Buffalo Weekly - Dec 8, 2021

ECC & ELEMENTARY CHRISTMAS PROGRAM

Music is an important aspect of the Christmas tradition. WYIS ECC and Elementary students have the great opportunity to display their music skills on stage at this year's ECC & Elementary Christmas Program, Christmas Through the Decades. Students will perform Christmas songs ranging from decades past, each class performing a Christmas song that was either written or given a different arrangement during a particular decade.

Due to new COVID regulations from the Wuhan Education Bureau, our seating is limited to 50 people per show who are not current students or staff. Because of that, we have reformatted our program to be a series of mini programs, presented by class, throughout the day.

To learn when your child is performing, view the schedule HERE.

To see your child’s performance, please arrive at the Performing Arts Building 5 minutes before their stage time. Afterward, join us for a brief reception in the Performing Arts Building lobby.

Tickets are not required for this event, but we ask that parents only come for their child's performance.

LIBRARY ADOPT-A-SHELF PROGRAM

We have begun a new service program in the library, in which people may sign up to "adopt" one or more shelves in the library for one quarter. They would then be responsible to check their shelf at least once a week to make sure it is neat and in the correct order. We will teach participants how to put their shelf in order, and we will happily answer any questions that come up while someone is checking their shelf. The program has already begun with students grades 3 and up, but starting in quarter 3 we will open up the program to families, as well. Parents can volunteer on their own or even make it a family activity.

For more information or to sign up for the program, please see Ms. Carter or Ms. Tang in the library, or send an email to library@wyischina.com.

HEALTH & SAFETY NOTICES

Covid Travel Restrictions and Advice

As Christmas is coming and you consider your plans, please keep the following in mind:
Please avoid unnecessary travel, and do not travel to medium-high risk areas. If you plan to travel out of Wuhan, please email Jessie Guo at Jessie.guo@ wyischina.com and include your travel date, form of transportation, and destination.

Vaccines for Younger Children

If you have a child aged 3 -11 who is a foreign passport holder, they may receive a COVID vaccine at Jinyin Tan hospital.

Travel Plans

If you have been to any of the following places recently, please report to the school: Ningbo, Zhejiang; Congzuo, Guangxi; Quanzhou, Fujian; Nanning, Guangxi; Bai bun District, Guangzhou.

ENJOYING OUR INTERNATIONAL CAMPUS

To maintain our WYIS campus as an international community and a quality learning environment, here are several important rules for all of us to keep in mind:

• Please do not smoke anywhere on our campus
• Pease respect each other’s own cultural differences
• Please do not litter on Campus
• Please don't use rude words in any language
• Please remember younger child (Grade 5 and under) must be supervised when they play after school
• Please keep in mind our students watch and hear what adults around them say and do. Use positive words and actions when you're on our campus.

Thank you for helping us keep our campus a positive and healthy place for the WYIS community.

SECONDARY FINAL EXAMS

Secondary Final Exams take place the week of December 13, 2021, from 8:30- 11:30. View more information on our website calendar page HERE.

• Secondary students are released at 11:30 am each day. Bus riders may enjoy a short recess until 11:45, when buses leave campus.
• Secondary students may not stay in the building after 11:45 during final exam week unless attending a review session requested by a teacher.
• Final exam week offers high school students (Grades 9-12) an open campus. Students may choose to come to school only during exam blocks, or they may choose to study in the library or study hall area. Study hall blocks are not required exams.

WINTER MAP TESTING

WYIS will begin MAP® (Measures of Academic Progress ®) testing on January 10. We conduct MAP tests regularly throughout the year, which allows us to track students’ growth each time they test. To learn more about MAP, please read HERE or contact your child’s teacher. Below is an overview of the schedule. A detailed testing schedule will come soon.

Week 1 (January 10 – 14): Grades EC5, G1, and G3
Week 2 (January 17 – 21): Grades 2 and 5
Week 3 (January 24- 28): Grade 4

DECEMBER 17 - PAJAMA DAY FOR ECC & ELEMENTARY

Christmas is coming! As part of the festivities, ECC and Elementary students may wear their pajamas to school on Friday, December 17. Students who choose not to wear pajamas must wear either their regular WYIS uniform or WYIS spirit wear as usual.

Note: Friday, December 17, is a half day of school for all students. Classes dismiss at 11:30.

DECEMBER 17 - CHRISTMAS WEAR FOR SECONDARY

On Friday, December 17, secondary students may wear Christmas wear as a festive alternative to usual dress code. As usual, our regular rules apply for modesty and safety (e.g. close toed shoes,). Students who choose not to dress for Christmas must wear either their regular WYIS uniform or WYIS spirit wear as usual.

AFTER-SCHOOL ACTIVITIES FOR QUARTER 3

After-School Activities for Quarter 3 will begin soon after Christmas break. Registration for activities begins at 8 AM on Monday, December 13 and closes at 7 PM on Monday, January 3, 2022.

Registration will still be in PowerSchool, but we are now using a new process to register for After-School Activities. In the past, registration has been on a first-come, first-served basis. In order to make registration more equitable and less stressful for our families, we are now using a lottery system.

With the lottery system, you can register or "enter the lottery" for an activity any time during the registration period. Once you enter the lottery, you must wait until after the registration period has ended before you will know if you have successfully been enrolled. Entering the lottery early does not increase your chance of getting enrolled. We have considered many options and tested this system extensively over the past several months. While it is not perfect, we believe this is a more fair system than what we have used in the past.

The full list of activities will be available on the website and on PowerSchool on Monday, December 13. Questions? Please contact Ms. Susie Xiong (susie.xiong@wyischina.com)