Director's Message
Dear KIS Community
It is hard to believe that we are one week away from the Winter Break and wrapping up our first term. This time of year is always busy with class celebrations, concerts, charity events, photos, and all sorts of other activities. It is a nice way to celebrate all the hard work, dedication, and success we have all shared to this point.
We would like to thank the PTO for coming to help decorate the school and organize photos for our students. These are always a nice thing to have each year and we are glad to be doing them again! It is always fun to watch the Elementary performances. We would prefer to fill our auditorium with an audience of parents, but we are glad that we can still make these performances available via live stream. Next week, we will have a few more concerts. If you don't get a chance to watch these, they are available on our youtube channel.
There have been a few questions concerning the school's plan to continue operation in case of an emergency. We do have plans in place for KIS to continue - you can find these plans here. Before the pandemic, we always did a practice day of online learning, but given the past couple of years, we don't need to practice as much. However, we do understand that given any state of emergency that required us to make adjustments, the school is always prepared to be flexible and make the necessary changes that best serve our community. It is difficult to predict every situation or scenario, so we try the best we can to have clarity of vision, with the understanding of the need to have the flexibility of the process. We always hope never to need these plans in place but remain prepared.
Sincerely,
Luke Woodruff
Director
Kyiv International School
Upcoming Events
13 - 17 December - Spirit Week
14 - 15 December - Book Fair Fest
14 - 16 December - PreK Concerts
20 December - 7 January - Winter Break
Note from the Business Office
Dear Parents,
Please be kindly reminded that the Due Date for Term 2 school fees is December 17th, 2021 (Term 3: April 1st, 2022).
We ask you to take care of outstanding balances at your earliest convenience. If you forgot to pass your signed Educational Agreement 2021-22, please do it before December 17th as well.
Please contact Business Office in case you have any questions or concerns: businessoffice@kyiv.qsi.org or +38(068)340-7252
Covid-19 Updates
- 100% of staff are vaccinated.
- Following new vaccination guidelines from Ministry of Health for schools.
- Placing CO2 monitors in all classrooms as spaces.
- Most of the vendors that come to the school campus are vaccinated; the ones who are not, go through PRC tests at KIS nurse's office and only after getting negative result are admitted to students.
- Students and Staff take rapid antigen test before competitions with other schools.
- Air purifiers, sensor water stations and hand sanitizers are easily accessible for students and staff to use.
- 2 confirmed Covid-19 student and 1 staff cases at KIS this week.
Divisional Korner
LOE Korner
LOE Safety Netting
We would like to remind about LOE Safety netting that takes place at Kozak 30 (HS : 11.21-11.51 and MS: 11.54-12.24). If you have any questions related to your LOE class, would like to complete some missing assignments, to catch up or to do an upgrade, this option is for you.
Language Clubs in December
Also, during Kozak 30, we organize Language Clubs. It's not a problem, if you missed previous sessions. All the MS and HS students speaking the language are welcome.
French Club (Room 1301): HS - 16 Dec., MS - 17 Dec.;
German Club (Room 1402): MS - 10 Dec., HS - 13 Dec.;
Russian Club (Room 1304): HS - 14 Dec., MS - 16 Dec.;
Spanish Club (Room 1405): MS - 14 Dec., HS - 17 Dec.;
Ukrainian Club (Room 1403): HS - 14 Dec., MS - 16 Dec.;
Let's have some fun before the break!
Sports and Activities
Kozak Nation (Middle School and Secondary)
MS Robotics CEESA
On December 3rd, two KIS teams of Middle School students competed in the CEESA MS Robotics Tournament. Over the course of the fall season, they worked on building and programming their robots and completing mission in the field. Friday was a full day, with eight rounds of competition, leading up to the finals at 6 pm. Our teams did a great job helping and supporting each other. At the end of the day, KIS took 3rd place!
This is a reminder that all students need a water bottle. They need these even on day they do not have sports! Please help keep your kids hydrated by making sure they have a bottle!
Winter Season is off to a great start! #kozaknation
KIS CARES
Learning Stories & Highlights
Elementary
The Curious Learners
Teacher: Lindsey Murff
10LM students have been very curious learners these past couple of weeks. Students were presented with a book that they were not allowed to see the title or the cover of. As they read the "mystery book", students had to generate ideas of what they thought the book should be called. They were given an opportunity to go to Maker Space to design their own book covers and titles. Students used their knowledge of what the "mystery book" was about, along with their knowledge of creating a catchy title to "hook" their reader. We were able to put the finishing touches on our book designs after we finished reading. Students wrote a summary of the what story was about, along with their own 5-start reviews. At the end of this project, the actual author and title was revealed to the class; Skinnybones by, Barbara Park. Many students decided that they preferred their own titles to the actual title.
The students did an amazing job of letting their curiosity guide their learning!
Elementary
8 Year Old Students Perform “The Nutcracker”
Teacher: Wesley Buck
In early October, the 8 Year Old teachers were approached by Ms. Hume with the idea of preparing and performing a drama with help from her secondary drama students. In addition to the songs and dances that the 8’s typically present this time of year, the performance would include action, learning lines, designing sets, costumes, and props. We were all excited to take part.
This play included some challenges, none bigger than a three week quarantine happening in the middle of our rehearsal schedule. But, the kids persevered and this week they performed the Nutcracker two times (once for a live in-person audience and once live streamed for the parents and students to watch online.)
Over the years I have been involved in many drama presentations with my classes. I am sometimes asked how I justify taking so much time away from direct classroom instruction for something that seems fun, but less educational. My response is the opposite, how could I NOT accept the opportunity for my students to be involved in something as amazing as a school play? Drama changes our kids for the better!
Through drama I have seen shy students open up and learn to express themselves as a direct result of being on stage. I have seen drama help struggling children to come to grips with their emotions, thoughts, and dreams. Drama stimulates creativity in my students and I have seen adequate writers become amazingly creative authors because it flips a switch in their thought process and teaches them that it is ok to dream big dreams. I have even seen students improve in Math after being involved in a school play because it gives children permission to be innovative in solving problems.
As you enjoy this holiday season, I encourage you to take a few minutes and support the 8’s by watching their work come to life on the KIS YouTube channel as they perform The Nutcracker.
Intensive English
Learning from Biographies
Teacher: Olga Golitsyna
Everybody’s life is a story full of special events, unforgettable moments, and remarkable experiences. Young learners from our class have been studying biographies of people who accomplished great things during their lives.
The students have been learning biographies in many different ways. They collected information from a variety of sources, used nonfiction details to define character’s actions, personality traits, and strategies for solving problems. One of the activity that students enjoyed was to select a quote of a famous person, define its meaning, and make connections to their lives and the society. Finally, the students put a great deal of effort into creating and presenting their projects about Neil Armstrong, Mother Teresa, Steve Jobs, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Martin Luther King Jr., Tomas Edison, and Robert Ripley. No doubts, there is wisdom to share and lessons to learn from each life story.
The students noticed that studying biographies is truly inspiring process that teaches you believe in yourself and not to give up, learn from your mistakes and make right choices, motivates to unveil your potential and become successful in achieving your life goals. Exploring biographies is so much fun indeed!
Middle School
MS Science - 12
Teacher: Hanna Oleksenko
Rocks are what the crust of the Earth is made of. They are the mountains and the bottom of the ocean.
Students have got a set of rocks derived from different spots of North America. They needed to identify them by examining with a digital microscope for kinds of minerals, texture, and luster.
Then, young geologists did the "streak test" to determine the color of a mineral in powdered form.
Furthermore, learners compared rock hardness by scratching them with a fingernail (hardness 1-2), a copper penny (3), a glass plate (4), a steel nail (5), and a quartz (6-7). Some students had deduced that there were rocks with hardness more then 7, which is rare (chrysoberyl and tourmaline).
Moreover, scientists determined the composition of rocks based on their reaction with water and mild acid.
By the end of the lesson, students reflected on their own work and evaluated a peer's involvement.
Real Talk With Sasha
KIS Podcast Episode 16: Sasha
KIS YouTube Channel News
Check out KIS Official Youtube Channel and enjoy new videos posted!
What's Cooking with KFN!
Menu for the Week: Dec. 13th - 17th
School Announcements
Dear Campus Community,
As you know, we added Classifieds section to our Connect Page on the school website. The Section contains the following branches:
If you have an announcement you would like us to place there, please email kozakconnect@qsi.org .
