November 18, 2010
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November 18, 2010
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Upcoming EventsAll School News
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| Upcoming Events | back to top |
 | Upcoming Important Dates Start of MS Second Trimester Wednesday, November 24 Thanksgiving Holiday - No School Monday, November 29Please check our school calendar for details about upcoming events. The calendar is updated on a regular basis as events are created. Please check back regularly. |
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| All School News | back to top |
 | Film Screening and Discussion
The film attempts to answer questions including: Who are the birth parents and under what circumstances do they decide to give away their babies? How do children end up in orphanages and what kinds of lives do they live there? What do the average Chinese people feel and think about international adoption? The filmmaker interviews birth parents who share the hard decisions they have made and the emotional toll they have suffered and goes to orphanages and takes an intimate look at the living conditions of children usually inaccessible to film crews. For those interested in viewing the film the free screening and reception is tomorrow, November 19 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at 300 Wheeler Hall on the University of California, Berkeley campus. School Photo Retakes For those of you whose children missed photo day, a retake day will be announced shortly. Thank you for your patience! We Have Shifts to Fill Have fun, meet new people and make a difference; consider volunteering for this year's Holiday Faire to build community and raise proceeds for year-round events including Teacher Appreciation activities, Back-to-School events/picnics, Family Camps and much more. We have more than 100 shifts to fill in order to bring everyone an amazingly fun Holiday Faire. We have Friday evening set up positions, day of the event set up, face painters, hair wrappers, game referees and more. It's easy to sign up online, simply click here and choose from a wide variety of fun jobs. We are looking forward to a fun-filled community event this year and we can't do it without your help. Please help us spread the word and encourage other families to volunteer. Thanks! Come Cheer CAIS Roboteers at San Francisco First Lego League Tournament Come out and support the first-ever CAIS First LEGO League team in the only SF tournament on Saturday, November 20 at Notre Dame des Victoires at 659 Pine near the Stockton Sutter garage. The tournament runs from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and everyone is welcomed and encouraged to attend. The featured events are the competitions for the robots that the teams have built using LEGO Mindstorms. All the robot competitions are open to the public, but the teams are also judged on a research project presentation, robot design and programming and teamwork. If you or your kids love LEGOs, this is the event for you! The ONLY local tournament is the qualifier at Notre Dame des Victoires. If the CAIS team advances to regionals, they will travel to Sacramento. So come cheer the team on! FIRST LEGO League is an international competition that develops critical skills in science and technology in a super-charged learning atmosphere, with competitions modeled on sports tournaments. Teams of 9 to 14-year-olds design, build, program and test an autonomous LEGO Mindstorms robot along with a project developed as a solution to a real world problem developed with experts (this year's theme is Bioengineering). The competition involves students, teachers, mentors and coaches - and this year, this means more than 14,000 teams in over 50 countries. There are 383 teams in the NorCal division, but only seven from SF itself. Come join the fun this Saturday! To learn more about the First LEGO League Challenge, click here. CAIS team members include Audrey Connell (7th), Peter Huang (7th), Katy Woo (7th), Elizabeth Wu (7th), Owen Collier (6th), Erik Connell (5th), Katherine Wu (5th). Pennies Weighing you Down? Bring ‘em to School! Student government is organizing a coin drive to help build a school in Kenya through Free the Children charity. The drive began on Monday and continues through December 16. Coins are being collected in a container on the fourth floor open space and in the library on the third floor. The goal is to collect $750 and student government has committed to match the amount raised. At last glance, the container on the fourth floor was beginning to fill with not only coins, but paper dollars. If you would like to help student government with this worthy cause, please send your child to school with pocket change and we'll take it off your hands! Deadline to Register for Adult Chinese Class is Tomorrow! The Auxiliary Program is excited to offer a beginning level Chinese class for adults class starting Wednesday, December 1 from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. During the 12-week course, you will learn basic Pinyin and simplified characters, pronunciation and tones. Additionally, you will also start to understand and speak Chinese through everyday terms/language. Through conversations, and listening exercises/activities, you will be able to grasp everyday terms/language for greetings, asking for directions, introductions and asking for help. This class will be taught be Ping Xue, our very experienced Pre-K teacher. Added benefits of taking the class? You will gain an understanding of what your children are speaking at school and may even be able to read them a bedtime story! Do you also need childcare while you are attending class? Childcare during the time of the class is covered by the class fee. To register, click on the registration form here and return to either the Oak or Waller campus receptionist desk by November 19. Our first class will meet on Wednesday, December 1 and will continue through March 16. The class will meet on the following days:
If there is interest to continue with the class after the 12-week course is complete, we will continue with a second session. Classroom is to be determined.
