MS COmmunication Guidelines

WHole School Communication Guidelines

At ICS Addis, we are committed to clear, respectful, and timely communication. The Communication Guidelines outline how families and staff can effectively connect throughout the school year. The document includes:

• Essential communication agreements grounded in the ICS Way

• Approved digital platforms (Toddle, Google Classroom, ICS Weekly, etc.)

• Meeting and escalation protocols for addressing concerns

• Guidelines for digital safety and social media use

• Expectations during school trips and external communications

We encourage all families to review these guidelines to understand how to best communicate with teachers, staff, and leadership at ICS. You can find the full document attached or on the ICS Parent Portal.

HOME - SCHOOL Communication 

The home-school partnership is vital to support student learning and to build a supportive and informed community.  We believe in timely and respectful communication that serves to strengthen relationships and positively impact student learning. 

Communication methods

The Middle School section supports communication in the following ways:

• ICS Weekly:  Sent via email every Thursday by the communications team at ICS. The communication found in this newsletter outlines current sectional learning information and previews upcoming events.

• Back-to-School Night:  A great opportunity to meet with teachers, leaders, and support staff.

• Hopes & Dreams Conferences: Your child's advisor will arrange a conference during the first few weeks of school, or a couple of weeks after a student joins the school mid-year, to discuss your child's goals for the year.

• Parent-Teacher-Student Conferences: Families may request a conference at any time with a teacher. However, the Middle School staff will welcome families during the first semester to discuss students' progress.

• Student-Led Conferences: In the second semester, the Middle School will host a conference led by our students. During this time, students will review their learning from a portfolio with their parents. The advisory teacher will be available to support.

• Parent Education Sessions: Members of the middle school leadership team lead sessions to engage parents in learning about the middle school and the IB Middle Years Program (MYP). 

• Middle School Open House: Two sessions are offered annually for parents to join a member of the middle school leadership team for a visit to various classes while students are engaged in subject learning. Note that these events are capped at 40 parent participants.

• MS Office: Please email ms.office@icsaddis.org for any general inquiries about the middle and to inform us in case your child will not attend school.

• Between faculty and parents: Families and faculty are encouraged to communicate directly via email at any time to engage in real-time learning conversations that support student success. If an email is received during the work week, it will be responded to within 48 hours. The general email format at ICS is first name. last name@icsaddis.org.

Photo /Video Release

ICS takes photos and videos of students during school and class events, performances, presentations, in the classrooms and around the school.  Photos and videos are used in ICS promotional materials including but not limited to our website, information displays, brochures, flyers, banners, posters and recruitment materials.  Students may be identified by grade level and/or first name only. Videos of concerts and presentations are made available on our website to ICS parents.

If you do not want your child’s photo to be used in our promotional materials please email communications@icsaddis.org with your request. 

Channels of Communication

Whenever a question, issue or problem arises, the solution is first to be sought at its source. In any situation of interest or concern, it is best to go to the person directly involved in order to ensure that you: 

• Gain first-hand information 

• Acquire a complete understanding of the situation 

• Communicate important information 

• Achieve a timely response 

• Support the concept of open communication to maintain optimal support for your child’s learning and well-being. 

who can I contact?

Subject Teachers 

If parents have a question or concern about their child’s experience in a particular class, then they should contact the subject teacher directly.  Listed below are some issues that parents might address with subject teachers directly: 

• Subject information 

• Class supplies and requirements 

• Assessment and grading 

• Home-learning expectations

• Curriculum information 

• Project or research requirements 

• Student progress and performance 

• Teaching and classroom incidents 

• Field trips related to that particular subject

• Rapport between the student and teacher. 

Counselors 

Parents may contact their child’s counselor if they believe their child would benefit from additional social-emotional support. Students receive social-emotional mentoring and learning in their advisory classes, and questions about the advisory program can be discussed with the appropriate grade-level Counselor.  

IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) Coordinator 

If you would like to learn more about the curriculum standards that guide units of inquiry, conceptually based learning, Approaches to Learning (AtL) skills, or assessment details, please contact the MYP Coordinator.

MYP Coordinator: Daniel Suarez (daniel.suarez@icsaddis.org)

Principal and Deputy Principal

If more information is required or a situation is not resolved with a teacher, coordinator, or counselor, parents are encouraged to contact the Deputy Principal and/or the Principal directly for a conversation to bring understanding and a resolution to the issue.

Principal - Kristine Adelsboell [kristine.adelsboell@icsaddis.org]

Deputy Principal - Ken Forde [ken.forde@icsaddis.org]

If the concern still remains unresolved after the steps above are taken, parents can involve the Head of School who will review the issue and come to a conclusion.