Previous Ambrit newsletters

November 18,  2011

October 20,  2011

September 22,  2011

August 26,  2011

Summer 2011

From the Office of the Director - November 18th, 2010

UPCOMING EVENTS

Mark Your Calendar  

Friday, November 11th	Mid-term Progress Reports (Grades 6 - 8)
Thursday, November 24th	Piano & Friends Benefit Concert   19:00 in the theatre
Friday, December 2nd	Holiday Bazaar   9:00 - 16:00
Friday, December 2nd	Middle School Merit Dance  19:00 - 22:00
Thursday & Friday, December 8th & 9th	Public Holiday

Pane Condiviso

The Halloween bake sale and pumpkin carving contest were a great success and we raised €4132 for our girls in Haiti. Students were very involved in the projects, demonstrating caring and reflecting on our continued responsibility and commitment to help.  All our primary students felt involved through the various ways they participated: baking in class or at home, carving pumpkins, making decorations and helping their buddies at the bake sale. Grade 1 students were the judges in the student choice category and 10 anonymous judges from various departments in the school chose the following winning pumpkins:

1st place -    Benedetta in 3C
2nd place -  Luca in 5L and Francesco in 4W
3rd place -   Aurora, Ginevra and Martina in Grade 4

          Student choice - Celeste in 4H

Il Bel Paese

We remind families, especially those new to the school, to place themselves on the school's website under the heading "Il Bel Paese" .  Here you will find a list of the businesses and services offered by the Ambrit community, including those who have made donations to Ambrit's fundraising events.  Contact Ambrit webmaster Jeanne-Marie Byron at jmb@ambrit-rome.com. 

From the Office of the Director - October 20th, 2010
  
Calendar at a Glance

Friday, October 21st	Target Setting Conferences for parents SCHOOL CLOSED for EC and Primary students
Wednesday, October 26th	Friends of Ambrit (FOA) Meeting (8:30)
Friday, October 28th	Halloween Sing-Along
Monday to Monday, October 31st - November 7th	Autumn Break
Tuesday, November 8th	First Day of Classes
Friday, November 11th	Mid-term Progress Reports (Grade 6 - 8)

World Food Day
Ambrit celebrated World Food Day on Friday, October 14th.  This year's theme was  “Food Prices - from Crisis to Stability". Ambrit students at every grade level reflected on ways to help the 1 billion hungry people in the world.

Early Childhood students have been helping the tinned food collection for World Food Day. The children are concerned about who the recipients of the food will be, and are very proud when they are able to make a contribution. The teachers have used this initiative in their classroom discussions encouraging caring and empathetic attitudes. The Nursery students held a mini assembly where they spoke about the collection and shared food together.

The Middle School had a special assembly led by Ms. Pringle’s Grade 8 Social Studies class. In addition, some Middle School pupils are involved in a video link project with a girl from Nairobi.

Two Primary students in Grade 3V were among the winners of this year’s UNWG World Food Day Poster Competition.  Antonella won third place in Category 1A and Taro was given an Honorable Mention in Category 1A. The UNWG shall be honoring Antonella and Taro at the UNWG Awards ceremony on Thursday, October 27st at 10:00 at the FAO Headquarters.  A small reception will be held thereafter at the same venue. The winners, their parents, the principals or his/her representative and their art teachers/classroom teachers are invited to come to the event as well as all those whose posters were sent in to FAO. The winners shall receive a prize and the others a certificate of participation. 
This will be a special day for AMBRIT as our choir is singing two songs at the ceremony thanks to Ms Paige Short.

Halloween
Friday, October 28th, is Ambrit's annual Halloween celebration. This date also marks our first fund raiser for Pane Condiviso, the project in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, which houses, feeds and provides a basic education for street children. 

The Halloween Bake Sale (and other creepy goodies), all natural and homemade, will take place on both Thursday and Friday, October 27th and 28th. Our goal is to match the 4000 Euros made during Hearts for Haiti last February. The Foundation in the US will match all funds raised.

The pumpkins arrived for the Parent-Child Pumpkin Carving Contest, despite the rain. Parents can collect a pumpkin when they come on Friday for the target setting conferences or students can collect their pumpkin on Monday.  

On Friday the 28th, the children in Primary and EC are welcome to dress up in a costume.  Please remember that Ambrit is a peaceful school, so no play guns, swords or knives please!

Early Childhood will hold their annual E.C. Halloween Sing along at 9:30 on Friday, October 28th! Dust off the witches’ hat, get your broom ready and join us in our parade at 9:30 in the dome.

Middle School students will also celebrate Halloween. The Middle School Student Council are organising special Halloween Games and activities that will take place during an extended recess on Friday, October 28th .

Community Service
Many many thanks to all who contributed to our canned goods collection! Well over 900 cans of legumes and tuna were donated--that's nearly twice as many as our goal (one can per student). The donations will be delivered to the Welcome Center in Trastevere run by the Community of Sant'Egidio and will be distributed directly to the poor in Rome. Thank you for your generosity!

At the same time the Middle School's Ecology club is hard at work promoting environmental initiatives. Every Friday morning the recycling team collects paper from every classroom which is then brought to be recycled. Starting next week the club (which always welcomes new members) will start collecting glass jars which will be used for projects for the Holiday Bazaar so if you have jars (washed, please!) to spare, instead of throwing them in the recycling bin outside your house, send them in! Additionally the Ecology team will soon begin bringing the bar's used coffee grounds to Ambrit's organic garden to be used as fertilizer.

Looking ahead to November, we will be recruiting friendship-bracelet-makers to make bracelets to sell at the holiday bazaar (proceeds will be donated to one of Ambrit's charities). Also during November, we will be looking for students to design and assemble coloring books for delivery to cancer patients in the pediatric cancer wing of the Bambino Gesu Hospital.

As you can see there are a number of initiatives proposed, so please do encourage your children to actively participate!  Thank you!

Student Council
Following class elections, the first ever Ambrit Primary Student Council has began its operations. Aimed at playing an active role in making the school a better place and developing life skills through active participation, the students will meet every two weeks. They have decided that their first project will be aimed at suggesting improvements for break times. http://ambrit-rome.com/clasproj/primary/PrStdCouncil/prstdcouncil.html

Following notable group presentations in the theatre and a subsequent election, the Middle School Student Council officials have been appointed and have started their terms of office.

Recent Soccer Results
Ambrit's Girls' Middle School team won the year's first inter-schools' tournament here at Ambrit:
Ambrit-St. George's Red 2-2
Ambrit - USYS A 5-0
Ambrit - St. George's Blue 1-0
Ambrit - USYS B 1-0

and Ambrit's Primary Girls' team won their tournament too, beating St George's and USYS!

The Boys have also started the year well with a draw against St George's (3-3) and a 3-2 win over Vigna Pia.
Don't forget to check out http://www.ambritintramural.blogspot.com/ for all soccer news!

Target Setting Conferences
We look forward to meeting EC and Primary parents for our target-setting conferences on Friday. EC and Primary students have been reflecting on their strengths and identifying areas for growth with support from their teachers. Students have selected targets under broad social, academic and organizational categories and have been considering the ways in which they can reach their targets. During target-setting conferences, parents and teachers have an opportunity to discuss these targets and identify ways in which they can be supported at home and in school.

Organic Garden
First grade students will be the vegetable garden care takers this year in the adventure playground. Prep students continue to do so for the second year in the early childhood playground. First graders have harvested their crops and tasted delicious tomato bruschette, eggplant spread bruschette, and fresh sweet yellow and red peppers. Prep sowed seven new crops including cima di rapa (broccoli rabe), cicoria (chicory), radicchio, spinach, carrot, ravanelli (radish), prezzemolo riccio (curly parsley), and will soon sow two types of lettuce and rucola. The students’ involvement in the organic garden fosters principles such as zero emissions and local, seasonal production and consumption of food.


