News & Events at WYIS
PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES
Parent-Teacher Conferences (PTC) are scheduled for next Wednesday, November 6, from 9 until 5 PM. Parents are invited to meet with their student’s teachers to discuss student progress and goals. PTC sign up will be available from 8 AM on Monday, October 28 through 3 PM on Friday, November 1.
Upper elementary and secondary students are welcome to attend conferences with their parents. They may benefit from the opportunity to discuss their progress in an open forum with teachers and parents. Parents of lower elementary students are asked to attend without their children, in order to allow for the most effective time with teachers.
You can sign up for PTC here or by scanning the QR code. 
SPIRIT WEEK
Just two more days of Spirit Week left: Cartoon Thursday & Crazy Friday
If a student chooses not to dress in a theme for the day, that's no problem, but they must wear their appropriate school or PE uniform for the day.Have fun with this, students, and show your WYIS school spirit!
NOTICE FROM THE SCHOOL NURSE
During this time of year when the weather turns cooler, we usually see students develop colds and cold-related illnesses. So far this year, we know of a couple of students who developed pneumonia. We believe their pneumonia did not originate at WYIS, and we are working hard to keep the rest of our students and staff as healthy as possible. To help keep our campus healthy, our facilities team is doing extra sanitizing and cleaning in all our spaces. We are also focusing on healthy habits with students, in order to train them how to keep themselves healthier.
Below are some reminders regarding our school policy on illnesses:
- Immunization - Vaccination is one of the ways to help keep your child protected from certain diseases. WYIS follows a vaccination policy according to recommendations of the World Health Organization.
- Policy on fever and other symptoms - If your child is experiencing fever, unexplained rashes, diarrhea, vomiting, and body pain, please don’t send them to school. Your child can only come to school if the symptoms have been gone for 24 hours without medicine to relieve the symptoms.
- If your child has cough but no other symptoms and you send them to school, please give them a mask to bring to school. This will help prevent the spread of germs to other students.
Additional Tips to Stay Healthy:
- Practice hand washing at home. This is one of the best things you can do to prevent the spread of germs and illnesses. Wash hands with warm water and soap after using the toilet, before eating, and before handling food. We also promote this regularly at school.
- Consider increasing your intake of vitamin C to help boost your child’s immune system fight illnesses.
Please notify me if your child is ill, especially if you think it is contagious. This will help us monitor certain illnesses that are going around our school, so we can plan a way to prevent the illness from spreading. Questions? Please contact our school nurse, Alpha Balusdan.
AFTER-SCHOOL ACTIVITIES FOR QUARTER 2
Below are activities offered for Quarter 2:
Mondays
- Grades EC4/5 - CrossFit Kids – 3:15-3:45
- Grades 3-5 - Junior Makers – 3:15-4:30 (meets on Mondays and Thursdays)
- Grades 6-8 - VEX Robotics – 3:15-4:30
Tuesdays
- Grades 1-3 - Soccer – 3:15-4:30
- Grades EC5-G2 - Ballet – 3:15-4:30
Wednesdays
- Grades 6-12 - Table Top Games – 3:15-4:30
- Grades 2-5 - ESOL 1 English – 3:15-4:00
- Grades 2-3 - Family Cross Country – 3:15-3:45
- Grades 2-3 - Buffalo Scouts – 3:15-4:30
- Grades 3-4 - Robotics Sphero SPRK+ and Drone Mambo – 3:15-4:30
Thursdays
- GradesEC4/5 - Family Run for Fun – 3:15-4:00
- Grades 2-5 - The Mystery of Chinese Characters (玩转汉字) – 3:15-4:30
- Grades 3-5 - Junior Makers – 3:15-4:30 (meets on Mondays and Thursdays)
- Grades 3-5 - Collaborative Art – 3:15-4:30
Fridays
- Grades 3-5 - Becoming an Expert with Microsoft Office – 3:15-4:00
- Grades 1-2 - Robotics-Sphero SPRK+ - 3:15-4:30
- Grades 6-12 - Advanced Art – 3:15-4:45
Please check PowerSchool to confirm the start dates for each club and transportation options. Signups are now open on PowerSchool, and a student can now sign up for more than two, as long as there are spots available.
