MONDAY MESSENGER
August 12, 2019
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UPCOMING DATES AND EVENTS
THIS WEEK:
  • Monday, 8/12–Friday, 8/16 • College Boot Camp for Class of 2020
  • Wednesday, 8/14, 8:00 AM–2:00 PM • Back-to-Business Day (more info below)
NEXT WEEK:
LOOKING AHEAD:
  • Wednesday, 9/4 • First Day of 2020-21 School Year
  • Thursday, 9/5–Friday, 9/6 • High School Retreat
  • Wednesday, 9/11 • 6th-Grade Retreat
PTSA NEWS
A MESSAGE FROM ISPTSA PRESIDENT AZFAR MOAZZAM

Dear International School Families,
 
Welcome to the 2019-2020 academic year. 
 
My name is Azfar Moazzam, and I am the incoming president for the International School PTSA for 2019-2020 academic year. We have two children at International School in grades 8 and 10. This is our third year as proud International School parents and my second year with ISPTSA. We have a super engaged set of IS parents on the PTSA board that is eager to start the new academic year with us.
 
Whether you are a new or returning IS family, you know how special a place we have at International School. We are fortunate to have our children attend the  #1 High School in Washington State and #20 in the nation. Credit goes to our students, teachers, staff, and you, our families. We believe in fostering an intellectually engaging, creative, and supportive environment for everyone in our community. We wouldn’t have this recognition without the awesome community we have here at International School. 
 
As you attend Back-to-Business Day this week, you will see our community come together and get ready for the year ahead. You will see parent volunteers, staff, teachers, and students come together, anticipating a fun and learning-filled year ahead. You will see ample opportunities to engage and enrich IS and our community. 
 
Please stay connected and informed by using all the International School resources, including the school website , the weekly  Monday Messenger  from ISPTSA, and the  ISPTSA website  for important dates and information. There are applications from Bellevue School District that you will find useful. ParentVue and apParent have been invaluable resources for us as parents. 
 
ISPTSA holds and supports several events such as the ISPTSA General Assembly meetings, Parent Coffee sessions, Class events, and our Annual Spring Social. Please join us by becoming a member of the ISPTSA and financially supporting these programs and more through your tax-deductible donation during our upcoming Fall Fundraiser, which will kick-off at the beginning of the school year. 

You can join the ISPTSA and support these programs by clicking here and joining online, or by printing out this form to fill out and turn in to the ISPTSA on one of the Back-to-Business Days (or in the school office at another time).

The success of our school and our students depends on your participation in the events and volunteer opportunities that exist at IS. Please consider sharing your time with us by volunteering at the school. Your time, energy, and contributions will keep IS at the top, and you will get to know a lot more about what goes on in your child(ren)’s school. You can review and sign up for volunteer opportunities  here .
 
Welcome to the 2019-2020 academic year. I look forward to meeting you in person in the coming weeks.
 
Azfar Moazzam
2019-2020 ISPTSA President
SCHOOL NEWS
BACK-TO-BUSINESS DAY
THIS Wednesday, August 14,
8:00 AM–2:00 PM

6th Grade: 8:00 AM
7th Grade: 9:00 AM
8th Grade: 10:00 AM
9th Grade: 11:00 AM
10th–12th Grades: 12:00 PM

MINI BACK-TO-BUSINESS DAY
Sponsored by ISPTSA
NEXT Wednesday, August 21, 3:00–6:00 PM

Please check this school webpage for updated information.
TRYING TO PLAN YOUR NEXT TEN MONTHS?

Here's a link to the school's 2019-2020 Even/Odd Calendar , which details the entire school year, including the Even/Odd schedule, school holidays & breaks, no-student days, retreats, testing days/weeks, and Focus Week. Check it out, it's useful.
STUDENT SPORTS & OPPORTUNITIES
TITAN ROBOTICS CLUB INTEREST MEETINGS COMING SOON

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] 
Parent & Student Interest Meeting: September TBD, 6:30–7:30 PM, Room 209
Open to 4th–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. Registration opens after interest meeting.

First Technical Challenge [FTC] Click Here to Register
Parent & Student Interest Meeting: September TBD, 6:30–7:30 PM, Room 209
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. 

First Robotics Competition [FRC] Click Here to Register
Student Interest Meeting: Lunch Meeting, September TBD, Room 209
Parent Interest Meeting: September TBD 6:30–7:30 PM, Room 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. 
MASTHEAD / DIRECTORY / LINKS
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
Website: www.isptsa.org
Newsletter Submissions: [email protected]
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.
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.
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 

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
Or, even easier, donate
via PayPal .
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!

Visit the International School PTSA Store . Proceeds benefit the International School PTSA.

MONDAY MESSENGER
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
  • Please submit articles by FRIDAY at 12:00 PM (noon) to [email protected].
  • 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.