December 3, 2009

School Food Drive Happening Now

Our community has started the annual School Food Drive now through December 14. This is an excellent chance for our students to make a difference in the community and we encourage you to support this effort to help our less fortunate neighbors. The food that our students donate will be given to the San Francisco Food Bank, the city's largest distributor of free food. The Food Bank supplies food to over 400 community service agencies and food pantries throughout the city that serve low-income families, senior citizens and other individuals in need.

We hope you will help by reminding your son or daughter to bring a donation of nonperishable food to school during the drive.

Our food donation bins are located in the PA corner and on the second through fourth floors on the CAIS side of the building at the Oak Street campus.

Winter Program Happening Next Week

The 13th annual Winter Program is next Thursday, December 10 at 6 p.m. at Herbst Theater, located at 401 Van Ness.

Students who are participating in the program must arrive by 5:30 p.m. and priority seating for elderly or for parents who have done volunteer work on the program begins at 5:30 p.m.

General audience seating is at 5:45 p.m. Anyone who needs special accommodations for seating, please contact Susan Kennedy no later than Monday, December 7.

Free H1N1 Flu Clinic in SF

A San Francisco H1N1 flu shot clinic will be held on Tuesday, December 22 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, located at 99 Grove Street in Civic Center Plaza.

Please download flyer for more information.

Holiday Faire Happening this Saturday!

The CAIS Holiday Faire is happening THIS Saturday, December 5 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the CAIS school gymnasium and the PA Council is preparing to bring you and your children a fun-filled day of food, games, and activities to make this the best Holiday Faire yet! Don't forget to bring in your donations.

Have family in town or friends from other schools? Bring them to the Holiday Faire! All family and friends are welcome.

We look forward to celebrating the holiday season with you at the Holiday Faire.

New Team Member Joins CAIS

Esther Lee has joined the CAIS Development team as Development Associate. She brings with her a wide range of professional skills and community experience that have had a great impact on her ability to raise money for causes she believes in.


She has managed donor databases, organized major fundraising events and secured private and major donor investments for nonprofit organizations, political campaigns and for the SF Giants ballpark campaign.


What excites Esther about working at CAIS is the ability to invest her professional qualities in a place where her family makes a personal investment, where the best education is offered to her children. Her son, Christopher Chun is in his second year at CAIS in Pre-K gold.


Like many CAIS community members, Esther is a self proclaimed foodie and has recently started a blog that focuses on the lunches she packs for son Christopher.


She welcomes other CAIS families to check out her blog and post their lunch stories there too. Foodielunchbox.blogspot.com.

Benefit Event For Sichuan Earthquake

On December 19, a benefit event will take place in San Francisco to help raise money to assist Chinese Overseas Council Service, an organization that provides counseling programs for children of the Sichaun earthquake.


Much like Doctors Without Borders, the Chinese Overseas Council Service is an organization made up of volunteer professional psychiatrists, counselors and psychologists who travel to China to help child victims of the earthquake cope with family loss, disruption in school and general feelings of unrest associated with a tragedy of this magnitude.


One hundred percent of the proceeds from this event benefit to the counseling service and we encourage CAIS families to participate in this fun, fashion show benefit that will be a fun evening out for a wonderful cause.


Tickets can be purchased in advance here.

Upcoming Important Dates

Scholastic and Chinese Book Fair
December 4-11

Holiday Faire
December 5

Middle School Pajama Day
December 7

Winter Program
December 10

Welcome to Winter Middle School Dance
December 11

PA Council Meeting
December 15

Half Day - Noon Dismissal
December 18

Please check our school calendar for details and additional upcoming events. The calendar is updated through the 2009-2010 school year.

Double Your Impact!

From now through Feb 15, a group of anonymous parent donors will match every gift to the Annual Fund! If you make your gift now, each of your dollars will be doubled. Please join the families who have made their gift in support of the school. Help us reach our $500,000 goal!

It's easy to donate online, simply click here.

First Graders Visit Pre-K Waller Street Campus

Last week, the first grade red and gold classes took a field trip to the Waller Street Campus to present reader's theater plays for the pre-k students. The first graders learned about reading expressively in class and were excited to perform for a real audience. Presentations included 'The Lion and the Mouse,' 'The Three Little Pigs' and 'The Tale of the Turnip.'

The pre-k children thoroughly enjoyed the performance, and immediately asked 'when will they come back and do it again?'

Special thanks to first grade teacher Anne Valentino for organizing the performance and to Pre-K teacher Bethany Paves for hosting the visitors. Thanks also go out to the families who accompanied students on the trip.

First Thanksgiving at Waller Street Campus

Pre-K students participated in their first Thanksgiving luncheon at their new facility. Many wore handmade Thanksgiving hats and ate their lunch while families socialized amongst themselves.

Welcome Pre-K Baby Brothers!

Katelyn Shu has a new baby brother; Jackson Suzuki Shu, born on November 4. Congratulations to parents Lalita Suzuki and Huidy Shu.

Santiago Cobarrubias has a new baby brother; Luca Cobarrubias, born on November 11. Congratulations to parents Fabiola Cobarrubias and Steven Deeks.

Reuben Elliston has a new baby brother; Philip Stephen Elliston, born on November 28. Congratulations to parents Amanda Elliston and John Gray.

First Graders Read to Pre-K Students

Last week, the first grade red and gold classes took a field trip to the Waller Street Campus to present reader's theater plays for the pre-k students. The first graders learned about reading expressively in class and were excited to perform for a real audience. Presentations included 'The Lion and the Mouse,' 'The Three Little Pigs' and 'The Tale of the Turnip.'

