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February 14, 2015

IN THIS ISSUE >>> x DIS participates in 5th Philippines Geography Olympiad x Library News –What’s  New? x Parent’s Corner: The Power of Prayer – The Power of Community x Open House x Important dates to remember

COMING SOON >>>

x Secondary Dance Photo Album x Foundation Day Photo Album

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A Monthly Insight into the Current Real Estate Market

DIS participates in the 5th Philippine Geography Olympiad

Four students from Grade 9; Samantha Lantin, Keiko Exiomo, Willem van Schoonhoven and Joshelle Sion represented Domuschola International School in the 5th Philippine Geography Olympiad organized by the Geographic Society of the University of the Philippines. The event was held last Saturday, February 07, 2015 at NISMED Auditorium, UP Diliman Quezon City, from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM. The students were accompanied by their Humanities teacher and coach, Mr. Alfonso Mangubat. A total of 91 teams from 85 public and private schools participated in this Geography

competition, with three participating schools coming from as far away as Mindanao. The team from Philippine Science High School Main Campus emerged as the Champion, followed by Batasan Hills National High School and Lorenzo de Ruiz Manila as first and second runners up, respectively. One of the goals of the UP Department of Geography and the Geographic Society of UP for this competition was to strengthen geographic knowledge among the youth and instill in them a genuine appreciation of our country.

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Ask the Librarian The library is equipped with resources that address the students' need for information. Any inquiries regarding information that is necessary for their class lessons will be highly appreciated and will be properly served. MISSION AND VISION •  To support and sustain the instructional

program of the school • To acquire books and other library materials

in line with the vision and mission of the school

• To offer guidance in the choice of books

and other materials of learning for curricular purposes.

• To provide LRC users with access to global

information through modern technology.

LIBRARY NEWS

The library is not just about books – it also teaches students valuable skills to be self-sufficient, independent and lifelong learners.

Through the years, the Domuschola International School library has continued, as it does today, to play a vital role in the intellectual development and growth of our students. The DIS library aims to develop the student’s   library  skills and techniques that serve as tools in research and exploration of library resources. It is a venue for information literacy, reading and research. The Domuschola International School Library houses almost 10,000 titles from different varieties of resources like books, periodicals, reference materials, CD/ audio and our Filipiniana collection. It is located in a spacious, well-lit and well-ventilated area that gives a comfortable and relaxed environment for the entire DIS community.

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Upcoming Library Events and Activities

x Library Instructional Program (LIP) x Celebration of different cultures and traditions

x Storytelling sessions x Kids’  Choice  Book  Award

Domuschola International School aims to develop caring and productive global citizens who are critical thinkers, collaborative, and action-oriented through an international quality education. Driven by the mission of our school, the library’s   goal   is   to   provide   every   student  with the best library experience they deserve. And to start off this year, the library recreated its library spaces in three section areas. This aims to provide the students with their own personal spaces.

We now have the Little Kids Section, Reader’s Corner and the Group and Conference Area.

Little Kids Section – The toddlers, nursery, pre-K and kinder students can find their favorite spots in this area. Their library time  or  their  famous  “Bag-O-books”  is  one  of  their favorite school activities, so with the story-telling sessions with their teachers. Very shortly, a new design will be deployed that will capture their fun and creative imagination in a world of fantasy and literature.

Group and Conference Area for students – The library is aware of the students' needs, especially for the secondary students who deal with a lot of researching and group work. To accommodate their need for collaborative spaces, the library came up with this special section for group work, workshops, seminars and project meetings for the students only.

Reader’s Corner – this area is for everybody who loves to read in silence

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Miracle for Alessandra For Daddy Caco and Mommy Lisa Tirona, baby Alessandra was, like all beloved sisters, the apple of the eyes of her brother Antonio, our Grade Two pupil here at Domuschola. Last year, at age two-and-a-half months, Alessandra was diagnosed with a suspected heart problem. This was followed by a flurry of consultations and medical tests, and interventions. Alessandra's family expressed an appeal, a prayer, to let the warmth of God's "healing love pass through her body to make new any damaged areas so that her body will function the way You want it to function." The DIS community came together in support, responding wholeheartedly to Teacher Mom's open letter: "Antonio's two-and-a-half month old sister, Alessandra, was diagnosed with a heart condition and will need to undergo open-heart surgery this June. "As a community, we can be one with them during this trying time. Let's include Alessandra in our daily prayers as requested by the family ...

