CDS Middle School
Weekly Newsletter
February 16, 2020
From the Director
Dear CDS Families,
Last week was incredibly active with our student council doing a remarkable job leading both Spirit Week and a Valentine's Day festivities. We also held our first ever CDS Middle School arm wrestling contest!
The overwhelming number of students who chose to participate in these events tells me that the state of the CDS Middle School Community is indeed strong! Activities like these help us develop stronger bonds with one another as well as a shared sense of pride among Houses and across grade levels. I want to thank everyone (teachers and students) for making a decision to engage fully in the CDS Middle School experience.
Along side the fun, middle school students continue to work hard on their academic work as we move into the remaining two weeks of Term 3. I encourage you to read through the Newsletter to learn more about the exciting learning and engagement happing in classrooms this February.
This week you can expect students to come home with results from their Winter NWEA MAP testing. If you have any questions about the Family Report, please reach out to me or to your child's English or Math teacher.
Have a great week!
Benjamin Scoville
Director of Middle School
[This week around CDS MS]
SPIRIT Week!!
On the first-ever Flex Day on Wednesday, many students participated in an arm-wrestling championship and girl and boy champion from Middle School was decided! On Thursday, the students got to wear outfits that matched their given generations, and this day also gathered the most attention and interests of the students. On the last day, Valentine's day, the students wore Valentine's Day colors and were delivered lollipop valentines by the Student Council members.
Spirit Week was a successful and fun week for all of the Student Council, teachers, and students.
-Ashley Choi, 8B Phoenix Historian
Monday - Pajama Day
Tuesday - Wacky Day
Wednesday - FLEX Day (Arm Wrestling Competition)
As you know, our mission at CDS is to develop global citizens. Each unit, lesson, and interaction crafted with growth of the student in mind as well as the confidence and creativity to achieve their goals through habits of mind and ethical responsibility. On a daily basis, students focus on how best to display what they know as well as demonstrate the skills necessary to succeed in life. We here in the Middle School do our best to help students engage and empower themselves. Usually.
Sometimes we throw that right out the window. We simply roll up our sleeves and rely on brute strength. February 12th was one of those days. Flex took yet another meaning as students battled not with wit, but with muscle. A boy and girl from each house climbed over the top of their peers showing once and for all who would rule...if our classes were held in a truck-stop diner in 1987.
During the arm-off quarter-finals, Siwon (5B) defeated Hassan (5A) for the Grade 5 boys while Stephanie (5B) made quick work of Dorothy (5A) for the Girls. For Grade 6, the crowds gathered to watch Matthew (6B) and Sebin (6A) battle it out. It was a tough one, but Matthew edged out Sebin for the win. For the girls, Cailyn (6A) overpowered Fiona (6B) and advanced to the next round. In Grade 7, Justin (7A) and Isaac (7B) fought for the boys. After some back and forth, Justin was victorious. It was great to see the two boys stroll off smiling together. Good sportsmanship gentlemen! For the girls, Jisoo (7A) faced off against Yejin (7B). This was also a tough match, but Jisoo went the distance, and moved up! Finally, Grade 8 saw Joon (8A), our MS axeman face off against Jung Hyuk (8B). Again, the crowd went wild as Jung Hyuk overpowered both Joon’s enthusiasm and his biceps. Save your power for the chords, Joon! Finally, among the Grade 8 girls, Nikki (8A) clashed against Jisoo Choi (8B). Despite Nikki’s best efforts, Jisoo took the win!
Moving on to the semi-finals. We saw Siwon vs. Matthew, Stephanie vs. Cailyn, for the 5s and 6s. For the 7s and 8s, we saw Justin vs. Jung Hyuk and Jisoo vs. Jisoo. Both 6s overpowered the 5s. Both Matthew and Cailyn moved to the finals. For the 7s and 8s, Jung Hyuk defeated Justin in a tense match while Jisoo Hong (7), edged out Jisoo Choi (8) for the win. Both Jung Hyuk and Jisoo moved on to take the grand prizes! Well done everyone! Now, get back to work!
