Next Meeting 19 March 7:45 am

Our next PTA meeting will be the morning of 19 March -- Thursday at 7:45 in the Library. To remind everyone, we are making a go at alternating morning meetings with afternoon meetings -- bring your coffee and a few ideas for our next movie night in the MPH! We will do our best to start promptly at 7:45!

Romeo, Juliet and the PTA?

The Secondary School has been working hard on their drama production of Romeo and Juliet.  The PTA has agreed to be in charge of concessions for their two evening performances (March 26th and 27th, 19hrs).  At the next PTA meeting (Thursday 19 March 7:45 AM) we will finalize menu plans and sort out a rota to staff the bar, sell food and sell vouchers.  We had tentatively discussed offering starters and desserts from Northern Italy in the spirit of the R&J theme.  Proceeds from bar and concession sales will go toward Year 11 prom and graduation expenses.

We would also like to set a date for a movie night in the MPH.  In years past they have had 150-200 people coming to these events so it will require some troubleshooting well in advance.

Hope to see you at the meeting 19 March - in the library right after drop-off!

Thanks to the parents who were able to come to the CIS Parent meetings on Tuesday.

BUSY week

In case your "Mini-Scoop" didn't make it to your desk or ended up in the rubbish bin before you could digest all the information in it, know that next week is both strange AND busy:

Monday is a public holiday and there is NO SCHOOL

BUT monday is also the first day of the CIS visit (more on that in a bit).

Tuesday is a reguar school day.  Parents are invited to two CIS meetings:  one for primary (13hrs) and the other for secondary (1530hrs)

Wednesday is full with CIS meetings all around.  The kids have school on Wednesday.  There is an assembly which I think starts at 11 but don't hold me to it.  AND, most importantly ALL students will be sent home early -- at NOON -- so that teachers can attend all staff meetings as part of the CIS visit.  There are NO ACTIVITIES on Wednesday and NO AFTERCARE at the ELC.

Thursday and Friday are holidays as well and as such there is NO SCHOOL.

Our normal schedule resumes Monday 16 March. Have a restful half-term break

Now about this CIS Visit...

CIS stands for the Council of International Schools.  LICS receives their accreditation through the CIS.  On accreditation (this is straight from Wikipedia):

"The Accreditation service transferred from European Council of International Schools (ECIS) to CIS in July 2003 with all schools in the process retaining their status as accredited or candidate schools. Currently there are some 335 accredited or candidate schools. The CIS Accreditation Service offers: an internationally-based evaluation for schools operating at elementary and/or middle and/or secondary levels, an evaluation instrument designed specifically for international schools, a sympathetic but rigorous evaluation of the highest professional standard, a cost-effective program, a seal of accreditation which can be retained subject to regular monitoring. The CIS Accreditation Service is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS)Commission on Accreditation. Dual accreditation is possible with some regional accreditation agencies in the United States. CIS collaborates with a number of other educational and government agencies around the world."

While this accreditation visit comes smack in the middle of the shortest, strangest school 'week' ever, scheduling such a visit was not easy -- the other options were to have it in January or in July.  Because part of 'the visit' involves classroom observations and meetings with parents and teacher, the student council, etc.  March it is and there was no way around this.

As such, there are opportunities for parents to participate and meet with the accreditation team.  The following times have been set aside for parents to participate:  

PTA Monday 11hrs:  (AJ, PTA Chair will represent the PTA for this meeting)

Primary Parents:  Tuesday at 13hrs in the covered area

Secondary Parents Tuesday at 1530-16hrs in a secondary classroom

Thanks!