Dear Parents, Students, Faculty and Friends,

We are back in session after October Break. The weather has been fantastic, and it’s the perfect time of the year for some of our teachers to run a class outdoors.

Lots of action happening on campus.

Nine SCIS teachers joined 17 other educators today, Saturday and Sunday as they take part in the 3rd of 5 sessions led by well-respected math consultant Erma Anderson. Erma was on campus two times last year and many of the parents were fortunate to hear how the pedagogy of math has changed in the last thirty years, and how deep understanding requires a different way of teaching and learning than simply knowing how to solve problems with algorithms. Her sessions are always illuminating to me in pointing out what I think I know – but don’t fully understand.  The dedicated teachers in the Cohort are in the midst of 2-year program and will earn the distinction of becoming a K-8 Math Specialist in International Schools upon completion.

I was also fortunate (as were many of you) to attend (US Counselor) Maya Kelly’s presentation to parents on our Sexuality and Relationships program in grades 6-12. We are really appreciate of the parent questions and support in making the program meaningful and successful. And, congratulations to Maya for coordinating this much-needed element for our students.

This weekend will be a busy on as well.

Approximately 20 parents will spend their Saturday morning at SCIS Pudong, attending an informative workshop on Positive Discipline, hosted in Mandarin language. To those parents who are attending… THANK YOU!  This is a fantastic program, and helps to promote a consistent philosophy of discipline between school and home. If, after hearing it, you still don’t wish to implement it, at least you will better understand the approach we try to take with students here at school. I encourage all parents to learn more about this program; it helps in so many of the tricky situations that we as parents find ourselves in daily. A big thank you to Liz Gale, Laurie Luebbe, and Molly Myers who are leading this development.

Our SCIS PD Swimmers are taking part in a big swim meet hosted at SCIS HQ. Come out and support the Dragon Swimmers!

Our Varsity Boys and Girls Volleyball teams are in SISAC tournament action on Saturday. This tournament includes teams from all over Shanghai, and is one of the culminating events for the season.
    The boys play at SAS Puxi. The girls play at Concordia. Come out and support the Dragons!

Stay tuned for this upcoming schoolwide events on the horizon.

• Friday, Oct. 19 – SCIS Progress Reports released
• Thursday, Oct. 25 – Parent-Teacher Conference. No school for students.
• Saturday, Oct. 27: PAFA Halloween Festival

As always, if you have questions, suggestions, or concerns, please reach out.

Wishing you all a relaxing weekend.

Derek Luebbe
Head of School

Photos From Around the Campus

Dear Parents, Students, Faculty, and Friends,

This week’s edition conveys more in photos than it does in text. Last week’s UNIDOP Day (United Nations International Day of Peace) and today’s Kindergarten Reading Parade make for some excellent photos, and are easy ways to see the importance of how the support of parents adds so much to our students’ experience.

If you don’t already know, I encourage all parents to learn more about the Parent-Groups we are trying to organize around our belief in “Positive Discipline.” We have workshops and book clubs (in English and Mandarin) which parents can join. As both an educator and a parents, I can assure you that developing skills in Positive Discipline is a great way deal with the inevitable day-to-day struggles of being a parent. And, knowing that children benefit when they hear consistent messages at home and at school, developing a stronger understanding of Positive Discipline helps build a more consistent framework for your child. You can learn more about Positive Discipline at this website, or by contacting our Lower School Principal Liz Gale (egale@scis-china.org).

Don’t forgot that Monday, October 8 is not a school day for students. Our teachers have a Professional Development Day on the day.

On behalf of the entire faculty, I wish each of you a relaxing vacation. We will see you all, re-charged and ready to go, on Tuesday, October 9. 

Happy Moon Festival,

Derek Luebbe
Head of School

 

 

Dear Parents, Students, Faculty and Friends,

The rainy weather contrasts against the bright and vibrant colors of today’s United Nations International Day of Peace celebration, followed by our Varsity Volleyball Big Game / Senior Night.  (Many of the photos of these events will have to wait until next week’s blog post.)