Bring a Can or Box to School The annual Holiday Food Drive has been underway for two weeks and already a few of the bins are filled to capacity. The drive continues through December 14 and we're hoping to collect over 1,000 pounds of food for the San Francisco Food Bank to help feed our city's homeless population during the holiday season. Give once, give twice or give weekly. Bins can be found at the entrance to our Oak Street campus, in the PA corner and on the fourth floor near the middle school open space. We Need Your UNICEF Trick-or-Treating Boxes We have received good returns from the Trick-or-Treating for UNICEF activity so far and we want to extend thanks to all who participated. For those of you who still have the boxes and donations, please return them to the classroom before Thanksgiving. Fourth Grade Art Debuts at Asian Art Museum
School Photos Now Available School photos are available and boy, are they cute! Each family should have received an email with instructions on how to login and order photos, but just in case, the instructions can be found here. The photo gallery will be up through December 1 and photo packages will be delivered to school no later than December 15. |
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| Development | back to top |
 | A Generous Family Has Found a Cause: CAIS!
Be Counted Today! Since 1999, the Freeman Foundation has generously supported our community with gifts totaling over $4.8 million. CAIS is preparing to submit a grant report to the Freeman Foundation by December 10, and the more supporters we can represent in the report, the more likely they are to continue their giving, providing such necessities as professional development and tuition assistance. If you haven't already, please consider making a pledge or gift to the Annual Fund by December 6, so we can add one more to our list of supporters and make a bigger impact. Ready to make a gift now? Click here. If you are not ready to make a gift today, you may make a pledge specifying an amount to be fulfilled on a future date (payable by June 30, 2011). Please remember to send in your pledge form or fill out the online version here, even if you've made a verbal pledge to your Class Captain. |
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| Lower School | back to top |
 | Tutoring Program in Full Swing Last week 20 middle school students completed a three-session tutor training program and are now working with lower school students in a variety of areas, with a special focus on reading in Chinese and English. If you are interested in having a middle school tutor work with your child, please talk with your child's classroom teacher. This exciting program brings students together to build academic skills, boost confidence and strengthen our school community. Congratulations to the following tutors: Alvan Cai, Robert Leachman, Benjamin Lee, Maxwell Wang, Erica Wong, Ivan Jutamulia, Bailey Lanman, Kelsey Rasmussen, Jeremy Strang, Alison Tong, Gabby Wong, Siena Belda, Jonathan Chen, Jadie Chi, Avery Chung-Melino, Lena denBroeder, Brian Fong, Reika Goh, Jaclyn Lee and Irene Wang. Lower School Reads for an Audience
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| Middle School | back to top |
 | Pennies Weighing you Down? Bring ‘em to School! Student government is organizing a coin drive to help build a school in Kenya through Free the Children charity. The drive began on Monday and continues through December 16. Coins are being collected in a container on the fourth floor open space and in the library on the third floor. The goal is to collect $750 and student government has committed to match the amount raised. At last glance, the container on the fourth floor was beginning to fill with not only coins, but paper dollars. If you would like to help student government with this worthy cause, please send your child to school with pocket change and we'll take it off your hands! Golden Gate National Parks Volunteer Opportunity for MS Students Middle school students are invited to help restore critical habitat at Lands End in San Francisco this Saturday, November 20 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. A representative from the Golden Gate Parks National Volunteer Program will lead students in important environmental work. This volunteer opportunity was enjoyed by all who attended last year. Please contact Veronica Reilly if your middle school student is interested in attending, or if you would like to help chaperone this event. Tutoring Program in Full Swing Last week 20 middle school students completed a three-session tutor training program and are now working with lower school students in a variety of areas, with a special focus on reading in Chinese and English. If you are interested in having a middle school tutor work with your child, please talk with your child's classroom teacher. This exciting program brings students together to build academic skills, boost confidence and strengthen our school community. Congratulations to the following tutors: Alvan Cai, Robert Leachman, Benjamin Lee, Maxwell Wang, Erica Wong, Ivan Jutamulia, Bailey Lanman, Kelsey Rasmussen, Jeremy Strang, Alison Tong, Gabby Wong, Siena Belda, Jonathan Chen, Jadie Chi, Avery Chung-Melino, Lena denBroeder, Brian Fong, Reika Goh, Jaclyn Lee and Irene Wang. Middle School Students Partner with John Muir Elementary School Afterschool Program Two graduates of the middle school tutor training program are working with the Director of Service Learning and Diversity Education, Veronica Reilly, to support the John Muir Elementary School Afterschool Program. This program offers academic and enrichment opportunities for low income public school students in our neighborhood from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. each day. Our students have been able to offer academic support and have started to get to know the students in the program. We hope to expand our partnership with John Muir Elementary over the coming year. Interested middle school students should contact Veronica Reilly to get involved.
