Today’s Topics:
1. Important Reminders
2. New Staff
3. Learning Highlight
4. Curriculum Focus
5. House Points
6. Photos!!!
1. Important Reminders
Jan 22 - Clubs Start
Feb 12 - Open School
Feb 19 - Presidents Day (NO SCHOOL)
Mar 15 - Hope Family Day (School Event, with regular school hours. More information to come shortly!)
Mar 22 - Student-Lead Parent/Teacher Conferences - NO CLASSES (More More information to come shortly!)
Mar 22 - Parent Workshop: Hope High School Program/College and Careers Guidance (More More information to come
2. New Staff!
We would like you all to welcome our newest addition to Team Hope: Ms. Anja Sueyoshi! Currently, she is working mostly with our secondary students. Please see below for her bio:
“Tachchen! My name is Anja Sueyoshi and I come from Germany. I studied at the Free University of Berlin, where I did my BA and MA in Japanese Studies. My core areas of expertise are international politics, human rights, global issues, and the Ryukyus/Okinawa. I came to Japan in 2014 and have since worked at various universities and schools. I love to play volleyball and explore the island. My goal is to create an interesting and inspiring learning environment for the students.”
3. Learning Highlight: School Assemblies
Once a month Hope students gather a monthly assembly. Elementary students meet in the cafeteria and secondary students meet in 601. This time is used to share important school announcements, highlight student learning, celebrate student achievements, and much more! Ms. Sam takes the lead for coordinating elementary assemblies, and Mr. Colin handles secondary assemblies.
This month, the grade 5 class hosted the elementary assembly. Led by Ms. Angie, the grade 5 class shared their learning of the water cycle, the rock cycle, different types of clouds, and a world languages comparison. Ms. Angie then introduced the Personal Learning Goal of the month: Communicator. Through a flipped rendition of the game “Charades,” students learned the importance (and challenge) of good communication.
The final part of the assembly featured a short recognition of classes and students who did well in the past month. The grade 4 class won the cleanest classroom award for January! On top of this G3 Rayden and G1 Kotaro received the PLG Superstar award!
Our school assemblies are an important aspect of our school culture and have been a great opportunity for our students to connect across grade levels.
4. Curriculum Focus
Over the past few weeks of the Curriculum Focus, we’ve explored the mini learning cycle that takes place during subject based tasks - Research, Record, Reflect. This week we will focus on the final part of the cycle, the role of reflection.
Reflection is an important part of successful learning at any age but is often the most overlooked. After taking part in exciting research and recording tasks, pausing to take time to understand and process the new information and skills you are developing and making note of this supports students in continued growth. It also supports students in goal setting for the future and understanding what next steps are required to continue improving. The use of rubrics helps students to self-assess and through taking note of these self-assessments, students can refer back and see their progress over time.
The most powerful reflections allow students to identify their successes and identify areas for further improvement, which matches the approach to assessment and reporting at Hope. Our school strongly believes in the role that reflection plays in allowing all students to grow and see their growth.
5. House Points
Dragon: 4040 ➜ 4134
Phoenix: 3990 ➜ 4068
Basilisk: 3564➜ 3637
Hydra: 3261➜ 3338
