AOSR PLANS for 60Th BIRTHDAY by Dr

AOSR - VIA CASSIA 811 Phone: 06-334-381 Web:WWW.AOSR.ORG May 2006

AOSR PLANS FOR 60th BIRTHDAY By Dr. Larry Dougherty, Headmaster

In June, 2007, AOSR will celebrate its sixtieth anniversary. The school has served thousands of May children and families throughout the years. From the founding of the school until today, the Important Dates school has had strong traditions and exceptional teachers. Some of the programs we take for

granted today, including the elementary social studies curriculum with its emphasis on ancient Greece and Rome, the Shakespeare Festival and Declamations, were started thirty or forty years 13 MAYFAIR ago by Madeline Fabris and Marcia Roberts. Alumni who return for reunions will go on the 11:00AM - 4:00PM stage of the Hillside Theater and recite lines from a play or relive their declamation. Just as our alumni remember their outstanding teachers from the past, our students today will look back on 15 their experiences here as rich and rewarding because of the teachers who work so hard to help & them learn and grow. 16 IB Exams at AOSR At the same time, the school has made significant changes in programs and in facilities. While 17 & the school has remained true to the commitment to preparing students for American and interna- 18 Bookfair: tional colleges and universities, it has adapted and modified curriculum to ensure that students Lion Bookstore, have the skills, knowledge and experiences that will not only ensure their success in college but 8:30 - 4:00 will also prepare them to meet life’s challenges. The school has added programs in computers, technology and expanded Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs, and it 19 MS Shakespeare Play has also increased offerings in art, music and drama to reflect the school’s long standing commit- 7:00PM ment to the fine arts and humanities. As an international school, AOSR has recognized the im- portance of foreign languages. Recently, for example, Spanish was added to the high school pro- 25 HS Sports Banquet gram. Over the years the school added ESL and programs for students who need extra support.

AOSR intends to use the occasion of this anniversary to kick off a major fund raising drive to further upgrade the campus and the academic programs of the school. The school needs to upgrade and improve the Hillside Theater, the science laboratories and the gymnasium. You will be receiving information about the Sixtieth Anniversary Campaign in the mail and in your email shortly. I hope that you will consider how you can help current students and the future genera- tions of students to enjoy the same high quality programs that have existed at AOSR for the last sixty years. continued next page

Contents News from AOSR Headmaster 1 Pre-K News 6 Il Foro 15

Greetings from New Principal 2 Elementary News 6-7 Book & Library Resources in 16 Rome Reaccredidation Process 3 Middle School News 8-10 School Information 17

All-School News 4 High School News 11 Rome n’ About 17

PTO Corner 5 Sports Briefs 12-14 May Calendar 18

1 Continued from page 1

AOSR ENDS BOARDING PROGRAM

AOSR initiated a boarding program eleven years ago. Initially the program was established to provide an alternative for US military dependents stationed at Gaeta and La Maddelena. The program began with 14 students eleven years ago and the peak enrollment was 32 students in the fourth and fifth year of the program. Three years ago the U.S. Department of Defense decided that they would no longer support boarding programs in Italy and all students here would have to go to their DoD school in London. A few students were grandfathered to complete the program and graduate from AOSR. The last two years the enrollment has been around 15 to 17 students.

For the past eleven years the program has been housed at Hotel Villa St Dominique. The Hotel recently informed the school that the floor in the hotel that has served as the dormitory for the last 9 years will not be available next year. Of the current group of students, only 4 will return and two had already made plans to live with family members or friends of the family outside of the dormitory next year. We will not be enrolling any new students and we will miss having a program that has brought so many wonderful young people to AOSR from the US and across the world.

At the time when the high school had an enrollment of about 130 students, the boarding students added a vital source of students and revenues that helped AOSR overcome the financial difficulties it faced at that time. Several people worked hard throughout the years to ensure the success of the program, including Don Levine, who worked hard to get the program started, Alessandra Cozzi, Ray Ross, Sylva La Trofa and Estelle Dougherty. A special thanks to the current super- visors, Kate McKenna, Toby and Debbie Tebo, Kim Murphy, Heather Duffy Stone and to the Head Resident, Matt Tup- per.

Greetings from Mr. Matt Neely AOSR’s new principal

I wanted to write a quick note to let you all know how excited I am to be joining the AOSR community as the new Pre K-12 Principal, replacing Dr. Pfannl who moves on to become Head of School for 2006-2007. As some of you may know, I am currently an Assistant Principal of a high school in California, where I have worked for 15 years. After my education at Yale and Stanford, I began my teaching career in English and Social Sciences and became an administrator in 1997. I am also proud to be a City Council member and former Mayor of my city, Mountain View. Obviously, leaving my community is bittersweet.

However, what makes the move so exciting for me and my wife Erica, is the incredibly strong sense of community that I observed and experienced in my two trips to Rome this spring. During both visits, I was struck by the sense of family and teamwork at the school. As someone who loves young people, watching younger students interact with older ones was exciting and heartwarming. More, the sense of quality, excellence and compassion was evident in the teachers, students and the many parents who were on campus at all hours. The values and mission of the school were resonant in the teaching and learning, the collegial conversations and the daily actions of staff and students. (I also like the cappuccino!) I am so honored to be welcomed as part of this community.

