December 1, 2011
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December 1, 2011
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Upcoming EventsAll School News
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| Upcoming Events | back to top |
 | Week At-A-Glance Last Day of Scholastic and Chinese Book Fair Holiday Faire Last Day for Monday Enrichment Classes Tuesday, December 6 JV Girls Basketball Away Game Winter Program - Herbst Theatre |
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| All School News | back to top |
 | Book Fair in Full Swing - Perfect Opportunity for Holiday Gifts
This year there is an additional online site to purchase books that will be open for two weeks from November 21 through December 5. You can access the online site here. Alumni Reunion Weekend is Around the Corner Next Friday, you may see some potentially unfamiliar faces wandering the halls. Well, they are not entirely foreign to CAIS. In fact, as few as several months ago, they were students here! Friday, December 9 through Sunday, December 11 marks our 30th Anniversary Alumni Reunion Weekend, a three-part celebration of our foundation and our future. Alumni and their families have been invited back to reconnect with their former colleagues and teachers as well as to learn what CAIS has in store for the future. On Friday afternoon, they will be taking tours of the Oak and Waller campus to see the classes in action, and then they will visit their favorite teachers after school. At 5:00 p.m., parents, faculty, alumni families and friends will join us for the Founders Reception, where we will honor the founding members whose pioneering and innovative spirit has led us to this point in our school’s history. On Sunday, the weekend will culminate in the 30th Anniversary Celebration, an outreach event for alumni, former trustees and family and friends in the community, at which time we will unveil our revised mission to the public as well as a brand new alumni program. On Friday, be sure to welcome our former students as they return home! If you would like to attend the Founders Reception on Friday, December 9, RSVP with JP Lor. Problems Joining the Wiki? We've learned that some people are having trouble joining the wiki. We're here to help troubleshoot, because we want you to have access to all that great community-related information that resides on the wiki. The most common problem we've found is if you try to login with a different email address or alias than the one to which your original invitation was sent. Simply send the wikimaster an email and we will send you a new invitation. We apologize for asking you to identify yourself/your children if you request membership from an unrecognized alias; with Thursday Flash contents being reposted outside of the parent community, we are trying to ensure that only CAIS families gain access to the wiki. The wiki itself is locked and barred from all search engines. Thank you for your support of this community tool and keep on reading, there is new content being posted constantly! CAIS PA Council Supports CAIS Chinese New Year Float with Generous Donation At the November PA Council meeting, members voted to sponsor the CAIS Chinese New Year Float with a generous donation of funds and volunteer support. Along with $2,500 to help fund the costs of the float designed by CAIS parents Brad Sugarman and Lisa Tam, PA Council member Lynda Sakseangvirat will be dedicating her time and float experience to work directly with the design team to coordinate the volunteer needs to build the float. This year’s theme is based on the Chinese fable, Carp Jump Over the Dragon Gate. We are ecstatic to welcome "on float" Lynda Sakseangvirat and the PA Council with this community project that is sure to be a stunning reflection of this community’s commitment and dedication to our school. Thank you to the PA Council and thank you Lynda. Some volunteer tasks involved with the float include
If you are interested in learning more about the volunteer opportunities with the Chinese New Year parade, please send us an email. Cyber Deals When Ordering Your Child's Class Pictures There's only a couple of more days to take advantage of free shipping of all school photos through our school photographer, Little Bird Photography. In the spirit of Cyber Monday and holiday shopping, our school photographers are offering FREE shipping all week on photo packages. If you haven't ordered your child's school photos yet, now is a great time to save money shipping. Please check your inbox for login details and instructions. Pre-K Students to Sing for Mayor's Tree Lighting Ceremony
Holiday Faire This Saturday!
