Dear Parents,
A warm welcome to Xi’an Liangjiatan International School where our mission is to enable confident, open-minded global citizens through life-long learning and a sense of community. This mission sets the stage for everything we do at the school. In this email, I would like to introduce myself, mention some exciting events this year, and give some advice about technology.
Introduction
My name is Brian to you and Mr. Lalor to the students. I am from Ireland and have worked at XLIS for the past 10 years. I am here with my wife Kirsten and three daughters who attend our school in the MYP and PYP sections. You will find me at the gate each morning to welcome our precious students to school and I am available anytime to meet with you and listen to your thoughts.
Event Opportunities
Our school has become a member of four exciting organizations which will provide more opportunities for our students. They are:
The Association for Music in International Schools – This organization will provide the opportunity for some of our talented musicians to perform and collaborate on an International level. More information may be found here.
An ACAMIS Division – This will be the first year that our high school teams travel nationally to join an ACAMIS sports division. More information may be found here.
Boarding Schools Association – This organization will help us further develop the safety and options available through our dormitory program. More information may be found here.
XLIS Swimming Team – The swimming team will start practicing on Tuesday and Thursday morning from 7 am. This will be open to all students who meet the time criteria and commit to participate in events.
MAP assessment – Students from P3 to M4 will take part in a measure of academic progress twice a year. This data will give you a long-term benchmark against a US norm as well as project future studies. More information may be found here, I have also attached a family guide to MAP assessment. You will find some sample test questions through a link at the end if you would like to see what the questions will be like.
Cell Phone Advice
Finally, I like to make this suggestion to parents each year. I encourage you to not provide a cell phone for your child for as long as possible. It will open the door to digital addiction and cyberbullying. I have managed to avoid it with all my children, my oldest being 12. I would like to encourage us all in this area, to build a physical library for our children and keep them off mobile phones for as long as possible and read good books.
I would love to hear back from you. Please take the time to reply to this email and tell me about you and your family. I always reply to emails within 24 hours, so if you do not receive a reply from me within this time, I did not receive your email. If you have a QQ email please type my email address in the bar instead of hitting reply as there is an error with QQ and this system. I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely,
Brian Lalor
Deputy Head of School
Our mission is to enable confident, open-minded, global citizens through life-long learning and a sense of community.