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| Parent Association | back to top |
 | We Have Shifts to Fill Have fun, meet new people and make a difference; consider volunteering for this year's Holiday Faire to build community and raise proceeds for year-round events including Teacher Appreciation activities, Back-to-School events/picnics, Family Camps and much more. We have more than 100 shifts to fill in order to bring everyone an amazingly fun Holiday Faire. We have Friday evening set up positions, day of the event set up, face painters, hair wrappers, game referees and more. It's easy to sign up online, simply click here and choose from a wide variety of fun jobs. We are looking forward to a fun-filled community event this year and we can't do it without your help. Please help us spread the word and encourage other families to volunteer. Thanks! Still Looking for Restaurant Vendors Do you own a restaurant or know of someone who does? Well this will be a great opportunity for them to show case their fine foods at the Holiday Faire! They can simply donate food to this event and their restaurant will be promoted before and during the event and they will also receive a tax donation receipt for their contribution. Deadline for restaurant participation is Monday, November 22. Please contact Ida Kwan if you have a lead or idea about a restaurant that would be a good partner. All proceeds generated from the Holiday Faire will benefit Teacher Appreciation events, Chinese New Year Float, School Picnics, Back-to-School Events, Family Camps, Ski Weekend and more. |
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| Athletics | back to top |
 | 2010 Season Volleyball Champions!
Firedragon Soccer Champions
Cross Country Running to Victory Our Firedragon fifth and sixth grade boys cross country teams both came in second at a recent race and the girls fifth and sixth grade team placed third and combined boys and girls seventh/eighth grade team placed fourth. Top Firedragon finishers were Ian Browne (third), Peter Carroll (fifth), Andrew Chen (sixth), Claire Jackson (second), Jaime Lau (fifth), Claire Lau (sixth), Adam Thiebault-Shay (seventh) and Lizzy Wu (fourth). Run Firedragons, run! |
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| Library | back to top |
 | Scholastic and Chinese Book Fair Next Week Join us Monday, November 29 through Friday, December 3, for the Scholastic and Chinese Book Fair event in the lower level library of our Oak Street campus. You are welcome to browse the large selection of English and Chinese reading materials for children and families any time between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Can't make it to the library that week? There will be a scaled down version of the event at the Holiday Faire on Saturday December 4. This is a great opportunity to support the school by buying books, with 50% of the profit going towards supplying books for the library and teachers' classrooms. The event gives students access to books at affordable prices and makes reading a positive experience. Children are more likely to read the books they personally get to choose and it's a great way to motivate kids to read more. The more time children spend reading, the stronger their reading skills become. Please join us to make this Book Fair the BEST our school has ever seen. |
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This is rather late notice, but we thought we would let the community know about the opportunity to screen the documentary film Long Wait for Home by Dr. Changfu Chang, followed by a discussion of the film. The documentary looks at Americans adopting babies from China and the social, cultural and economic conditions that lead to the abandonment of children in China. 
