Words from the Director
As we approach our half term break it is a good time to reflect on the term so far especially as we are focusing on the ABC value of being reflective. Being reflective means being open minded enough to look at recent events with fresh eyes and to learn from the past. It does not mean being disappointed with your actions but rather looking at how you can do better going forward. For me this is an essential element of growing up as a young person and it is something we encourage in school. As adults too it is also very important along with the willingness to accept we made a mistake or got something wrong. In my experience young people are often much better at this than we as adults and we need to encourage them to continue being so. It is an ideal opportunity as we approach our break next week to reflect on 2019 so far. How can we use that experience to help make the rest of the year even better?
I have to add my congratulations to a number of excellent sports results this week especially for the U12 boys and girls basketball teams who had great performances during the week. On the subject of sport I want to remind all participants of the importance of respect in sport. We have seen it at a professional level with players not showing respect towards each other. We have high expectations of our sports players, coaches and parents in terms of always treating each other politely and appropriately. We would ask that if you see any evidence to the contrary that you report such incidents to Cecy Hernandez, her team or one of the school leadership team. This is an important area for us all to reflect on to ensure we are providing excellent role models for our students.
I hope you all have a great weekend and look forward to seeing many of you at the UP Sports Day tomorrow.
Words from the Head of Primary
Voices Around the World- The ABC School is very proud to be part of a wonderful community of international schools around the world. As you know, one of our values is being Global or Internationally Minded. To support the development of this, we are going to be taking part in a big event called “Voices Around The World” (VATW), which allows students to be part of a global event and raise awareness of global issues like the human impact on the environment e.g. pollution and the care of natural resources, among others. This year, the song project is named What Kind Of World Are We.
We hope all of the Upper Primary students will take part in this large project of recording their voices, creating choreographies and making video clips for the song. This will be shared with VATW, who will put all the recordings and arrangements of many schools around the world together as a video. With one voice we can do our part in improving the World we live in.
If you want to know a bit more about VATW, please visit the web site:
Important: If you do not want your child to participate in the video recording, please let the school know by sending an email to either; Mr. Luis Diaz (luisdiaz@abc-net.edu.sv) / Claudia Avilés (claudiaaviles@abc-net.edu.sv) / Luz Elena Huezo(luzhuezo@abc-net.edu.sv)
We hope you can support this event and the children have the opportunity to try and make a difference to their community.
Sunhats for PE/Sport- As the Sun is getting hotter, we must ensure all our students are protected when they are outside. School policy states students MUST wear their school Sunhat when at PE and at Break time.
If students have lost their hat, they may wear another Sunhat for one day ONLY and a new Sunhat needs to be purchased as soon as possible from the Uniform shop. All Primary staff will be asked to monitor this and ensure EVERY STUDENTS PARTICIPATES WITH A SCHOOL SUNHAT.
We ask all Upper Primary students wear their school Sunhat for this Saturday’s (February 16th) Sports Day.Thank you for your cooperation in this important Health issue.
Some Upper Primary Students Trying to use the Cafeteria as a Bank!- I was informed this week by cafeteria staff some students are trying to get money from their identity card, which is only to be used to buy cafeteria food/drink!! I have asked the cafeteria staff to refuse their requests and to take names.
We ask parents to reinforce the message that students are not allowed to ask for money from the Cafeteria! Thank you
1st grade had their Entry Point yesterday. This was an activity linked to the IPC Unit “We Are What We Eat”. Every child helped in the preparation of their meal: 1st Padilla prepared healthy carrots with cream cheese, 1st McNeil was in charge of the lemonade, which they made from scratch, 1st Henriquez prepared sausages, and 1st Quintanilla did a great job with the muffins they also made from scratch.
Our 5th grade students have created an amazing display of African masks. This project is linked to the IPC Unit AD 900 Masquerade. The children used a mixed media technique which could include: 3D, paint, etc.
Our traditional Upper Primary Sports Day will take place tomorrow Saturday, 16th of February 2019. During the morning the children will have the opportunity to take part in activities to score points for their school tribe.
The times for this are as follows:
2nd and 3rd Grade 8:00am - 9:30am
4th and 5th Grade 10:00am - 11:30am
Visitors will also have the opportunity to purchase food and drink at the event from the “Fairs to Educate” team.
Our 11th grade students would like to thank all Primary students who supported the Drop by Drop Fundraiser. Their aim is to provide access to clean disposable water to different communities in the municipality of Ahuachapan. Funds will be used to help build: a main water tank, with different secondary tanks in the different communities and the nearby school.
ABC Production of Bugsy Malone.
There will be two performances for parents on Friday 15th and Saturday 16th March - both beginning at 6:00 pm.
There will also be a matinee performance for Primary and KS3 students on Thursday 14th March at 1:00 pm.
Tickets are on sale from the Secondary and Primary School Offices and cost $3 each for the student matinee and $5 each, or four for $15 for the evening performances. We also have a very limited number of 'VIP' tables for the evening performances at $50 per table with 6 seats. I really do recommend buying your tickets early to avoid missing this highly anticipated event.
