May 3, 2006

UPDATE

May 3, 2006

Prepared by

Deanna Duncan, Principal

and

Dr. Richard Beall, Director

This Thursday, May 4^th, at 6:30, a very important meeting concerning the future of Carolina International School’s PTSO will be held, and we want everyone’s voice to be heard when we vote on the following matters:

SPECIAL NOTE! To encourage your participation, a raffle will be held that evening and your attendance is the only requirement for entry. The prize, donated by a CIS family, will be a four-day, three-night stay at a newly built condominium in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina! This condo has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths and a spacious screened porch overlooking a lake and is two blocks away from the ocean. The condominium complex includes several swimming pools as well as a fitness facility and is just minutes away from all the attractions the Myrtle Beach area has to offer – golf, entertainment, etc.

In addition to the May 23-25 proctors, we need 10 people to proctor the Science Field Test on Tuesday, May 9^th. If you can assist us any of those mornings, please contact Cathy Hayes at the main office.

Any spring picture orders or returns must be returned to CIS by this Friday, May 5^th. If orders or pictures are not returned you will have to deal directly with Lifetouch for future transactions.

Please remember to return by Friday the Letter of Intent you received on Monday. If you need a form, contact the office.

CIS families can immerse themselves in Asian culture this Saturday at the 7tgh Annual Asian Festival. CIS students Zara and LiDan Noreen will perform with the Little Lotus dancers. This year’s event has special significance, as it features the region’s first Dragon Boat competition. This colorful and exciting event will include Dr. Beall and CIS Board members Nimish Bhatt and John Dainotto in one boat. Saturday, May 6^th, 9am-5pm, Ramsey Creek Park.

Where: Hardee’s in Harrisburg (corner of Hwy 49 and Roberta Rd.) in front of the post office, bloom shopping center

Mrs. Gayan will be accepting any early donation of $$ or car wash supplies between now and the day of the event.

We’re nearing the end of registration for hole sponsorships for our 2^nd Annual Charity Golf Tournament, June 4^th, at Skybrook Golf Club. We’ve had a great response! Individual golfers are encouraged to turn in your registration forms. Non-golfers who want to attend the awards dinner, catered by Carrabbas’s, need to return their RSVP. You can purchase raffle tickets that night for some terrific prizes that were donated to the school.

If you are willing to make a dessert for Golf Tournament please contact Kim Houck at khouck@carolina.rr.com or 704-575-7154. We need 16 volunteers to make one dessert, an easy way to support CIS.

As required by law, we must meet with the families of any students who have 18 or more absences this school year, whether excused or unexcused. These hearings are being scheduled May 31^st-June.

The Grades 1-3 Drama Club will meet on Saturday, May 6, from 9:00 - 11:30 am at CIS. This is the last meeting of the school year. If you have any questions, please contact Lynn Abbott-McCloud or Heather Estey.

The CIS staff would like to thank all our parents for their kind and generous recognition of Teacher Appreciation Week. We’re fortunate to work in such a supportive environment and with such wonderful families. Thanks!

Starting next week—just in time for Mother’s Day—the PTSO will have a very special fundraiser! A CIS family is offering high quality Egyptian cotton sheet sets for incredibly low, low prices! How low? Here is an example—400 Thread Count, King sets that retail for $229 are only $75! Order forms and more information are in today’s folder. Samples will be on display in the office.

Cathy Hayes will collect order forms in the office until May 9^th. Then on Friday, May 12^th, you can pick up your order and pay by check, debit, or credit card here at the school, from 8:30am-5pm. If you can volunteer to assist Mrs. Amarnath with processing the orders on May 10 and 11, please call her at 704-281-6785.

v 7^th Annual Asian Festival, Saturday, May 6, 9am-5pm, Ramsey Creek Park.

vYear-End Gala, Saturday, June 10^th, 7-9pm, Belk Theatre at the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center. We will conclude our school year at the premier performance venue in the Charlotte region. Join us for the celebration of our school year and a vision of the bright future of CIS.

On Saturday, April 29^th, our CIS Board of Directors had their annual retreat, here at the school. With the addition of Dr. Charles Hutchison, Mary Kay Murray, and Dr. Amy White, we now have 11 members of our board representing a wide range of professional expertise. The next Board meeting is Thursday, May 11^th, at 6:30pm at the Harrisburg Town Hall. All Board meetings are open to the public.

On, Tuesday, May 9, our 5^th and 8^th grade students will be participating in the End-of-Grade Science Field Test. Neither the school nor students will receive scores for this, as explained below.

The North Carolina End-of-Grade Tests in Science at grade 5 and 8 are required to meet the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. As a component of the NC Annual Testing Program these tests fall subject to General Statute 115C-174.10 which states the purposes of NC state-mandated tests are “(i) to assure that all high school graduates possess those minimum skills and that knowledge thought necessary to function as a member of society, (ii) to provide a means of identifying strengths and weaknesses in the education process in order to improve instructional delivery, and (iii) to establish additional means for making the education system at the state, local, and school levels accountable to the public for results.”

The North Carolina End-of-Grade tests of Science at grade 5 and 8 will assess the 2004 NC Standard Course of Study. These tests will require students to demonstrate knowledge of important principles and concepts, understand and interpret laboratory activities, and relate scientific information to everyday situations. In order to align with this curriculum’s focus on inquiry and higher order thinking, these tests have an increased focus on processing information and higher order thinking skills. Information about the content of these objectives may be obtained from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction Web site at http://ww.ncpublicschools.org/curriculum/science/scos/2004/.

The purpose of the field testing is to collect data required for test development and determining scales for scoring of student tests. The development of a test requires several years of effort. Results from field tests must not be used to evaluate individual students. Results from field testing will provide valuable information regarding: the valid uses of the tests; the reliability of the tests; the estimated time to administer the tests; the length of the tests; the identification of weak or defective items; the spread of difficulty of the test questions; the appropriateness of the directions for the tests; and the detection of item bias.

In summary – students in grades 5^th and 8^th grade will take the EOG Science Field test on Tuesday, May 9, 2006. Students nor schools will receive information in regards to individual student performance on this test. Students should get a good night’s rest and eat a healthy breakfast every day but especially on testing days. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Dee Duncan at 704-455-3847.