Of course, moving to Rome also has its benefits. Erica and I are busy “packing up” our life here in California, practicing our Italian and trying to learn the difference between “codice fiscale, permesso di soggiorno and a marca di bollo. As a policy maker, I am also eagerly reading about the excitement of Italian national politics. My intro- duction to calcio will come after my arrival. As we readjust, Erica and I are counting on even more of the wonderful hospitality that we received during our last visit in April.

As your principal, I can make the following commitments. I will work with passion, energy, intellect and caring to continue to provide you and your children an excellent education at AOSR. I will also listen to, learn about and take seriously the hopes, dreams and concerns that you have for your children. I firmly believe that teaching is a solemn obligation and that families place incredible trust in those who educate their children. I know that I have much to learn about our school and our common values, but I can assure you that I am prepared to plunge into this incredible opportunity and become an integral part of our school community.

I look forward to meeting each and every school family beginning this summer. Until we meet, feel free to contact me at [email protected] 2 Ciao! Parent’s View of the Reaccredidation Process By Susan Haight, parent representative on the Steering Committee

(This article was to have appeared in the April issue discussing Reaccredidation.)

For over a year I have had the honor of serving as the parent representative for the Steering Com- mittee preparing for the Middle States Association of Schools and Colleges reaccredidation visit to AOSR. Over the last ten years, my two children had attended the elementary, middle and high school grades at the school and participated in a wide range of extracurricular activities which also gave me a good range of experience of the programs at AOSR.

Parents participated in the self-evaluation process by giving their ideas for the rewriting of the school’s Mission Statement and Beliefs at a few PTO meetings and by filling in the NSSE parent question- naires that were distributed last spring. All of this input was used in the Self-Study documents covering every aspect of the school from curriculum to facilities that were filled out by faculty and administration. Parents with long and short term attendance representing many nationalities and grade levels at the school met with two members of the visiting team from Middle States to answer questions about their children’s experience during the four day visit.

The Steering Committee met weekly to assess the progress of the comprehensive work being done by all the faculty and administration. Teachers and administrators worked tirelessly, on top of their busy schedules, to prepare their reflection Self-Study reports in committees with their colleagues in the same curriculum areas and with representatives outside their curriculum areas. These long meetings were an excellent way for faculty to review their program’s strong points and the steady progress they’ve made in the last ten years and to assess the areas that still need change or improvement. Listening to teachers talk through this process in the committees I worked with increased the respect I have for the teachers at AOSR in their concern for students and in their knowledge of their subject areas. The experience of being on the Steering Committee taught me many new things about AOSR and reaffirmed the caring atmosphere that is so prevalent at our school. The positive outcome of the reaccredidation process to date is a credit to the staff and administration of the school.

All School News

FALCON FLYER DISTRIBUTION After School Activities by Christine Hogan The Falcon Flyer is a project of the Parent Teacher Organization (PTO). Its purpose is to provide AOSR information, news and events. More detailed in- The last day of After School Activities will be formation will be provided to you from the individual Friday, May 26th. classroom teacher or area coordinator. Thank you PARENTS for your support of our The hardcopy version of each Falcon Flyer is program. Thank you STUDENTS for being enthusiastic distributed to the YOUNGEST child in your family. participants in the ASA program. Look for it in the bottom of the littlest one’s backpack. Pull it out! Read it and share the biggest part of your Watch out for the ASA pages in the Year book. child’s life these next 10 months! The Falcon Flyer is all We are looking forward to another exciting program about YOUR children, YOUR school and YOUR com- next year. munity. If you don’t receive it, please call Joanne Hoberg in the office so we can correct our list. The current copy of the Falcon Flyer can always be accessed on the www.aosr.org webpage. It downloads as a PDF file, so you can send pages, articles, SPECIAL GRADUATION IS- or photos from the web version as an attachment to an SUE email to family and friends. of the Falcon Flyer coming up in June. Parents of seniors, please submit a graduation message to your graduate to ptonewslet- AOSR Website [email protected] (word document attachment) by The AOSR web site is available to all. The site was cre- June 5th. Please limit your message to 200 ated by Geoff Miller, the school’s IT Manager, Mr. Lars words or less. Please contact the principals of- Rahm, MS and HS computer teacher, and Michael Gorelick, AOSR alumnus. All school computers run the fice if you have questions. intra-net version (or “beta) of the website. Students, Teachers, and the Administration are able to access information on a daily basis, download forms necessary for student trips, set-up their own web pages with classroom syllabi and homework assignments. Parents can access On a Falcon Flyer note: the current issue of the Falcon Flyer in its entirety with the click of the mouse. Go to the URL www.aosr.org. Many Thanks to Talia G for her help designing this issue.

The next Falcon Flyer will be published by June 15, 2006 Next Deadline is Friday, June 9th, 5:00pm, To make comments, suggestions, or volunteer to help on the Falcon Flyer, please send an email to [email protected]. 4 PTO Corner

It’s been a great year for the PTO. We have accomplished our goals in so many areas of the school. Through- out the year, the PTO operated the Boutique, Booster Bars, the Laminating Center and we published the Falcon Flyer newsletter. We have provided birthday cakes for our boarder students, appreciation events for the faculty, and Holiday parties for everyone.

