by Marc De Vries
marc@vries.net
On December 18th the Board of Trustees had its Board Meeting. The highlights are as follows:
New Board Member
Mr. Brent Gros has been appointed to fill the vacant BOT position. Brent has a child in 1st grade and works for Chevron. He has lived in Thailand for the past two years and was recently appointed Deputy Asset Manager Satun Funan. We look forward to Brent’s contributions to, and sharing his experience with, the Board.
Challenging Students
Part of ISB’s Mission is to inspire students to achieve their academic potential. In last year’s parent survey 74% of parents felt their children were challenged academically. Among ISB graduates, 48% felt they could have learned more last year. The Board recognizes this is an area where significant inroads can be made for individual learning, and has strongly supported the administration’s efforts towards this improvement goal.
Currently over 25 teachers have some level of involvement with students who receive customized instruction. To expand this initiative, a Challenge and Enrichment committee was formed. Headed by Ms. Drummond, this Committee is assessing different models, refining a vision for ISB’s program and will broaden its awareness once worked-out. An expert has already been hired to establish needed structures, implement a program of professional development, and develop a model for the most able learners.
It is a shared vision of the Board and the administration that the challenge and enrichment initiative will improve learning and increase challenge for all students.
Student Council Update and eLearning
The Student Council presented the results of their High School survey for which they received a response from 399 students. A finding that stood out is the mixed opinion towards the perceived effectiveness of eLearning. This surprised us a little, because our students are technically savvy, but last years’ experience during the flooding may have contributed to the negative perception of eLearning. Since eLearning could be part of a solution to provide more variety in the school’s course offerings, as currently being evaluated by the Futures Exercise, ISB will need to focus on increasing the level of comfort of using eLearning among students. Furthermore, the student council provided valuable feedback on the modified exam schedule and the effect on students taking the bus. Students also thought the administration’s plan to extend the life skills instruction for graduating students from a single day to several days was a good change, though many still felt that more time is needed.
Support for Arts Programs
The Strategic Improvement and Learning Committee (SILC) is interested in encouraging the increase of opportunities for students to participate in arts programs of many types. The outcome should be a more comprehensive and integrated approach to the Arts of curricular and extracurricular activities.
Update Facility Projects
The Business Committee provided an update on the status of the facilities projects.
While a lot of work is being done at the new Sport Center, as completion of the swimming pool (just starting to fill and test it), arrival of the bulkhead, completion of the gym’s floor, shade on the tennis courts, the complexity of the whole project has created some delays, and we currently anticipate the opening at around early March.
Work on the Invention Center is ongoing. The Invention Center is expected to open by August 2014.
The MS/HS library has opened and is proving to be the manifestation of a true library of the future. A large number of students are enthusiastically using the library rooms and facilities.
During the summer the MS furnishing project will be carried out
Once these projects are completed, the Business Committee recommends a time of reflection and to see the dynamics of the school. For this reason no final decision will yet be made on the use of the current tennis court space.
PSAT
PSAT test results are one of many performance indicators that form ISB’s learning scorecard. Taken by 11th grade students and some 10th grade students, ISB’s average scores show an increase in all three areas (critical reading, math and writing skills) compared to last year. As part of the discussion, the Board felt that ISB should do more in preparing students for the SAT exam. In the past ISB was a host for prep course providers, but when participant numbers dropped, the initiative was discontinued by the provider. Going forward ISB will look into the possibility of again working with an SAT prep course provider.
Next BOT Meeting
The next BOT meeting will be held on Tuesday 22 January at MPB. The meeting is open for all community members to attend.
Yours sincerely,
Best regards,
Marc de Vries
BOT Chair