Dear ISB Community,
Yesterday evening our ISB family suffered a tragic loss. Patrick Haney, a wonderful Grade 8 student, passed away after collapsing following a soccer game.
The game took place at around 4:15pm and involved two 15-minute periods as part of ISB’s annual “world cup”. Patrick was pronounced dead early in the evening at World Medical Center on Chaeng Wattana Road.
Student Update
Our main focus this morning has been to support students in need. Rooms have been set aside for our students to meet and share their feelings with each other with support from our nine counselors and two psychologists. We have also had US Embassy liaison staff and the Embassy psychologist with us providing guidance. Teachers have been checking on students at break and lunchtimes, ensuring they are looked after.
Funeral
The funeral service for Patrick will take place tonight in the Assembly Hall of the Sunday Religious School of Wat Cholprathan Rangsalit. ISB will be sponsoring the funeral service tonight and we welcome all staff, students and parents. The Buddhist prayers will start at 7:00pm this evening and continue until around 8:00pm. Wat Cholprathan Rangsalit is situated on Tiwanon road, quite close to school (map at bottom of email).
We will provide buses to transport students, parents and staff to the temple, departing ISB at 6:15pm and returning to school at approximately 8:30pm. If your child will be attending, please arrange to have him/her collected from school at this time.
The cremation ceremony will take place on Wednesday 8th May at 4:30pm. More details to follow.
Wat Cholprathan Rangsalit has asked that friends and relatives do not bring flowers or wreaths, but instead they prefer live potted plants for the temple.
Activities Cancelled
As a mark of respect, all Community Activities Office activities this long weekend are cancelled. These activities include:
- After School Dance
- Instrumental Music Program
- Panther Tennis Team
- BYS Soccer
- Panther Gymnastics Club
- Colgate Kids Triathlon
- Panther Paws Track and Field
- Panther Swim Team
We will be in touch in due course if any of these events can be rescheduled.
The HS Play has been cancelled for tonight (Friday 3rd May). Performances will now take place on Saturday 4th May at 6:00pm and on Tuesday 7th May at 3:00pm.
ES After School activities will take place as usual today.
Weekend Support
The MS/HS Library will be open this Saturday from 10:00am to 2:00pm to provide a supportive environment for students. ISB counselors and teachers will be available to help those in need.
Students will use many different forms of communication to support each other and to share information. In some cases, it might be easier to gauge the effects on your child of Patrick’s loss through social media than in conversation. Some students will be more open about their feelings online than in person.
If you are aware of any Facebook (or other social media) communication that you feel we need to know about as we try to support students, please inform us.
Parents and students may contact any of the ISB staff members listed at the end of this message if support is needed.
Learning from this Tragedy
Our priority at the moment is to help those affected in this most difficult of times.
Our next task will be to thoroughly review the incident, our reactions to it, our Crisis Response Procedures, and local emergency resources to learn whatever we can to ensure our school is as safe as possible for all community members. We will be assembling a review team shortly that will include outside experts, board members and school leaders. We will communicate our findings in full to the ISB community as soon as we are ready.
Questions/Concerns/Assistance
Community members that need assistance or have questions or concerns can contact the school leaders and counselors listed at the end of this email.
We will continue to communicate as appropriate.
Our thoughts and prayers are with Patrick’s family and friends at this extremely difficult time.
Sincerely,
Dr. Andrew Davies
Head of School
ISB Contacts
Dr. Andrew Davies
Head of School
081 851 6277
andrewd@isb.ac.th
Mr. Graeme Scott
Deputy Head of School
081 806 5884
graemes@isb.ac.th
Khun Usa Somboon
Headmistress
081 937 0069
usomboon@isb.ac.th
Mr. Tom Burgess
MS Principal
081 762 5800
thomasb@isb.ac.th
Mr. Moe Baron-Toaldo
MS Vice Principal
085 811 8533
maurilib@isb.ac.th
Mr. Kevin Davy
MS Counselor
083 038 2771
kevind@isb.ac.th
Ms. Ellen Bagnato
MS Counselor
090 801 6495
ellenb@isb.ac.th
Mr. David Anderson
MS/HS Psychologist
089 895 3800
davida@isb.ac.th
Ms. Cindy Warner Dobrowski
ES Psychologist
084 376 6804
cindyw@isb.ac.th
Ms. Kelly Armitage
ES Principal
080 591 1910
kellya@isb.ac.th
Mr. Philip Bradley
HS Principal
089 897 8049
philipb@isb.ac.th
Dr. Cathy Curtis
HS Counselor
089 513 0098
cathyc@isb.ac.th
Ms. Debbie McDowell
HS Counselor
080 772 8388
debbiem@isb.ac.th