Communication
At the recent FOA meeting there were some concerns raised in the parent survey about communication.  Mr. Mullane mentioned to the group in attendance that in early September he met with parents from each year group over coffee to assist them in navigating our website, exploring our blogs, and becoming familiar with school policies and who can best answer their questions. Please have a look at the presentation on the parent and student handbook.  

As Mr. Mullane mentioned in his presentations, his leadership style is interactive and hands-on. He rarely answers phone calls during school hours.  He spends most of his day observing the celebration of learning in Ambrit classrooms or talking with faculty in the atrium.  However, he is more than happy to meet parents before school hours and after 16:00.  

Having witnessed some remarkable teaching practices in his observations during the past weeks, Mr. Mullane has decided that it is time to create a film of student life.  He will be working with Liana Miuccio, the film club and the student council to produce a promotional documentary about the school and film clips for the website.

Explore our blogs
This month we would like to feature the Ambrit Music Blog.

Alumni, Friends and Donor Events
Each year as Mr. Mullane plans his calendar and organizes travel plans for the schoolyear, he leaves an evening open to meet alumni, families and friends around the
world.  Ambrit Alumni can be found just about anywhere although most reside on the east coast of the United States from Maine to Miami, in Greater London and in Italy.

The events are fun-filled with lots of laughter as we share our collective memory. Talk is about Ambrit today and our hopes and dreams for the future.
If you are in New York during the autumn break, please join us for our alumni and friends event Friday, November 4th at the Museum of Modern Art MOMA at 7pm.

We are in the planning stages for events in London in January, Boston in February and Rome in June.

We hope the alumni and friends will generously contribute to our efforts to open an early learning center at a location near the school.

As you may be aware, several years ago Mr. Mullane established a Foundation in the United States called Innovations (FIEI).  The foundation has funded our collaboration with the Scuola Bonghi (where our Italian students take their state exams in 5th and 8th grades), assisting an Italian school empower their students with basic English.  We have outfitted a language lab and provided a mother tongue teacher who gives instruction one hour a week to all students in the school. We have organized language training sessions for their teachers and provided some of the didactic materials the school lacks.  

From the Office of the Director - September 22nd, 2011

Monday, September 26th - Friday, September 30th	Primary Class meetings
Wednesday, September 28th	Parent Workshop "Adolescence - a Celebration "  (19:00 - 21:00 in the theatre)
Saturday, October 1st	Autumn Barbecue
Friday, October 7th	Parent Workshop "When the School Day Ends:  How to manage your child’s free time, sleep time, after-school activities, and homework" (8:45 in the theatre)
Friday, October 14th	World Food Day (celebrated)
Friday, October 21st	Target Setting Conferences for parents SCHOOL CLOSED for EC and Primary students
Friday, October 28th	Halloween Sing-Along
Monday to Friday, October 31st - November 7th	Autumn Break

 

Grade 3	Tuesday, September 20th
Grade 5	Thursday, September 22nd
Grade 2	Monday, September 26th
Grade 4	Wednesday, September 28th
Grade 1	Thursday, September 29th
Grade 5 Italian	Tuesday, October 4th

Arrival and Dismissal

At Ambrit, we encourage independence in our students from the earliest years.  By following the procedures for arrival and dismissal, you will facilitate your child's entrance and departure from school.

Early Childhood 

•   In Nursery, your child should arrive no later than 9:15 and parents should leave as soon as the child is settled. 
•   In Kindergarten, children should be accompanied to the outdoor play area and parents should leave within a few minutes - lessons begin at 9:00.
•   Prep children should be left at the door of their classroom by 8:45.

• Children should be accompanied to the adventure playground or to the pitch before 8:45.  If your child arrives later and the class has already entered the building, parents are asked NOT to bring their child to the classroom.  They must be left with Ginger at the reception area, who will accompany them to their classroom.     

•     Nursery, Kinder and Prep wait in their classrooms
•     Grade 1 waits in the theatre
•     Grades 2 - 5 wait in the atrium
•     Middle School students wait in the theatre and should exit with their parents through the small garden.

From the Office of the Director - August 26, 2011 

Calendar at a Glance

Friday, September 2nd	New Student Day  (9:00 - 12:00)
Monday, September 5th	First day of Classes  Kinder - Grade 8
Wednesday, September 7th	Orientation for Nursery parents
Friday, September 9th	Nursery visits
Monday, September 12th	First day of Nursery classes  (1/2 day first week)
Monday, September 12th	Music Enrichment Meeting (14:30)
Wednesday, September 14th - Grade 6 (16:00) Thursday, September 15th - Grade 7 (16:00) Friday, September 16th - Grade 8 (16:00)	Middle School Class Meetings
Saturday, September 17th (17:00 - 20:00)	New Parents' Cocktail Party

 

All the faculty and staff at Ambrit would like to welcome you to the new academic year.  We await the smiling faces of returning students and over a 100 new students who have joined the school this year.  We hope you will open your homes to the new families in our community (designated by an * [asterisk] on the class lists).  If you are planning an outing or arranging a playdate, please remember to include the newcomers. 

Newsletters

Our parent newsletter is one of the ways in which we communicate information about life at school, our students' achievements, dates to remember and issues which arise during the school year for which we need parent co-operation and participation. All newsletters and communications will be posted on our Internet web site. If you are a new family or have a new e-mail address, please send an e-mail to the school ambrit@ambrit-rome.com with the name of your child/children and the name of their class teacher so we can copy your e-mail address from it.

•  Use e-mail only for non-urgent matters.
•  Do not expect all e-mails to be read in a given time frame. Remember that this is an extra task for teachers to take on. They will answer your e-mail as soon as they can.  This will depend on the  importance of the matter in question and the teacher's availability.
•  Please identify your purpose in the subject line of your e-mail message.
•  Your child's academic progress and behavioral issues are best addressed by telephone or by scheduling a personal conference with your child's teacher.  An e-mail  message on these matters is not  appropriate.
•  Do not use e-mail to ask about homework.
•  Use e-mail to give teachers advance notice of planned absences, to arrange a conference, but not to arrange play-dates, organize birthday parties or make bus changes.  For bus changes, you may email Gigi at buses@ambrit-rome.com before 12:00 noon. We welcome your ideas for field trips, guest speakers and curriculum related  activities. 

Please DO NOT send group emails to the parent body. Everybody's time is precious!
Teachers' emails follow this format: firstname.lastname@ambrit-rome.com (ex: mary.smith@ambrit-rome.com).

Hygiene
We wish to remind you of the basic hygienic rules that help reduce the spread of flu and other contagious diseases.  Please help us by teaching your children to:

•     Wash their hands
•     Not share personal items
•     Know the signs and symptoms of the flu
•     Keep sick children home - do not send them to school

Should a child need a cell phone in order to contact their parents after school, the phone must be checked in with the office, where it will be kept until the end of the school day, then returned to the student. The office will require a letter from the family, explaining the student's need for a cell phone.

If students bring the above items to school, they will be confiscated and kept in the school office for collection by their parents. The equipment will not be given back to the student. This policy was implemented because the above items cause too many distractions for students during the school day, and the school cannot be held responsible for lost, damaged or stolen property.