Additionally, we have awarded grants totaling €4,500 to the three schools to enrich our children’s environment. We also awarded €1,000 to each library – Elementary and Upper Schools – to purchase books.

Now, the PTO is winding down with two meetings to go. Join us May 8th at 9:30 in the Boutique and come to our “End of the Year Lunch” on May 30th.

MAYFAIR IS APPROACHING FAST! You’re in for a treat if you haven’t been to Mayfair before. Lots of food – from falafel to hotdogs and hamburgers to brownies. There will also be games for all ages, raffle prizes, student entertainment, craft vendors, a bake sale, and lots more. So mark your calendars for Saturday, May 13 and consider volunteering for one hour to help with Mayfair as well. We look forward to seeing you at Mayfair. Hope it’s sunny!

Cathy Garbinsky PTO Luncheon on PTO Secretary Tuesday, May 30th at 12:30 The PTO Boutique Fico D ’ India, restaurant in La Storta. by Susan Haight Contact Marlene Kachatourian at 06-3036-7976 Boutique Basking in Summer Bargains

The school year is drawing to a close and so is your time for shopping for summer bargains! The Boutique will be open on Tuesdays, May 2, 9, 16 and 23 for our final days of bargain shopping. The red and orange tags will go half price on May 16 and our final day on May 23 will see a Surprise Mega Sale! Don’t miss it! A reminder to vendors: If you wish to collect any of your unsold items, this must be done on May 9. Vendors may collect their payouts for items sold this year on any Tuesday through May 23. Please note that no money is carried over to the next year. In June we will be packing all of our unsold items to donate to refugee families here in Rome. A tre- mendous note of thanks and appreciation goes out to Christiane Krippl who has facilitated this for us for the last five years. The Boutique has earned Euro 6000 from September to April 11 and hopes to increase that figure even more by the year’s closing. All of the profits we make are used to benefit the students of AOSR through the PTO. That brings us to all the wonderful volunteers who have made this possible. Special thanks to coordi- nators Susan Haight and Mary Usnick, who are there every Tuesday. Also to Jacqueline Vissers, Kelly Hen- drickson, alumni mom Barbara Eddy, Tania Lagomarsino, Marlene Kachatourian, Daniela Di Cagno, Alejan- dra Lago Sanchez, Maria Grazia Testi (our expert laminator) and Spirit Items Coordinator Beatrice Taylor. If I’ve missed anyone, please know that you are appreciated! Thanks also to our faithful customers of parents, teachers, staff, alumni and our Cassia neighbors. Their support contributes greatly to our school. Also to those people who regularly donate items for the school’s benefit. A note of appreciation to Monique Smits, our treasurer, to Susan Ellis, our ever helpful cash- ier and to Taddeo who gives out lots of visitor badges on Tuesdays! We look forward to seeing you next year on our opening day to consign items on September 26, 2006. Have a great summer – wearing clothes from the Boutique, of course.

Pre-K and Elementary School News

News from the Com- Kindergarten - puter Lab by Ms. Berton and Ms. Natale by Mr. Tebo April in kindergarten was great! We learned about the Hello everyone. Things are simmering water cycle and rain, and boy did we see a lot of rain! in the lab. The kindergarten and first Spring is here! We talked about spring and all the things graders are going KidPix crazy. They are building slide- we see and hear in this season, the life cycle from egg to shows at a rapid pace. Kindergarten has made an environment show and a family show too. First graders have made baby chick, and we made bunny baskets. We continued a family show as well, and now they are starting to create a to learn our letter sounds, especially letter “Ll” as in lob- new show called “My Favorite Things”. Second grade has ster. We made lobster art and sang lobster songs. But our been busy too. They’ve made birthday invitations and will favorite way to help us learn the letter “Ll” was to learn soon complete a calendar with their artwork. Third grade about lions! Lions may be lazy, but they sure are amaz- has been using Microsoft Word often. They’ve made a ing creatures! Grrrr! Ask us to tell you what we know classroom map and some great toy advertisements. Now, about lions! The best part about the month of April was they are going to make a calendar and construct virtual Am- our kindergarten field trip to the Palidoro farm. We phibian exhibits for a virtual zoo they’re creating on the toured the farm to see horses, chickens, ostriches, geese, computers. Fourth grade has finished Excel graphing work and Inspiration mind maps. They are now on a traveling cows, and met the famous “Pippo” the wild boar. The adventure. Using the internet, and Excel to graph data, they friendly staff at the farm taught us about the process of will decide which city on Earth has the best weather. Fifth growing wheat, making yeast and flour and grinding grade is starting a quest into ancient Rome. Using web re- grain. We then made our own yummy pizza, ate and sources, they will travel back to ancient Rome as a child, played. See picture below. historian, senator, or Olympian. I’m so proud of the hard work all students have been putting into their work. In addition, thanks to everyone who helped out with the bake sale and booster bar. We now have 8 cameras and a video- video.camcorder. We’ll be starting a photography unit in Mid-May.

