Dear Parents and Students,

Welcome to the 2022-2023 school year!

I sincerely hope that you have been enjoying your summer holidays. I know that many of you were able to spend quality time with friends and family, and some of you were able to travel for the first in a long time. I know I speak on behalf of all faculty and staff when I say that it will be wonderful to see you all again very soon. We look forward to hearing all about your summer adventures!

School Resumption – Thursday, 11 August!

We are especially excited to receive our students back on campus on Thursday, 11 August. The front gates will open at 7:40 am! On behalf of all AIS faculty and staff, we can’t wait to see you again! We have just been notified by the Education Bureau (EDB) that when we begin the new school year on Thursday, we will resume our regular health and safety practices at AIS. That means that students will continue to conduct daily Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) and bring them to school each morning in a sealed ziploc bag. Divisional Principals will provide detailed school resumption plans specific to their divisions with their families.

Please be sure to upload any new student vaccination records HERE to ensure that your child is eligible to participate in all permissible school activities, as outlined by the EDB, such as Extra-Curricular Activities (ECAs) and swimming. Currently, students require two shots to be considered eligible for participation.

It’s also not too late to order lunches from Cafe Concepts if you haven’t already! We remain very proud that our lunch program meals are healthy and contain no added chemicals, preservatives, or food coloring.

Apple Plan

We are excited to be officially launching our Apple Learning Plan this year, as part of our commitment to becoming an Apple Distinguished School (ADS). As communicated in March, 2022, AIS will begin our 1:1 Apple program this fall. Here are the links to our previous messages sent by Divisional Principals: ES | MS | HS.

As you know, Apple devices will be our primary digital learning tools at AIS, so it is very important that your child comes to school prepared to learn with their Apple devices. We understand that some of our new families are only learning of this expectation now, and therefore they will not necessarily have their devices on the first day of school. Teachers will do their best to differentiate assignments in order to accommodate situations such as these, but we highly encourage all families to secure their required Apple devices as soon as possible.

Additional information about Apple device requirements can be found here. I am also happy to reshare our divisional links to our Apple purchase portal for your convenience:  ES | MS | HS

Communication

At AIS, we believe in the importance of ongoing communication to ensure a positive and productive learning environment. Making sure to connect with your child’s teacher(s) and Divisional Principals whenever needs arise is essential to supporting student learning, wellbeing, and academic achievement. We often say, “Communicate early and often.” This practice helps us to avoid potential misunderstandings and promotes important communication skills we develop with our students. When parents and families work together, we make a powerful difference in the lives of our students.

Traffic on Waterloo Road

Parents and families who drop students off in front of the school are kindly asked to ensure that they spend as little time doing so as possible. Please make sure that you and your child are prepared to exit the vehicle without delay. Our school buses are the only vehicles that are permitted to drop off in that area, and we have received several concerns from the Department of Transportation about the number of personal vehicles who stop there each day and the length of time the vehicles spend in front of Gate 123. We wish to avoid a situation where they change the designation to a no-stopping area.

Please note that drop offs can also be arranged on surrounding streets. You may also wish to consider enrolling your child in school bus services as well. Please visit California Coach or complete this School Bus Service Application to sign-up. Let’s work together to keep Waterloo Road free from congestion and safe for our students and families!

Registration

Thank you to all of our families for ensuring that your children are registered for school and that they’re ready to begin on Thursday, 11 August. For those of you who were unable to complete the process this week, you will soon receive a reminder email. If you receive an email but have already registered, kindly contact the office. Should you need to come on campus to register during late registration on Tuesday, 9 August, you may book an appointment.

New Faculty

It is my pleasure to take this opportunity to welcome our New Faculty to AIS. We have a wonderfully talented group of teachers joining us this year, and I know you will extend a warm AIS welcome to them all. We want to formally thank our Parent Teacher Association (PTA) for their incredibly warm welcome this week and especially our President, Ms. Bonnie Chun. A lovely array of snacks and beverages were available every day of our New Faculty Orientation Week, and we are grateful!

Enjoy the last few days of summer holiday. We look forward to seeing you soon!

My best,

Anita Simpson
Head of School