Parking / Arrival / Dismissal

Please do not park at the front gate and block arrival and departure of school buses. Parents must park legally somewhere in the neighborhood if they wish to accompany their child within the school grounds. If not, parents may leave their child at the gate with Pablo who will see that they are escorted to the appropriate play area.

 

It is important that children arrive on time at school each day, to give them time to settle in and not miss the start of lessons. At the end of the school day, Nursery, Kindergarten and Prep students can be collected from their respective classrooms after 15:25, Grade 1 students from the lunchroom, Grades 2-5 from the atrium, and Middle Students from the lunchroom.

 

Reminder - No Smoking!

Ambrit is a smoke-free environment. Parents are kindly asked to refrain from smoking in the front garden. Please put out your cigarette before you enter the school grounds.

Buses

The organization of the bus service is an enormous task. Gigi Santiago co-ordinates the flow of information between the families and the service providers. We make every effort to resolve any problems that occur at the start of the school year. We ask parents to refrain from requesting a place on the bus for a friend to be taken home at the end of the day as almost all routes are completely full. It may be possible that a place for a friend can be provided once school activities have started mid- month. All requests must always be communicated to the school and approved. Bus changes are accepted until 12:00 noon. buses@ambrit-rome.com

 

PE Policy

All students must arrive to class wearing appropriate P.E. attire:

- gym shoes

- tee shirt

- gym shorts

- track suit (for colder weather)

Students will not be permitted to participate in P.E. if not dressed appropriately. The second time a student is not dressed appropriately a note will be sent to the homeroom teacher. The third time parents will be contacted. Participation will be calculated into the P.E. grade. Any student who feels ill during P.E. will be sent to the school nurse for evaluation.

Afterschool Activities
A full description of afterschool activities, which will begin on Monday, September 19th, has been sent to you today and will be posted on the school's web site http://ambrit-rome.com/afterschool/after.htm. Late buses are provided to FAO, IFAD and WFP.

• Wednesday, September 7th                   Nursery (following Nursey Orientation)
• Thursday,  September 8th                     Kindergarten
• Friday, September 9th                           Prep
• Monday, September 12th                      Grade 1
• Tuesday, September 13th                      Grade 2
• Wednesday, September 14th                 Grade 3
• Thursday, September 15th                    Grade 4
• Friday, September 16th                         Grade 5
• Monday, September 19th                      Grade 6
• Tuesday, September 20th                      Grade 7
• Wednesday, September 21st                  Grade 8

From the Office of the Director - Summer 2011

We hope that our students and families are enjoying a relaxing summer.  Each school year seems to fly by at a rather unbelievable pace, with the summer months upon us. Breathe in the gently perfumed Roman air and take this occasion to bask in some family quality time. We strongly suggest that you unplug your children and yourselves, as a matter of fact, during the long awaited holidays.  Spend some time together without iPods, cell phones, blackberries, digital games, Internet et al. Sometimes a walk to nowhere, an ice cream and a conversation are just what the doctor ordered - perhaps the best of all therapies.

Summer Office Hours
The school office will remain open until Thursday, July 28th. Offices hours are 9:00 - 13:00. We will close for three weeks holiday and reopen on Monday the 22nd of August.
N.B.  E-mails will be collected every other day from ambrit@ambrit-rome.com/director@ambrit-rome.com

Lost and Found
Every year mountains of beautiful clothing are left at school.  At the end of each term we send all unclaimed items to local charities.  We would like to get a better handle on this next year so we are asking parents to label all sweaters and outer clothing before the start of school.  A label on an item simply makes it so much easier to locate the owner. You can purchase labels at www.easy2name.com. Give it a try!

Primary Years Program

Ambrit will be having its authorization visit by the International Baccalaureate Organisation in November 2011. IBO representatives will visit our school for 2 days to assess whether we are meeting all the standards and practices required for authorization to become an IB World School.

There will be 5 PYP Planning and Staff development Days where school closed for students:

Monday, November 7th, 2011
Monday, January 9th, 2012
Monday, February 27th, 2012
Thursday, April 5th, 2012
Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012

School will also be closed for:
Target Setting Conferences on Friday, October 21st, 2011
Student-Led Conferences on Tuesday, May 15th, 2012

Technology at Ambrit 2011 - 2012
Ambrit has always prided itself on its technology focus and progressive teaching and learning. We were the first school in Rome to have a one-to-one Interactive Whiteboard program, supplying each classroom with Smartboards to enrich student learning. Continuing with this trend, we are very excited about technology at Ambrit for the next scholastic year. Along with providing an upgrade to our current laptops, we are also purchasing 45 new Macbook laptops for use around the school.  By making laptops available to each level of the school, students and teachers will have access to a myriad of technologies when and where they need it most to research, plan, collaborate, share, inquire and an infinite range of other opportunities. Technology lessons will become even more integrated with student learning by making the technologies available and accessible in any discipline or subject.

Ambrit is also very excited to be taking part in a 1-1 pilot program in grade 5, by supplying each student an iPad. This program will allow students to be truly mobile with their learning, providing them with access to a range of applications, tools and skills necessary to inquirers. The Friends of Ambrit have very generously provided funding for this program so a big thank you goes to them.  By supplying each student in grade 5 an iPad, student learning can go well beyond the confines of this building, allowing teachers to incorporate 21st century skills into their classroom. We are very excited to see the success of this program as we continue to constantly reflect and evaluate new technologies that become available, thus making Ambrit a truly 21st century school whose students are open-minded global citizens.

Library News
This has been another exciting year for the Library. We have grown into our extra space, and tried to reflect the international nature of our community through our ever-increasing collection of resources. Over 1,000 books and DVDs were purchased or donated this year, including many in Italian, French or other languages. Highlights of the year included a visit from the renowned author, Katharine Holabird, and Roald Dahl day, celebrated with dances and quizzes.
Ambrit children are book-lovers and it is a joy to see the enthusiasm with which the students discuss books and try out new authors. The holidays are a great time for reading and some suggestions for the latest in children’s literature, alongside other popular titles from this year, will be posted on the Library website. These books are easily purchased through companies such as Amazon and will be available in the Ambrit Library when it re-opens for borrowing next September. I hope the students enjoy a Summer full of books and will come back bursting with new ideas!
                             
Another Spectacular Year for our Charities
The generosity of the Ambrit community for our charities has continued this year. Among others, you have supported children in Haiti, Japan's earthquake and tsunami victims and the Rocca di Papa orphans. During the Spring break, Mr. Mullane went to Shillong to inaugurate the recently completed second story of the girls' home where he participated in a heart-warming ceremony. The grand total of funds raised this year totaled more that 49.000,00€!

Charity                                           School & FOA fundraising    Funds from US foundation   TOTAL

Kids2Kids
Kids to Kids would like thank Mr. Mullane and all of the Ambrit families for making K2K a success this year! Many thanks to Melissa Scheinuk, Giovanna Tucci and Tina Calagni for helping make our project work. With the clothing we collected this Spring, we are sending K2K wardrobe bags to 16 orphans in Congo, supplying clothing to 18 babies/ toddlers and their single mothers here in Rome, and have prepared 25 suitcases to be hand carried by the volunteers of M.A.I.S. Onlus to orphanages in Swaziland and South Africa. Thank you for preparing your donations with such care and for your generosity. This season the clothing is going far, in more ways than one!
Dana Rattazzi and K2K

School Policies
May we remind you once again that students are not allowed to bring the following items to school:
- cell phones
- cameras, digital or film
- iPods or mp3 Players
- portable game consoles (GameBoy, PSP etc.)
Should a child need a cell phone in order to contact their parents after school, the phone must be checked in with the office, where it will be kept until the end of the school day, then returned to the student. The office will require a letter from the family, explaining the student's need for a cell phone.