Ladybug, ladybug, where are you? by Ms. Murphy This month the Pre-K 4 has been talking about insects. First, we went on an insect hunt on our campus bringing along magnifying glasses and our “Insect Journals” to record what we found. (We found mostly ants.) The children made ants out of clay and created their own “ant cities” using finger paints. We are talking about butterflies and the process of metamorphosis. We acted this process out with our bodies and then recre- ated the process of metamorphosis using varieties of pasta. We learned about the work of the hon- eybee and made our own hive. We have read fiction and non-fiction books about bees, ants, SPORTS’ DAY butterflies and ladybugs. On Thursday, May 11th, On Wednesday, May 17th there will be the Sports’ Day we will be culminating our study with a field trip to for Prekindergarten, Kindergarten, First and Second Grade. Villa Ada to see the myriad of insects that live The Sports Day for Third, Fourth and Fifth Grade will take there. place on Thursday, May 18th. Upcoming Events: the Annual Pre-K Mother’s/Special Friend’s Tea on Friday, May 19th 6 Elementary School News - continued

GRADE ONE - by Ms. Antinucci & Ms. Tausend Unfortunately we lose Ms. Becker this week who has been a wonderful addition to 3rd Grade, we shall really Spring is here and so are tadpoles. Grade One went on a miss her. She hopes to be back to see our show. field trip with Grade Three to Villa Ada to learn about Don’t forget the May Fair, we are expecting you at frogs and their life cycle. We have written about what it our stalls and maybe helping us out too. might be like if we were frogs. We have also enjoyed We are also off to Paestum in May, the students are really looking forward to this. painting our four legged amphibian friends. We have made great leaps in our writing skills and have published our first original stories. In math we have continued working with fact families and we are now moving on to measuring our environment in centimeters and inches. GRADE FOUR - By Natalie P, Lauren S and Isabella W (grade four secretaries).

GRADE TWO - Science – Come look at our wonderful fourth by Ms.Ciuffreda & Ms.Prisco grade Animal Habitat Dioramas! They will show the habitat of endangered animals all around the world! On Friday, May 5th the Second Grade will go on a trip to Composition – The fourth grade has been the Birds of Prey Center near Trevignano on Lake Brac- working on their Cinquain Poems about the animals ciano. The students will see falcons, hawks, owls and other that they chose in science for their very own endan- predators close-up and also in action doing their daily exer- gered animal species habitats. We hope that you can cises. They will have an opportunity to learn about the ori- come visit and enjoy them. gin of these birds in their prehistoric state in a special sec- Mayfair – Come win prizes and have fun at tion that has been created in the park. After the picnic lunch the fourth grade Tombola! Field Trips – The fourth grade will be going the guides will take the children on a hike through the oak th forest. These woods border the lake which is the crater of a on two field trips this month. On May 4 they will go to Cerveteri to visit the Etruscan tombs. Then on May once active volcano. The students will receive instruction th on how to behave on a walk, how to read various nature 26 they will be visiting Ostia Antica and will see the signs and how to experience their surroundings in different Antique Roman Port. ways.

GRADE FIVE - By Ms.Hogan, Mr.Waters & Ms.Wheeler GRADE THREE - by Ms.. Rumsby & Ms. Chiaramonte Spring is in full bloom here in the fifth grade. We have been positively positive about th A big welcome to Andrea M, born on the 18 of April. negative integers. In science we are creating charts Our trip to Villa Ada was great fun. First Grade came along with us, the weather was wonderful, the carp in the lake and conducting several hands-on experiments in were enormous and came jumping out to munch on the dried chemistry. In literature we are summarizing sto- bread we’d all been collecting. ries, books and films. And in history we are learn- The Easter Bunny had been very busy and we raked in a ing about the fearsome Roman army and celebrat- mountain of chocolate eggs! We also caught loads of tadpoles! ing our new flat screen T.V. by watching the Is- There will certainly be a lot of frogs this year. Our amphibian projects are really fantastic, pop by and land of the Blue Dolphins. We have some exciting check them out. We are busy, busy preparing for our musical field trips approaching. Make sure you win a prize Respect, if you don’t get a chance to see us on the morning of at Hoop-La and toss a winner at the ping-pong- Wednesday May 10th, come and see our evening performance at 7 th plaza. We are getting ready for our exciting trips to o’clock on Thursday May 11 . You may even find that you can the Roman Forum and Hadrian's Villa. See you at sing along! Grade 3 continued Mayfair.

7 Middle School News

Middle School Teacher Focus: Middle School Music News Language Teacher Conference by Rebecca Bailey, Music Teacher by Eliana Scrimitore, Italian Teacher Between May 2 – 7 six Middle School students will The Language Department attended a seminar for participate in the Association of Music in Interna- language teachers promoted by DILIT Interna- tional Schools Honor Girls' Choir for Middle School tional House, held in Rome April 7-8 2006. The hosted in Basel, Switzerland. Gal B.I, Alexandra M, conference included 6 lecture sessions and 2 lab Franziska N, Megan F, Lori D.K and Claire A, will sessions with emphasis given to new lexical- sing with students from AMIS schools in Scotland, communicative approach and cooperative learning England, Germany, Switzerland, Poland, Italy, Aus- as an effective method in linguistic teaching. The tria, Norway, and Israel. Congratulations to AOSR's lectures were given by professors from prestigious talented Middle universities in Italy, whose research have widely School singers! been published over the years. Our department appreciated and enjoyed the opportunity to attend this seminar for professional development.

