UPDATE

June 6, 2006

Prepared by

Deanna Duncan, Principal

and

Dr. Richard Beall, Director

We gave it our best shot. When we learned late last week that we could not hold our Year-End Gala at Belk Theatre, we immediately began to explore alternatives. Although we were able to find another site, we could not put together reliable and safe transportation for ALL our students so quickly. We regret and are disappointed by this turn of events, but we’ll make the best of the situation and have our special events on campus tomorrow.

At 9am we will have an all-school Recognition Assembly, with performances by the cheerleaders and choir, and a speech by Student Council President Amritha Amarnath. Parents of these students are invited to attend. We’ll also recognize special student groups. After the assembly, all our classes will view the inspiring year-in-review slideshows by Ms. Smithers.

Thank you for your understanding. We assure you that we’ll start planning next year’s Year-End event next week!

Thanks to the incredible efforts of Laura and Steve Worgan, Mike Riddle, Merelene Valder, Brian McGee, and Troy Bunch, our 2^nd Annual CIS Benefit Golf Tournament was a tremendous success! We had over 150 golfers, and had to turn others away! We had a host of hole sponsorships and receipts of over $15,000. That’s a big boost to our “Window to the World” capital campaign!

Carolina International School is not a test-driven school. We won’t sacrifice holistic education—with art, music, foreign language, and physical activity—to focus on tests. We believe that if we model best practices in the classroom, the tests will take care of themselves.

Last year this confidence was rewarded with a pass rate of more than 94%. We weren’t sure we could match or surpass that level this year. Our teachers used project-based learning and other innovative approaches to engage our students. And once again, this approach to education was successful. The results of last week’ End-of-Grade Reading test are in, and our school-wide pass rate was over 97%! Congratulations to our dedicated teachers and successful students!

NOTE: The Math EOG is being newly calibrated by the NC Dept. of Public Instruction, so no results are available to public schools.

For those of you that placed your uniform orders before May 22^nd, they have been processed and are in the “pipeline.” However, we very likely will NOT receive them in the office before school is out. So, with that being the case, I would like to ask you to e-mail me (chalperin@carolina.rr.com) with your request for what you would like me to do. I can do one of the following options:

- Leave your uniform order in the office with your name and order form attached to the bag of clothing

As you can see the options are many and I am willing to work with you in whatever way is most beneficial for you. We knew we were up against a very close timeline. Unfortunately we just didn't have enough time to get the orders back at the school before the end of the year. Thank you for your support and for your patience.

Today our Algebra 1 and Geometry students took the End of Course tests. These are used in place of exams in high school and account for 25% of a student’s final grade for a course. We should have results later today.

On Friday, June 2, 2006 students had an opportunity to learn about next year’s grade level. The students learned from the current grade level teachers about the curriculum and expectations for the specific grade level. Third grade students visited the fourth grade classrooms and heard from both fourth grade teachers, what they will be doing next year. Sixth grade students visited the seventh grade homerooms and learned about seventh grade and so on.

Students enjoyed this opportunity to focus on next year. As a matter a fact the upper grade levels had an opportunity to write to their 2006-2007 teachers. We asked them to write about what they thing their teacher should know about them next year.

On Thursday, June 1, some students in the 6^th and 7^th grade took tests in order to determine if a student should be advanced in math. We have several students in the 7^th and 8^th grade that participate in advanced math courses. As a matter of fact, we currently have 7^th grade students enrolled in Pre-Algebra and Algebra 1. We also have 8^th grade students enrolled in Algebra 1 and Geometry.

The requirements for advanced math placement are available through Ms. Duncan. The following information was examined in order to determine if a student is ready for advanced placement: EOG Reading Scores, EOG Math Scores, Math grades, Teacher Recommendation and Orleans Hanna Algebra Prognosis Test or Iowa Algebra Aptitude test. Information will be sent home to families about the results of the testing once the data has been compiled. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Ms. Duncan.

If you have a rising 9^th grade student who will be attending CIS next year, please make sure your student has signed up for his/her classes. If you have any questions, please contact Dee Duncan.

Ms. Jones and Mrs. Atkins-Bostic’s 4^th Grade classes raised over $550 for local, national, and international organizations as an extension of the Junior Achievement program. The student-created business ranged from making and selling some of their crafts, to lemonade stands. Each group was able to select the recipients for the money they raised and they sent off the checks today. The students did an excellent job and are setting an example for the type of service-oriented students we hope to prepare at CIS.