Class Lists
During the summer, you will receive student class lists - please keep in mind the following established policies that guide the administration for student placement and teacher assignments.  

Ambrit's Class Placement Policy
Ambrit supports a heterogeneous class environment for its students. A classroom that is balanced by gender, academic and language abilities facilitates appreciation of diversity, positive social interchanges, and co-operative learning. At the end of each academic year, teachers and specialists meet to decide student class placement for the following year. Classes will be composed annually to reflect the above criteria and the philosophy of the school.

Teacher Placement
On April 1st of each scholastic year, the Director assesses the staffing needs for the next school year. The Director meets with Department Heads and develops a staffing strategy from a list of returning faculty and newly hired teachers. The fundamental objective of the school administration is to create the strongest team in each sector of the school. In the initial staffing draft, the following criteria are used as a guideline. A final decision will be made by the first of June. Parents will be officially informed of September staffing with the summer mailing.  

    Criteria
  - Qualifications
  - Experience with an age group
  - Capability to work in a team
  - Teachers work with year group for at least 2 years before a change
  - The Director will interview all staff in the spring to review the current school situation and openly discuss preferences. 

Faculty List for 2010-2011
The faculty list for the 2011/12 school year is included in the summer mailing you will receive shortly.  New teacher bios can be found on Ambrit's website at http://ambrit-rome.com/staff/staffnews.html

Building and Grounds Report
In September we will establish a committee of interested parents from the real estate sector to assist us with our search for a larger facility or a second campus for our Early Years program.

This summer we will be reconfiguring the Vigna Pia building in order to accommodate our continued growth, this year well over 10 %. We expect to greet more than 530 students in the fall. We will be creating additional sections in Kindergarten, grades 2, 3 and 4. We will also enlarge some classrooms. The additional funding required for the reconfiguration of the school will come from the building assessment fee. We are still awaiting final cost estimates. The approval of the construction projects by the Sacra Famiglia took considerable time; in fact the modifications were approved just two weeks before the end of term.  All floors in the early childhood will be replaced during the summer as they were damaged last year.

We are pleased to announce that the reorganization of the building and new room assignments will lower class size in Kinder, grade 1, 2, 3.

Bus Information
Bus information will be available on Monday, the 29th of August. Click here for general information about buses. All buses are fitted with seat belts. Please remind your child that they must always buckle up. Please review bus rules and behaviour standards with your child.

Note from the Bursar
You will receive a form in the summer mailing for the new lunch program. Please return it to the Bursar’s office via fax or email as soon as possible for your child to be included in the lunch program in September. The cost is 1000,00 Euro for the year and payment is due by September 30th, 2011. Contact irene.duranti@ambrit-rome or lisa.cianni@ambrit-rome.com for information. The new caterer "La Dolce Pasta" will provide Ambrit with a "traveling" kitchen (in a large truck) parked on the school premises. This kitchen will be able to prepare a freshly cooked meal for every lunch! The menu will include three courses (a carb, a protein and a veggie). 

School bus fees are 2.700,00 Euro for all areas of Rome. You will be invoiced directly by the bus company.  Please do not make bus payments to the school account. Contact buses@ambrit-rome.com for information.

Health Records
Each student should have a complete physical/health examination before entering school, which must be repeated every year. The school doctor will send the necessary form home with the summer mail. Parents are asked to return the completed forms promptly. 

The form (front section) must be completed by a parent or guardian and signed and the physical examination (back section) must be filled out by a licensed doctor/pediatrician. You can also download the medical form by clicking here.

All new students must provide the school with a copy of a completed vaccination (including DPT, Hepatitis B and boosters) certificate.

Remember, your child's health forms must be received by the first day of school. Health forms can be given directly to Gigi Santiago on the first day of school.

Upcoming events and dates to remember

 

New Student Day	Friday, September 2nd    (9:00 - 12:00)
First day of classes (Kinder - Grade 8)	Monday, September 5th
Orientation for Nursery parents	Wednesday, September 7th
Nursery visits	Friday, September 9th
First day of classes (Nursery)	Monday, September 12th (half-day first week)
Music Enrichment Meeting	Monday, September 12th (14:30)
New Parents' Cocktail Party	Saturday, September 17th (17:00 - 20:00)

 

From the desk of the Director - June 1, 2011

The Calendar at a Glance

 

Holiday for Strings	Thursday, June 2nd - Sunday, June 5th
Public Holiday	Thursday, June 2nd & Friday, June 3rd
Middle School End-of-Year Dance	Friday, June 10th  (19:00 - 22:00)
Friends of Ambrit (FOA) Final Meeting & Elections	Wednesday, June 15th (14:15 - 15:15)
School Closed for Middle School students (Oral Exams)	Wednesday to Friday, June 15th - 17th
Grade 8 Graduation (last day for 8th graders)	Tuesday, June 21st (19:00) Theatre
Grade 5 Graduation	Wednesday, June 22nd (9:30) Theatre
Last Day of Classes	Thursday, June 23rd (half day)

 

We hope each of our families will enjoy this well deserved long weekend, an opportunity to relax and spend some quality time with your children.

All of us here at Ambrit would like to express our gratitude to the Friends of Ambrit for their tremendous efforts in organizing our spring community-building events this past May. The gala at Palazzo Colonna was simply spectacular.  It was immediately followed by an extraordinary May Fair celebrating 150 years of Italian unity.  It was wonderful to see so many alumni families come to join in the festivities.

Make this weekend into a time to refresh before the final end-of-year dash for exams and assessments, the yearbook and graduation.

From the desk of the Director - May 3rd, 2011

The Calendar at a Glance

 

Dance Festival	Thursday, May 5th  (9:30)
Junior Choir Trip	Wednesday - Saturday, May 11 - 14th
SCHOOL CLOSED In-Service Day for Faculty	Friday, May 13th
Spring Dinner & Auction	Tuesday, May 17th (19:00) Galleria Colonna
Race for the Cure	Sunday, May 22nd (10:00)
All Choirs Concert	Monday, May 23rd
Private Music Lessons Recitals	Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday & Friday, May 24th, 25th, 26th & 27th (17:00) Theatre
May Fair	Saturday, May 28th

 

Invitations have gone out for the Friends of Ambrit annual Spring Dinner and Auction to be held on Tuesday, May 17th at 19:00.  This year the event will be at the Galleria Colonna http://www.galleriacolonna.it/HOME.html so the evening promises to be magical. You will not want to miss a tour of the magnificent Appartamento Principessa Isabelle, a string ensemble, a live and silent auction and a buffet dinner.
All proceeds will go to Ambrit projects and ten percent to Ashinaga https://kifuform.ashinaga.org/, a Japanese non-profit raising funds for children who lost their families in the recent earthquake and tsunami. Admission is 50 Euro per person. 

The XII edition of the annual Race for the Cure http://www.komen.it/la-race/roma/2011 is scheduled for May 22th, beginning at 10:00 at Caracalla. Each year Ambrit has participated as the largest school group and we hope to do the same this year, so please turn in your registration form as soon as possible.  Mr. Mullane has again offered to cover the cost of registration.  Our meeting point will be the corner of Via Aventina, where the gas station used to be, on Sunday morning at 9:30. 

