HS PSA. (Thank you!). 

The event is raising money for the NHS to help support purchasing new playground equipment for the Solanta (Romania) Orphanage. Prior to the event, students will purchase white T-shirts and color packets. Similar to India's Holi Festival, all participants spread the color in one explosion. Afterwards, participating students in grades K-12 will run around a pre-designed course at the school in celebration. The event will end with soft drinks, snack, and a plethora of colors!

MS/HS Library Update:

ALL LIBRARY books from the Middle and High School are due back Wednesday May 25th. This includes students, parents, and staff members. The reason why this is so important is that phase one for MS/HS Library renovations will take place this summer. All books from the library will be boxed and stored due to painting and replacing the carpet. Summer Checkout will be available between May 25-31 ONLY for returning students who have cleared their library accounts by May 25th.

Library Important Dates:

• Wed. May 18th: Library notices will be passed out to students in their advisory.
• Fri. May 20th: Last day to check out books
• Wed. May 25th: ALL books are due back to the library.
• Mon. June 13th: The library will be closed to prepare for summer renovations.

Upcoming Events:

Monday, May 16:    Pünkösd - No school

Tuesday, May 17:   MS Tech Crew 15:40- 16:30

MS Art Club 15:40 - 16:30

Wednesday, May 18: Week for Ecuador:

- Ribbon Sales at lunch

- Battle of Forints at morning break and lunch

Grade 8 transition night at 17:00

Dungeons & Dragons 15:40 - 17:30

Girls and Boys Softball 15:40

Boys Volleyball 15:40

Girls and Boys Track and Field 15:40

Thursday, May 19: Week for Ecuador:

- Face Painting at lunch

- Battle of Forints at morning break and lunch

CEESA Choir at 16:30 in ES music room

Digital Photography 15:45 - 17:30

Homework Club 15:30 - 16:30

Parent Book Club 14:00 - 15:15

MS Drone Club 15:40 - 16:30

Boys and Girls Golf 15:40

Friday, May 20: Week for Ecuador: 

- Bake Sale at lunch

- Battle of Forints at morning break and lunch

MS Lock-in (after school until next morning)

MS Social

Boys and Girls Golf 15:40

MS Floorball 15:30 - 16:30

MS Badminton - 1st session - 15:30-16:30

Have a great weekend Middle School!

Warm regards,

Andrew Ball

Middle School Principal

Week 31 in the Middle!

Letter from the Director

Dear Parents,

I would like to invite you to a "State of the School" question and answer session on Wednesday, May 11th from 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. in the Middle / High School Library.  

I will make a few opening remarks, followed by an open Q&A session.  This will be a relaxed informal event. Please make every effort to join me and have all your questions answered!!

If you have questions, but don’t wish to ask them during the meeting please send them to my assistant Gabi Pitz gpitz@aisb.hu by May 10, and I will include them in my presentation.

Best regards,

Paul Slocombe
Director AISB

Spirit Week in the Middle School:

Thank you to our MS Spirit Club for organizing themed dress days this week and an amazing pep rally on Tuesday for all of our athletes who are competing in various tournaments and meets this week.  We will all of our Blazer Athletes much success!!!

Grade 5 Visits the MS:

As part of our orientation to the Middle School, our current 6th grade students welcomed our current 5th grade students to the Middle School for an opportunity to learn more about the MS experience.  Congratulations to our 6th grade students for doing an amazing job welcoming our 6th grade class of 2016-17!

Grade 8 Parents:

High School BBQ - Friday May 27

From 5:00 - 8:00 pm on Friday May 27, the PSA has sponsored the 2nd Annual High School Barbeque for students and parents in grades 8-12. The evening includes student games and activities from5:00-6:00 pm with an outdoor BBQ (weather permitting!) serving food at 6:30. It is a fun and relaxing way for families to visit and wrap up what has been a very successful school year. Mark the date; we look forward to you joining us.

Student Life Update:

• The beautiful country of Ecuador was recently stricken by a devastating earthquake. AISB will be responding to this tragedy as a community. The World Language Dept. and the Student Life Dept. have put together an all school response that includes educating our students about Ecuador, earthquakes and how we can help. The "Week for Ecuador" will take place May 17-20. Next week, the students will start preparing for the activities and I will share more detailed information with parents as soon as possible. All monies collected will be given to assist The American International School of Quito and the Academia Cotopaxi with their earthquake relief efforts. As always we thank you in advance for your support to our school's commitment to responsible global citizenship.
• Congratulations go out to our Middle School Spirit Club for organizing another outstanding Spirit Week! The highlight was our Spirit Assembly which was held during lunch on Tuesday. Every competing team was able to share with the Blazer community details on their upcoming competitions. Good luck Blazers! May the Blazer Force be with you!
• On May 20th, we will hold our first ever Blazer lock-in! Detailed information on this event will be shared with students and parents over the next few days.

In Blazers we trust!

