High School

NewsletterThursday - December 20, 2018

Dear Parents,

Merry Christmas to all of our families celebrating this blessed time of year. May you have a wonderful and safe Winter Holiday. Looking forward to seeing you in January 2019!

Please note that during the Winter Holiday, the Reception and Business Office will be open all weekdays, except December 25 and January 1. Office hours will be 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Kevin SchaferDirector

PRINCIPAL’S NOTEDear TAISM High School Parents:

I want to wish each of our students and parents a wonderful Winter holiday. It has been a very productive semester of learning for our students, as is reflected through their academic achievement, as is demonstrated in the comments that teachers have written about their growth and development on each stu-dent's report card, and as is evidenced by the many ways in which our students engaged in co-curricular activities this semester. It is now time for a well deserved break!

I also want to thank our teachers for their exceptional work in creating and supporting the learning experiences for our students this semester. The expertise and passion they each bring to their craft is admirable, and the many ways they support and nurture students' academic, social, emotional and physical development is the foundation upon which our Mission and Core Beliefs come to life for our students.

Please note that the Parent/Student Portal will reopen in PowerSchool in the early afternoon on Friday, December 21st, and report cards will be emailed home to students and parents in the late afternoon or early evening on Friday as well.

In the spirit of our commitment to the many facets of learning, the TAISM Learner Profile is a recently developed guiding document for our programs. Please read on to learn about how our students were developing and demon-strating the attributes in our TAISM Learner Profile this semester in their Environmental Science class. The experiences for students in Environmen-tal Science are an example of the many ways the Learner Profile was manifest in the high school this semester.

From Mr. John Gibney, HS Biology Teacher:

To achieve a TAISM graduation diploma, our students are required to take Biology, Chemistry, and Physics in high school. Many students choose to pursue deeper study of these subjects in the respective Advanced Placement (AP) courses we offer. While I love teaching AP

Biology, I want to showcase the learning that happens in our non AP electives, which include Environmental Science and Scientific Issues. In this year's Environ-mental Science class student learning has followed a project based approach and highlighted our TAISM Learner Profile.

I am Reflective - The 9 Limits Project. Students started the year by reflecting on how Earth provides us with a hospitable place to live in the Universe. Students researched how the greenhouse effect gives us a habitable planet and how ecosystems provide resources for humans to live. The project included watching a TED talk by Johan Rockstrom of the Stockholm Resilience Centre which out-lines 9 boundaries for keeping our planet hospitable (for example: climate change, biodiversity loss, deforestation, ozone depletion, ocean acidification).

I am a Contributing Community Member - Kindergarten Science Day. TAISM Kindergarten classes came and spent a day learning science with us. High school students picked topics to teach the kindergartners and then broke down the material for them. Topics included: water pollution, microscope analysis of marine biodiversity, biomagnification of plastics, and chemical spills.

I am an Inquirer - Water Testing at Azaiba Beach. Students learned about various water tests (dissolved oxygen, biological oxygen demand, coliform, pH) and then conducted a water quality report at Azaiba beach. Instead of giving stu-dents a written lab, they conducted their research and were independently respon-sible for figuring out how each test tells a diagnostic picture of our ocean’s health.

I am a Risk Taker - Extreme Green Business. Students learned about the concept of renewable and nonrenewa-ble resources through an in-depth soil laboratory experiment. While soil is a renewable resource in the sense that rocks weather down into soil, the fact that it takes so long to create soil (at least 100 years) makes it a non-renewable resource. Following the lab, students engaged in a project focused on my favorite Ted Talk by NASA Researcher Bilal Bomani on Extreme Green fuels. Students designed their own Extreme Green Businesses and taught themselves environmental eco-nomics as they presented environmentally friendly financial plans.

I am a Creative and Critical Thinker - Cli-mate Change Research. Students analyzed

past trends in climate due to Milankovitch cycles and then compared the data to cur-rent greenhouse gas emissions. They then discussed the effects of climate change and how we as a society can lessen global warming (or even engage in geoengi-neering of climate). Students completed a presentation based upon questions brought up in an informative NY Times piece “Climate Change is Complex. We’ve Got Answers to Your Questions”.

Evidence of our students engaged in the attributes of our TAISM Learner Profile.

Sincerely,Richard PetersenHigh School Principal

PRINCIPAL’S NOTE LAST WEEK

THIS WEEK

Kindred students spreading joy at the Shangri La Barr Al Jissah last Thursday night.

Pic Credit: Gokul Krishnan (TAISM Staff & Parent)

ANNOUNCEMENTS

We are getting ready to celebrate our annual International Day, on Friday, March 01, 2019. The event is open to all TAISM families and their friends. There are many ways in which you can participate in this wonderful celebration.

Represent Your Country, Share Your Cuisine! If you are interested to be a food booth coordinator, please contact Natasha to fill up a Food Booth Team Set-Up Form, before Thursday, January 17, 2019.

Share Your Talents! Dress up in your national costume and show off your hidden talents by being a part of the stage performances. Please contact Natasha to fill up a Stage Performance Form. The deadline for submission is Thursday, February 14, 2019! Vendors Are Welcome! Registration for Vendors’ Market is open until, Thursday, January 31, 2019, on a first-come, first-served basis for the TAISM community. Please contact Natasha to fill up a Vendor Market Booth Form.

Sponsors Needed To Raise Funds! If you know of any company/person who would like to support this event, please contact Natasha before Saturday, January 19, 2019.

For any further information or assistance, please contact Natasha Fernandes, Parent Volunteer Coordinator, at fernandesna@taism.com or call 92953413 or visit her at school in Room No 148.

READ READ READ over break!

Please don't take library books on trips but if you're traveling you can always

access our OverDrive ebook collection on the new Sora app!

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Below is the Parent Calendar for the Academic Year 2019-2020 that has been

approved by the TAISM Board of Directors.

We hope this helps with your planning.

The American International School of MuscatP.O Box 584 Azaiba

Postal Code 130Muscat

Sultanate of Oman

Tel: 2459 5180Fax: 2450 3815

Email: info@taism.com

www.taism.com