September Newsletter

Hello!

I hope you and your family are enjoying your summer break. 

As we eagerly count down to Monday, September 1, we can't wait to welcome everyone back to NLIS!

NLIS has two new students this September.  Koharu Yamada will join the 1st grade, and Tarnishq Sharma is returning to the 2nd grade class from India. We are delighted they are joining. We hope that everyone will be welcoming to the students and the parents. 

From September 1 to November 8, Suvi Mannihen, a social worker student with a qualification in education and guidance, from Hämeenlinna, Finland, will join our school as an intern.  She will assist the 2nd and 3rd grade classroom in reading and writing, tutor math and English to several students in various grades, provide counseling when needed, assist with recess duty, and offer support in multiple ways.  Please welcome her.  I hope she learns a lot at our school and that it will be a wonderful experience for her and our students. 

Five Japanese education students from the University of Yamanashi and Yamanashi Gakuin University NLIS are going to visit NLIS in September for a few days. They will observe and assist the teachers and office staff. I'm pleased that we can open our school to local university students.

Thanks to the generous donation from Mr. and Mrs. Matsumoto, Ibuki's parents, NLIS was able to purchase thirty-one new computers for the school this year. We are deeply grateful for their support, and the students are absolutely thrilled with the new Acer Chromebooks! 

We have some old Chromebooks that still work, but they're incompatible with newer programs. If any of your children would like one, please let us know, and we will gladly let them choose which one they would like. They are free, of course. Just send an email to k12nliskofu.com with the subject 'Chromebook Request' and we will arrange it with your child.

Learning and Fun Activities in September and October     

The school has many learning activities planned for this fall. Beginning sometime in September, every class will study a different country:

• 1st grade will study Finland.

• 2nd and 3rd will study the Philippines.

• 4th grade will study Australia.

• 5th and 6th grade will study Mexico.

• Secondary students, grades 7-12, will study Italy.

Students will study the geography, culture, music (and dances), the language, the national dress, the animals and plants that thrive in these wonderful countries, and more. Teachers may even ask for your assistance in creating food from these places, or at least provide the ingredients. The study will conclude on Friday, October 31, with an assembly upstairs, where participants will dress in the style of the country they studied.  It’s International Dress Day!  I hope students and parents will use their imagination, and everyone will participate.  I can’t wait to see the colorful outfits!  I bought 200 flags to put in the auditorium to add to the international flair. The classes will sing a song, dance, or give a short presentation about the country they studied. Parents are welcome to join us. We will start at 9:05. The students will also have the fall class parties on this day.

We will have our annual Camp Literacy Day on Friday, September 19. On this day, students read books with flashlights in tents in the gym and under their desks in their classrooms. They play learning games, especially vocabulary games, write letters, sing camp songs, and roast marshmallows and eat s’mores. It’s a fun learning day.  Students who love to read especially love this day.  Hopefully, it teaches a passion for reading. Your child’s teacher will give you a letter asking for volunteers to bring ingredients for the s’mores. If your child cannot eat marshmallows, plain cookies, or chocolate, please provide an alternative, delicious snack for them. 

Below is the calendar for September.

See you soon! I’m looking forward to seeing all the students back in school!

Suzy Brown

SEPTEMBER   3, 17, 24 Teacher Meetings 8:30-9:00

1 M                   Welcome back! Regular hours apply.

3 W                   Student Council Meeting 12:50

5 F                     Schoolwide Assembly 1:20 

9 T          　      Teacher's Meeting 3:35

12 & 26 F         Library

15 M                OFF Aged Day   

19 F                  Camp Literacy Day

23 T                  OFF Fall Equinox Day

26 F                  Fire Drill; Movie Day (7-12)