It's not too late to get involved with this year's Holiday Faire. If you have extra time to donate, the PA welcomes your help. Sign up here and join the fun. See you Saturday! Self-portrait Project is a Bundle of Cuteness - Order Your T-shirt or Tote Bag Now! Our Parents Association has partnered with classroom teachers and has embarked on a fun and creative fundraiser this year that involves art and creativity and will result in a nice keepsake item. The self-portrait t-shirt project includes the partnerships of all grades and classes. We've seen a sampling of some of the self-portrait artwork, and they are super cute and will make great t-shirt and tote bags. Families can order the products through the CAIS online boutique here. Please note, deadline has been extended! Please order items no later than Friday, December 9. For those who regularly come to the Oak Street campus, you can see a sample of the shirts on the first and third floors. Flyer with more information can be found here. Math Kangaroo Deadline is Next Friday Math Kangaroo is an internationally acclaimed math competition with interesting problems designed to both engage and challenge students. This year, Math Kangaroo will be available for third through eighth grade students at CAIS. The program is a 75-minute long multiple choice test with 24 questions for third and fourth grades and 30 questions for fifth through eighth grades. Each participant will receive a t-shirt and a certificate on the test day. For more information about Math Kangaroo at CAIS and to register for CAIS’s private test center, please click here. Deadline for registering for this popular math competition is Friday, December 9 and registration is online. Registration is not complete until a payment check has been received and all checks must be received by Friday, December 9. Detailed instructions regarding registration and a description of Math Kangaroo is available on the website. |
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| Development | back to top |
 | Parent Giving to CAIS Annual Fund Reaches 60%! Give Now | Pledge | Match | Transfer Stock CAIS parents have let us know the many reasons why they have been so generous to CAIS – donating financial gifts to support the unique Chinese language program; the well-loved libraries and computer labs; the amazing teachers that inspire the students and CAIS families every day; the art, music and dance programs; our Science Department offering three science labs; and the community of friends that naturally develop from our mutual long-term commitment to the education of the children. The reality is that there are also very practical reasons to give a meaningful gift today. At CAIS, like many nonprofit independent schools, we offer our parents the convenient opportunity to show your support with a 100% tax-deductible gift through the Annual Fund drive. The reality is that we are raising money to simply continue the great programs and retain the wonderful teaching staff. The reality is that we can only offer this with the strong support of our parent community. Thank you to our parents. Thank you for your financial support, for volunteering countless hours to our school, for the time you take out of your busy lives to attend meetings, parent-teacher conferences, field trips, holiday events and more . As we partner with you to further the education of your child, your commitment does not go unnoticed. If you’re looking for a way to support CAIS now, it’s not too late to make your 100% tax-deductible Annual Fund gift to CAIS to qualify for your 2011 tax year. There is no easier way to show your support of CAIS. Consider making your donation now. To our generous donors who have made pledges, this is also a gentle reminder to fulfill your pledges so as to make your gift tax deductible for this calendar year. Click here to make your donation now, or send a check made payable to “CAIS” and mail it to CAIS, 150 Oak Street, San Francisco, CA 94102, to the attention of the Business Office - Annual Fund. For your tax-deductible contribution to be eligible for 2011, your gift must be charged or postmarked by December December 31, 2011. Thank you to our new donors this week: Yao Ma and Connie Chieng, Ching and Lisa Sze, Mark and Barbara Fong, Lawrence Ngai and Cecilia Tan. Click here to see the Annual Fund progress to date. Alumni Reunion Weekend is Around the Corner Next Friday, you may see some potentially unfamiliar faces wandering the halls. Well, they are not entirely foreign to CAIS. In fact, as few as several months ago, they were students here! Friday, December 9 through Sunday, December 11 marks our 30th Anniversary Alumni Reunion Weekend, a three-part celebration of our foundation and our future. Alumni and their families have been invited back to reconnect with their former colleagues and teachers as well as to learn what CAIS has in store for the future. On Friday afternoon, they will be taking tours of the Oak and Waller campus to see the classes in action, and then they will visit their favorite teachers after school. At 5:00 p.m., parents, faculty, alumni families and friends will join us for the Founders Reception, where we will honor the founding members whose pioneering and innovative spirit has led us to this point in our school’s history. On Sunday, the weekend will culminate in the 30th Anniversary Celebration, an outreach event for alumni, former trustees and family and friends in the community, at which time we will unveil our revised mission to the public as well as a brand new alumni program. On Friday, be sure to welcome our former students as they return home! If you would like to attend the Founders Reception on Friday, December 9, RSVP with JP Lor. |
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| Early Childhood Division | back to top |
