High School Upcoming events (Please click):
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Message from Principal
Philip Bradley
philipb@isb.ac.th
Our last week in school before the break has been busy and included a wonderful student celebration of Songkran sponsored by the Thai Club. Students performed a water pouring ceremony offering blessings and good health to faculty and the community as a whole. The water pouring is symbolic of washing away the old, fresh starts and the New Year – something we all welcome and benefit from. There were also cultural presentations from other students groups representing Japan, Korea, Arabia and India – a multicultural assembly indeed. I wish you all a peaceful Songkran and hope you have some quiet family time and that students return refreshed and rested.
Principal Forum Agenda
Philip Bradley
philipb@isb.ac.th
9:00 AM Friday April 26th Please join us in MPB2
HS Assemblies
- What are we aiming to do in HS assemblies?
- Are assemblies a good use of learning time?
- The High School Student Handbook
- How is this document reviewed and revised?
- GCW – Reflections
- SAT2s subject tests
- Who should take them and when?
- Technology
- What is ISB doing to monitor the impact of technology on learning (positive and negative)?
- In particular how are students using laptops at school?
Grade 9 MAP Testing
Philip Rogers
philr@isb.ac.th
A reminder that all Grade 9 students will be completing their Spring MAP (Measure of Academic Potential) in English and Mathematics on 24th & 25th April in their English and Mathematics classes. There is nothing for them to prepare and results of the testing will be sent to parents towards the end of May.
Grades 9 – 11 Exam Schedule
Philip Rogers
philr@isb.ac.th
Grades 9 – 11 Exam Schedule is now a available on the HS page of the school website. Individual timetables will be distributed after Songkran.
Counseling Newsletter
Cathy Curtis
cathyc@isb.ac.th
Please note Change of DATE: US Student Visa meeting has been changed to Tuesday,
23 April. On the first Tuesday after Songkran holiday, an officer from the US Embassy Visa Section will be at ISB at 2:15 in room 203 to meet with all non-American students to discuss the US Student Visa (F-1) process. If your son/daughter plans to attend university in the United States and is not an American Citizen or Green Card holder, he/she (and parent if you’d like) needs to attend this meeting.
Seniors:
May 1 is approaching!
Decisions for university are being made. Remember if your son/daughter is planning to attend university in the US, May 1 is the final deadline for accepting an offer of admissions. This means that a deposit is usually due by that day to indicate that the student will definitely be attending that particular university. We strongly suggest that students deposit the week before May 1 (week of April 22) to make sure the deposit is accepted and there are no glitches.
Students going to the US are ONLY allowed to deposit at ONE university; they may not deposit at more than one and if universities find out that they have made more than one deposit, that is grounds for withdrawing the offer from both universities. Be forewarned; there is no double-depositing!
Waitlists:
Some students have been placed on a waitlist for admissions. This means that currently, the university has admitted all of the students it can, but your son/daughter is totally eligible for admissions. If after the May 1 deadline, the university may find that it can admit more students and your student might get an offer. If a student is still interested in staying on the waitlist, he/she should contact the university.
Transition is just around the corner:
Seniors – there are two days of transitions activities planned, May 23 and June 6. For the May 23rd Transition Day, students will arrive at 7:20 and have planned activities with their friends during the day. This is a wonderful opportunity for Seniors to have a stress-free fun day at school where they learn about what to expect in the next phase of their lives. The June 6th day is for Senior Breakfast, Grad Panel and graduation practice. Both days should prove to be fun and exciting and perhaps a little bit sad as they realize that high school has almost come to an end.
Juniors:
Junior Conferences: Almost all Junior Conferences have been completed and Juniors are currently doing their research to find the schools that they feel most fit their needs for further education. Some students will be going on university visits this summer and the conference has helped them to be more focused. Good job, Juniors!
University Research Labs: Juniors who are interested in having a bit of guided university research, remember there are labs every Monday. This next week will actually have two labs – one on Monday, 22 April, which will focus on research for Japanese and Korean universities and one on Thursday, 25 April, which will focus on research for the US.
SAT preparation: Remember, Juniors may practice for the SAT for FREE using Prep-Me on Naviance. The directions for that (which you may want to share with your son/daughter) are:
Click on the PrepMe icon on the home page of Naviance to access the steps PrepMe will guide you through:
Step 1: Complete your diagnostic tests
Step 2: Select your test date
Step 3: Begin your studying
Step 4: Connect with Tutors for Q & A (through live chat or email)
Step 5: Rock the Exam!
All students:
Great Opportunity:
KIS International School, together with Plan International and Intel, students at ISB have been invited to a unique private screening and discussion of the film “Girl Rising“. The film is a striking portrayal of the power of girls and the value of education for a better world. It is a collection of true stories and is narrated by famous actors Cate Blanchett, Priyanka Chopra, Selena Gomez, Anne Hathaway, Salma Hayek, Alicia Keys, Chloë Moretz, Liam Neeson, Frieda Pinto, Meryl Streep, and Kerry Washington.
KIS has been given permission for a private screening by invitation only. A small cover charge will go to charities that support children and education. The screening will be held on May 7 at 18:00 at KIS International School. The screening will be followed by a discussion with experts from Plan International and the United Nations Girl’s Education Initiative. This is a unique opportunity to see a powerful, meaningful movie that has not (yet) been released in Thailand.
ISB will have a bus going to the screening and any interested student should sign up in the bulletin board outside Ms. McDowell’s office. When you sign up, you must pay the 100 baht ‘cover charge’ which will go to charities that support children and education. Sign up will only be from Monday, April 22 to Thursday April 25 at 3:00. Please give the contribution to Khun Mai.