- Mr. Baker
Thursday - Generations Day
Friday - Valentine's Day
Get to know about adult life with a decimal project!
They decide on the job they want and where they want to live. Based on those factors they then research how much money they will make and spend. Since American currency usually involves decimals they get to see real-world applications of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division of decimals; topics which they recently studied in class.
They are enjoying this project and are starting to realize that adult life is expensive! Soon, they will present their adult lives to the class and it is always so interesting to learn more about my students.
- Mrs. Hinds
2020 Korean Writing Contest
지난 2월 5일 수요일에 도서관 3층에서 한국어 글쓰기 대회가 열렸습니다. 참가자들은 시, 수필, 그리고 만화그리기 각 분야에서 자신의 재능을 표현하기 위해 최선을 다하였습니다. 이번 대회에서 좋은 글쓰기 작품들이 많이 나와서 심사하는 데 힘들었지만 또 한편으로는 기쁘기도 했습니다. 글쓰기 작품 평가에서는 중학생다운 참신한 아이디어들이 얼마나 많이 들어가 있는지를 중심으로 심사하였습니다. 글쓰기에서는 문법적으로 조금 부족하더라도 자기의 솔직한 경험과 생각을 진솔하게 표현하는 것이 무엇보다 중요하기 때문입니다. 이번에 참가한 모든 학생들에게 격려와 응원의 박수를 보냅니다.
On Wednesday, February 5, the Korean writing contest was held on the third floor of the library. The participants did their best to express their writing talents in each genre of poetry, essays, and comics. There were a lot of wonderful writing works in this competition, so it made judges take a long time to select the winners. For middle school students, we focused evaluating on how much fresh and creative ideas were included in their writings. This is because it is more important to express your experience and thoughts honestly than to focus on grammar. I thank all the participants and would like to applaud them all.
- Mr. Kim
What's inside a Frog?
The students demonstrated a great deal of maturity and focus as they neatly cut and removed the various organs of the frog. Under close observation we were able to identify the gender of the frogs and discover the contents of their stomachs. It turns out they love eating crickets, beetles and roly polies. Who would've guessed?
- Mr. Howell
7th Grade Self-Determined Learning (SDL) Class
- Mr. Thach
MS Spanish Beginning Level Class!
During Term #3, Middle School Students have reviewed what they have learned in Terms 1 and 2. The new focus of the Term 3 was the family. Students learned the vocabulary the first week, and practiced how to apply the grammar during the past few weeks. Currently they are working on creating their digital audio-book. Soon, they will be able to share these books with you! Please ask them about their books and give them a pat on the shoulder because they really did well. Congratulations to MS Beginners!
- Ms. Che
Excitement in Table Tennis C.C
Additionally, we've named our team co-captains. We're proud to announce that Minji Lee and Ian Kim will be leading our team into battle this season. We can't wait to see what our team is capable of with these two at the helm!
- Mr. Cavasin
[CDS MS Announcements & Reminders]
School Precautions Regarding Covid-19
Dear MS Community,
After consideration of the most recent information available, we have updated our precautions and actions regarding the current coronavirus situation:
Risk of Exposure Policy
As per the recommendations of the Korean Center for Disease Control and the Ministry of Health and Welfare, it is recommended that our FP community postpones all nonessential travel to nearby countries that are experiencing high numbers of infections.
China, Hong Kong, and Macau,
The country list has been updated to now include
Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam
Any student who is at risk of contracting the virus is asked to not attend school for two weeks since the risk of exposure, and obviously should only return if no there are symptoms of being ill with the coronavirus
Risk of exposure includes the following two main categories:
Those who have had significant interactions with someone infected with the virus; or
Those who have traveled to China; or had significant interactions with people from China within the last two weeks.
For students who have had risk of exposure, please be sure to let us know; we are being asked by the ministry of education to report our data, and it assists us with documenting absences
See the chart below for the dates when people should be absent from school:
School Actions/Precautions
The disease name has been formally determined by the WHO, and is now called Covid-19
Thank you to the PTA Council which has donated boxes of bottles of hand sanitizer. This will go a long way in helping to keep our students and staff healthy via good personal hygiene.
CDS administration is meeting every Tuesday to reassess the situation.
On Feb 18, we will meet again
On Feb 11, the following was was agreed upon:
We are considering a time frame of one week intervals
From 2/11-2/18
Activities on campus with our MS community will continue as planned
Day-to-day activities, athletics practices, After School Programs, etc.
Activities on campus with member outside of the MS community are canceled
Activities off campus are canceled
E.g. athletics, field trips, etc.
Field trips after 2/11 are scheduled to run as planned
Our CDS custodians have hand-pump pressure sprayers that allow them to disinfect and clean our building more effectively.
Areas of the building are being targeted for disinfection: hand-railings on stairways, door handles, taps, etc., and this is being done every day
The buildings are professionally disinfected every Friday after school
Students' temperature is taken with digital thermometers as a screening for fever
Posters from the WHO and the KCDC have been posted around the school
Teachers are encouraging the following discussion around the coronavirus:
Empathy toward those who are returning, e.g. I am so glad you are back, rather than, is it safe to be near you, etc.
Cultural sensitivity, e.g. if this had originated in your home country, how would you feel about people thinking that you are related to this; let’s not be prejudiced against people because of nationality, ethnicity, or where they have traveled
Health awareness, e.g. what can we do to remain healthy and lessen the spread of viruses
Classrooms have been stocked with extra hand sanitizer
Students are being asked to frequently wash hands and be extra cautious with germs
Will frequently check and immediately replenish hygiene items: soap, hand sanitizers, wet wipes, etc.
Please understand that the safety of our MS community is our priority. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Middle School division office.
Best regards,
Mr. Scoville
Director of Middle School
[Upcoming Events]
2020 Talent Show
National History Day (NHD) Korea
Library Night
[MS KAIAC Athletics (Upcoming Winter Season)]
Dear Parents /학부모님께,
Please be informed that CDS will postpone collection of the Athletic Fee for Volleyball and Table Tennis until the end of the Winter Season. This decision is in response to many KAIAC jamborees being cancelled as a result of the Coronavirus. Those of you who have already paid the fee may receive a partial reimbursement relative to the number of events that end up being canceled. If you have any questions, please contact our CDS Athletic Coordinator Mr. Monnette: smonette@daltonschool.kr
코로나 신종바이러스로 인해 많은 KAIAC 경기가 취소됨에 따라 Volleyball과 Table Tennis의 Athletic Fee 납입일을 연기함을 알려드립니다. 이미 납부 완료하신 학부모님들께는 앞으로 있을 경기 수에 따라 부분 환불처리를 해드릴 예정이며, 앞으로 있을 경기 수는 아직 논의중에 있습니다. 더 궁금하신 점 있으면 CDS Athletic Coordinator인 Mr. Monette (smonette@daltonschool.kr)께 연락주시기 바랍니다. 감사합니다.
Best regards,
Mr. Scoville
Upcoming Events
2/22 NHD Korea
3/3 KIMEA String Festival (tentative)
3/11 Term 4 Assembly
3/11 Library Night
3/11 Mathletes - High Four Competition
3/12 KIMEA Honor Orchestra Festival
3/17 Grade 8 - Leeum Art Museum Field Trip
3/20 Winter CCs & ASPs end
3/23 - 27 Spring Break
3/30 Spring CCs & ASPs begin
Cheongna Dalton School
Email: bscoville@daltonschool.kr
Website: http://cdsmiddleschool.weebly.com/
Location: Cheongna Dalton Foreign School, Incheon, South Korea
Phone: 82 32-563-0523 (302)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CDSMiddle/community/
Twitter: @ScovilleBen