 | Pre-K Students to Sing for Mayor's Tree Lighting Ceremony
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| Lower School | back to top |
 | Science Event for Families This Sunday For those of you with budding scientists in your family, our middle school science teacher, Susan Sherman recommends a trio of events offered to the public that are part of the American Geophysical Union of Scientist annual meeting held the first week in December at the Moscone Center. The public events all take place this Sunday, December 4. Schedule of public events are here and are age appropriate for third through eighth graders. The American Geophysical Union of Scientists hold their annual is a convergence of more than 18,000 geophysical scientists from the world who gather to present their findings and ideas about the global climate, the oceans, volcanoes, earthquakes, polar conditions and more. Every year our seventh and eighth grade science teacher, Susan Sherman is honored to be one of only 50 teachers invited to attend a two-day workshop that presents the latest information about the physical systems of the planet earth. Included are discussions and hands-on experiments about how to present this material to students. Winter Basketball for Fourth and Fifth Graders Parent organizer, John Barbera is organizing a fourth and fifth grade Firedragons basketball team again this winter and is in need of a few more players to round out the team. The team will play in the Presidio YMCA league starting January and will run through March and practices will be held at the Presidio YMCA. There are four boys from the fourth grade on the team already and we’re looking for a few more. If your fourth or fifth grader is interested in joining, please email John directly. This is not an official CAIS team, rather is organized by our dedicated parents. Local French Lessons for Those Whose Children Wish to be Trilingual Caroline Tremblay -- our art substitute teacher who filled in during Lisa Ostapinski's maternity leave last year and continues to sub quite regularly this school year -- teaches for an organization called EFBA (Education Francaise Bay Area). It is a great after school program teaching French to kids and they just secured a site at Mercy High, by Stonestown and started classes at the end of November, and those interested can join the class at any time. It's a great way to take language lessons from an affiliated and teacher-endorsed organization. If you're interested in learning more about the classes, please download the flyer. Math Kangaroo Deadline is Next Friday Math Kangaroo is an internationally acclaimed math competition with interesting problems designed to both engage and challenge students. This year, Math Kangaroo will be available for third through eighth grade students at CAIS. The program is a 75-minute long multiple choice test with 24 questions for third and fourth grades and 30 questions for fifth through eighth grades. Each participant will receive a t-shirt and a certificate on the test day. For more information about Math Kangaroo at CAIS and to register for CAIS’s private test center, please click here. Deadline for registering for this popular math competition is Friday, December 9 and registration is online. Registration is not complete until a payment check has been received and all checks must be received by Friday, December 9. Detailed instructions regarding registration and a description of Math Kangaroo is available on the website. |
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| Middle School | back to top |
 | Report Cards Ready for Viewing Tomorrow It's middle school report card time, the first of the school year. And of course, this is the first year we that we are using our one-stop tool, Veracross as a portal for the report cards. Please note, you will not receive a report card in the mail or any hard copy. Instead please log into Veracross. For instructions and additional information, please check your inbox for a detailed email that outlines how to access. You will be able to access your child’s report card beginning this Friday, December 2 and is available to view whenever you login to Veracross. Introducing the New CAIS-SYA Beijing Academy International Program We are eager to kick off our new CAIS-SYA (School Year Abroad) Beijing Academy international program this year and invite you to join faculty and staff for a parent/student information evening on Wednesday, December 14 from 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. in the Performing Arts Room (basement level) of our Oak Street Campus. The meeting will provide in depth information about the new CAIS-SYA Beijing Academy program open to all seventh graders which will take place the week prior, during and after Spring Break in April, 2012. Several administrators, faculty and staff members will be present at the meeting to describe the program and answer any parent and student questions. We are committed to making this experience accessible to as many students as possible and would love to have 100% participation from the seventh grade student body. We strongly encourage all seventh grade families to attend the meeting on December 14. Sixth grade families, you’re invited too! Depending on the number of seventh graders who can participate, we will open up spaces for a select number of sixth graders. Please attend the meeting for more information about the selection process. For those unable to attend, we will disseminate information following the December 14 meeting. We look forward to introducing this exciting addition to the existing CAIS international programs. Child care will be provided, RSVP here if your sixth or seventh grader has a sibling who needs child care. Science Event for Families This