Happy Holidays to you all

We wish you the merriest of holidays over the break. Please treasure the moments with your friends and families. We look forward to seeing you in the new year! And the PTO would also like to thank all the families and faculty of AIS for a successful first half of the 2022/2023 year!

Thank you for Supporting the Student Council Toy Drive!

Thank you so much to all the donors who gave toys, food, or funds to the Student Council good works project! Mr. Olivier dropped off the items this week and I am sure they will go to good and needy homes during this holiday season. Fantastic job to the students and to Ms. Virginie, Ms. Marta, and Mr. Olivier for leading the cause. The Central Texas Food Bank received $1,950 and 488 lbs of food and the presents were dropped off with Blue Santa to make fantastic gifts for under the tree this year. As global citizens who are charged to think globally and act locally, we want to thank you for supporting our broader Austin community through your continued kindness and generosity.

Registration is Open for Spring Afterschool Activities

Check your inboxes for an email from Briana with next semester's Afterschool Class Activity schedule and registration information. Registration will is now open and will continue until January 6th. Please keep in mind you will be making course requests (unconfirmed until finalized), as some classes have minimums in order to occur. After the new year, you will receive confirmation of your confirmed class schedule. Class CHANGES may be made until January 20th, after which point you are committed to continuing in the class and incur billings.

Key Dates:

• Course request registrations are active from 12/16/22 - 1/6/23
• The first day of Spring Activities is 1/17 and the last day is 5/19 (in order to allow for make-up classes)
  
• Course changes (drops, adds, moving between classes) can happen until 1/20/23.
• Once a class ends, if your child is not regularly in the Extended Care program, please make plans to pick up your students daily until the end of the school year at regular dismissal. Please note classes do not begin immediately when school resumes in January. Likewise, please make pickup arrangements before classes begin on January 17th.

To Make Your Course Requests:

• Sign-up via your Family Portal as shown on the final page of the Spring 2023 Afterschool Activities Schedule by following the steps below.
• Log into your Family Web account with your user id and password. (Our school code is ai-tx).
• Access the Student menu on the left.
• Open up Course Requests.
• Make your course requests (one per drop-down field).
• You must scroll to the bottom and hit SAVE, to retain your requests.

AIS 12th Annual Art Gala

Plans for one of the most amazing events of the year, our Annual Gala, are well underway from the Silent Auction Committee and we are thrilled that it will be returning in person to the Austin Central Library on February 25th! For new families, this event is our biggest fundraiser of the year and includes fantastic packages in our silent auction, a live art auction of AIS student artwork, and a raise the paddle event which funds scholarship funds for teacher's students attending AIS. So, please mark your calendars for the event.

And, whether you are primping for your upcoming holiday parties (visiting your favorite salons and stores for a special outfit), going out to eat, buying Christmas presents and gift cards, or traveling and collecting special items over the break - YOU CAN HELP IN THE PLANNING. Ask that vendor to donate a gift card, if you are a regular, ask them to donate a swag basket for our school, take advantage of special holiday sales and buy something a little extra, pick up something on your holiday trip, or regift that unique item that you won't use or you have too much of (shh...we won't tell), and donate it to the silent auction.

This year we want to bring the world back to you at our event and will be celebrating other cultures. With that in mind, think about who you can reach out to or what you can pass along to the gala committee. More event details to come and thank you in advance for your participation. We look forward to seeing you there!

Annual Fund Drive

In your child's backpack yesterday, you should have received a packet about our Annual Fund Drive. Thank you to our donors who have already contributed $5,850 to support our school budget of $15,000. We appreciate your giving. Plus, our generous board members have pledged to donate up to $11,500 in matching funds against donations received before December 31st! So, we hope you can consider making a 100% tax-deductible gift before the year-end so we can recognize their full pledges.

You can give online here, mail in a check (we will count all gifts postmarked by 12/31 towards the board match), or email to make a pledge which can be paid off in future installments. While we are asking for each family to give $65 for each student enrolled in AIS - which will make our budgeted goal - we understand there are varying means to give. All gift sizes are accepted to reach our other milestone of 100% participation. AIS connects our students to cultures and to community. Help us connect them with resources to advance their global education. Thank you for supporting the AIS Annual Fund.

Winter Break/No School

The school will close during the Winter holidays from December 19th through January 2nd. We hope everyone enjoys this time with their friends and families. On January 3rd, the staff will return for a day of in-service, and classes will resume on January 4th.

January Spirit Night at the Austin Spurs

We hope you can join us for a special Spirit Night on Thursday, January 26th at 7:30 pm as the Austin Spurs take on the Dallas Texas Legends at the HEB Center in Cedar Park! AIS will have a group spirit section to watch the game. PLUS, as part of our spirit night, 10 - 15 AIS students from grades CE1 and up can sign up to be Anthem Buddies (will need a game ticket as well) and be on court with the players during the National Anthem. The first 15 students who register here (from grades CE1/2nd to 4e/Middle School) will participate as an Anthem Buddy. If registering a sibling, please close the form and enter another entry for the 2nd or 3rd child (tickets must be purchased separately). AIS tickets are on sale now here, and are $26 each. Go Spurs!

Save the dates

Mark these important upcoming dates on your calendars.

• 12/19 - 1/2 Winter Break/No School
  
• 1/3 Staff In-service/No School
• 1/4 School resumes
• 1/5 Head of School Coffee
• 1/6 ASA Registration Ends
• 1/16 MLK Day/No School
• 1/17 1st Day of Spring Afterschool Activities
• 1/24 Board Meeting
• 1/26 Austin Spurs Spirit Night