Parent Teacher Association

The Mission of the Parent Teacher Association is...

At KinStar we believe that parent involvement is a vital link in creating a school community spirit. This year we have many new members joining the PTA and we welcome all KinStar parents and community members to become involved in whatever way fit your interests and abilities!

Please meet our new PTA co-chairs and committee co-chairs

Parent room-leaders

To facilitate better parent-teacher communications and involvement of parents in classroom and school activities, each classroom will have a parent ‘room-leader’ that can act as a liaison between parents and teachers for better coordination of parent support. Please contact your parent leader at kinstarpta@gmail.com for more information about how you can get involved!

Committees

A survey was conducted at the beginning of the 2009-2010 school year to ask parents what their priority concerns and interests were. After a review of the results, the PTA formed three committees to take forward some important initiatives that could help the school improve through parent involvement.

The three committees are:

Activities at school committee
This committee will look at how to improve parent involvement in classroom and school-wide activities. Some of the focus areas of this committee will include:

• Library group
• Classroom activities
• International Day, Halloween, Holiday concerts and other special events
• Family Fair

External activities committee
This committee will further the reach of KinStar outside our school setting, providing students and parents a richer experience that adds to KinStar’s academic environment. The area of focus for this committee will be:

• Field trips
• Charity work/visits
• Parent workshops (topic specific forums for shared learning and discussion; opportunities for panelists of external professionals)

Academics committee
This committee is dedicated to helping KinStar be the best bilingual, bi-cultural school in China! This group, in cooperation with the school teachers and curriculum coordinators, will explore how to best balance the dual curriculums, arts and sciences, and other aspects of KinStar’s rigorous academic environment. This committee will look at:

• Curriculum suggestion
• Bilingual, bi-cultural aspects 

If you are interested in joining any of these committees, please contact us at kinstarpta@gmail.com!!

Dads wanted!

Do you have… interesting professional experience? …specialized skills to share? …knowledge of something special that could benefit everyone?

If you have something special in mind that you’re not telling us, we would like to help you share it with KinStar!! Perhaps you could share your profession with students to introduce them to career choices. Or perhaps you are a great graphic artist or videographer that could participate before or during special events to make them even more memorable! Or perhaps you have an idea of a field trip that would really make a strong impression on our students! If so, please share your ideas and spirit of volunteerism with KinStar’s PTA at kinstarpta@gmail.com!

We hope every parent can contribute in some way this school year!
We look forward to a great year of working together and having fun!J

Dear Parents and Students,

We would like to encourage our students to explore the world of reading outside of school. Reading provides hours of pleasure and learning and consequently, reading should be encouraged on a daily basis. Reading as a family for 15 to 30 minutes a day shows your children that you value and enjoy reading, and it also sets a good example for your children.

This list of titles has been compiled by Dr. Rashmini Segarajasinghe-Ernest. It includes both fiction and nonfiction books by some of the best authors for children and young adults. The list includes multiple levels and also brief descriptions to assist you in selecting titles that would be appropriate for your child.

Books on this list are evaluated annually by grade-level committees in the United States for their a) appropriate content, b) interest and c) learning value. Committee members rely on recommendations from standard, professionally prepared evaluation aids and on input from students and teachers. The KinStar reading list was complied accessing the above sources as well as Dr. Segarajasinghe-Ernest’s and Principal Cohen’s knowledge and expertise. A conscious effort is made to appeal to the broad range of interests, maturity levels, and reading abilities of students.

In most cases the number of books by any given author is limited to one or two per grade level list. An older title with superior literary quality may remain on the list despite newer publications by the same author. Before reading a recommended author's book that does not appear on the student’s grade list, readers should be aware that authors often write for multiple interest and age levels. Books that are part of a series are also noted, but not all books in a series are appropriate at the indicated grade level.

Students may find that some titles that are required reading for their classes appear on this list. Be advised that if a book for required reading is selected for independent reading, it may have to be re-read with the class at a later date.

This list is offered as one possible source of reading guidance. Additional lists of award winners and recommended books may be obtained from your school or public librarian. We hope that books from this list bring students many hours of enjoyment and encourage the life-long love of reading.

Help us guide your child into the joys of reading.

Dr. Rashmini Segarajasinghe-Ernest
Curriculum Specialist
KinStar International Bilingual Schools


The following are the Kinstar Recommended Reading Lists for 2007 in PDF format. If you need the Adobe Reader, please click on the image below: