The International School

Big Town Hero is not scheduled to deliver lunches on Thursday, March 5th.  This day was originally on the calendar as a half-day and was not included in the order forms/pricing for Big Town Hero this session.  Please remember to send your child to school with a packed lunch on March 5th.  Lunch deliveries will resume the following Tuesday and continue until Spring Break, at which point parents will have the opportunity to re-enroll in the final Big Town Hero delivery session.

The current, correct calendar is always available on the web site under “Parent Resources”.

This information has all been published prior – this is simply a reminder:

• This Friday, February 27: no school, SquareGator is open (teachers will be working on report cards)
• Thursday, March 5: full regular day of school (the printed calendar says noon dismissal – this is a change)
• Friday, March 6: no school, teacher conferences all day, SquareGator open
• March 23-27: Spring Break, SquareGator running full day camps all week
• Monday, April 20: Latino Festival at Reed College (this is a change from the printed calendar)

To enroll for any SquareGator vacation day camps, please contact them to sign up at www.SquareGator.com

In InTheKnow this week!

A new issue is ready for you every Monday at 2pm, so just click on the InTheKnow section, bottom right corner of the home page www.intlschool.org

For this week’s news:

• Click here for InTheKnow “all-in-one”
• Click here for InTheKnow “by the headlines”

Welcome to the first edition of the “Board’s Corner.” The Board’s Corner is a new monthly ITK submission to bring you updates on Board developments. If you have specific ideas for a topic to be addressed by the Board’s Corner or questions for the Board you can send an email to board@intlschool.org.

This year, we have added five new talented Board members, four are current parents and one is a community member. They are: Scott Kerman; George Nakata; William Clydesdale; Jennifer Cooperman; and Laura Sokolowski. We are thrilled to welcome them to the Board–they all bring amazing skills and experiences to the Board and TIS.

Many of you recall that this summer, the Board directed the Governance Committee to develop a sub-committee of Board members and parents with experience in corporate governance and/or education to perform a comprehensive review of TIS’ by-laws. The purpose of the review was to ensure that the school was following best practices for governance of independent schools and that the by-laws complied with Oregon law for non-profit corporations. The sub-committee began its work in September 2008. The process has included consulting with the Executive Director of PNAIS, several working sessions and meetings, and ultimately, proposed revisions to our current by-laws.

The sub-committee is almost complete with its review and the proposed revised by-laws will be presented at the next Board meeting for Board review. Once the by-laws are presented to the Board we will post them on the website for parents and other community members to review. Because several Board members will be traveling on Capstone, the March 19, 2009 meeting will be rescheduled to a date in April. We will provide the date of the next full Board meeting to parents prior to that time. Please attend these Board meetings, they will provide great insight into the many projects the Board is working on with Dr. Grasmuck for the benefit of TIS. Minutes of past Board meetings have been posted on the website for your review.

We are excited to announce that Dr. Alfonso Orsini will be visiting the school during the week of March 30, 2009. The Board is developing a transition team to assist Dr. Orsini learn about TIS and integrate into the parent and Portland community. Dr. Orsini, the Board and the administrative staff are working to ensure that the transition will be as seamless as possible and we can continue to build on the great work being done this year under Dr. Stephan’s Grasmuck’s leadership. The transition team will include three Board members, Dr. Grasmuck, and members of the administrative team. Dr. Orsini and Dr. Grasmuck have already been communicating about the transition. During Dr. Orsini’s visit, the Board will host several events for parents to meet and discuss the school with Dr. Orsini. We will provide a schedule of these opportunities once the details are finalized. We strongly encourage every parent to take this opportunity to meet the future leader of our school–we are confident that you will be as impressed with his passion for education, IB and TIS’ mission as we are.

The Board is preparing to submit its application to the United States Department of Education (DOE) for The Customs House. The deadline to submit our application is March 6, 2009. The application is a complicated and arduous task that has been handled primarily by Board member Katherine Topaz and TIS Marketing Director Linda Bonder. Other Board members and all of the administrative team and teachers have provided assistance along the way. Thank you to Kat, Linda and all of you who are assisting in this endeavor.

Once the application is submitted, the school will know anywhere from two weeks to two months whether DOE will award the school the building. At that time, the Board will consider whether The Customs House is the appropriate move considering our Strategic Plan, the financial feasibility, parent input and other prudent factors. We have designated one Board member, Scott Kerman, to monitor parent input and provide a plan to address such input. In addition, Scott will prepare a plan for parents to provide additional opportunities for input prior to the time that the Board makes its decision. If you want to provide input now (and we encourage you to do so), you can always do that at customshouse@intlschool.org. The comments provided are extremely valuable to the Board, so please make your voice heard. This is an important decision for all of us.