Please remember that school is closed on Friday, May 13th when Ambrit faculty will have a In Service Day as we move forward towards our IB certification.
The latest PYP Newsletter is a Student-Led Conference special, which includes video reflections of the day. To watch them, please click here or visit the curriculum news section of the website http://ambrit-rome.com/curriculumsitenew/curriculumnews.php

Preparations for the May Fair have begun.  The theme this year is "150 Years of Italian Unity".  Each Grade level will be choosing a region to represent. On the day of the Fair, students will be given a passport at the door and can then participate in games and activities while collecting stamps in their passport for prizes - the more regions visited, the bigger the prize will be. Children who are dressed in the colors of the Italian flag (red, white and green) will receive an extra stamp! 

For two weeks, Ambrit is hosting a group of 15 student teachers from the University of Florida, who have been paired with faculty in each of our departments. The interns participate in a program called "Teach the World" which aims to give them experience in an international school setting.  

We have recently been investigating pre-fabricated classrooms and would love to expand our present location in this way.  You can see samples of some wonderful spaces that could be available to Ambrit students http://ecospacestudios.it/portfolio/strutture_scolastiche/index.html, if the school can obtain permission from city officials to place a similar structure on the Vigna Pia property.  If any parent can be of assistance in this endeavor, please contact the office.

From the desk of the Director - April 1, 2011

The Calendar at a Glance

 

SCHOOL CLOSED In-Service day for faculty	Friday, April 1st
School Trips:
Grade 5 Pompeii	5G Monday, April 4th to Wednesday, April 6th 5L  Wednesday, April 6th to Friday, April 8th 5W  Monday, April 11th to Wednesday, April 13th
Grade 4 ArteAparte	Wednesday, April 6th & Wednesday, April 13th
Student-led Conferences for EC and Primary SCHOOL CLOSED for Primary and Early Childhood students SCHOOL OPEN for Middle School students	Tuesday, April 12th
Friends of Ambrit (FOA) Meeting	Wednesday, April 13th (8:30 - 9:30) note new time!
Progress Reports Grades 6 - 8	Friday, April 15th
Spring Break	Monday, April 18th - Monday, April 25th
First day of classes	Tuesday, April 26th

 

School Trips 

March is always a very busy month at Ambrit.  Middle School students have just returned from Florence and Venice, full of ideas and the memories created while exploring these cities of art together.

Collection for Japan 

The Grades 4 are involved in a PYP unit entitled S.O.S.  Their inquiry includes defining emergencies both local and global and finding ways of responding to them.  Both classes are organizing a collection to help the earthquake and tsunami survivors in Japan.  

4M will be creating a ‘cherry prayer tree’ for the atrium, as this is the time of year in Japan when people celebrate the cherry blossoms arriving. Many Japanese people also use trees as sacred places to offer prayers, by tying ribbons of kind or hopeful words around them. For 2 euros (or more), you will be able to tie a pink, white or red ribbon around the branches of our tree. The money collected will go to the Red Cross to be distributed in Japan. The decorated tree will stand in the atrium as a symbol of our support for Japan as its people recover from the current crisis. 

Lost and Found 
All lost and found items of clothing will be displayed in the atrium from Monday, April 4th until Friday, April 8th.  Please stop by the school to retrieve your child's belongings. Clothing not collected by Friday will be donated to a charity.

Spring Gala and Auction 
We are very excited and pleased to announce that the Friends of Ambrit Spring Gala and Auction will be held this year at Palazzo Colonna. The date will be announced shortly after which you will receive more information from the Friends of Ambrit. 

From the desk of the Director - January 19th, 2011

 

The Calendar at a Glance

 

Report Cards Middle School (sent electronically)	Friday, January 28th
All Choirs Concert	Monday, January 31st  (17:30)
Friends of Ambrit (FOA) Meeting	Wednesday, February 2nd  (14:15 - 15:15)
Report Cards Primary (sent electronically)	Friday, February 4th
Middle School Student-led Conferences SCHOOL CLOSED for Middle School students SCHOOL OPEN for Primary and Early Childhood students	Tuesday, February 8th
Report Cards Early Childhood  (sent electronically)	Friday, February 11th
Middle School Dance	Friday, February 11th  (19:00 - 22:00)
Winter Break	Monday, February 22nd - Monday, February 28th
SCHOOL CLOSED In-Service day for faculty	Monday, February 28th
First day of classes	Tuesday, March 1st

 

Hearts for Haiti will begin this year right on Valentine's day, Monday, February 14th. We will need to put our hearts and hands together to honour our commitment to our girls in Haiti http://www.panecondiviso.com/haiti/progetti.asp. The news about Haiti speaks for itself. We can only be glad to be part of such a committed and generous community always ready to give a helping hand. 

We will have our Hearts for Haiti bake sale and more on the 14th -15th of February and certainly many activities to promote our fund-raiser. Keep your eyes open for memos on this initiative in order to volunteer baked goods or your time at the bake sale.

Building and Grounds Report
Enrollment for the next academic year is excellent.  Unfortunately our space issues continue to be dramatic.  Our discussions with the religious order who owns the building near Caracalla have slowed down to a snail’s pace. From our last meeting, it appears that the structure wouldn’t be available for five years. In the meantime, however, we are moving forward with the creation of an endowment that will provide the school with the funds for development.  The endowment will allow the school to relocate in the future  and continue beyond my tenure at the school.
We have already received some donations to both the American Foundation and the Italian not-for-profit (onlus) called Innovations. 

I will be traveling to the US in February to attend recruitment fairs. We have a limited number of teachers who are moving on and I am seeking interns to assist the Music,  IT and Resource departments.  While  I’m in the US, I will use the opportunity to speak with possible donors and I have planned receptions for alumni, their parents and friends of Ambrit. The first reception will be held in San Francisco, followed by events in New York, Washington, DC and Miami.  

On Middle School Student-led Conference Day,  Tuesday, February 8^th, Middle School students will be showcasing a portfolio of their work for their parents. You will be given guidelines to help make this encounter successful. Please make every effort to be on time for your appointment. 

From the Office of the Director - November 18th, 2010

UPCOMING EVENTS

Mark Your Calendar  

Wednesday, November 24th	Benefit Concert for Suffyan Koroma Foundation   19:00 in the theatre
Thursday & Friday, November 25th & 26th	Thanksgiving Weekend
Tuesday, November 30th	Winter Recital Grade 1   9:30 in the theatre
Thursday, December 2nd	Winter Recital Grades 4 & 5   9:30 in the theatre
Friday, December 3rd	Holiday Bazaar   9:00 - 16:00

Pane Condiviso

The Halloween bake sale and pumpkin carving contest were a great success and we raised €3500 for our girls in Haiti. Students were very involved in the projects,  demonstrating the PYP attributes of caring and reflective on issues such as the earthquake and its effect on the lives of our girls and our continued responsibility and commitment to help. Although there were four winners, all our primary students felt involved through the various ways they participated: baking in class or at home, carving pumpkins, making decorations and helping their buddies at the bake sale. Grade 1 students were the judges again this year and chose the following winning pumpkins:

1st place -    Livia P. in 5G
2nd place -  Francesca A. 5L and Noah I. in 3B
3rd place -   Sofia M. in 4M

Il Bel Paese

We remind families, especially those new to the school, to place themselves on the school's website under the heading "Il Bel Paese".  Here you will find a list of the businesses and services offered by the Ambrit community, including those who have made donations to Ambrit's fundraising events.  Contact Ambrit webmaster Jeanne-Marie Byron at jmb@ambrit-rome.com. 

