December 15, 2011
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December 15, 2011
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All School News
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| All School News | back to top |
 | Record-breaking UNICEF Donations This Year This year's UNICEF donations are the most we have collected in CAIS's recorded history. The first and second grades led with donations of $285.65 and $248.18, respectively. Because of the trick-or-treating for UNICEF program, CAIS was able to make a total donation of $849.30 this year to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. Thanks to our Librarian, Warren Wright for coordinating these efforts. Working in over 150 countries, UNICEF provides children with health care, clean water, nutrition, education, protection, emergency relief and more. Thank you for your strong support of the UNICEF program this year. Please Help Four-year-old in Need and Spread the Word Last week Kyle Crawford, a four-year-old boy from San Mateo, was diagnosed with aplastic anemia. He is now hospitalized at Stanford's Lucille Packard fighting for his life. He and his family are desperate to find a bone marrow donor. If they don't find a match in the near future, Kyle will die. The would-be-donor must be half Chinese and half Caucasian. If you are interested in seeing if you or your family member could be a match, please contact the director of the child’s school, Serendipity Preschool. Her name is Patrice Warto patricewarto@gmail.com. Those who participate in the test will have a swab of saliva taken by medical professionals to determine compatibility with Kyle's genetic makeup. Serendipity School will make a to-be-determined financial contribution for the testing or other medical fees. The boy’s parents have offered to absorb the balance, if any, of the $50 per applicant processing fee. Please help spread the word to finding a potential donor for Kyle and please feel free to post this on your Facebook or your other networking sites. Time is against Kyle and the more people reached, the odds are increased of finding a donor. Celebrating 30 Years of Dual Language Education Last weekend was a celebration of 30 years of success in Chinese-English dual language and culture education. The Alumni Reunion Weekend and Founders Reception kicked off on Friday, December 9 when CAIS alumni families, founders, faculty/staff and current families came together to reconnect, reminisce and celebrate. On Sunday, December 11, which San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee officially proclaimed as "Chinese American International School Day," the weekend culminated during the 30th Anniversary Celebration, an outreach event at the Four Seasons San Francisco that brought together alumni families and friends to honor our thirty years as a community while kicking off a new alumni program that will engage our students long after they have left CAIS. A lot has changed in the world since CAIS's founding in 1981, however, our community has remained a constant and the coming together of that community was a wonderful way to celebrate our first 30 years and to look ahead to the future. We thank all of our friends, founders, alumni current and former board members, all of whom came together to pay tribute to CAIS. CAIS-SYA Beijing Academy - A New International Program CAIS and School Year Abroad (SYA) are excited to announce the new CAIS-SYA Beijing Academy, a three-week intensive language immersion program in China for our seventh graders. The program will take place at Beijing Sanfan Middle School, our current eighth grade exchange program partner, in the weeks before, during, and after the 2012 Spring Break. We have been able to move forward with this program largely due to donations from an anonymous donor and the Board of Trustees. We are grateful for the generous gifts that enable us to take on this program and weave the "embrace Chinese" piece of our new mission into the lives of our seventh grade students. The highlights of this three-week intensive language immersion program are:
We are committed to making this experience accessible to as many students as possible in the first year of a long term commitment to language and cultural study in China. Winter Program Photos Available The Winter Program last Thursday was amazing and truly captured the spirit and creativity of our students. A collection of photos shot by parent photographers Alex Woo and David Collier are available by going to the Veracross LS and MS division page for the link and password. Save the Date! Lantern Festival Our Parents Association has partnered with the Asian Art Museum to bring a community lantern festival to life in the museum on Sunday, February 5, which is Target Free Family Day. More details and times will be announced in early January. Chinese New Year Activities Around the Corner Once we return from break on January 3, we kick off 2012 and hit the ground running with a host of Chinese New Year activities. Lion dancers, Mass Greeting, classroom activities, Grandparents Reception, Chinese New Year Parade, Lantern Festival – it’s all happening during the months of January and February. An initial wiki page about the Chinese New Year float is up and will be continually updated. If you haven’t checked out the CAIS Community Wiki, you’re missing out. If you did not receive your wiki invitation and wish to be part of the conversation, please go to the wiki. |