A big thank you to all of parents who attended (and those who helped support the day with preparations!).  Enjoying the diversity of 40+ nations walking across the stage is a humbling event, and one that we should not take for granted. Because of the diversity of SCIS, our students benefit from being uniquely prepared to understand and solve global and regional problems that require a high degree of cultural and inter-personal understanding.  Whether it’s watching the Parade of Nations, listening to our musicians, or taking part in our Early Childhood Ceremony in the morning, it is rewarding to see how much each student benefits from the simple exposure to and awareness of those that are different.  It’s another way that our community strengthens the experience that each of our children receive.  If you were unable to attend our assembly, the entire event has been shared as a Live-Streamed event.

If you are a parent looking to get more involved with the school and/or you know someone who could help,  we are seeking help with two initiatives.

1. Our Parent-School Volunteer Initiative highlighted a number of different ways that parents can help give our students and better experience.
2. We are currently looking to expand our list of possible substitute teachers. If you are interested in learning more, please contact Naomi Shanks (nshanks@scis-china.org ) for more information.

And lastly, this blog post will likely sent out at the same time that our Varsity Boys and Girls are playing in the Big Game Night / Senior Night matches. Both of these volleyball matches will be Live-Streamed at this link. I do want to give a special shout-out to our Varsity Girls Team who has gone undefeated thus far in city play. Tonight’s match against SMIC is the last regular season SISAC (Shanghai schools) match, and a victory would give SCIS-PD it’s first Girls Volleyball championship!  Additionally it will place the team as the #1 seeds heading into the October 13 tournament against all other Shanghai schools.  As a school, we have not won a Varsity Girls SISAC Championship before. Congratulations to Coach Vic, Coach Riann (Caban), and the girls on a potentially record-settting season. And, best of luck to the Boys and Girls teams in this afternoon’s matches and the upcoming October tournaments!

As you all know, Monday is a holiday. I hope you are able to enjoy some rest and relaxation with family and friends.

Warm regards,

Derek Luebbe
Head of School
dluebbe@scis-china.org

Dear Parents, Students, Faculty, and Friends,

Today was a quiet week at SCIS as the Upper School students were away to various regions in China as part of their China Go trips.

It’s a great way for the students to build new relationships, strengthen the classroom community with their advisors, engage in Service Learning, and see different parts of the diversity of China.  You will see a few of the photos from the China Trips below, and you can check out the Upper School’s Principal Post for more photos and information.

 

Speaking of diversity, on Friday, September 21, SCIS will celebrate the annual United Nations International Day of Peace (UNIDOP). Each year, this is truly a celebration of the diversity we have on this campus, the value which comes with that diversity, and reminder of the power that our students’ unique perspective gives them in helping to make the world a better place in the future. They are uniquely positioned to do so, and we want to foster that with our annual schoolwide assembly at 1:30 on Friday in the auditorium. One important aspect of this celebration is our Parade of Nations in which students and parents walk across the stage to celebrate the nationality(ies) that represent(s) their family. Please see a list of the 40 nationalities below to ensure it includes all the countries your family/child would represent.

Today (and through the weekend) was also a special day of Professional Development. Most of our  Lower School teachers took part in a specialized workshop let by Erin Kent, a worldwide consultant in teaching literacy through the Columbia Teachers College Reading and Writing Workshop (TCRRW). This method of literacy instruction is the program followed by our Lower School teachers. The TCRRW is child-centered, inquiry-based naturally differentiated approach so that students are collectively working on skills by reading books of their interest and ability level. We’re proud to be hosting Erin to allow our teachers to continually refine their practices.

In early October, SCIS Pudong will host the 3^rd weekend workshop (of 5) in the two-year program leading to additional specialized certification in mathematics. The program is entitled the Math Specialist in International Schools. It is led by renowned math expert Erma Anderson. Approximately 25 educators from around Asia (including 12 SCIS teachers) are taking part in the program to receive this additional certification. For parents lucky enough to have heard Erma present, she speaks about how traditional math programs struggle to teach mathematical thinking and reasoning and instead rely too much on algorithmic solutions and superficial understanding. It’s a fascinating topic, and we are trying to find some time for Erma to share additional presentations with parents when she is here next month. But for those of you who are curious, you can see a video of one Erma’s sessions online via YouTube, at this link. (You will need to be behind a VPN.)