From the Office of the Director - October 20th, 2010

UPCOMING EVENTS

Mark Your Calendar 

Tuesday, October 26th	PYP - Parent Information Breakfast
Wednesday, October 27th	Friends of Ambrit Meeting
Friday, October 29th	EC Halloween Sing-Along  9:30 in the theatre
Monday-Friday, November 1st - 5th	Autumn Break and MAIS Conference
Friday, November 12th	Mid-term Progress Reports   (Grades 6 - 8)
Wednesday, November 17th	Friends of Ambrit Meeting
Wednesday, November 24th	Benefit Concert for Suffyan Koroma Foundation 19:00 in the theatre
Thursday & Friday, November 25th & 26th	Thanksgiving Weekend

In the Middle School, there were a variety of activities taking place to mark World Food Day.The Grade 6 students produced posters, both for the WFP poster competition and posters showing the basic staple food groups organised by the science department. Students in Grade 7 participated in an on-line WFP quiz organised by the ICT department. In Grade 8 the students participated in a social studies project entitled, ‘The Twelve Hunger Myths’ and presented their findings at an assembly. In addition, all students in the Middle School were encouraged to eat a simple lunch at school that day, in order to make a gesture of solidarity and help increase awareness of the food crisis in the world.

Kids 2 Kids

Kids2Kids is a small group of parents and students who are dedicated to the idea that with just a small gesture, we can improve the quality of life of many children in Rome (and around the world!) and put a smile on their faces at the same time.  We organize clothing drives at the international schools of Rome, divide the clothes and create wardrobes for the kids who need them with their names on each bag. We also prepare suitcases to be hand carried by Italian volunteers to Africa. The idea is that your clothes go directly from your closet to theirs. Last year more than 150 kids in Rome received a K2K bag and 15 suitcases were hand carried to South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya. As our name suggests, this is a 'Kids' organization. We need your ideas, your clothes and your help!

We are happy to take size 0-18 clothing (only washed, pressed and folded), shoes (if not too worn and clean), hats, scarves, backpacks, sunglasses and suitcases (for Africa). PLEASE put your donations in bags with the gender and size marked on the outside - this will save us many hours of sorting! And most importantly, please involve your kids 

(even just at home, preparing the donation). Drop off in front of the library at the K2K table. THANK YOU

K2K and the Rattazzi family

Kids to Kids, Il Faro di Susanna Agnelli, Via Virginia Agnelli, 21 Roma 00151   tel. 347.800.3521   e-mail: kids2kids@virgilio.it

There will be another Parent-Child Pumpkin Carving Contest after its success last year and a Halloween Bake Sale on both Thursday and Friday, October 28th and 29th, with all proceeds going to Pane Condiviso. During the two-day bake sale, Ambrit sweatshirts, PE (gym) shorts and T-shirts will also be on sale.  These new items have been donated by Mr. Mullane and these proceeds will go towards the girls' orphanage in Shillong, India.

On Friday the 29th, the children in Primary and EC are welcome to dress up in a costume.  Please remember that Ambrit is a peaceful school, so no play guns, swords or knives please!

Parents are invited to our EC Halloween Sing Along at 9:30 in the theater. Please come and join us. You are welcome to dress up too.

Charities
Annually Halloween kicks off our fund raising season. While our Halloween festivities help children in Port-au-Prince, we hope to raise 14,000 Euros to complete a second floor at the girls' orphanage in Shillong, by December.  This will allow each girl to have her own bed. Ambrit has already sent 6000 Euros to start the construction.  Mr. Mullane will match all funds raised at the Holiday Bazaar.  There will be a holiday lottery and Mr. Mullane will again use his American Express membership points to acquire wonderful prizes. 

Community Service Initiatives

Bi-weekly sandwich preparation has begun.  Grade 3C was the first class to prepare 40 sandwiches to be distributed by the Community of Sant'Egidio to homeless in the north of Rome. Every other Thursday a different class will have the opportunity to participate: next batch of sandwiches to be prepared on Thursday, October 28th. Thanks to Ambrit students and teachers for their support of this project.

The Search Committee
A month ago, we identified a building nearby that is twice the size of our present site, with two hectares of land. We are working with a group of parents to acquire the property.  Our architect, Clara Lafuente, is currently working on a re-design of the building. We hope to present the project to the parents shortly after the break. We wish to thank the parents who have come forward to give us strategies to put together a financial plan to allow us to buy the building.

From the Office of the Director - September 22nd, 2010

Thursday, September 23 & Sunday, September 26th & Wednesday, September 29th	Grade 6 Medieval Cities Trip
Monday, September 27th - Friday, October 1st	Primary Class meetings
Saturday, October 2nd	Autumn Barbecue
Friday, October 8th	Parent Workshop "Managing Transitions"  (9:15-10:30)
Thursday, October 14th	World Food Day (celebrated)
Friday, October 15th	Target Setting Conferences for parents SCHOOL CLOSED for all students
Friday, October 29th	Halloween Sing-Along
Monday to Friday, November 1st - November 5th	Autumn Break

 

Grade 2	Monday, September 27th
Grade 1	Tuesday, September 28th
Grade 5	Wednesday, September 29th
Grade 3 **	Thursday, September 30th **
Grade 4	Friday, October 1st

** On Thursday, September 30th, there will be a general presentation by Ms. Casson of the Grade 3 curriculum, field trips, grade level expectations and the team of teachers. There will be another class meeting for 3V after Mr.Vigneault's return. 

Arrival and Dismissal

At Ambrit, we encourage independence in our students from the earliest years.  By following the procedures for arrival and dismissal, you will facilitate your child's entrance and departure from school.

Early Childhood 

•   In Nursery, your child should arrive no later than 9:15 and parents should leave as soon as the child is settled. 
•   In Kindergarten, children should be accompanied to the outdoor play area and parents should leave within a few minutes - lessons begin at 9:00.
•   Prep children should be left at the door of their classroom by 8:45.

• Children should be accompanied to the adventure playground or to the pitch before 8:45.  If your child arrives later and the class has already entered the building, parents are asked NOT to bring their child to the classroom.  They must be left with Ginger at the reception area, who will accompany them to their classroom.     

•     Nursery, Kinder and Prep wait in their classrooms
•     Grade 1 waits in the theatre
•     Grades 2 - 5 wait in the atrium
•     Middle School students wait in the theatre and should exit with their parents through the small garden.

From the Office of the Director - September 3, 2010 

Calendar at a Glance

Monday, September 6th	Nursery visits
Monday, September 6th (14:30)	Music Enrichment meeting
Wednesday-Friday, September 8th - 10th	Middle School class meetings
Wednesday, September 8th	First 1/2  day of Nursery classes  (1/2 day first week)
Wednesday, September 15th	First full day for Nursery
Monday-Friday, September 13th - 17th	EC class meetings
Friday, September 17th (12:30)	Welcome lunch for new & current parents
Thursday, September 23rd & Sunday, September 26th & Wednesday, September 29th	Grade 6 Medieval Cities School Trip
Monday-Friday, September 27th - October 1st	Primary class meetings
Saturday, October 2nd	Autumn Barbecue

 

All the faculty and staff at Ambrit would like to welcome you to the new academic year.  It has been a wonderfully relaxed beginning, with the smiling faces of returning students and 110 new students who have joined the school this year.  We hope you will open your homes to the new families in our community (designated by an * [asterisk] on the class lists).  If you are planning an outing or arranging a playdate, please remember to include the newcomers. 

Newsletters

Our parent newsletter is one of the ways in which we communicate information about life at school, our students' achievements, dates to remember and issues which arise during the school year for which we need parent co-operation and participation. All newsletters and communications will be posted on our Internet web site. If you are a new family or have a new e-mail address, please send an e-mail to the school ambrit@ambrit-rome.com with the name of your child/children and the name of their class teacher so we can copy your e-mail address from it.