Why is English Class So Fun? by Shahar N. Grade 8 Middle School End of Year Dates I hated English class my whole life, but ever since by Sarah Ellyson, Middle School Coordina- Ms. Pasquantonio (Ms. P) showed up at AOSR, I have a very tor different, positive point of view... You see, we just finished reading The Outsiders, by SE Hinton. For those of you who’ve AMIS Middle School Honor Choir read it, you’ll probably understand what you’re about to read. Festival in Basel, Switzerland: May 2 – 7 As you know, there are two main gangs in this novel: the Greasers and the Socs. Ms. Pasquantonio had an excellent BBQ / Talent Show / Dance idea: why don’t we split our class into two main gangs? We May 5 (5 pm – 10:30 pm) (the students) loved this idea, and so she began separating us. So what did we do after we were in different gangs? 7th Grade Science Fair We invented nicknames for each other!!! For example, my Monday, May 8 (morning) nickname is “Spicy Shwarma”... other nicknames that we have come up with are: “peach fuzz”, “J-poof”, “BIG D”, “Double Spirit Week: May 8 - 12 A”, “AJ”, and “Jazzy-Mo”. I found it much more interesting to read the book as if I was in one of the gangs, so that I could Shakespeare Festival: May 18 -19 (7 pm) understand how something could happen from a certain point of view. In case you’re wondering, this is a normal English class, Sports Day (+ rain date) we do study very hard, but we also go outside for discussions, Wednesday, May 31, 2006 (Thursday, June 1) Ms. P asks us questions, and we also have physical challenges, and it really makes it fun to learn in a way that is not boring at Spring Formal Dance all. Saturday, June 10th

Beach Day: Tuesday, June 13

End of Year Awards and last day of Middle School Thursday, June 15

8 Middle School News - continued

Shakespeare Festival By Kip Hendry, English and Theater teacher

“Sit by my side and let the world slip, we shall nere be younger,” so quoth Christopher Sly whilst he makes prepared to watch the players enact The Taming of the Shrew. Likewise we harken to you, fine mothers, fathers, siblings, and cousins all, unto the leaf’d denizen of our revels: that Hillside Theater May 18 and 19 at the hour of 19:00. Young rascal actors are set to delight all with their fanciful tale of strong minded Katherina, gentle Bianca, and the myriad men who come to woo these sisters. Some three score and more young players (that’s 80 middle school actors to you and me!) shall make sport of Gremio the amorous panta- loon, Hortensio the dissembling fop, and sing their madrigal songs of love to rowdy Petruchio and his wild wife. Therefore, good fellows and ladies too, tary with us a while as we breath new life into the ancient words of The Bard’s Taming of the Shrew.

That again in simple speech:

Live it up.

AOSR Middle School’s production of Taming of the Shrew Thursday May 18 and Friday May 19th at 7:00pm

9 Middle School News - continued

Bake Sale Bliss! Spirit Week: May 8 – 12 By Sarah Ellyson By Sarah Ellyson

For three Thursdays in a row, grade-level bake sales In the SPIRIT of Mayfair, the Middle School Student Counsel boomed during the morning break before advisory period. has planned a SPIRIT WEEK to liven up the week by dress- Baked goodie donations from families in each grade, ing in themes each day of the week. Each day at lunch, par- helped to not only provide a great mid-morning snack for ticipating students will gather and see who has the most AOSR student and teachers to enjoy, but also to serve as a SPIRIT for the day with the top dressed students each day fund raiser for the end of year grade level trips following winning a prize! All students (and faculty!) are encouraged to exam week. A total of 600 Euros were raised. Thank you participate, keeping in mind that usual school dress code limi- to all of the families and a reminder that if you are missing tations apply. containers, have your child stop by the Middle School Of- fice to claim them. Monday, May 8: Pajamas Day Tuesday, May 9: Twin Day At the Mayfair, be certain to stop by the Middle School Wednesday, May 10: Era Day Bake Sale table to purchase delectable goodies to try or take home such as brownies, cupcakes, cakes and cookies! Thursday, May 11: Cross-Dress Day Friday, May 12: Extreme Day

United States Projects Underway in Eighth Grade By Kristen Chartier, History Teacher

Despite the fact that spring vacation is over, the eighth grade has something to look forward to--their upcoming United States Projects! Every student will work in a group of two or three and study a U.S. state of their choice. They're focus- ing upon state facts, geography, history, culture, places of interest, sports, and even food (of course, this is everyone's favorite part). Each project will consist of a report, a poster, and a sample travel brochure that extols their chosen state's attributes. Every group will have a chance to discuss their project with their fellow classmates, and excitement is run- ning high to see who can highlight their state the best. With more than two-thirds of the available 50 states selected, there's going to be a lot to learn...and enjoy!