Your internet browser can make a big difference with PowerSchool. For best results, please use Firefox or Chrome when signing up for activities or when using PowerSchool. PowerSchool does not work well with Internet Explorer, Safari, or others.
PARENT WORKSHOPS: COLLEGE PREP
If you are the parent of any student between 8th and 12th grade, we have two workshops coming up that you won't want to miss.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2-3PM | FOCUS: 11th & 12th GRADERS
Suitable for parents of 10-12 graders
Learn how we are preparing our 11th and 12th graders for university and how you can help them in this process. Topics will include interest inventories, AP courses, SAT and PSAT, university searches, and well-rounded student portfolios.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2-3PM | FOCUS: 9TH & 10TH GRADERS
Suitable for parents of 8-10 graders
Learn what steps we are taking to assist our 9th and 10th grade students in preparing for university. Topics will include 4-year high school plans, standardized testing, well-rounded student portfolios, and high school extracurricular opportunities.
INTERNATIONAL DAY
3.5 weeks until International Day 2019! We invite all our WYIS families to join us at International Day and celebrate in community the cultural diversity we have here at WYIS.
How can you get involved?
- Wear clothes from either your own country/region or one you identify with
- Make your favourite food to share from your country
- Prepare some form of cultural entertainment that highlights your country and its culture.
If you have questions or want to get involved, contact your PTO Language Group Leader or International Day coordinators Dayana Sanchez or Kerryn Shaw.
4TH & 5TH GRADE ART EXHIBITION
Join us this Saturday for a free art exhibition and silent auction featuring art from our 4th and 5th grade students. The exhibition is from 2-5 PM at nearby Wanda mall, outside by the Starbucks area.
For this exhibition, students collaborated with one another to create artwork that focuses on pets. All the art is for sale, with proceeds going to purchase food and vaccines for homeless pets in Wuhan. This event is part of a rabies awareness campaign that is being organized with local veterinary clinics.
NOW AT BUFFALO GOODS
Just in: Hoodies! Grab one of our new hoodies in our popular "bottlecap" design. They're 170 RMB each and range in sizes from XS to XXL.
ELEMENTARY SOCCER GAME
On Friday, November 8, join us as our 4th and 5th grade after-school soccer club plays local school Aolin Elementary in a friendly soccer game. The game will be from 3:30 - 5:30 on the WYIS soccer field. Come out and support our Water Buffaloes!
QUARTER 1 GRADES AVAILABLE ON POWERSCHOOL
Grades for Quarter 1 are now available in DocBox on PowerSchool. Please log in to your PowerSchool Parent Portal to view your child's report. If you have questions about accessing this report, please contact Agnes Liu (agnes.liu@wyischina.com).
Note: DocBox will not open correctly in Internet Explorer. Please use Chrome or Firefox to access this site.
LIBRARY SYSTEM NOTIFICATIONS
The library system is having trouble with notifications, where many are not receiving the warning notices that their books will be due soon. We hope to get the problem fixed soon. In the meantime, and even after the problem is fixed, you can keep track of when your books are due by logging into your account and checking "My Info." Find the library website here.
School Calendar/Upcoming Events
November 4 - Parent Workshop: College Prep for 11/12 Graders
November 6 - Parent/Teacher Conferences (NO SCHOOL)
November 8 - Parent Workshop: College Prep for 9/10 Graders
November 13: Half Day of School (Staff Professional Development)
November 14-15: NO SCHOOL (Staff Professional Development)
November 23: International Day
**FOR A COMPLETE LISTING OF ALL SCHOOL EVENTS, VIEW OUR WEBSITE CALENDAR.