Sunday For those of you with budding scientists in your family, our middle school science teacher, Susan Sherman recommends a trio of events offered to the public that are part of the American Geophysical Union of Scientist annual meeting held the first week in December at the Moscone Center. The public events all take place this Sunday, December 4. Schedule of public events are here and are age appropriate for third through eighth graders. The American Geophysical Union of Scientists hold their annual is a convergence of more than 18,000 geophysical scientists from the world who gather to present their findings and ideas about the global climate, the oceans, volcanoes, earthquakes, polar conditions and more. Every year our seventh and eighth grade science teacher, Susan Sherman is honored to be one of only 50 teachers invited to attend a two-day workshop that presents the latest information about the physical systems of the planet earth. Included are discussions and hands-on experiments about how to present this material to students. Can you Spell Cymotrichous? The annual middle school spelling bee is happening next Monday, December 5. The winner of this fun test of skill and memory takes place each year in the middle school and the winner will represent CAIS at the SF Chronicle Spelling Bee in the spring. We'll post video and still photos from the event on the middle school Veracross webpage next week. Stay tuned!Math Kangaroo Deadline is Next Friday Math Kangaroo is an internationally acclaimed math competition with interesting problems designed to both engage and challenge students. This year, Math Kangaroo will be available for third through eighth grade students at CAIS. The program is a 75-minute long multiple choice test with 24 questions for third and fourth grades and 30 questions for fifth through eighth grades. Each participant will receive a t-shirt and a certificate on the test day. For more information about Math Kangaroo at CAIS and to register for CAIS’s private test center, please click here. Deadline for registering for this popular math competition is Friday, December 9 and registration is online. Registration is not complete until a payment check has been received and all checks must be received by Friday, December 9. Detailed instructions regarding registration and a description of Math Kangaroo is available on the website. |
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| Parent Association | back to top |
 | Problems Joining the Wiki? We've learned that some people are having trouble joining the wiki. We're here to help troubleshoot, because we want you to have access to all that great community-related information that resides on the wiki. The most common problem we've found is if you try to login with a different email address or alias than the one to which your original invitation was sent. Simply send the wikimaster an email and we will send you a new invitation. We apologize for asking you to identify yourself/your children if you request membership from an unrecognized alias; with Thursday Flash contents being reposted outside of the parent community, we are trying to ensure that only CAIS families gain access to the wiki. The wiki itself is locked and barred from all search engines. Thank you for your support of this community tool and keep on reading, there is new content being posted constantly! CAIS PA Council Supports CAIS Chinese New Year Float with Generous Donation At the November PA Council meeting, members voted to sponsor the CAIS Chinese New Year Float with a generous donation of funds and volunteer support. Along with $2,500 to help fund the costs of the float designed by CAIS parents Brad Sugarman and Lisa Tam, PA Council member Lynda Sakseangvirat will be dedicating her time and float experience to work directly with the design team to coordinate the volunteer needs to build the float. This year’s theme is based on the Chinese fable, Carp Jump Over the Dragon Gate. We are ecstatic to welcome "on float" Lynda Sakseangvirat and the PA Council with this community project that is sure to be a stunning reflection of this community’s commitment and dedication to our school. Thank you to the PA Council and thank you Lynda. Some volunteer tasks involved with the float include
If you are interested in learning more about the volunteer opportunities with the Chinese New Year parade, please send us an email. Holiday Faire This Saturday!
It's not too late to get involved with this year's Holiday Faire. If you have extra time to donate, the PA welcomes your help. Sign up here and join the fun. See you Saturday! Self-portrait Project is a Bundle of Cuteness - Order Your T-shirt or Tote Bag Now! Our Parents Association has partnered with classroom teachers and has embarked on a fun and creative fundraiser this year that involves art and creativity and will result in a nice keepsake item. The self-portrait t-shirt project includes the partnerships of all grades and classes. We've seen a sampling of some of the self-portrait artwork, and they are super cute and will make great t-shirt and tote bags. Families can order the products through the CAIS online boutique here. Please note, deadline has been extended! Please order items no later than Friday, December 9. For those who regularly come to the Oak Street campus, you can see a sample of the shirts on the first and third floors. Flyer with more information can be found here. |
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| Library | back to top |
 | Book Fair in Full Swing - Perfect Opportunity for Holiday Gifts
This year there is an additional online site to purchase books that will be open for two weeks from November 21 through December 5. You can access the online site here. |
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