Dates for your diary
Lower Primary
FEBRUARY
Saturday 16th until Sunday 24th: Extras enrollment
Wednesday 20th: Prepa night activity
Friday 22nd: Pre-Kinder Carbajal assembly - 7:40 am - PAC
Monday 25th: Half term break
MARCH
Monday 4th: Back to school
Monday 4th: 4th session extracurricular activities, starts
Tuesday 12th: Kinder Bonet - trip to La Granjita
Wednesday 13th: Kinder Rampone - trip to La Granjita
Thursday 14th: Kinder Suárez - trip to La Granjita
Friday 15th: Kinder González - trip to La Granjita
Saturday 23rd: Sports & Family day
Upper Primary
FEBRUARY
Saturday 16th: Upper Primary Sports Morning - 8:00am - 11:30pm
Wednesday 20th: Spanish Team Assembly - 8:15am & 12:20pm - PAC
Thursday 21: Grade 5 Camping Night - Portezuelo, Juayua
Monday 25th: Half Term Break
MARCH
Tuesday 4th: Back to school from Half Term Break
Tuesday 4th: Session 4 Extracurricular Programme starts
Wednesday 6th: Ash Wednesday Mass by Comité Católico - 2:15 pm - 3:30 pm - Auditorium
Friday 15th - Ice Cream for Praying Bear Campaign supporters (must wear bracelet) and Jeans Day for Tribal winners with highest sales.
Words from the Head of Secondary
Dear parents and carers,
I start this entry by thanking all the parents who have responded so positively to my request for opinions regarding our Mobile phone policy which, as I explained in last week’s entry, is under revision for next academic year. The more we find out about the potential harm these devices can bring to our children, the more determined we become to ensure we have a policy which is consistent with the adequate guidance and education which we must provide at home and at school. We will keep you informed of developments.
We know technology plays an incredible role in today’s educational experiences and as a school we were blown away with the talent and creativity on display at this years DVAs! Two fantastic evenings for everyone’s enjoyment and a wonderful celebration of student achievement. A great big THANK YOU to Mrs Jennifer Garcia and Mrs Silvia Serrano, along with the fantastic LRC and IT staff: Mr Raúl Martinez, Mr Rodrigo Alfaro, Ms Hilda Gómez, Melissa Hernandez, Judith Mendez and Hazel Jenkins, who put together yet another impressive event!
In an international education setting such as ours, we are always celebrating the importance of being Bilingual (or more!) and the global citizenship which comes with that advantage. This week, however, we took some time to reflect upon our mother tongue and identity. Afterall, “If you don't know where you've come from, you don't know where you're going.”(Maya Angelou) and this applies to our learning of any additional language. Seeing we are in the value focus of being “reflective,” I encourage you to reflect upon this at home with your children.
Assembly- International Mother Language Day
Celebrating indigenous languages- From Mrs Rossi- HoD Spanish
Since 2007, UNESCO established February 21st as International Mother Language Day, to celebrate language diversity and to remember a police repression which took place in Bangladesh in 1952 against a group of youngsters who fought for recognition of their mother tongue, the Bangla language. Furthermore, UNESCO declared that 2019 would be the year of indigenous languages.
The ABC is not unaware of these global matters. And thus, a group of KS3 and KS4 students, guided by the Spanish Department, organised two assemblies where they showcased activities and reflexions related to this matter. The students explained the origin of this commemoration, there was a representation of indigenous languages from the United States of America, and highlighted the importance of the Náhuatl language in El Salvador, as the National Assembly declared February 21st as National Náhuatl Day.
To close the assemblies, our 10th grade students, Amy Villafuerte, Jubrán Castro Lemus, and María Jimena Castro adapted the text ‘La Nona’, and dramatised it using words in Náhuatl. Direction and writing was by Marco Molina, also 10th grade student. It was an excellent work which implemented our motto, “Think globally, Act Locally”.
Multicultural Arts Festival- advances
From Mrs Angélica Hernández- Head of Art Department
7 participating schools: Liceo Francés, Colegio Maya, Escuela Alemana, Escuela Americana, Escuela Panamericana, Colegio Internacional, and Academia Británica Cuscatleca. This year, 15 students from 8th grade participated in Art, and 2 students from 9th grade participated in Photography.
The workshops required concentration, creativity, and dedication for the students to complete their creative proposals in 2 days. The exhibition will be next Thursday 28th and Friday 29th March, 2019 at Teatro Presidente, where all the artistic disciplines will be integrated.
Group 4 Science project- Class of 2020
From Mrs Julie Emmerson- HoD Science
On Thursday and Friday, the grade 11 students completed their group 4 science project. This collaborative project is part of their IB diploma course. The subject of this year’s project was reflection, an ABC value and part of the IB learner profile. Students worked in small groups on a scientific investigation of their own design. They began with reflecting on one of the following: an issue of global importance, a scientific investigation in class that they could extend with a different approach or simply an application of reflection of waves. The result was a wide range of imaginative investigations these included, recycling plastics into wearable materials, the effect of using sunscreens on a reaction involving light, soap making with recycled oils, using solar energy and water purity. At the end of the project, students presented their findings and wrote a final reflection on the process.
STUCO Spirit Week
Finally a reminder that next week is our ABC Bulldog Pride (Spirit) week. Please ask your children at home how they will show their ABC pride and ensure their costumes are appropriate to be worn at school.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Kind regards,
Natalia Cáceres Escalón
Dates for your diary
February
WEEK OF 18th of Feb- 22nd of Feb- ABC BULLDOG PRIDE WEEK!
Tuesday 19th - Grade 11/12 Learning Review Day
Wednesday 20th to Saturday 2nd March - Geography trip to Iceland
Friday 22nd - Last Day of first half of term 2
Monday 25th to Friday 1st March - Half Term holidays - school closed
Tuesday 26th to Tuesday 5th March - KS4/5 New York MUN Trip
March
Monday 4th - Back to school and IB Senior Music Recital, 5 to 7 p.m. PAC
Tuesday 5th and Wednesday 6th - Grade 6 Camping night to Portezuelo
Thursday 7th and Friday 8th - Grade 8 Camping night to Portezuelo
Saturday 9th - SAT examinations, 8 a.m. to 12 m.
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