The pre-k children thoroughly enjoyed the performance, and immediately asked 'when will they come back and do it again?'

Special thanks to first grade teacher Anne Valentino for organizing the performance and to Pre-K teacher Bethany Paves for hosting the visitors. Thanks also go out to the families who accompanied students on the trip.

Congrats to Fifth Grade Teacher Ron Morris

Fifth grade teacher Ron Morris is the proud daddy of Samantha Malia Tsang Mei Morris, born November 16. He is at home enjoying time with his wife and their first baby, but made an appearance at last week's Thanksgiving luncheon to say hello to his students.

Community Service in Middle School

Students, parents, board members, faculty and staff volunteered at our Waller Street Campus neighbor, the First Baptist Church on Thanksgiving to help serve meals to the homeless this past week and were amazed by the amount of people who don't have a meal or a home to go to during the holidays.


Community service and volunteerism is an important part of our school community's values and we encourage all of you to participate in any number of service activities CAIS has arranged through the end of the school year.


Serving food to the homeless at First Baptist Church will take place every Wednesday from 3:30-5:00 p.m. starting next Wednesday, December 9 and will continue for the rest of the school year.


A sign-up sheet is posted on the fourth floor, and we are asking you all to look at your calendars to help your child find a day that will work with his or her schedule.

SF Food Bank Competition

The Middle School is conducting a SF Food Bank competition between the sixth, seventh and eighth grade red and gold classes through December 14.

There are two large bins for the Food Bank near the MS open space. One bin is marked RED and the other is marked GOLD. The classes from each grade with the most food in their bin will receive a Jamba Juice smoothie as a reward from the CAIS Student Government! This competition is held to give food to the SF Food Bank. With your help we can help feed the many starving people in San Francisco.

Welcome to Winter Dance

On Friday, December 11, Student Government will host a Welcome to Winter dance for sixth through eighth graders. It will be held in the basement cafeteria from 7 to 10 p.m. To attend, students must pay $5 and donate a food item upon entering the dance. The food items that are most needed are pasta, rice, peanut butter and canned fruits. Students must arrive at the dance by 8 p.m. otherwise they will not be permitted to enter.

The dance will be chaperoned by at least five teachers or parents. If you are willing to chaperone, you may contact Student Government or Ms. Douglass

Pizza and drinks will be available and FAIS students have been invited to attend the dance. CAIS students are allowed to bring guests. The requirements are that the guest be in middle school and have a guest form filled out and turned in to a student government officer prior to or upon entering the dance. You can download the form here.

Oak street traffic makes curbside pick-up dangerous and blocks entrance and exit lanes to the firehouse. Students must be picked up from the building at 10 p.m. because there will be no curbside pick-up. Children will not be released to adults in vehicles at curbside. You will need to park and come into the building to pick up children after the dance.

We assume that you will be picking up your child, but if you make arrangements with another adult to pick up your child, please let Ms. Douglass know before the dance.

This dance will help support the hungry citizens in San Francisco remember to bring a food item. We also ask that all adults who are not chaperoning remain outside until the cafe lights come on which will mean the dance has ended.

We look forward to seeing your children at the dance!

Eighth Grade English Teacher John Gray a New Father

John Gray and his wife Amanda Elliston welcomed Philip Stephen Elliston, born on November 28. John is taking time off to spend time with his baby, but promises to return to oversee the middle school dance next week.

Firedragon Basketball Season Begins

The Girls J.V. team will play their first game on Monday, December 8 against San Francisco Friends School. The game will be at the Bayview YMCA located at 1601 Lane Street.

The girls J.V. players are Gabby Wong, Samantha Chessen, Mirei Goling-Powers, Emma Ng, Baily Lanman and Giana Gillelen.

Chinese Education Conference Registration Is Open

Registration is open for the 4th annual CAIS Institute Chinese Education Conference. The conference is happening April 9-11, 2010 at the Westin San Francisco.

Program Highlights Include:

Book Fair Starts Friday

The Scholastic and Chinese Book Fair starts Friday, December 4 in the lower level library and will continue through December 11. The hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. every school day. A selection of Chinese materials will be available at the Holiday Faire on Saturday December 5.

Click here to view the book fair homepage. The profits from these fairs go to support the teachers and create classroom libraries and reading sets.

This year we will also collect funds to help our exchange school in Taiwan, Ren Ai Elementary in Taipei. Help us to help them purchase more English books by donating a dollar or extra change at the book fair.

CAIS Students Collect Money for UNICEF

Every year CAIS supports the United States Fund for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) by trick or treating and collecting money. UNICEF is a global organization that saves kids' lives in over 150 countries by providing clean water, nutrition, medicines, education and aid in emergencies. This year CAIS students have collected $550. Way to go!

Pride Parade Committee Meeting Postponed

The first meeting of the CAIS San Francisco Gay Pride Parade Committee will be postponed until January. Look for more information in the next Flash, so you can come help us plan for CAIS participation in the Pride Parade this June!

Diversity Groups Update

As mentioned previously in the Flash, this year CAIS would like to encourage the formation of one or more diversity groups for the school community. A diversity group in this sense is envisioned as a group that comes together around a shared interest or topic of common interest. It creates space for people to discuss issues related to that topic, build community, create fellowship, and become more able to support their children and roles as parents. They are primarily a means of support for community members who are interested in such support. The interest groups will be open to all members of the CAIS community, including families, staff and faculty. Currently there are a few groups forming.

PA Council Meeting

The next PA Council meeting will take place on Tuesday, December 15 at 8 a.m. in room 57A. All parents are encouraged to attend.