•     Wash their hands
•     Not share personal items
•     Know the signs and symptoms of the flu
•     Keep sick children home - do not send them to school

•  Use e-mail only for non-urgent matters.
•  Do not expect all e-mails to be read in a given time frame. Remember that this is an extra task for teachers to take on. They will answer your e-mail as soon as they can.  This will depend on the  importance of the matter in question and the teacher's availability.
•  Please identify your purpose in the subject line of your e-mail message.
•  Your child's academic progress and behavioral issues are best addressed by telephone or by scheduling a personal conference with your child's teacher.  An e-mail  message on these matters is not  appropriate.
•  Do not use e-mail to ask about homework.
•  Use e-mail to give teachers advance notice of planned absences, to arrange a conference, but not to arrange play-dates, organize birthday parties or make bus changes.  For bus changes, you may email Gigi at buses@ambrit-rome.com before 12:00 noon. We welcome your ideas for field trips, guest speakers and curriculum related  activities. 

Please DO NOT send group emails to the parent body. Everybody's time is precious!

Teachers' emails follow this format: firstname.lastname@ambrit-rome.com (ex: mary.smith@ambrit-rome.com).

Should a child need a cell phone in order to contact their parents after school, the phone must be checked in with the office, where it will be kept until the end of the school day, then returned to the student. The office will require a letter from the family, explaining the student's need for a cell phone.

If students bring the above items to school, they will be confiscated and kept in the school office for collection by their parents. The equipment will not be given back to the student. This policy was implemented because the above items cause too many distractions for students during the school day, and the school cannot be held responsible for lost, damaged or stolen property.

Parking / Arrival / Dismissal

Please do not park at the front gate and block arrival and departure of school buses. Parents must park legally somewhere in the neighborhood if they wish to accompany their child within the school grounds. If not, parents may leave their child at the gate with Pablo who will see that they are escorted to the appropriate play area.

 

It is important that children arrive on time at school each day, to give them time to settle in and not miss the start of lessons. At the end of the school day, Nursery, Kindergarten and Prep students can be collected from their respective classrooms after 15:25, Grade 1 students from the lunchroom, Grades 2-5 from the atrium, and Middle Students from the lunchroom.

 

Reminder - No Smoking!

Ambrit is a smoke-free environment. Parents are kindly asked to refrain from smoking in the front garden. Please put out your cigarette before you enter the school grounds.

Buses

The organization of the bus service is an enormous task. Gigi Santiago co-ordinates the flow of information between the families and the service providers. We make every effort to resolve any problems that occur at the start of the school year. We ask parents to refrain from requesting a place on the bus for a friend to be taken home at the end of the day as almost all routes are completely full. It may be possible that a place for a friend can be provided once school activities have started mid- month. All requests must always be communicated to the school and approved. Bus changes are accepted until 12:00 noon. buses@ambrit-rome.com

 

PE Policy

All students must arrive to class wearing appropriate P.E. attire:

- gym shoes

- tee shirt

- gym shorts

- track suit (for colder weather)

Students will not be permitted to participate in P.E. if not dressed appropriately. The second time a student is not dressed appropriately a note will be sent to the homeroom teacher. The third time parents will be contacted. Participation will be calculated into the P.E. grade. Any student who feels ill during P.E. will be sent to the school nurse for evaluation.

Afterschool Activities
A full description of afterschool activities, which will begin on Monday, September 13th, has been sent to you today and will be posted on the school's web site http://ambrit-rome.com/afterschool/after.htm. Late buses are provided to FAO, IFAD and WFP.

Class meetings are an opportunity to meet your child's teachers and become familiar with the curriculum. The presentations will focus on the program of studies for this academic year. As all of our faculty are involved with class meetings or teach after school activities, we are unable to provide child care during the meetings. Class meetings will start promptly at 4:00 pm; make every effort to be on time. 

• Monday, September 13                           Nursery
• Wednesday,  September 8                       Kindergarten
• Thursday, September 9                            Prep
• Tuesday, September 14                           Grade 1
• Wednesday, September 15                      Grade 2
• Thursday, September 16                         Grade 3
• Friday, September 17                              Grade 4
• Monday, September 20                           Grade 5
• Tuesday, September 21                           Grade 6
• Wednesday, September 22                      Grade 7
• Thursday, September 23                          Grade 8

Fire Drills

Fire drills are essential for the safety of our students.  At Ambrit we have students practice evacuating the building several times each school year.  Our first scheduled drill will be next Tuesday, September 7th, at 9:45, when each teacher will lead his/her class quickly and quietly out of the building.  If you have a young child, you may want to remind them about the practice in the morning before school. Once the students are familiar with the safety procedures, we will have "unannounced" fire drills at different times during the school day. 

We wish our students and their families a very successful 2010-2011. 

From the Office of the Director - Summer 2010

We hope that our students and families are enjoying a relaxing summer.  Each school year seems to fly by at a rather unbelievable pace, with the summer months upon us and the rains a distant memory. Breathe in the gently perfumed Roman air and take this occasion to bask in some family quality time. We strongly suggest that you unplug your children and yourselves, as a matter of fact, during the long awaited holidays.  Spend some time together without iPods, cell phones, blackberries, digital games, Internet et al. Sometimes a walk to nowhere, an ice cream and a conversation are just what the doctor ordered - perhaps the best of all therapies.

Summer Office Hours
The school office will remain open until Thursday, July 29th. Offices hours are 9.00 am -1.00 pm. We will close for three weeks holiday and reopen on Monday the 23rd of August.
N.B.  E-mails will be collected every other day from ambrit@ambrit-rome.com/director@ambrit-rome.com

Lost and Found
Every year mountains of beautiful clothing are left at school.  At the end of each term we send all unclaimed items to local charities.  We would like to get a better handle on this next year so we are asking parents to label all sweaters and outer clothing before the start of school.  A label on an item simply makes it so much easier to locate the owner. You can purchase labels at www.easy2name.com. Give it a try!

Primary Years Program
Ambrit is continuing to work hard towards PYP authorization. It is expected that IBO representatives will come to Ambrit in autumn 2010 for a preliminary visit and to give guidance on our next steps towards authorization.
A number of changes will take place during the 2010/11 school year, most notably, the introduction of target setting and student-led conferences.  These conferences will take place in October and May. Information on these changes will be communicated at length at the beginning of the school year when we will offer some informative workshops on this and other related PYP topics.  We look forward to seeing you there. In the meantime, you can view our latest curriculum newsletter at
http://www.ambrit-rome.com/curriculumsitenew/newsletter3.pdf

PYP Planning Days - School Closed for Students
Friday, October 15th, 2010
Monday, January 10th, 2011
Monday, February 28th, 2011
Friday, April 1st, 2011
Friday, May 13th, 2011

EAL Early Intervention
Next year there will be some re-organization in the EAL Department. EAL support will be extended from the current Grades 1 to 6 to include Prep. The aim is to provide young language learners with more targeted opportunities for listening and speaking and to enhance all-round language support, as the children lay the all-important foundations for learning to read and write.

Technology upgrade
As we all know, modern technology moves at an incredible pace. Just five years ago, who would have thought that Interactive Whiteboards (Smart Boards) would become so commonplace and integral in the classrooms of today, alongside laptops, iPods and video cameras! Children are surrounded by a wide range of technological advances everyday and, at Ambrit, we ensure that students are kept up to date with the most current uses of technology. The current technology at the school, mainly consisting of Apple eMac computers, has supported staff and students reliably and efficiently for the past 4 years. However, each day new programs, technologies and web-based learning experiences are becoming available and we need to ensure that students have access to the latest software and hardware. Therefore Ambrit has decided to invest in a school-wide upgrade of each classroom computer - over 35 new iMac 21-inch Apple computers are being purchased for classrooms in 2010/2011, providing teachers and students access to a much richer and more profound technology-based learning.  As a result, the existing computers, Apple eMacs, will be available for students and teachers as "student" computers to support learning in the class, with internet access and basic programs available to further implement and encourage the use of technology during lessons and class time.  Students will have access when they need it to technology that is current   - thus supporting and enhancing their already rich learning environment and ensuring that Ambrit students are best prepared to enter the new technological age.

