Dear Families and Students,

We are so glad to be back! Although the weather has been challenging, we’ve had a great start to the new school year, thanks to our wonderful faculty and staff, and, of course, the efforts our students and families made to be ready for the new school year.

As the quote above reminds us, we need to keep our eyes on the goals we set for the year ahead while keeping ourselves grounded in the reality of daily life. It’s important to have clear, achievable goals, and to hold ourselves accountable to reaching them, while recognizing that life presents its fair share of surprises and natural setbacks along the way. As a school, we’re eager to help everyone in our community reach their goals and achieve success, and together we can help each other make that happen.

In order to offer appropriate support, it is important that you make us aware of any challenges you might be facing. Please keep the lines of communication open and reach out whenever you need help. Students, talk to your divisional counselor, homeroom teacher, or any adult you feel comfortable connecting with. Parents, contact your student’s homeroom teacher, the appropriate grade or subject area teacher, and your divisional principal or assistant principal. Don’t wait until small challenges become big ones. We’re here to help.

First Day of School

E-the-Eagle made our first day last Friday, 15 August incredibly special, and he brought a lot of joy and so many smiles with him. We are especially grateful to Dr. Baumgartner or, as he is affectionately known, “Dr. B”, for welcoming in the new school year in the best possible way.

Volunteer Training

We are hosting our first annual Volunteer Training session on Wednesday, 15 October from 2:00-3:00 PM, in the 123 Hall. All parents and guardians who are interested in volunteering at AIS this year need to complete a Volunteer Training session before they are eligible to volunteer. By attending this session, parents and guardians will be prepared to support the PTA and classroom teachers with school activities such as field trips and other activities within the AIS community. The meeting is scheduled just before the PTA General Meeting to make it more convenient for potential volunteers to attend.

Please note that if you completed your Volunteer Training last year, you do not need to attend this session. If you have any questions about whether or not your training is up-to-date, please email our Leadership Assistant, Ms. Floris Lai, at floris@ais.edu.hk. She will be happy to check the list for you. If you know you need to attend a training, please SIGN UP HERE to RSVP.

First PTA Meeting

Our first PTA General Meeting will be held on 24 September from 3:15-4:30 PM in the Conference Room. All meetings this year are face-to-face. We hope that your schedule will allow you to join us!

PTA Wine & Cheese & Elementary Parent Orientation

My sincere thanks to all families who attended yesterday’s event in the 125 Hall. We appreciate you making the time to learn more about your student’s teachers, schedule, and program. It was wonderful to see so many families again and to welcome new families to our school community.

AIS Belonging Cards

We are proud of a new, bespoke resource created by AIS faculty called, AIS Belonging Cards. These cards were developed by our wonderful teachers and designed to foster a sense of belonging for students. In this lesson, students established classroom norms and collaboratively selected activities from each category. Here are some images from Mrs. Henry’s Grade 8 class today. It is easy to see the engagement!

Eagle-i Blog

Please take a moment to read our newest Eagle-i Blog, featuring our recent recognition at the 21C Greater Bay Area Awards where we received the Public Choice Award for Student Agency. We’re proud of our school, of our students and faculty, and of the innovative programming that is setting American International School apart. Take a moment to read about this special achievement. I’m sure you’ll feel the same sense of pride and accomplishment.

As always, I hope the weekend is relaxing and you find time to do things that energize and inspire you so you are ready for the week ahead. See you Monday.

My best,

Anita Simpson
Head of School