Marc Lavoie

MS Student Life

7th Grade Service Learning:

Our 7th grade students continued their work with representatives from the Jane Goodall Institute this past Wednesday during advisory as part of their service learning project this year.  The project consists of collaboration and research of a topic and deliverance of information about the topic to an audience of parents, teachers, and students aged 9 - 14, on Friday, May 20.  Included in the project is the application and extension of gained knowledge in the maintenance and development of a territory in the Hungarian National Forest.  Students have an opportunity to gain insight and knowledge from the experienced and trained volunteers from the Jane GoodalI Institute. 

Grade 8 "Career" Ted Talks:

Sincere thanks to AISB parents; Ms. Anna Jankovich and Mr. Noah Steinberg, for speaking to our 8th grade students as part of our advisory program related to careers.  Students had an opportunity to ask some great questions and also to reflect on their key take aways from the talks.  There were some excellent points for our students to consider as they continue to think about their own career pathway!

AISB Color Run - Friday May 27:

On Friday, May 27 AISB will run our first-ever Color Run. The run will take place from 4:00-5:00 pm around school. The goal of the Color Run is designed and run by our National Honor Society (NHS) students and will be financially supported by the HS PSA. (Thank you!). The event is raising money for the NHS help support purchasing new playground equipment for the Solanta (Romania) Orphanage. Prior to the event, students will purchase white T-shirts and color packets. Similar to India's Holi Festival, all participants spread the color in one explosion. Afterwards, participating students in grades K-12 will run around a pre-designed course at the school in celebration. 

The event will end with soft drinks, snack, and a plethora of colors!

PSA Update:

Next PSA Meeting on May 10:
Our next PSA meeting will be on Tuesday, May 10th from 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. in the Building B Faculty Dining Room.  Our guest is Ms. Anna Jankovich, who as a mother and coach will speak to us about: "The Relationship Between Parents and Adolescents".  All parents are welcome to attend!
Yard Sale: 
This year's annual PSA Yard Sale is on Saturday, June 4th from 9 am - 1 pm. There are still spots available. If you are interested, please contact Annelies Van der Donckt.
Last MS PSA meeting of the school year: June 6

Upcoming Events:

Monday, May 9:    MAP Testing - Gr. 6 Math 8:30 - 9:45

Gr.8 Language usage 13:05 - 14:15

Girls and Boys Softball 15:40

Girls and Boys Volleyball 15:40

Girls and Boys Track and Field 15:40

Tuesday, May 10:   MAP Testing - Gr. 8 Math 8:30 - 9:45

Gr.7 Math  13:05 - 14:15

MS PSA mtg 9:00 - 11:00h

MS Art Club 15:40 - 16:30

Wednesday, May 11: MAP Testing - Gr. 8 Reading 8:30 - 9:45

Gr.6 Reading 10:00 - 11:10

MS Assembly 11:15 - 12:05

Parents Q & A session with the Director 18:30 - 20:00

Dungeons & Dragons 15:40 - 17:30

Girls and Boys Softball 15:40

Boys Volleyball 15:40

Girls and Boys Track and Field 15:40

Thursday, May 12: SCIS MS Golf tournament - Vienna (VIS)

CEESA MS Boys Volleyball - Kiev

MAP Testing - Gr. 6 Language usage 8:30 - 9:45

Gr.7 Reading 10:00 - 11:10

15 Gr 8 students to cooking school with blind students 9:00 - 14:00

CEESA Choir at 16:30 in ES music room

Digital Photography 15:45 - 17:30

Homework Club 15:30 - 16:30

Parent Book Club 14:00 - 15:15

MS Drone Club 15:40 - 16:30

Boys and Girls Golf 15:40

Friday, May 13: SCIS MS Golf tournament - Vienna (VIS)

CEESA MS Boys Volleyball - Kiev

SCIS MS Track and Field meet at AISB

MAP Testing - Gr. 7 Language usage 10:00 - 11:10

Boys and Girls Golf 15:40

MS Floorball 15:30 - 16:30

MS Badminton - 1st session - 15:30-16:30

MS Badminton - 2nd session - 16:30-17:30

Have a great weekend MS community!

Warm regards,

Andrew Ball

MS Principal

Week 30 in the Middle!

Grade 6 Celebration of Learning:

Sixth Grade students welcomed their parents on Wednesday, April 27th to "Celebrate Learning" in one on one discussions about their 'Habits of Learning' and their growth this year as students. The discussion was based on the importance of 'Habits of Learning' in our success as learners, and how students are progressing in these habits. 


Students shared the evidence of their thinking, the processes in learning and examples of completed work.  Thank you, sixth-grade students, for all your work in preparing and participating in this great event. And, thank you to our parents for coming in and sharing in this important event in our sixth-grade calendar.








Essence of Middle School:
In true Middle School style, a group of MS staff dressed up in response to well over 200 members of our community attending our AMIS Choir Concert earlier in the month.  It's never a dull moment in the Middle!!  The group was introduced in fashion show style at our monthly assembly on Wednesday.

CEESA MS Model United Nations Conference:

The third CEESA MS MUN conference, hosted by AISB, has been a great success. 85 students from 9 different CEESA schools, including schools from Lebanon and Georgia, attended the event which was organized and run by our High School MUN Club under the leadership of Sahib Bhasin, the Secretary General of the conference.