Michelle Kerin
President
Board of Trustees

In commemoration of International Women’s Day on March 8, 2009, Miracle Theatre Group will present a staged reading and community forum in Spanish about the important work that women do in the Latino community. Members of Miracle Theatre’s Teatro Español ensemble will present Entre nos (“Between Us”) by Santiago Serrano, a one-act play that addresses the isolation of women by a society that, in spite of many changes, continues to be chauvinistic. A forum led by community leaders will follow; childcare will be provided free of charge. The program begins at 2 p.m., Sunday, March 8, 2009 at the Milagro Theatre (525 SE Stark St., Portland). Admission is free; no reservations necessary. For more information, call 503-236-7253 or visit www.milagro.org. For more information about International Women’s Day: http://www.internationalwomensday.com.

En conmemoración del Día Internacional de la Mujer el 8 de marzo del 2009, el Miracle Theatre Group presenta en español una lectura dramatizada y un foro comunitario con el tema de la importancia del trabajo de la mujer en la comunidad latina. Miembros de Teatro Español, una compañía de actores hispanohablantes del Miracle Theatre Group, presentan Entre nos escrita por Santiago Serrano, una obra que habla de la soledad de la mujer, pero también habla del trabajo que hacen todas estas compañeras por sobrevivir, por luchar en una sociedad que a pesar de muchos cambios, sigue siendo machista. Después de la presentación, hay un foro con líderes de la comunidad. El programa empieza a las 2 p.m., el 8 de marzo del 2009, en el Milagro Theatre (525 SE Stark St., Portland). La entrada es gratuita; no es necesario hacer reservaciones con anticipación. Se proveerá cuidado infantil. Para más información, llame al 503-236-7253 o visite al www.milagro.org. Para más información acerca del Día Internacional de la Mujer: http://www.internationalwomensday.com.

Capstone
The Capstone Trips Abroad Program remains the highlight of the students’ international immersion education experience at TIS. A unique and profoundly significant travel/immersion opportunity for our grade 5 students, Capstone also meshes so perfectly with the IB-PYP philosophy in many ways.

Our Japanese 5th grade students returned from Japan last fall and gave wonderful presentations on both Grandparents’ Day and at a recent PTO meeting. The students demonstrated such maturity of thought, obvious linguistic skill, and poise as presenters. All of this made for truly delightful opportunities for others to learn about the Japanese Capstone trip.

Next week, both the Spanish and Chinese tracks embark upon their Capstone trips abroad. We will wish them well next week as a send-off. We also look forward to equally informative and entertaining presentations by the students upon their return. We shall schedule these presentations by the grade 5 students sometime following the March Break.

Sakura Matsuri
Congratulations to the students and staff of the Japanese track. By all accounts, yet again, the students presented a wonderful Sakura Matsuri Festival last Friday in the school gym. Well done to all!

Strategic planning
As the team continues to refine the goals and action strategies with stakeholder input, the Board of Trustees is now in the process of working closely again with the Strategic Planning Team. The next steps involve the shaping and honing to a fine point the ultimate details of this important process in the future direction of the school.

Fire Drill
We continue with our series of monthly fire drills. The next drill is planned for this week.

Dr. Stephan Grasmuck

If you have a child who will be starting at TIS for the first time in the 2009 – 10 academic year, you must submit an application to the Admission Office by March 1 in order to guarantee a spot for next year. You can find the application at http://www.intlschool.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/pdf/application_form.pdf or stop by the Main Office for a paper copy.

Thanks, and if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at anytime at jwilliams@intlschool.org.

Jan Williams
Director of Admissions

Financial Aid Applications for 2009 – 2010 have been mailed to all
families who received financial aid this year or requested the forms for this
year. If you have not received an application and wish to apply for
financial aid in the 2009 – 2010 school year, please contact Jan Williams in
the Admissions Office at 503-226-2496 ext 209 or admissions@intlschool.org
immediately to receive the forms.

Thanks,
Jan Williams
Director of Admissions

Calling all parents…

Help raise money for the TIS library, and gain some space on your bookshelves at home!  Donate your adult fiction/non-fiction books at school, and we will sell them to Powell’s Bookstore.  Some Japanese adult fiction donated by Japanese track parents has already earned us a $150 Powell’s credit.  We will use that money to buy books and resources for our children to use in the library.

So if you have any books on your bookshelves that you don’t think you’ll ever read again, please consider making a donation.  Starting next week, there will be marked donation boxes in the lobbies of Corbett, Stearns Hall and the Main Building.  Thank you!!

Heidi Fouser, parent volunteer
fouser@comcast.net