SCIS is committed to providing our teachers with professional development the represents best practices in education. This year, our plate is rather full. Inquiry expert Kath Murdoch will lead a weekend workshop at SCIS Pudong to educators all over Asia. We were also granted the opportunity to host an IB Regional Conference in March, where IB educators from over 50 schools will take part in one of 15 different workshops to strengthen our IB program and practices. Lastly, SCIS Hongqiao  will be this year’s host for the ACAMIS Leadership Conference in March, welcoming over 500 educators to it’s campus and allowing SCIS faculty to benefit greatly from spending a few extra days with some of the regions top consultants.

This spills over into our current initiative for supporting parents through our Positive Discipline workshops. If you want to expand your parenting tool-kit and learn alternative strategies for how to respond at home to the  struggles that parents face daily, then inquire with Lower School Liz Gale (egale@scis-china.org ) how you can learn more about our book club and/or workshops being held at the school in both English and Chinese.

I wish you a pleasant weekend and hope you’re able to spend some time outdoors enjoying the lovely weather.

Sincerely
Derek Luebbe
Head of School

 

International Day of Peace (UNIDOP)

Our annual UNIDOP ( United Nations Int’l Day of Peace) celebration will be September 21, 2018 at 1:30 in the SCIS theater.  We want to ensure that we have all the flags representing our diverse student body at SCIS. Please check the list to see the flags on the line-up and write Laurie Luebbe (lluebbe@scis-china.org) if you would like to have another one displayed.  The deadline to make changes is WEDNESDAY, September 19^th.  STUDENTS will able to walk across the stage when their flag is displayed.   Some students will walk more than once if they identify with more than one nation.
List of Nations:
China (HK, Taiwan, Macau)
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Canada
Czech Republic
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
India
Indonesia
Iran
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Japan
Lebanon
Malaysia
Mexico
Netherlands
Nepal
Norway
Philippines
Russia
Serbia
Singapore
South Africa
South Korea
Spain
Sweden
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
Ukraine
Tanzania
USA
Venezuela

 

 

Dear Parents, Students, Faculty and Friends,

As we roll into September, the Upper School is preparing for their China Go Trips – where each grade level spends a week in various cities around China. It’s  great way for students and faculty to bond as they experience different parts of this wonderful country and contribute to a variety of different service projects.

Our PAFA representatives met last week to kick off the year. During the meeting, I shared an initiative that we are looking to implement this year to provide more opportunities for PAFA and the faculty to work together to give our students even more opportunities to experience all that our community has to offer. More information on our initiative is provided below.

Our school continues to welcome new families. As is always the case each year, a few families join us in late August and early September due to travel issues. Our enrollment stands at 405 and continues to grow. I’m ever-appreciative of the “SCIS Fantastic Parents” (literally and figuratively) who make their transition to our community a smooth one. It’s a simple way we showcase as Dragon Spirit – knowing that at one point or another, we were each the new family joining this community.

I wish each of you a relaxing weekend.

Go Dragons,
Derek Luebbe

Increasing Opportunities for Students By Strengthening the PAFA / School Connection

In collaboration with PAFA President Vanessa Thomas, and as we shared in the Sept 4 PAFA meeting, we are pleased to introduce a new initiative aiming to better link our community with experiences that benefit our students. The goal is quite simple: Improve our students’ experience by providing an easy communication platform to allow the school to request potential areas for community involvement, and use that same platform to allow parents to recommend and volunteer potential community resources that may enrich the students’ experience.

Our initial brainstorm involves the creation of a dynamic list of opportunities to get involved. We expect this list to change as the year progresses. While each of these activities may not ultimately take place, we hope that by sharing the initiative, we recognize even more potential areas which can support students.

Research shows that students benefit from the development of an involved parent community, and our goal is to provide increased opportunities for that to take place at SCIS.

Please have a look at the list we have developed thus far.

SCIS Pudong PAFA Parent Volunteer Initiative 2018

We will post a link permanently on the right hand menu of this Head of School blog. You can check it for updates throughout the year.

If you are interested in volunteering your time, energy or experience in one of these areas – of if you have other ideas – please reach out to Vanessa Thomas (pdpafa.president@scis-china.org ) or Laurie Luebbe (lluebbe@scis-china.org )

Lice Reminder

As the blog post from September 6 stated, we did have a few cases of lice noticed by our school nurse yesterday. Please re-read that post if you missed it.

