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UPCOMING DATES AND EVENTS
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THIS WEEK:
- Monday, 9/9, 8:15–9:30 AM • Middle School Parent/Guardian "Tailgate" (more info below)
- Monday, 9/9, 4:00 PM • Auditions for Fall Play
- Wednesday, 9/11, 8:15–9:30 AM • High School Parent/Guardian "Tailgate" (more info below)
- Wednesday, 9/11 • 6th-Grade Retreat
LOOKING AHEAD:
- Thursday, 9/26, 6:30 PM • 12th-Grade Parent Night
- Friday, 9/27, 7:00 PM • Middle School Social
- Tuesday, 10/1, 7:45 AM • Picture Retakes
- Thursday, 10/3, 6:30 PM • Curriculum Night
- Thursday, 10/10, 6:00 PM • PTSA General Meeting & Dinner
- Friday, 10/11 • NO SCHOOL—BSD Professional Day
- Monday, 10/14 • SCHOOL IN SESSION (please note correction, as we previously erroneously stated that it was a non-school day—apologies!)
- Wednesday, 10/16 • Super Wednesday Testing
- Thursday, 10/17, 6:30 PM • 11th-Grade Parent Night
- Saturday, 10/19, 8:00 PM • Homecoming Dance
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PLEASE HELP YOUR SCHOOL COMMUNITY!
IS and the ISPTSA are currently seeking the following volunteers:
- Grade-Level Representatives, current school year (more info below)
- ISPTSA Advocacy Chair, current school year (more info below)
- BSF Ambassador, current school year (more info below)
- On-call Volunteers, current school year (more info below)
Click
here to learn more and sign up.
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THE FALL FUNDRAISER IS OFFICIALLY UNDERWAY!
Let’s
RAISE THE TORCH
for IS as we begin a new school year!
Thank you to the nearly 70 families who helped kickstart the campaign through generous donations made during Back-to-Business days! We’ve already raised nearly $12,000 toward our $30,000 goal! We’re just getting started.
We invite all families to participate in this campaign, because your contribution—no matter the amount—makes a difference! We ALL benefit from the community, academic excellence, and reputation our students were fortunate to join. This is our chance to give back and build on that legacy.
Choose a support level that works for you:
Gold
$500,
Silver
$250,
Bronze
$100, or define your own amount. For those families who can, we ask you to consider becoming a
Titan Torch
supporter with a donation of $1,000 or more.
All donations to the Fall Fundraiser you give today are tax-deductible, and 100% go back to the community through:
- Curriculum Enrichment through Teacher grants & supplies, Teacher training, Math support, Art supplies, Band/Orchestra/Choir grants, French Intern, Library books, Maker Space supplies, PE equipment, and more.
- Student Activities such as the 6th Grade & HS Retreats, HS Play, Graduation Activities, Computer Club, and more.
- YES Counselor, Scholarships, Staff Appreciation, Communication tools, Community Building Events, and more.
Still need to join the ISPTSA or renew your annual membership? You can become a member
and
make your donation in the same transaction!
Thank you for your support!
Go Titans!
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OUR SENIOR CLASS SHINES AT IS
As ISPTSA kicks off for the year, our success depends upon
parents and guardians from
every class
supporting t
he PTSA.
International is
THE
#1 high school in Washington State
, and our PTSA is committed to keeping it there. If you are a parent or guardian of a 12th grader, you have much on your plate right now, BUT we need your continued membership and financial support to keep the programs specific to 12th grade in place and fully funded. Let’s set an example and show how our seniors shine—both academically and with the parent support of PTSA.
A dual membership of $35 supports two students; a single membership of $20 supports one student. Dual memberships need to have two different adults or one adult and one student listed. You can
sign up online here
, or
download our form
and drop it off at the office with cash or check. Both membership and financial donations are accepted online and with one check.
Whether you are starting the twilight years at IS for your 12th grader—or any grade for that matter—you are a part of the IS community, and we need your support as a part of ISPTSA.
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SURPRISED BY THE NUMBER OF VEHICLES BRINGING JUST ONE STUDENT TO/FROM SCHOOL? HERE ARE SOME OTHER TRANSPORTATION OPTIONS:
CARPOOLING
We are looking for families who are interested in forming carpools with other IS families in their home area. If you are interested, contact Meribeth (
vpoutreach@isptsa.org)
with “carpooling request” in the subject line. Please provide your name, your student(s) name(s), grade(s), and the area from which you would like to carpool. ISPTSA provides this as a service to families, and once we receive requests, we will forward information to interested parties.