Library News
The library is wrapping up another successful year.  Besides working all year on updating our collection and records to support the Primary Years Programme objectives, we have been working steadily toward our goal of creating two fully integrated library spaces at Ambrit next year, one for the upper grades and one for the lower grades.  A great deal of work goes on behind the scenes for a big change like this and we appreciate the patience and support of the Ambrit community while we work on this transition.  A special thank-you goes to our library volunteers.

As always, it has been a delight to watch student’s progress over the course of the year.  To keep those skills sharp during the summer break, the message from the library is:  KEEP READING!   On the website are a few suggestions for books to read over the summer.  Check it out at  www.ambrit-rome.com/library/summer.html

A Spectacular Year for our Charities
There has been an unprecedented out-pouring of generosity for our charities from the Ambrit community this year. We started our fund raising year on Halloween with a bake sale for the girls home in Port au Prince, Haiti.  After the tragic earthquake in January the home was seriously damaged and the girls are now living in tents on the grounds until the building is repaired.  Pascale Salomon will go to Haiti to see what we can to for the orphanage. The giving tree for Rocca di Papa at the Holiday Bazaar allowed every child in the home to be given a special gift. We also were able renovate a game room.  By Easter we opened the Ambrit house in Shillong - the heart-warming ceremony swept me away - I felt awe at what we had accomplished as a community. The grand total of funds raised is just about 47.000,00€!!!

Hearts for Haiti           16.910
Rocca di Papa             12.040
Shillong                      13.910
Student Council            4.000

Our first teacher volunteer, Michelle Falcinelli, will launch our teacher summer program in Shillong, India.  Once we have the program set up with the assistance of Anita Roy, the Foundation its@ambrit will send 3 teachers each summer to assist the children in the orphanage with their studies.

Kids2Kids
Our clothing drive Kids2Kids made 135 complete wardrobes for children in Rome and we are sending off 15 suitcases to Africa in June! Thanks to you and the families at Ambrit, Kids2Kids has been a great success this year. I can't thank you enough for believing in our idea from the very start. You gave us a chance to start a good thing that is growing fast and the idea is catching on … I hope that it spreads far and wide! We will always remember you as our first 'Yes'! Thank you,     Dana Rattazzi

School Policies
May we remind you once again that students are not allowed to bring the following items to school:
- cell phones
- cameras, digital or film
- iPods or mp3 Players
- portable game consoles (GameBoy, PSP etc.)
Should a child need a cell phone in order to contact their parents after school, the phone must be checked in with the office, where it will be kept until the end of the school day, then returned to the student. The office will require a letter from the family, explaining the student's need for a cell phone.

Class Lists
During the summer, you will receive student class lists; please keep in mind the following established policies that guide the administration for student placement and teacher assignments.  

Ambrit's Class Placement Policy
Ambrit supports a heterogeneous class environment for its students. A classroom that is balanced by gender, academic and language abilities facilitates appreciation of diversity, positive social interchanges, and co-operative learning. At the end of each academic year, teachers and specialists meet to decide student class placement for the following year. Classes will be composed annually to reflect the above criteria and the philosophy of the school.

Teacher Placement
On April 1st of each scholastic year, the Director assesses the staffing needs for the next school year. The Director meets with Department Heads and develops a staffing strategy from a list of returning faculty and newly hired teachers. The fundamental objective of the school administration is to create the strongest team in each sector of the school. In the initial staffing draft, the following criteria are used as a guideline. A final decision will be made by the first of June. Parents will be officially informed of September staffing with the summer mailing.  

    Criteria
  - Qualifications
  - Experience with an age group
  - Capability to work in a team
  - Teachers work with year group for at least 2 years before a change
  - The Director will interview all staff in the spring to review the current school situation and openly discuss preferences.

Ambrit Mother Tongue Afterschool Programme
After analyzing the results of the Ambrit Language Survey, we see that some of you have expressed interest in the Mother Tongue Afterschool Programme. So far we have had requests for the following languages:
Arabic, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hindi, Icelandic, Japanese, Korean, Lithuanian, Mandarin, Norwegian, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish (already formed) and Turkish.
The school will provide the space, whilst the group may either choose their own teacher, or ask us to help you to find one.  The cost would be determined by the teacher and interested families.
Please contact the Mother Tongue Coordinator as soon as possible to express or confirm your interest in forming a group for the coming school year 2010-2011.

Also, why not check out the results from our language survey http://www.ambrit-rome.com/news/Mother_Tongue_Newsletter.pdf
Jennifer Kightley 
EAL and Mother Tongue Coordinator
jennifer.kightley@ambrit-rome.com


Building and Grounds Report
Over the summer, the painters will be freshening up most of the common areas in the school and some classrooms needing attention. During the summer we will renovate the art room, reorganizing how the space is used. The area adjacent to the Language room will be used to enhance the early childhood programs.  The school continues its search for a more ample facility to accommodate the growing needs of the school. We have identified an extremely interesting site close to the school; as negotiations are at a preliminary stage, it is too early to reveal the exact location. If the project goes forward, it will take several years before a move, as the property requires extensive renovations.

Faculty List for 2010-2011
The faculty list for the 2010/11school year is included in the summer mailing you will receive shortly.  New teacher bios can be found on Ambrit's website at http://ambrit-rome.com/staff/staffnews.html

Faculty News
Mr. Gianluca Cristiani and his wife are expecting their first child, while Jen Walters is expecting her second child.
Peter Sheppard and Sandra Ferraro will be retiring. Jennifer Craver and Francis Henkel will be returning to the United States.

Bus Information
Bus information will be available on Friday, the 27th of August. Click here for general information about buses. All buses are fitted with seat belts. Please remind your child that they must always buckle up. Please review bus rules and behaviour standards with your child.

Note from the Bursar
You will receive a form in the summer mailing for the lunch program. Please return it to the Bursar’s office. The cost is 800,00 euro for the year and payment is due by Monday, September 6th.

School bus fees are 2.300,00 euro for all areas of Rome. You will be invoiced directly by the bus company.  Please do not make bus payments to the school account.

Health Records
Each student should have a complete physical/health examination before entering school, which must be repeated every year. The school doctor will send the necessary form home with the summer mail. Parents are asked to return the completed forms promptly. You can also download the medical form by clicking here .
All new students must provide the school with a copy of a completed vaccination (including DPT, Hepatitis B and boosters) certificate.
Remember, your child's health forms must be received by the first day of school. Health forms can be given directly to Gigi Santiago on the first day of school.

Again, from everyone here at Ambrit, enjoy your summer. See you in September!

Upcoming events and dates to remember

 

New Student Day	Tuesday, August 31st    9:00 - 12:00
First day of classes (Kinder - Grade 8)	Wednesday, September 1st
Orientation for Nursey parents	Friday, September 3rd
New Parents' Cocktail Party	Saturday, September 4th (17:00 - 20:00)
Nursery visits	Monday, September 6th
Music Enrichment Meeting	Monday, September 6th (14:30)
First day of classes (Nursery)	Wednesday, September 8th (half-day first week)