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| Early Childhood Division | back to top |
 | Photos from Pre-K City Hall Performance Available A new photo gallery from the December 5 pre-k performance at City Hall is up and available for viewing. Pictures from the event can be found on the Veracross Pre-K/K division page in the news section. Please Help Four-year-old in Need and Spread the Word Last week Kyle Crawford, a four-year-old boy from San Mateo, was diagnosed with aplastic anemia. He is now hospitalized at Stanford's Lucille Packard fighting for his life. He and his family are desperate to find a bone marrow donor. If they don't find a match in the near future, Kyle will die. The would-be-donor must be half Chinese and half Caucasian. If you are interested in seeing if you or your family member could be a match, please contact the director of the child’s school, Serendipity Preschool. Her name is Patrice Warto patricewarto@gmail.com. Those who participate in the test will have a swab of saliva taken by medical professionals to determine compatibility with Kyle's genetic makeup. Serendipity School will make a to-be-determined financial contribution for the testing or other medical fees. The boy’s parents have offered to absorb the balance, if any, of the $50 per applicant processing fee. Please help spread the word to finding a potential donor for Kyle and please feel free to post this on your Facebook or your other networking sites. Time is against Kyle and the more people reached, the odds are increased of finding a donor. Faculty Recommendations for the Winter Break If you’re looking for educational-based activities to do with your child over the break, check out the faculty recommendations on everything from Chinese iPad apps to books from our librarian and technology coordinator. All can be found on the wiki. If you haven’t checked out the CAIS Community Wiki, you’re missing out. If you did not receive your wiki invitation and wish to be part of the conversation, please go to the wiki and sign up. |
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| Lower School | back to top |
 | Second Grade Story Writers Celebrate Their Works The story writers of our second grade Red and Gold English classes celebrated their month of hard work this week with a classroom publishing party. On Wednesday and Thursday morning, Ms. Gross and Mr. Nusbaum hosted the celebration where parents and students from other classrooms were invited to join the festivity. Guests were invited to pair with a student writer as stories were read aloud. The second graders learned to incorporate characters, a problem and a solution into each of their stories. The publishing party also encouraged the writers to receive immediate feedback from peers and parents. Thank you to our families and friends who came by to support our young authors! Pictures and video from event are available by going to the Veracross LS division page in the news section. Second and Fifth Grade Reading Buddies Rejoin On the last week before winter break, our second and fifth grade Chinese classes met for the second time this school year for our Reading Buddies program. On Wednesday, December 14 both grades met in the school library where Chinese children’s literature was shared in small groups of an upper grade student and two to three lower grade students. Each fifth grader “teacher” read aloud in Chinese to the second graders and encouraged active listening with questions to ask. The teachers have found this to be a great opportunity for students to make social connections outside their grade level and support each other in literacy development. Pictures and video from the reading buddy event can be found on the Veracross LS division page in the news section. Virtual Connection for Second and Third Grade Chinese Classes With the wonder of webcams and the magic of modern technology, second and third grade Chinese classes made virtual connections with students from out of the state! CAIS second and third graders met children from Global Village Academy in Colorado and Uintah Elementary School in Utah via Skype for the first time. Thanks to the coordination of CAIS Chinese Program Director, Kevin Chang, this planned activity provided students a way to connect with others outside of their own physical walls and practice their Chinese conversational skills. Students in both classes prepared questions to ask their counterparts and took turns responding in Chinese. The teachers found this to be a great learning opportunity for students to support other peers in a dual language environment and look forward to many more opportunities for CAIS classes go virtual again. Plans for first, fourth and fifth grade Skype sessions are scheduled for January. Video from the second and third grade Skype sessions can be found on the Veracross LS division page in the news section. Please Help Four-year-old in Need and Spread the Word Last week Kyle Crawford, a four-year-old boy from San Mateo, was diagnosed with aplastic anemia. He is now hospitalized at Stanford's Lucille Packard fighting for his life. He and his family are desperate to find a bone marrow donor. If they don't find a match in the near future, Kyle will die. The would-be-donor must be half Chinese and half Caucasian. If you are interested in seeing if you or your family member could be a match, please contact the director of the child’s school, Serendipity Preschool. Her name is Patrice Warto patricewarto@gmail.com. Those who participate in the test will have a swab of