AOSR Wins Middle School Soccer Tournament

The AOSR Falcons boys Middle School soccer team defeated teams from Ambrit and the Rome International School on April 29, to win the Rome Middle School Soccer Tournament for international schools

10 High School News

From the HS Library By Ms. Molly Bianchini and Ms. Marta Rahm

The HS library intends to purchase a new database by the end of the school year. Ultra Online Ebsco database consists of 6 databases and offers the most complete collection of full text reference resources available for secondary schools. The databases include: • More than 700 popular, high school magazines, 84,074 biographies and 86,135 primary source documents. • The richest collection of consumer health information available to libraries worldwide; 300 full text, consumer health periodicals. • 2,500 diverse sources including international and regional newspapers, periodicals collection, biographies, public opinion polls, book reviews, pamphlets, government information and Current Issues database. • A database created to assist teachers, administrators and researchers in gain- ing immediate access to information from journals and the most comprehensive collection of full text education journals in the world. 30 U.S. and international daily papers, full text, (Washington Post, Times-UK and also 30 regional papers such as the Boston Globe and Chicago Tribune).

Each computer in the HS library is provided with an icon and the students can access the databases by simply clicking on it. We are on a two month trial and students and staff may access the database anywhere on campus.

Another new online resource is now available to our students and faculty. The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (http://www.carnegieendowment.org/) is offering an objective, online resource to inform high school students about policy aspects of globalization related to civics, economics, geography and history. Globalization101.org provides unbiased, easily understandable information and related lesson plans on cross-disciplinary subjects such as international trade, world –wide health and environmental issues and global technological changes. Just go to http://www.globalization101.org/ for more information.

The library is also looking into Questia, the world's largest online library of books, with over 66,000 full-text books, 1.4 million articles, and an entire reference set complete with a dictionary, encyclopedia, and thesaurus.

Sports Briefs By Doug Kneeland

Soccer

Go Girls!

It is starting to look like a new tradition in the making at AOSR. We all know that the Falcon boys soccer teams are the favorites to win the European championships, having won six out of the last seven. But the girls? They have not made it past the first round in the tournament in recent memory.

2006 promises to be different. Maybe it’s the new uniforms – the girls decided that wearing hand-me-down boys uniforms was not their style, and they went out and bought their own “made for women” uniforms. What was the result? AOSR not only looked classy, they played like champs. The Falcons pasted a talented Milan team 7 – 1. AOSR has only lost one game, a season-opening set-back to the defending Division II champions from Aviano.

The Falcons had a balanced scoring attack against Milan, featuring goals by four different girls. Two goals each were scored by senior star Rebecca B, junior Mickey Land freshman Sophie M; recently arrived freshman Brittany M added one goal. The stingy Falcon defense led by captain Marin F, Anna B, and Alex D only gave Milan a handful of shots on goal. Freshman goaltender Francesca T anchored the tough Falcon defense.

This is not only the most balanced and most talented Falcon team in years, it is young, with ten freshmen. Who says dynasties are just for the boys?

Sports Briefs - Continued By Doug Kneeland

Tennis Anyone?

In the past two or three years, the AOSR tennis team has finished a strong second or third, but they have not brought home a coveted Mediterranean team championship. (In tennis, there is no European championship in the spring, but there is a Mediterra- nean tournament featuring teams from around Italy and Turkey including a mix of large and small schools, with AOSR in the middle in terms of size.)

This looks like the year that the tide might turn in AOSR’s direction. Seniors Roy F and Josh K, and junior Jacob K, are all undefeated heading into the Mediterranean tournament in May. AOSR also has a deep girls team. Parents of Falcon Athletes

If you see coach / athletic director Kieran Canter Do you have a son or daughter who is walking around campus licking his chops, it is most competing in high school sports at likely because he can’t wait to take this talented team AOSR, or who is in middle school to the season-ending championships. and would like to compete in sports when they enter high school? Join the Parents of Falcon Athletes and help to support our teams. Contact Carolyn Grosso at - 06-3036- 1525

AOSR Basketball Camp By Coach Phil

“Take your basketball game to the next level! Set your goals high and reach them! Be sur- prised how far you can go and grow as an athlete!” Easy to say, but is it easy to do? Yes! Since the AOSR Basketball camp is back for its fifth year from June 12-17! This is a golden opportunity for boys and girls from 9 to 17 years old to spend five days and one overnight (Wednesday Midnight Madness) with us on the AOSR campus, learning, playing, breathing, and eating basketball! The basketball camp instruction is not only first-rate and high quality --- it has a personal touch, too! Campers will be immersed in a Total Basketball Experience. A camp T-shirt, training handbook and personal evaluation will be provided. Facilities include an indoor basketball gym, two outdoor mini-basketball courts, and au- dio/visual equipment to watch your “instant replays!” Camp cost is 200 Euro.

Sports Briefs - Continued By Doug Kneeland

Daniel P Leads Falcons over Milan

The only boys soccer team other than AOSR to win the Division III European soccer championship in this millennium was the American School of Milan, which pulled off an upset of the Falcons back in 2002. Milan came to Rome on April 29 thinking they could do it again. Maybe they figured that AOSR was ripe for an upset since 2005 European MVP Davide L had graduated.

Not! Milan probably didn’t know that soccer prodigy Dan P had recently transferred to AOSR. Mi- lan opened the game by pushing hard against the Falcon defense, including an early goal. AOSR re- sponded with Daniel P’s first goal coming before intermission.

