Dear CSI Family:

Welcome to Inside CSI, our school community blog. I am excited to offer this new way of engaging in conversation to parents, teachers, students and other members of the College of Staten Island High School of International Studies family. I hope that we will use this blog to share school news, student and teacher accomplishments, and important information that we want to share with you.

Over the summer CSI staff has been hard at work creating opportunities for you for next year. First, we have been collaborating with St. Johns University so that students in fourth year Spanish will have opportunities to earn dual credit (college and high school credit) this year. Students in this program will be able to earn up to six college credits during the upcoming school year. Secondly, we are working to set up a two way Spanish language exchange program with a school in Ecuador.

Although our February trip to Europe is booked, we do have exciting possibilities for a two way exchange with a school in France. It is expected that our students will travel to France and participate in a home stay during February and that students from France will come to our school next September.

In the fall, our junior students have the option of enrolling in a Journalism class so that they can continue to produce The International Insider and learn more about investigative reporting, editing, and layout. Freshman and sophomore students will continue to be part of the newspaper through an after school club.

Finally, we are working on a grant with College of Staten Island so that our students will get tuition waivers to take courses at the college. Additionally, we will continue to offer College Now to students who meet the requirements. We are also partnering with the college to offer our students a rich menu of after school activities.

I am excited to welcome back from China, Chris Livacarri and our students Josephine and Anam. Both Josephine and Anam were fortunate to be awarded scholarships through our partnership with the Asia Society's International Studies Schools Network. I am sure they will be sharing information about their trip with our community once school begins.

This year our school community will work together to establish our school's core values. To accomplish this we will be working with the Institute for Global Ethics. In order for this to be successful we need all constituencies to participate in this program. In conjunction with the Institute, I will be working with teachers and other staff members. Teachers will then be working with their advisories. We will then host a potluck dinner for parents, students and teachers so that parents can also contribute to helping us establish our core values and continue to build our community around them. I look forward to your participation in this and many other opportunities this year.