saliva taken by medical professionals to determine compatibility with Kyle's genetic makeup. Serendipity School will make a to-be-determined financial contribution for the testing or other medical fees. The boy’s parents have offered to absorb the balance, if any, of the $50 per applicant processing fee. Please help spread the word to finding a potential donor for Kyle and please feel free to post this on your Facebook or your other networking sites. Time is against Kyle and the more people reached, the odds are increased of finding a donor. CAIS and FAIS Community Garden Project Work Days – We Need You! Please join CAIS and FAIS families in the garden installation and painting project on the Hickory play yard on Saturday, January 14 for painting planter boxes and stencils and Saturday, January 28 for garden installation; bring gloves and small spades, as needed. Handy people, garden enthusiasts and community support are needed to:
If you wish to participate in this community project, please sign up here. Winter Program Photos Available The Winter Program last Thursday was amazing and truly captured the spirit and creativity of our students. A collection of photos shot by parent photographers Alex Woo and David Collier are available by going to the Veracross LS and MS division page for the link and password. Faculty Recommendations for the Winter Break If you’re looking for educational-based activities to do with your child over the break, check out the faculty recommendations on everything from Chinese iPad apps to books from our librarian and technology coordinator. All can be found on the wiki. If you haven’t checked out the CAIS Community Wiki, you’re missing out. If you did not receive your wiki invitation and wish to be part of the conversation, please go to the wiki and sign up. |
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| Middle School | back to top |
 | Basketball Season Starts on a High Note Basketball season is off to a victorious start, with all wins so far this season for the Firedragon JV and varsity girls and boys. Pictures from the JV boys and girls games are available by going to the Veracross MS division page for the link and password. Upcoming Middle School Vaccinations Vaccinations may not be top of mind right now, however, for those who want to get a jump start on their child’s required seventh grade Tdap vaccination, winter break is a good opportunity to visit your doctor and get your child vaccinated to meet the 2012-2013 incoming seventh grade requirement. What you need to know:
Winter Program Photos Available The Winter Program last Thursday was amazing and truly captured the spirit and creativity of our students. A collection of photos shot by parent photographers Alex Woo and David Collier are available by going to the Veracross LS and MS division page for the link and password. Faculty Recommendations for the Winter Break If you’re looking for educational-based activities to do with your child over the break, check out the faculty recommendations on everything from Chinese iPad apps to books from our librarian and technology coordinator. All can be found on the wiki. If you haven’t checked out the CAIS Community Wiki, you’re missing out. If you did not receive your wiki invitation and wish to be part of the conversation, please go to the wiki and sign up. |
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| Parent Association | back to top |
 | Save the Date! Lantern Festival Our Parents Association has partnered with the Asian Art Museum to bring a community lantern festival to life in the museum on Sunday, February 5, which is Target Free Family Day. More details and times will be announced in early January. Chinese New Year Activities Around the Corner Once we return from break on January 3, we kick off 2012 and hit the ground running with a host of Chinese New Year activities. Lion dancers, Mass Greeting, classroom activities, Grandparents Reception, Chinese New Year Parade, Lantern Festival – it’s all happening during the months of January and February. An initial wiki page about the Chinese New Year float is up and will be continually updated. If you haven’t checked out the CAIS Community Wiki, you’re missing out. If you did not receive your wiki invitation and wish to be part of the conversation, please go to the wiki. |
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| Athletics | back to top |
 | Basketball Season Starts on a High Note Basketball season is off to a victorious start, with all wins so far this season for the Firedragon JV and varsity girls and boys. Pictures from the JV boys and girls games are available by going to the Veracross MS division page for the link and password. |
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| Library | back to top |
 | Record-breaking UNICEF Donations This Year This year's UNICEF donations are the most we have collected in CAIS's recorded history. The first and second grades led with donations of $285.65 and $248.18, respectively. Because of the trick-or-treating for UNICEF program, CAIS was able to make a total donation of $849.30 this year to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. Thanks to our Librarian, Warren Wright for coordinating these efforts. Working in over 150 countries, UNICEF provides children with health care, clean water, nutrition, education, protection, emergency relief and more. Thank you for your strong support of the UNICEF program this year. |
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