I’m glad I was not in that locker room at half time, Andrea must have let them have it. AOSR came out looking like a different team. The defense slammed on the brakes, and the mid-fielders began to send beautiful crosses to the front of the net. Daniel P did the rest, scoring three goals in about 8 minutes including a header off a corner kick. An inspired Falcon team took control of the game and pulled away for a 4 -1 victory.

The undefeated Falcons are preparing to defend their European title in Ger- many in late May. If AOSR is victorious, they will earn a record fourth straight championship and seven out of the last eight.

by Lisa Finerty, Falcon Parent

The Parents of Falcon Athletes helped AOSR's Women's Soccer Team arrange for new, female- size uniforms over the Spring Break. Proceeds of the Booster Bar events, parent contributions, and skilled vendor negotiation by the Booster Parents cut the deal down to size.

The team unveiled their new fashions at the game versus Milan on Saturday, April 29th. The fans had a lot more than the new fashion look at Saturday...AOSR won 7-1. There is something to the science of aerodynamics! The team is ready for European finals in Germany. 14

Mark your calendar for next year now!

A Theatre Fundraising Evening Event at AOSR:

Friday, 29 September, 7:00pm (19 hs)

Braveheart and Leprechauns: Scottish dancing, Irish storyteller Niall De Burca, and lots more!

IL FORO

Apartment on Via Cassia Books, books, books! Walking distance from school 3 bed, 3 bath Available July 16 Two opportunities are coming for you Interested? call Marlene at to buy books in English. First, there is 06-3036-7976 going to be a Lion Bookstore Book Fair on Wednesday, May 17 and Thursday May 18, in front of the main office from 8:30 -4, during the elementary “sports days”. This book sale provides funds for the elementary library, as well as providing new books “Cakes and Bakes” for your children. Used books in Eng- to order please call lish and other languages will be avail- Gerry Alfassy able for purchase at May Fair on (AOSR mom) 3398134130 Saturday, May 13.

Of course, books are also always available for you and your children at no cost (for loan, not Dentists purchase) at either the elementary or high Dott.ssa C. Lorincz & Dott. D. D. Karpel Via Cassia, 515—Pal. B (2° P. int. 4) school libraries! Tel. 06.3350522 Cell: 335.814077 www.lorincz-karpel.it E-mail: [email protected]

BOOKS & LIBRARY RESOURCES IN ROME

The AOSR High School and Elementary School libraries will lend books to all families as well as students in the community, The HS library has approximately 5,000 reference volumes, and, with the ES library, there are 25,000 books on the lending stacks, in addition to the monthly magazine subscriptions, and with the recent contributions from parents, embassies and donations from the PTO, the library has grown both in volumes and technologi- cally (with internet access and color scanners).

The Elementary School library has age-appropriate literature for the Pre-K to Grade 5 set. These are available for loan --- just bring in your Parent ID card. Parents must register to check out books from the High School library. Registration number is available from the HS librarian.

The largest lending library in Rome is at the Santa Susanna Catholic Church on Via XX Settembre. This library has approx 12,000 volumes and, while the books are all in English, the library is open to people of all nationalities and religions. You must obtain a library membership. Books are loaned for a period of 2 weeks. They have a wonderful literature collection, including the entire fiction collection of the British Council . In addition to ten shelves of British literature, the Santa Susanna collection includes six shelves of American literature, two of French, one each of Italian, Rus- sian, Asian and German. It has much non-fiction as well: four shelves of American history, two European, one of World War II, 1 1/2 of Italian history, and one each of Vatican and Roman history, as well as a half shelf each of Latin Ameri- can, Austrian, Asian, Irish, and Middle East history. There is a whole shelf devoted to Vatican mystery series done by Ellis Peters. The hours, terms, and directions can be found on the website: www.santasusanna.org/library.

The British Council, at Via Quattro Fontane ("Four Fountains") #20, has a large collection of videos and some DVD's. Videos and DVD's can be rented for one (new releases) or two weeks (classical or older films). They have an extensive Shakespeare collection, including those produced for the BBC. They have rooms of linguistic study material. These resources are mainly for teachers of English rather than the general public. This, too, is a subscription library, and costs E80 for full annual borrowing privileges. Their phone is 06-478141 or email at [email protected]. More info is available at:

There are two other libraries with large collections that encourage library use but do not allow borrowing. The American Academy on the Gianicolum Hill (phone 06-58461) has a 130,000 volume collection of classical studies, art and architecture. They do not allow borrowing but do have two beautiful reading rooms, one of which was designed by acclaimed architect and alumnus, Michael Graves. The Centro per Studi Americani (National Center for American Studies) on Via Caetana near Largo Argentina (which is also a beautiful building) doesn't seem to have a working website but it is a wonderful tourist destination.

Also, the British Council Library and the American Academy often have cultural evenings including "meet the author" usually in English or Bilingual English/Italian. The American Studies Center also hosts seminars and "meet the author" evenings, but they tend to be in Italian. People who join these libraries can get onto mailing lists for invitations.

In addition, for little readers, the Bibli Bookstore, at (www.bibli.it, in Italian only) in Trastevere hosts a story hour every Sunday afternoon, sometimes in English. It has a cinema, a live music venue, and a tea room.

Lion Bookstore, at Via dei Greci 33 (near the Spanish Steps), is run by AOSR alumni. They have a wonderful collection of new English language titles and a wonderful painting gallery and exhibition space. They can be reached by phone at 06-3265-4007.