Swimming at SCIS

Two  different messages regarding SCIS swimming are shared below.

Did you know that SCIS has Saturday Swimming? SCIS has partnered with Multi-Sport Swim to provide weekend swim sessions for a variety of ages and abilities. If you are interested in learning more about this program, contact Multi-Sport Swim Coordinator, Dale Johnson Dale Johnson at djohnson@multisport.com.cn

To all of our Swim Team families, please check your SCIS parent email for info on this year’s swimming program. If your child is currently not a member of the SCIS Swim Team, but would like to be, please contact a member of our Swim Team staff:

LS Head Coach: Tarsi Bali tbali@scis-china.org
MS Head Coach: Larissa Mount lmount@scis-china.org
HS Head Coach: Oscar Wu owu@scis-china.org

Practice Evacuation Drills

Last week, students participated in two practice evacuation drills. One of the drills is announced and one is unannounced. The drills allow us to practice our evacuation procedures in case there was a real emergency such as a fire.

The students and staff were very attentive to details and the drills went well. In subsequent weeks, we will practice our drill for an Intruder Alert.

Drills such as these are one way to ensure we’re aiming to keep students safe. Let’s hope we never need to use them in a real situation.

Pork Product to be temporarily removed from SCIS Lunch Menu

You have have seen this message on our cafeteria page, but I felt it’s wise to share it here as well.

Due to the outbreak of African Swine Flu within China, we will temporarily remove pork products from our menu options at all SCIS cafeterias and cafes. While we are aware that this strain of flu is not harmful to humans, we choose to be proactive with this measure as we also recognize there will likely be a disruption in our supply. We will continue to monitor the situation and will update this page once we are cleared re-introduce it back into our menus. For any questions about this or other matters please email Byron at byron@kaijun-food.com

Photos From Around SCIS

SCIS Pudong PAFA Parent Volunteer Initiative 2018-19

Structure: Working with SCIS faculty, parent volunteers allow the school to offer an increasing number of experiences to benefit our students.

Purpose: SCIS has always benefitted from a strong sense of community, and we hope to build upon that foundation.  Our students benefit from greater opportunities. The SCIS community is strengthened as we work together to support them.

Process: Opportunities can be proposed by faculty or parents. Opportunities will move forward upon approval from divisional Principal and the Head of School.  Potential activities are displayed below. Interested parents should contact the PAFA President Vanessa Thomas at pdpafa.president@scis-china.org  

This page was last updated on Sept. 7, 2018.

=========================

Activity/Description: Lower School First Lego League ASA

We have a successful Middle School Lego Robotics Program. We are hoping to expand that into the Lower School ASA program – and eventually into more of the mainstreamed curricular units. This activity would start in November and carry through to Feb. 16 where a tournament is held with other Shanghai schools.

Faculty Sponsor: Barry Johnson (bjohnson@scis-china.org )
Parent Volunteer(s): Avashai Chelouche and ____________
Status: Not Yet Active. Seeking at least one more parent volunteer. Parents can contact the faculty sponsor for more information.

 

Activity/Description: Parent Volunteer Coordinator(s)

This position would assist the school in locating many of the exciting opportunities that exist in Shanghai. Teachers have units of study that can connect to opportunities in Shanghai (field trips, speakers, museum exhibits, need for parent/community volunteers to provide authentic audiences/judges for student projects, etc.). Communication would be two-way. Parents may want to make the school aware of potential opportunities in Shanghai. They would communicate with the Coordinator.  Faculty may be looking for ideas, and they would communicate with the Coordinator, who would then share the request with others. This position will be more effective if at least one parent is a Mandarin speaker.

Faculty Sponsor: Laurie Luebbe (lluebbe@scis-china.org )
Parent Volunteer(s): __________
Status: Not Yet Active. Seeking at least one more parent volunteer. Parents can contact the faculty sponsor for more information.

 

Activity/Description: Positive Discipline Parent Book Club Leader(s)

Do you ever wish you had a few more tools in your parenting tool kit? SCIS is working to more effectively integrate Positive Discipline in our classrooms and community. Parents (and children!) will greatly benefit from this philosophy and the associated practices.