After the US Ambassador Ms. Colleen Bell’s keynote speech, AISB country representatives, Lili (Lebanon), Shaan (Russia), and Odin (Germany) did a wonderful job with their opening speeches. Shaan, Tianchen (Lebanon) and Odin contributed with several resolutions on Isil and Boko Haram to the discussions of the Security Council. Mathieu (Germany), Márk (Russia), Vilma (Sweden), and Debby (Lebanon) were active members of the ECOSOC Committee, and all of them became main submitters of their resolutions on the migrant crisis and the Syrian war. Dipanshi (Russia) and Zahra (Lebanon) contributed to debates about women’s education and about aiding Rohingya Muslims. AISB provided the Disarmament Committee with “girl power”: Lili (Lebanon), Marie (Russia) and Beatrice (Germany) offered several solutions to the Crimean Crisis as well as to chemical warfare in Syria. Jain (Russia) made us proud in the Environmental Committee with her speeches and resolutions about deforestation and policies about curbing carbon dioxide emissions. All of them grew as public speakers during the conference, they learned to compromise and to participate in a parliamentary style debate.

AISB students did not only represent their respective countries with pride and professionalism but also our community. Their kindness, understanding of the issues, and collaborative spirit with High School students as well as delegates from the visiting schools have been noted by our guests. They made us all very proud.

Thank you for your continuous support with the MS MUN Club as well as with hosting our guests.

Ms. Henderson and Dr. Vas

* Erik Hansman (Grade 8) made a wonderful slide show about the conference, click on this link to watch it. For more photos please see this blog.

Student Life Update:

This week in Student Life we have been busy preparing for our Middle School Spirit Week (May 2-6)! 

The theme days will be:

Monday - Pajama Day

Tuesday - Jersey Day (Favorite Sports Team)

Wednesday - Beachwear Day (no swimsuits: think sunglasses, hats, flip flops, etc)

Thursday - Fashion Disaster

Friday - School Spirit AISB Colors

We will also hold a dance-off on Monday during lunch and a pep rally on Wednesday hosted by our Spirit Club!

In other news, the Blazer Barkers will be heading back to the dog shelter on Saturday, May 14 and presenting the shelter with a check for 600,000HUF which are the proceeds from the International Festival Book Sale. 

Lastly, we are working on the final details for the first ever Middle School "Lock-In", which will take place on Friday, May 20th. More specific information on the lock-in will be sent to parents shortly.

Kind Regards,

Marc Lavoie

Middle School Student Life Coordinator / M.S French

MS PSA Update:
Mr. Bill Farren spoke about Social Media at our last meeting during the MS Social last Friday evening.  Please feel free to access the presentation at the following link:  Social Media Presentation

Our next PSA meeting will be on Tuesday, May 10th from 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. in the Building B Faculty Dining Room.  Our guest is Ms. Anna Jankovich, who will speak to us about:
"The Relationship Between Parents and Adolescents".  
All parents are welcome to attend!

Upcoming Events:
** We're going to have some fun for Spirit Week, keeping in mind that all choices for dress on specific days must be appropriate for school.

Monday, May 2:    MS Spirit Week: Pajama Day

MS Spirit Week: Dance-Off in the theater @ 12:35

Girls and Boys Softball 15:40

Girls and Boys Volleyball 15:40

Girls and Boys Track and Field 15:40

Tuesday, May 3:   MS Spirit week: Jersey Day (Favorite Sports Team)

MS Spirit Week: Pep Rally @ 12:35 

MAP Testing

Subject Coordinators meeting 15:45 - 17:00

Tech Crew meeting 15:40

MS Art Club 15:40 - 16:30

Wednesday, May 4: MS Spirit week: Beachwear Day 

(no swimsuits: sunglasses, hats, flip flops, etc)

MAP Testing

MS Assembly/Advisory 11:15-12:05

GR 8 TED TALK on Career Decision making 11:15 - 13:00

Dungeons & Dragons 15:40 - 17:30

Girls and Boys Softball 15:40

Boys Volleyball 15:40

Girls and Boys Track and Field 15:40

Thursday, May 5: CEESA MS Boys Softball tournament - Bucharest

CEESA MS Girls Softball tournament - Bucharest

CEESA MS Girls Volleyball tournament - Warsaw

MS Spirit week: Fashion Disaster

MAP Testing

CEESA Choir at 16:30 in ES music room

Digital Photography 15:45 - 17:30

Homework Club 15:30 - 16:30

Knowledge Bowl 15:40

Parent Book Club 14:00 - 15:15

MS Drone Club 15:40 - 16:30

Boys and Girls Golf 15:40

Friday, May 6:   MS Spirit week: School Spirit AISB Colors

CEESA MS Boys Softball tournament - Bucharest

CEESA MS Girls Softball tournament - Bucharest

CEESA MS Girls Volleyball tournament - Warsaw

MAP Testing

Boys and Girls Golf 15:40

MS Floorball 15:30 - 16:30

MS Badminton - 1st session - 15:30-16:30
Warm regards,

Andrew Ball
Middle School Principal