In addition, Feltrinelli International, on Via V.E. Orlando (at Piazza Republica) and The Almost Corner Book- shop (06-5836-942), (Via dal Moro, Trastevere) have good non-fiction and fiction collections, also in English.

Happy reading!

16 School Information

Headmaster: Larry Dougherty 06-33438-331 Headmaster’s Secretary : Domenica Losani 06-33438-331 Associate Head: Beth Pfannl 06-33438-326 Secretaries: Cathy Garbinsky & Alessandra Cozzi 06-33438-326 Admissions: Don Levine 06-33438-300 Reception/Secretary: Joanne Hoberg 06-33438-300 Financial Consultant: Elisa Bruno 06-33438-338 Boarding/Finance: Estelle Dougherty 06-33438-339

Guidance Counselor: Kate McKenna 06-33438-327 Nurse: Diane Cullen-Moore 06-33438-321 AOSR After School Activities: Via Cassia 811 Christine Hogan, Margaret Ciuffreda 06-33438-320 00189 Rome, Italy ES Coordinator: Susan Prideaux 06-33438-350 Internet: www.aosr.org MS Coordinator: Sarah Ellyson 06-33438-336 School Number: 06-334-381 Resource Room: Ellen Buckley 06-33438-302 Fax: 06-3326-2608

Jessica DiCori 06-33438-390 All telephone and internet address corrections should be emailed to [email protected].

Rome n’ About

Helpful Resources:

Wanted in Rome—www.WantedInRome.com -- a biweekly print and free web publication which lists news, features, and events of interest to the English-speaking community in Rome. It also sponsors a free classified service including housing. Roma C'E —www.Romace.it — A great resource for movies playing in and around Rome for those who can handle a little bit of Italian. The "Cinema" reference on the homepage sends you to a screen where you can choose to see where a movie is showing and when, by selecting either title ("titolo"), type ("genere"), director ("regia"), ac- tor ("attori"), or nationality ("nazionalita"). You can also select movies that are in their original language ("versione originale"). English Yellow Pages – www.englishyellowpages.it — A terrific, free print and web directory of all English- speaking businesses in Rome, Florence, Milan and Naples. More than just a phone book, EYP sponsors a free classified service, great reference information (weights and measure conversions, national holidays, basic vocabulary, and maps) as well as a photo gallery of people and events in the English/US community here in Rome, which are able to be downloaded from the website! On-line Public Bus and Train info in Rome—www.atac.roma.it—The Rome's public transportation agency offers an on-line directory, in choice of either Italian or English, giving address-to-address directions, using public bus, metro, and tram lines, AND plotting it out on a map! On-line Train information and reservation service for Italy -- www.trenitalia.it -- Italy's vast national train service is available on-line, in English. Times, train types, trip duration, cost, and purchase is easily accessible. For daily Italian newspaper and radio news in English, see www.AGI.it/english, a special service by Agenzia Giornalistica Italia on behalf of the Italian Prime Minister’s office. The American —www.theamericanmag.com — is a new monthly magazine for Italy’s English-speaking community, including a huge list of restaurants. American citizens may want to register with the US Embassy and ask to be included on the e-Embassy Rome email list to be notified about security alerts and other important information for Americans living in Italy. Call 06- 46741 or send an email to [email protected]. Rome Airport Information (Fiumicino or Ciampino airports) including flight arrivals and departures can be found at www.adr.it.

6 27 20 20 13 Sat www.aosr.org 06-334-381 Tennis at MMI Soccer at MMI MAYFAIR 11-4pm 11-4pm MAYFAIR

5 19 19 Fri 12 26 bus Livorno Livorno 2:00 pm 2:00 Play, 7:00pm Kindergarten Soccer AOSR host host AOSR Soccer MS Shakespeare Shakespeare MS Last dayof After School Activities Activities School Last Day for late Tennis host Livorno Livorno host Tennis Mothers Day Tea, Tea, Day Mothers

4 11 18 25 Thu Cerveteri, Cerveteri, Grade 3-5 3-5 Grade 9:20 - 2:45 2:45 - 9:20 ES Sports Day Day ES Sports Pre-K to Villa Ada Pre-K to Villa 3rd Grade Musical 3rd Grade HS SportsBanquet

Grade 4 field trip to trip 4 field Grade store, 8:30-4:00pm 8:30-4:00pm store, Bookfair: Lion Book-

3 10 17 24 31 Wed Wed (Prek-2) (Prek-2) ES Sports Day Day Sports ES MS Sports Day MS Sports spect, Prek-4 th th Prek-4 spect, Presentation, Re- Presentation, 3rd Grade Musical Musical 3rd Grade store, 8:30-4:00pm 8:30-4:00pm store, Bookfair: Lion Book- Lion Bookfair:

2 9 16 23 30 Tue AOSR May 2006 May AOSR Choir Festival, Festival, Choir IB Exams at AOSR AOSR at Exams IB Basel, Switzerland AMIS SSA MS Honor

1 8 15 22 29 Mon MS Science Fair National Holiday IB Exams at AOSR AOSR at Exams IB No School—Italian School—Italian No

7 14 14 21 28 Sun