Songkran holiday is coming! This is a time for your children to rest, relax and recharge their batteries. Make sure they catch up on sleep, spend time away from the computer and get plenty of exercise. This is a vital time for them as the push during May can be tough. It is a great time for you to have a quiet chat with your child and to give them plenty of attention; you both deserve it!
The counseling office wishes you all a Happy and Safe Songkran!!
Ask.fm: a particularly nasty site
Chad Bates
chadb@isb.ac.th
Up until recently the choice social media sites of our students have been Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter. A relatively new player in the market is “Ask.fm”, a question and answer site that allows people to post anonymous comments and questions to a person’s profile page. The anonymity part is what sets this site apart from the more traditional social networking sites, while Facebook gathers as much information as they can about their users; Ask.fm prides itself on the guaranteed, complete anonymity of its users. Perceived anonymity sadly brings out the worst traits and behaviors of people e.g. bullying and harassment.
Why is Ask.fm proving so popular with our MS and HS students? Adolescence is an age where students are trying to fit in, they want to be popular, they want to know what others think of them, and they like to know people are interested in them. Ask.fm checks all these boxes. Many of the questions and comments posted are harmless and mundane, however because of the anonymous nature of the site, some will use the site to post nasty, hurtful questions often of a sexual nature. For a student using Ask.fm to seek positive affirmation from their peers, the resultant abusive comments can be particularly destructive to the individual’s self esteem.
How would I know if my child has an Ask.fm account? While question and answer sites like Ask.fm continue to allow complete anonymity, there is very little good that can come out of using it. Students should delete their Ask.fm account. Evidence of Ask.fm use can be found in a student’s Facebook timeline, they post links to Ask.fm inviting their Facebook friends to comment.
What can I do as a parent? The most important piece of advice I can offer to any parent, is to have conversations with your child. Conversations should include discussions about:
- The importance of presenting your best self online.
- Do not share private information about yourself with strangers. Watch this video
- What to do if they are a victim of online bullying, or witness to bullying.
- Online is permanent, don’t post things you may regret later.
More detailed information specific to Ask.fm can be found here: https://www.webwise.ie/
This site also offers some great tips for parenting in an online environment. As a school we will be running sessions to speak directly to the students about these issues.
Video
The ISB World Cup is almost here!
Justin Wah
justinw@isb.ac.th
With teams signed up from all over the world, this years World Cup is already shaping up to be a cracker.
Forget Messi, forget Ronaldo, Zidane who?? We’ve got Yujinio, Katie “the speedstar”, Andy “legs” Real (Croatia), The Viking combo of Lars and Nick (Ukraine), Freshman sensations (France), 8th Graders (Sweden) that want to take the tournament by surprise, we’ve even got swimmers disguised as soccer players (Germany)! And who could forget the Teachers team (England) that will be pushing hard to dethrone the reigning Champions…JAPAN. In addition we have world cup power house Brazil, local favorites Thailand, and reinging European Champions Spain, as well as the dark horse teams from Russia and Poland.
Games begin on April 29th and will be played at 3:15 and 4:00 o’clock.
For the full schedule please click here.
Come out and watch the action.
Good luck to all involved.
Cafeteria News…Did You Know…?
Michelle Ihrig
cafeteria@isb.ac.th
Mango Mania is back at the Grind!! There are actually some blessings that come along with April’s scorching, hot weather. One of the best is the naturally ripe, sweet fruit we can savor at this time. This would include the ‘King of Fruits’, the yellow mango. We’re whipping up fresh Mango smoothies such as our Mango Madness, Mango Strawberry Kiss and Mango Blueberry Bang (the last two made with yoghurt), and are also serving Mango with Sticky Rice. For those wanting to savor the fruit itself, it can be purchased all on its own. The health benefits of Mango are so numerous, this blurb is not able to do them fair justice. However, we will just have to mention a few: Mangoes are rich in antioxidants and alkalizing properties which help combat cancer causing agents and inflammation, contain high levels of fiber and vitamin C which lower cholesterol and boost the immune system, and are high in vitamin A which improves vision. For further good news on Mango, we invite you to take your own journey into the wonders of this fruit. Welcome Mango Mania. Enjoy.
eNewsletter Guidelines
Tony Arnold
anthonya@isb.ac.th
ISB eNewsletters provide a valuable avenue for communication within the ISB parent community. For your convenience we have provided you with our eNewsletter guidelines below.
Submitting an announcement for publication
ISB accepts announcements from ISB families for potential publication in our eNewsletters. The announcements are generally intended to highlight events that occur at ISB and/or highlight information about ISB.
What to include in the announcement
• A title for your announcement
• An email contact for further information
Where to submit your announcement
4publish@isb.ac.th is for announcements of interest to the entire ISB community.
tinaratr@isb.ac.th is for Elementary School (ES) announcements of interest to ES families.
maurilib@isb.ac.th is for Middle School (MS) announcements of interest to MS families.
vijitl@isb.ac.th is for High School (HS) announcements of interest to HS families.
Your announcement will be submitted to the appropriate Principal and/or to our Marketing Director for review. ISB reserves the right to determine which announcements will and will not be published, and to edit announcements that are approved for publication.
Frequency of eNewsletter mailings
The ISB eNewsletter that is for the entire community is sent out on Thursdays. Announcements for potential publication in this newsletter must be received by noon on Thursdays.
The ES, MS, and HS eNewsletters are sent out on Fridays. Announcements for potential publication in these newsletters must be received by noon on Fridays.