The school will host a number of workshops for parents (in both Mandarin and English) for interested parents. We are also looking for parent-leaders who would want to organize and run a book study of the Positive Discipline book.  Book studies can be offered/conducted in any language.  Volunteers can receive training from the school in Positive Discipline and in conducting effective book studies.

Faculty Sponsor: Liz Gale (egale@scis-china.org )
Parent Volunteer(s): __________
Status: Not Yet Active. Seeking at least one parent volunteer. Multiple book studies can run simultaneously depending on interest and language preference. Parents can contact the faculty sponsor for more information.

 

Activity/Description: Sharing Cultural Celebrations

Parents sharing their culture benefits everyone. Last year, we had some fantastic representation from our Brazilians (Carnival), Finnish (celebrating 100 year birthday), and Indian (Diwali) to name just a few. Sharing celebrations can take many forms (a kiosk of information, decorations, food, inter-active displays, etc.). Working with our school’s Community Relations Officer, we would welcome additional opportunities to share more cultural events this year.

Faculty Sponsor: Laurie Luebbe (lluebbe@scis-china.org )
Status: Parents can contact Mrs. Luebbe at any time.

 

Activity/Description: Lunch Time or After-School Activities (example: Passport Club)

Parents can supplement classroom learning or introduce new opportunities with lunch activities or after-school activities. For example, there is an established program for Grades 1-5 called the Passport Club which helps make learning world geography more fun and can be entirely run by parents. Other opportunities exist. Some of our parents may have a unique skill set or interest in helping students learn about other aspects, and we are open to ways that we can better give those opportunities to students.

Faculty Sponsor: Laurie Luebbe (lluebbe@scis-china.org )
Parent Volunteer(s): __________
Status: Not Yet Active. Seeking at least one parent volunteer or a team of parents to collaborate on a given topic. Parents can contact the faculty sponsor for more information.

 

Activity/Description: Student Leadership Coaching

Many of our parents have experience in leadership positions . We would welcome their insights to help our aspiring student-leaders be more effective and prepared for the future by increasing their skill-set through presentations, modeling, and/or mentoring student leaders in our student government.

Faculty Sponsor: Frank Volpe (Upper School) or Liz Gale (Lower School)
Parent Volunteer(s): __________
Status: Not Yet Active. Parents can contact the faculty sponsor for more information.

 

Activity/Description: Parent Job/Career Presenters

Many of our parents are involved in careers that are uniquely related to units of study in various fields (scientists, researchers, engineers, etc.). More broadly, we run various Career Days for different ages, and having parent volunteers who can come into speak to the students opens their eyes to the possibilities and challenges that await them beyond SCIS. If you are in such a role, share your name and we can contact you to discuss opportunities.

Faculty Sponsor: Laurie Luebbe (lluebbe@scis-china.org )
Parent Volunteer(s): Kathy Lagarto
Status: Parents can submit their name at any time and be added to our database.

 

Activity/Description: Library Readers / Mother-Tongue Resource Advisors

Our library has a number of ways that parents can support students.

English language development comes from a strong base in a student’s mother-tongue. For that reason, we encourage parents to read to their children in their native language at home. To extend that idea, we invite parent-readers to come into the library to read stories in their mother-tongue to our younger students.

Additionally, we are always looking to expand our library’s selection of high-quality mother-tongue resources so that students can check out books in both languages. You can assist us in helping us find high quality authors and books in your language to add to our library.

Faculty Sponsor: Emily Williams (ewilliams@scis-china.org )
Parent Volunteer(s): __________
Status: Not Yet Active. Seeking at least one parent volunteer from various language groups.

 

Activity/Description: Drama Parent Assistant(s)

Each year, SCIS puts on a major theater production. We would welcome parent assistance in helping design/source costumes, apply student make-up, coordinate an after-show “Cast Party”, and other opportunities.

Faculty Sponsor: Sam Riddle (sriddle@scis-china.org )
Parent Volunteer(s): __________
Status: Not Yet Active. Seeking at least one parent volunteer.