"There is no place dark enough where God's grace cannot enter. Let's storm the heavens for the complete healing of Alessandra." After a series of medical procedures by a dedicated team of doctors and the power of supportive prayers, Daddy Caco and Mommy Lisa reported with good news, but not without once again expressing their heartfelt gratitude to our DIS family. "First we wish to thank you for all your thoughts and prayers. To tell you that we are eternally thankful, that we don't know where to begin on how to say thanks, that we are incredibly humbled by His grace, and that [saying] we are beside ourselves in disbelief would only amount to the tip of the iceberg. The holes in Alessandra's heart were discovered to have closed so significantly as to preempt open-heart surgery -- at the last possible minute. A miracle. Below, is an extract from Alessandra's Facebook page that was put up on the day that the Tirona family can only describe as the miracle."

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Caco and Lisa Tirona Posted June 7 Back to square one. Monday of this week, the doctors took a final 2D echo of Alessandra's heart. The cardiologist and surgeon were in agreement that it wasn't going to be the straightforward procedure they were looking at. Wednesday the surgeon reported to her parents that although the very first hole discovered had closed, the second hole located at the bottom of her heart proved to be difficult to find, and may prove even harder to get at. And that yet still, they may have discovered a third hole. Options such as a PA band and a 2nd operation were brought up immediately. It was like a thud when everyone first heard the news 2 months ago. The options. Friday at 6:25am, the doctors began to administer anesthesia and brought Alessandra into the OR for open heart surgery. The plan was, to call her parents down once the TE scope had done its final scan, to let them know which option suited her then unknown situation best. 2 hours had slowly ticked by before they finally headed down to meet with Alessandra's dream team of doctors. What happened next is what movies are made of. The decision. The cardiologist, the 2D echo specialist, and the cardiovascular / thoracic surgeon sat Alessandra's parents down and explained. The team compared the echos of April and June. They then compared the results of what the TE scope was showing. .

Again and again. And again. And yet again. They couldn't believe that the current size of the 2nd hole found had shrank from what it was before, and that the 3rd hole found was significantly smaller than what they had first believed it to be. General anesthesia, 5 veins tapped, prepped for open heart, and all 3 doctors concurred; ABORT Baffled. Alessandra's parents kept asking "are you sure" over and over again. The doctors asked just once, "what did you do?". After what seemed like 10 seconds of silence, the cardiologist broke it with "the amount of people that must have prayed for you, was wow, nag level up. All this, thanks to that (pointing to an Alessandra's Angels wrist band). What’s  next? The doctors hope that because of the rapid closures, the final hole closes leaving Alessandra to live a fruitful life. If not by itself, a procedure to insert a device via catheter may be deployed when she reaches a certain weight or age as prescribed by her doctors. Whichever it is, we will make sure Alessandra never forgets where she came from, the support and prayers heard all around the world, and the unbelievable compounded coincidences that can only merit "you couldn't write a better script". God bless you all.

Antonio & Alessandra

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Thank you to all the parents and guardians who attended our Open House last February 2. The morning spent with you was truly productive and fruitful. We hope that you share with friends and family your unique experience. For those who would like to attend future Open House events, you may inquire at these numbers: 635-9435, 635-2002, 635-3750 to 52, 0918-9479002, 0917-7142002.

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February 18 (Wednesday)

1. Release of Progress Report card via email together

with sign up link. 2. Sign up for Conference schedule

2ND REPORTING CONFERENCE / SIGN-UP

2 WAYS TO SIGN UP FOR THE REPORTING CONFERENCE

1. In person (please see Ms. May at the admission area)

2. Phone in (please ask for Ms. May) with the numbers below:

Landlines: 635-9743 & 635-2002 Additional temporary lines: 650-3750 / 650-3751 / 650-375 Smart: 0918 947 9002 Globe: 0917 714 2002

Ms. May can start receiving your call between 7 AM and 5PM on February 18, Wednesday. An online document can be viewed to see which slots are still available, at the following link: http://bit.do/dis-repcon In the interest of expediency in the sign up process, scheduling arrangement should be made in real-time. Hence, we will not be able to entertain schedule requests via email nor via text messages.

Next page please >>>

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February 19 (Thursday)

Special Non-Working Holiday Chinese  Lunar  New  Year’s  Day

February 21 (Saturday)

2nd TERM PROGRESS REPORT CONFERENCE

TODDLERS: Parent- Teacher Conference

NURSERY-PRE-KINDERGARDEN: Three-way Conference

KINDERGARDEN-GRADE 2: Three-way Conference

GRADE 3-5: Student-led Conference

GRADE 5-9: Student-led Conference

February 23 & 24 (Monday & Tuesday)

TERM BREAK

February 25 (Wednesday)

Special Holiday for Schools EDSA Revolution Anniversary

February 26

(Thursday)

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CLASSES RESUME 3RD Term Begins