BUS
The BSD recently changed their bus policy to allow IS students to get an ORCA card if they live "outside of a one mile walking or riding distance from their school.” Does your student travel to or from school by car when he or she could take a bus? Have your student stop by the office to pick up an ORCA card today.
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BRACE YOURSELVES:
THE 2019-20 SCHOOL YEAR IS ON!
Starting with the retreats this week and next, the upcoming few weeks will be super exciting! The first days of school are jam-packed with activities; the thrill of meeting new friends and getting re-acquainted with old ones; and information overload. As crazy as it always is, you can rest assured that you will quickly get into the flow—it will all become second nature before you know it.
The ISPTSA is alway here to help, and we thought we'd send along some
useful resources to help you cope with the next few weeks. Enjoy the chaos, and don't hesitate to
contact us if you have questions
as the school year gets underway.
ISPTSA Calendar—
Contains all the important dates and events for the PTSA and IS—bookmark it!
Daily Schedule—
Contains the school's daily schedule, including even/odd period information.
ParentVue—
Contains student attendance and grades. You can set up weekly updates and alerts.
ApParent—
Use this to monitor how your student's school laptop is being used.
Titan Times
—The school's daily announcements written up and posted each school day.
All the very best throughout the new school year!
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PLEASE JOIN US! VOLUNTEER YOUR TIME AT INTERNATIONAL
International School has a strong tradition of volunteerism. We are an awesome community, because we commit our time and energy to make IS and our community better. Volunteering in the office, assisting with school activities, investing time on the PTSA board, becoming a judge for senior project, running with the students during PE, etc. are only a few of these opportunities.
What you get back in return is a direct connection and insight into your child(ren)'s school and the pride and satisfaction that you helped to make IS the #1 school in the state.
Please join us.
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GRADE-LEVEL "TAILGATE" MEET & GREETS
All Middle School Grades:
TODAY
,
Monday, September 9, 8:15–9:30 AM, Kelsey Creek Park parking lot,
410 130th Pl SE, Bellevue, WA 98005
All High School Grades:
THIS
Wednesday, September 11, 8:15–9:30 AM, Kelsey Creek Park parking lot,
410 130th Pl SE, Bellevue, WA 98005
Visit with other parents and caregivers of IS middle schoolers and high schoolers while enjoying free coffee and other refreshments. These tailgates are a great opportunity to get to know the IS families in your student's community.
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ON-CALL VOLUNTEERS
ISPTSA is routinely asked by our school—sometimes last minute—for volunteers to help out at events. To facilitate our response, we have created a volunteer category called
On-call Volunteer. It is not a fixed commitment; we will reach out to you when we have an urgent need to fill, and you can respond to let us know whether or not you can help. Having your name on this list does not obligate you to volunteer at any time.
Please consider adding your name to our on-call volunteer list! You can find our sign-up
here.
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BE IN THE KNOW!
Some communication is sent to students and parents via Naviance. High school parents: please ask your student to log into his/her/their Naviance account and add your email address to the contact info.
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ATTENTION: JUNIORS AND SENIORS
60+ colleges have signed up to meet with you
between September 16 and November 7
! Please log into Naviance and register for up to 5 visits.
Remember,
you MUST sign up at least two days in advance and get permission from your teacher.
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NOTES FROM THE IS SAFETY TEAM:
This past week, the International School hosted members of our district Safety Department for a 6–8th grade school safety assembly on Thursday, and a 9–12th grade safety assembly on Friday at High School Retreat. Our speakers were Nick Jacobson and Shane Williams—two of the district’s Emergency Management Program Coordinators.
The information Nick and Shane shared with students focused on teaching the mindset for decision-making during an emergency and empowering them as leaders to act. Students were taught the critical importance of stopping to assess the environment before making decisions about how to proceed safely in the event of any emergency.
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STUDENT SPORTS & OPPORTUNITIES
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NEWPORT GIRLS SELECT BASKETBALL
Does your athlete love competitive basketball? The Newport Girls Select Basketball program exists to promote the development of girl basketball players for high school play. We emphasize dedication to basketball, superior coaching, and topflight competition as a means of honoring each girl's individual and team playing skills.
Our coaches strive to develop each player through teaching the fundamentals and skills of the game, while also providing a team-first system for players to develop within.
Tryouts for all teams (4th–8th grade) are Tuesday, September 17, and Wednesday, September 18. We highly encourage athletes to attend both days, if possible. We will consider competitive 3rd-grade girls as well.
Please visit our website
to learn more about the program and register for tryouts today! No cost to tryout. Looking forward to seeing you out on the court!
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REGISTER NOW FOR TITAN ROBOTICS CLUB
Sign-up for two leagues closes
TODAY
Interested in gaining hands-on experience learning and applying STEM fields in real life? Titan Robotics Club has been promoting STEM education in today’s youth for over 17 years. Our 3 programs task students with addressing a challenge by applying the concepts they have learned in the classroom into creating a robot!
Titan Robotics Club has been very successful in its mission. We have gone to international-level and regional-level competitions. Our alumni have gone to Stanford, UW CSE Direct Entry, University of Pennsylvania, Cal-Poly SLO, and more. Our mentors are from companies such as Honeywell, Boeing, Microsoft, Amazon, and Genie, and have over 10 years of experience in their respective fields, as well as mentoring robotics.
This is a great chance for your child to become involved in a team sport for the mind! Go to
titanrobotics.com
to register for one of our 3 teams!
First Lego League [FLL]
REGISTER HERE
by
TODAY
, Monday, September 9, 5:00 PM. Limited space available. Those placed on waitlist will be notified.
Open to 6th–8th graders. Students work with trained high school and adult mentors to build and program lego robots and design a solution to a real-world issue and create presentations to address this issue.
First Technical Challenge [FTC]
REGISTER HERE
by
TODAY
,
Monday, September 9, 5:00 PM. Limited space avilable. Those placed on waitlist will be notified.
Open to all high schoolers. Up to 15 students work together with mentors to design, build, and program an 18 by 18 inch robot. Students are also tasked with documenting their engineering process.
Students are eligible for over $80 million in scholarship money.
First Robotics Competition [FRC]
Student Interest Meeting: Lunchtim
e, Tuesday, September 17, Room 209
Parent Interest Meeting: Tuesday, September 17, 7:00–8:00 PM, Ro
om 209
Open to all high schoolers. After training in the fall, students attend Kickoff in January where they will learn this year’s competition. After Kickoff, students work alongside mentors to design, fabricate, build, and program their robot in 6 weeks. In addition to gaining important practical skills such as programming and marketing, students are eligible for over $80 million in scholarship money.
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MASTHEAD / DIRECTORY / LINKS
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President
Azfar Moazzam
Secretary
Zena Heywood
Treasurer 1
Tony Wang
Treasurer 2
Nancy Chung
VP of Communications
Li Wu
VPs of Community
Qiong Chen &
Rachel An
VP of Fundraising
Dori Kelleran
VPs of Outreach
Meribeth Nordloef-Pedersen
& Beverly Ni
Membership
Sharon Chen & Joanie Chang
Advocacy
OPEN
Monday Messenger
Julie Molinari
Website
OPEN
IS Staff Liaison
Traci Sullivan
PTSA
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SHOP FOR THE BELLEVUE SCHOOLS FOUNDATION
Enter Amazon.com through this
link
and Amazon will donate 8% of every purchase you make to support Bellevue students, including those at IS! Share the link and spread the word to family and friends anywhere.
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CONFUSED ABOUT SOMETHING?
The ISPTSA is always here to help answer your IS questions.
Email us
here
, and we'll help you find the answers you need.
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SCHOOL DIRECTORY & LINKS
Attendance 425-456-6545
Main Office 425-456-6500
MS Counseling 425-456-6546
HS Counseling 425-456-6542
Registrar 425-456-6535
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SUPPORT YOUR PTSA
Donate Anytime
Write your check to the International School PTSA and send it to:
ISPTSA
445 128th Ave. SE
Bellevue, WA 98005
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ISPTSA TUMBLER
Support your school community and the environment by buying an ISPTSA Tumbler
These great-looking 14-oz dual-wall insulated stainless-steel tumblers have a swivel lid with drink-thru opening and a plastic-ring seal to stave off spills. With the ISPTSA logo, it will keep your drink hot or cold while you look cool handling the morning commute or afternoon pickup, and your purchase will benefit the International School PTSA!
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MONDAY MESSENGER
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
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- Please submit articles by FRIDAY at 12:00 PM (noon) to news@isptsa.org.
- We encourage submissions that align with our mission.
- Submissions are subject to review by the ISPTSA and may be accepted, rejected, or edited.
- Please use a separate email for each article submitted.
- Documents in plain text are preferred, however, you are welcome to include an image or icon as a separate attachment—please do not include them in the body of your email or document.
- If you need to link to a registration form or document, send us either the address of the link or a pdf copy of the document.
- If you would like your article to repeat in successive Monday Messenger editions, please resubmit it for each edition in which you would like it to appear. If you do not resubmit it, it will not be republished.
- Note: you will receive an automatic confirmation email response once you submit material to the Monday Messenger.
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International School PTSA
445 128th Ave. SE
Bellevue, WA 98005
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