 

Activity / Description:  PAFA Booster Parents

Parents can help support our extra-curricular program to helping organize and/or run our weekend and evening concessions.  This is a great way to fund-raise, build community, and make our events more special for athletes, performers, and audience members.

Faculty Sponsor: Vic Caban (vcaban@scis-china.org )
Parent Volunteer(s): __________
Status: Not Yet Active. Seeking at least one parent volunteer or a team of parents to learn more.

 

Activity / Description: Graphic Design

Occasionally, we have events that need the touch of a more experienced designer to create posters to display around school and/or send home via email/blog posts. If you are able to help, we’d always appreciate the assistance. Additionally, we may have students who wish to pursue this interest and learn more about it. If you are willing to work with students to help them learn the theory and technical skills involved in becoming a successful graphic designer, reach out to us.

Faculty Sponsor: Laurie Luebbe (lluebbe@scis-china.org )
Parent Volunteer(s): _____________
Status: Not Yet Active. Seeking at least one parent volunteer or a team of parents to learn more.

Return to Main Head of School Blog

Dear Parents and Teachers,

This is a special update to notify everyone regarding a case of lice in the school. Since it is the beginning of the year, I felt it’s an opportune time to communicate with everyone regarding this topic.

Two attachments are included, and the text from each is copied below.
Lice SCIS Pudong Sept 6 2018
Information Regarding Head Lice

 

Dear Parents/Caregivers of SCIS Pudong

This afternoon a few cases of head lice were found in both Lower and Upper School divisions.  As a precaution, each affected grade level was checked.  This letter is simply an additional precaution to help ensure a transparent communication process for everyone in our school community.

It is very important that families do regular checks at home as well.  In the future, if you find your child has lice, please notify the school immediately.  When a case of lice is reported to us either by a parent or a teacher, we check the grade level and all students who the infected child has come in contact with.  We also do regular checks of the entire school population.

Head lice are passed from person to person by direct contact or by shared objects such as towels, combs, and hats.  It is important to know that this is not a matter of hygiene, but rather a simple contact and exposure issue. You can help us prevent the spread of lice by checking your child’s hair regularly and by watching for symptoms.

What to look for:

• Small light or dark brown insects without wings.
• Tiny white eggs (nits) on the hair shafts.
• An intense itching on the head and neck.

What to do:

• Please advise the school if you find head lice.
• Check ALL members of the household at the same time and treat those who have head lice.
• Use an effective head lice treatment. The pharmacy can advise you.
• After the treatment, comb the hair with a fine-tooth comb to remove as many eggs as possible.
• Extra precautions include washing all bed linen and towels with hot water, or tumble drying for 20 minutes on high. Items such as hats and helmets should also be thoroughly cleaned
• Soak combs, brushes etc. in hot water for at least ten minutes.
• Vacuuming carpets may help.

Important:

Please understand that we are unable to admit students to class that have head lice or nits. After a successful treatment, the student will need to visit the school nurse to confirm a return to class. It is essential that treatments are successful to avoid spread to other students. If your child has been diagnosed with head lice or nits please continue to check all household members daily, for 3 weeks, following an outbreak.  Re-treat anyone found to have head lice or nits.  Repeat treatment 7 to 10 days after initial treatment.

Please remember that just treating the hair will not eradicate the problem. Check the hair of all household members daily during an outbreak and once a week at other times. Remind children to avoid direct head- to-head contact.  Please report any cases of lice or nits to the school.

If you have questions or would like further information, please contact the school nurse, Ms. Lynn Fu at lfu@scis-china.org

We appreciate your support and attention to this matter, as we look to ensure the well-being of all our students.

Warm Regards,
Derek Luebbe                                       
Head of School
dluebbe@scis-china.org                           

===========================

Personal Care for Lice

Lice are highly contagious and can spread quickly from person to person, especially in group settings (like schools, childcare centers, slumber parties, sports activities, and camps). Children are most prone to catching lice because they tend to have close physical contact with each other and share personal items. Head lice can be a nuisance but they have not been shown to spread disease. Personal hygiene or cleanliness in the home or school has nothing to do with getting head lice.

You should examine your child’s head, especially behind the ears and at the nape of the neck, for crawling lice and nits if your child exhibits symptoms of a head lice infestation. If crawling lice or nits are found, all household members should be examined for crawling lice and nits every 2–3 days. Persons with live (crawling) lice or nits within ¼ inch or less of the scalp should be treated.

