Registration

Online Registration for 2023-24 year will open on August 10, 2023

Registration Information:

Registration for 2023-24 will be open from August 10, 2023 and end on September 3, 2023. Application and fee payment option will be available online only. Submission of completed application and Payment of fee ($250 for one student; $460 for 2 students per family) should be made online before the last day of school registration window on September 3, 2023. This will make sure your student gets their class assignment and textbooks without any delay.

Major Announcement / Changes for 2023-24 School year

1. Change of venue: “SA Tamil School will confirm the location once we sign the lease contract” SA Tamil School is moving to a new venue. The location is at the corner of Loop 410 and Babcock at 4300 Centerview Dr., San Antonio, TX 78228. It is conveniently located near loop 410, I-10 and Babcock Road in the Medical Center area. It is closer to most of the Students and Teachers to access.

Many of you may wonder why? There are 3 major reasons:

(i) After our graduation, Three:16 Church (The current venue) management informed us that they have decided NOT to rent out their facility to any outside organizations and asked us to look for a new venue.

(ii) SA Tamil School strength was also growing year by year and the space was not sufficient to accommodate 200+ students

(iii) Due to the above reasons, SA Tamil School Management Team had to search for a new venue within a short time. We reached out to many Charter Schools and Churches in and around Medical Center – USAA area. Finally and luckily, we were able to find a good, safe and bigger venue.

2. New Academic Team: SA Tamil School Management takes this opportunity to announce that we have a new Academic Team taking over this school year. Very glad to introduce Mrs. Vimala Perumalsamy, MCA (Principal) and Mrs. T. Sangeetha Devi, ME (Vice-Principal). They have served in Tamil school as teachers and are able leaders. We would like to extend our immense gratitude and appreciation to Mrs. Jothi Alagar, Mrs. Preetha Karthik and Mrs. Sridevi Subramaniam for their selfless service to SA Tamil School as the Principal, Vice-Principal and Academic coordinator, respectively, for the past 4 years. Their contribution towards the school is immense and they took the performance level and learning outcome to newer heights.

3. New Textbooks and Curriculum: SA Tamil School Management, Academic Team and Teachers have decided to adopt new textbooks developed and released by Texas Tamil Academy (TTA). These books are designed based on TEA’s (Texas Education Agency’s) LOTE (Language Other Than English) TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) curriculum requirements. SA Tamil School Team was collaborating with Houston Tamil School Team during the last year to introduce these books to our teachers.

Why do we need this change? What are the advantages?

(i) We have been following American Tamil Academy (ATA) Textbooks from 2016. However, we received feedbacks from both parents and teachers that the lessons and exercises were difficult as they were too heavy on grammar

(ii) In order to approach local school districts and request approval for LOTE High School credit for our higher-level students, need a curriculum that is aligned with TEA-TEKS for foreign language courses

(iii) Above all Houston ISD has approved these textbooks and we can use that as precedent for our local ISDs

4. Accreditation Renewal Year: As we all are aware, SA Tamil School is an accredited School for the past six years and now we are due to renew our accreditation certification.For reference related to accreditation, please visit https://www.cognia.org/services/accreditation-certification

Why do we need to be accredited?

(i) It is a requirement for local school districts to recognize our course curriculum to be eligible for High School Foreign Language credit

(ii) This enables our school to be equal in terms of standard, curriculum and learning outcomes with Foreign Language courses in local regular schools and with the rest of the Tamil Schools in the state

(iii) Please refer to http://www.satamilschool.org/accreditation.html if you need more information on any of the above changes

5. Please feel free to contact us at satamilschool@gmail.com if you need more information on any of the above changes

Student Responsibilities

Do's

• Students must be in the classroom and seated before the class begins
• Have binders, notebooks, your own paper, pens, pencils, and highlighters every week
• Show respect for the teachers, other adult authorities and fellow students
• Follow classroom/school rules, procedures, and directions
• Do your homework every day and ask for help when you need
• Turn in all homework the day they are due
• Show respect for anyone who is speaking. Raise your hand and wait to be called on before you speak
• Be responsible for your own things
• Treat everyone with kindness and respect
• Keep your hands, feet and other objects to self
• Help keep class clean

DONT's

• DON’T display rude or inappropriate behavior; be physically or verbally abusive.
• DON’T have food or gum in the classroom in order to keep our classroom clean.
• DON’T text, read texts, make calls during class. Turn off your phones in class.
• DON’T bring articles of value like jewelry to school

Parent Responsibilities

As parents, we expect you to support your children’s learning in the following ways:

• Monitor attendance-85% attendance is mandatory to pass
• Help your child if needed and Make sure that homework is completed
• Monitor and encourage children to speak in Tamil at home
• Volunteer in SA Tamil School projects and student enrichment programs
• Spend at least 15 minutes reading Tamil every day with your child
• Maintain communication with your child’s teacher
• Encourage children to watch appropriate Tamil/English subtitled programs in TV
• Resolve disputes constructively

Parent Agreement Statement:

Parents agree to allow their child to attend Tamil School and agree to assume all responsibility and liability for any injuries to their child while participating in this activity as a result of any alleged act of the participant. Parents agree to be responsible for any medical expenses, charges or other costs, which may be incurred as a result of child's participation in this activity. Parents further agree that they will be responsible for any claims made by third parties, which may result from or be caused by their child's actions while participating in this activity.