Your doctor can recommend a medicated shampoo, cream rinse, or lotion to kill the lice. These may be over-the-counter (OTC) or prescription medications, depending on what treatments have already been tried. Medicated lice treatments usually kill the lice and nits, but it may take a few days for the itching to stop.

To remove lice and nits by hand, use a fine-tooth comb on your child’s wet, conditioned hair every 3 to 4 days for 3 weeks after the last live louse was seen. 

Preventing Re-infestation

Here are some simple ways to get rid of the lice and their eggs, and help prevent a lice re-infestation:

• Wash all bed linens and clothing that’s been recently worn by anyone in your home who’s infested in very hot water (130°F [54.4°C]), then put them in the hot cycle of the dryer for at least 20 minutes.
• Dry clean anything that can’t be washed (like stuffed animals). Or put them in airtight bags for at least 3 days.
• Vacuum carpets and any upholstered furniture (in your home or car), then throw away the vacuum cleaner bag.
• Soak hair-care items like combs, barrettes, hair ties or bands, headbands, and brushes in rubbing alcohol or medicated shampoo for 1 hour. You also can wash them in hot water or just throw them away.

Because lice are easily passed from person to person in the same house, bedmates and infested family members also will need treatment to prevent the lice from coming back.

Dont’s

In your efforts to get rid of the bugs, there are some things you shouldn’t do. Some don’ts of head lice treatment include:

• Don’t use a hairdryer on your child’s hair after applying any of the currently available scalp treatments because some contain flammable ingredients. A hair dryer could also cause live lice to blow into the air and spread to others nearby.
• Don’t use a conditioner or shampoo/conditioner combination before applying lice medication.
• Don’t wash your child’s hair for 1 to 2 days after using a medicated treatment.
• Don’t use sprays or hire a pest control company to try to get rid of the lice, as these treatments can be harmful. Head lice don’t survive long once they fall off a person, so you don’t need to spend a lot of time and money trying to rid the house of lice.
• Don’t use the same medication more than three times on one person. If it doesn’t seem to be working, your doctor may recommend another medication.
• Don’t use more than one head lice medication at a time.

Back To School Night

Many thanks to all the parents who joined us for Thursday’s Back To School Night. It was great to see such a large turnout. The evening is a great first step towards developing the home-school relationship with your child’s teacher(s) to help ensure a successful year.

This week’s blog is somewhat short. But it includes many photos from our Welcome Back Barbecue. The weather could have been better… but it could have been much worse!  The rain didn’t dampen the spirit of the SCIS community.

I also wanted to showcase some new posters displayed on the main staircase in the school. The displays were created at the end of the year by Grade 4 teacher, Ms. Briton Combs. Understanding the unique learning of the PYP and MYP can be somewhat difficult to understand. Ms. Briton took it upon herself to document the learning journey of students in various PYP units at different grade levels. The provide a great model for our students to help understand and articulate the process of learning, not just the product.

They also provide a more tangible way for parents to understand what we mean by student-driven, inquiry-based learning compared to traditional learning.

A big thank you for Ms. Briton for making the learning process come to life!

Understanding the Learning Process in the PYP

 

Photos from Around Campus and the Welcome Back BBQ

Dear Parents, Students, Faculty, and Friends,

Of course the big event this weekend is our annual Welcome Back BBQ on Saturday from 11:00am-3:00 pm, rain or shine! This is a fantastic event of free food, fun, games, and relaxed socializing getting to connect and re-connect with friends within the SCIS community.

Students (and parents!) are encouraged to bring a swimsuit and/or change of clothes as there are lots of water games.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Communication at SCIS

As we kick off the new year, I want to ensure that all families are aware of the importance of communication, and each of you are aware of the various communication methods we use throughout the year.

We want to partner with you in pursuit of making this year a success for your child. Personal communication is the most important aspect of developing our relationship and clarifying our shared understanding of our program and your child’s needs.

Here are a couple important reminders:

• Communicate first and foremost with the person most directly knowledgeable about your child’s problem. Usually, this is your child’s teacher. Email is a great way to communicate, and if needed, a personal visit can always be scheduled.
• We maintain a number of unofficial WeChat groups to facilitate communication. (The addition of WeChat groups resulted from a yearlong Communication Task Force – involving students, parents, teachers, and administration in 2016-17 – aiming to strengthen our communication practices.) We are a unique school in the way in which we utilize WeChat to help facilitate parent communication. Some reminders about the WeChat groups.
  • As unofficial groups, a school faculty member is always included in each group, but the school (or the representative) does not typically reply to WeChat messages or questions posed by parents. We officially communicate through other channels, noted in the chart below.
  • Utilzing WeChat groups is an exercise in trust in our collective ability to self-monitor the conversation and ensure that it stays healthy, professional, and supportive of the school and each other. We have developed SCIS WeChat Norms to clarify these expectations. Please review these norms. For example, WeChat should not be used to complain about a particular person or policy. If you have personal questions or comments that you would like to make which may violate these norms, those questions/comments are likely best communicated in person,  via email to the specific person, or raised to PAFA representatives for broader discussion.
  • PAFA is an excellent conduit of information and source of knowledge. Please feel free to reach out to this year’s PAFA president Vanessa Thomas (pdpafa.president@scis-china.org ) if you have questions, comments, or suggestions.

Official Communication Channels

Unofficial Communication Channels

• (Wechat Group) SCIS Fantastic Parents – an excellent source of connecting and learning about what’s happening from parents within the SCIS community. Daily questions and online conversations.
• (Wechat Group) Upper School White Board – Ever wonder what announcements your Upper School child hears and forgets to tell you? (As an Upper School parent, I do.)  Subscribe to this group to get the Upper School daily announcements.
• (Wechat Group) Grade Level Groups – Connect with all the parents who are in your child’s class.

As a school, we are always looking to strengthen our community by expanding our ability to communicate with one another. If you have an idea, email me (Derek Luebbe) at dluebbe@scis-china.org and/or PAFA President Vanessa Thomas at pdpafa.president@scis-china.org

We hope to see you tomorrow!

Warm regards,

Derek Luebbe
Head of School

Photos From Around Campus

 

Welcome to the New School Year

We are off and running at SCIS… and we’re looking forward to a fantastic year together.  Let me officially (again) welcome all of you what I know will be a challenging and rewarding year for your children. We look forward to partnering with you to make it special.

For those of you who are new, this Head of School Update is one way in which we aim to stay in communication with families throughout the year. You will also notice that we added some new features and links to this blog that parents typically reference.

The first day was filled with boundless energy – old friendships renewed, new students a little nervous, returning students welcoming new students, and a lot of supportive parents and faculty trying to make sure the first day is a positive one.

 

That energy is still alive and well as we approach the end of Week 1. It’s been a very smooth and successful start, and we look forward to a great year.

Communication is Key

We pride ourselves on our community, and that community is built on trust and communication. Our first step in communication is our Parent Handbook, outlining expectations for Upper School and Lower School students and families. All families have this document, and are expected to have read and understand it. The Handbooks can be found on our Pudong Portal website: http://pd.scis-his.net/

If you have a question, please bring that to the attention of your child’s teacher. We want to partner with you to make this a great experience for your child.

Today’s Events: Typhoon and PAFA Meet & Greet

The recent typhoon provided a great example of why it is so important that we have emergency contact information for each family. On Friday at 9:09 PM, all families who have an emergency contact number in our system received an emergency SMS text message about the upcoming typhoon. If you did not receive this SMS text message it means that the school does not have your correct phone number, and we need that to ensure you will receive future emergency messages!  To learn more about setting up your phone number and contact information, contact Barry Johnson at pd-technology@scis-china.org

This morning we also held our PAFA Welcome Coffee, Meet & Greet at 9:00. A big thank you to the 50+ parents who came to school (through the rain) to begin building the community for the 18-19 year. The morning also included a presentation from Mr. Johnson to preview the First Lego League’s national championship tournament which will be hosted by SCIS Pudong.  Additionally, US Counselor Maja Kelly presented to parents on this year’s Relationships & Sexuality curriculum.

Here’s  to a successful year together,

Derek Luebbe
Head of School
dluebbe@scis-china.org

Photos From The Week