MS eNewsletter – August 28, 2015

Posted on August 28, 2015 by Dennis Harter

Invitation to MS Open House

Please join us on Thursday, September 3rd at 6:30 pm for Middle School Open House night. This evening will begin in the Chevron theater, with some introductions and opening remarks from our administrative team, before you follow a schedule to meet each of your child’s teachers. The schedule will be quite quick with 10 minute sessions with each teacher, so if you have more than one middle school child, parents will have to divide up which classes they will attend. The Open House will end at 9:00 pm.

We are excited to share with you who we are as educators and how much we care about your child’s success and well-being. We are also proud of what we do well and our continued growth to get better.

There is also a tech session for parents starting at 4:30 pm, before the Open House.

We hope you can make it.

So many activities!

Middle school is a time for discovering new interests and pursuing existing passions. As we have said to students and parents, alike, the secret to having a terrific school experience is to get involved.

Of course, navigating all of the possible activities available to students can be quite difficult for new families (and returning ones!). Within the ISB Athletics program, we offer sports choices over 3 different seasons at different age groups of under 15, under 13, and under 11.

We have clubs and activities taking place during lunch and after school. Students will begin to sign up for these in September, or later in the year as new ones start up.

And then connected to the school, typically using our facilities, but organized by people in our community there are a wealth of activities. These are overseen and consolidated by our Community Activities Office (CAO).

This is a lot to keep track of manage and we continue to look at ways to improve how we communicate this information to families in a timely manner (as in the earlier the better!). To help with this now, here is a summary what you need to know now to help make choices with your child about what in which to get involved.

ISB Panthers MS Sports – Practices typically two times a week

Coordinator: Mr. Kerry Dyke

  • Current Season 1
    • U15: Basketball, Cross Country, Boys Rugby, Girls Touch Rugby
    • U13: Basketball, Cross Country, Tennis
    • U11: Cross Country, Basketball

Middle School Clubs and Activities – Typically during lunch or immediately after school, 2:15 to 3:15 pm (unless otherwise noted)

Below we have listed the clubs that meet after school. Times and days displayed are likely, but still tentative and subject to change. Clubs that meet during lunch are not listed below, but will be share with students in the coming weeks.

Coordinator: Mr. Moe Baron-Toaldo

  • Arts, Culture, or Technology
    • MS Theatre Sports – Mon, Weds, Thurs. (auditions held week of Aug. 31st)
    • MS Honor Choir – 3:15-4:30, Mon, Weds, Thurs.
    • MS Dance Troupe – Tues, Weds.
    • Robotics Club – Mondays
    • MS Drama Production – Semester 2
    • Minecraft Club – Semester 2
  • Community Service
    • Habitat for Humanity – Select Saturdays for school organized builds. Open to G7 students with a parent and G8 students.
    • Breaking Boundaries (supports children of prisoners at Khlong Prem Prison) – Thursdays
    • Y-Kids (hosts 15 kids from the Pakkret YWCA Day Care) – Wednesdays
    • Helping Paws (works with Pet Animal Welfare Society) – starts in October
  • Academic and Other
    • Chess Club – Thursdays
    • EAP Center – Mon, Tues, Weds, Thurs.
    • MUN Pages – 3:15 – 4:30, Thursdays (September to November)
    • Tournament of Minds – Starts after October break, day to be determined
  • Sports and Wellness
    • Biking Adventures – Occasional weekend trips organized
    • Run for Fun – Mon, Weds (in conjunction with Cross Country)
    • Friday Flag Football – Fridays, starting September 18th
    • Diving Panthers SCUBA Club – Weekends and possible weekday afternoons once lessons have been determined
    • Sailing Adventure – Weekend day trips planned

Community Activities for Middle School Students

Coordinator: Mr. Bob Connor

Hopefully, this list of sports, activities, and clubs will help in planning your child’s involvement.

 

First MS PTA meeting of the year

Attention Middle School Parents!

Please join us for our first MS PTA meeting of the year, on Wednesday, September 9 in MPB1, beginning with coffee at 9:30am.

From 9:30-10 please come to meet other MS parents and enjoy some coffee and refreshments.

The meeting will begin at 10am, when we will meet our new MS Principal, Dennis Harter, and the entire MS team. The MS Administration has set aside this time to meet with you and answer questions you may have. They will discuss the vision they have for learning this year, as well as topics such as clubs and activities, technology, etc.

It will be an hour well spent! We hope to see you there,

Rosalina Hernandez and Nisha Westerman
MS PTA Coordinators

Buses on Tuesday, September 1, 2015 – Early Dismissal

All ISB students will be dismissed at 1:00 pm on Tuesday, September 1, 2015. On Early Dismissal Days (1:00 p.m.), school buses will leave at 1:15 p.m. A bus will operate for students who participate in After School activities, leaving at 2:30 pm.and 5:00 pm.

Suthida Jiravichai
Transportation Supervisor

Parent Technology Sessions

Dear Parents,

We will be offering two MS Parent Technology training session on the following dates and times below. The training will focus on learning how to access PowerSchool, Haiku, student laptop admin account, Parent Controls, Family Tech Agreements, and other tips.

The first session:

When: Sep 3, 2015, MS Open House Day
Time: 4:30 – 6:00 pm
Where: MPB-2&3

The second session:

When: Sep 7, 2015
Time: 6:00 – 7:30 pm
Where: MPB-1

Please let us know when you will be attending by filling out this short but important survey – https://goo.gl/BeWMs8. If you are a parent of a Grade 6 student, we need to collect the student laptop from the homeroom class and bring it to you for the session. If you are a parent of a Grade 7 or 8 student, make sure that you come with your child’s laptop.

Thanks for your support and see you soon.

Mr. Zambrano
miguelz@isb.ac.th
Technology Learning Coordinator – MS

School Resources Information for MS Parents

ISB uses different technological tools for various purposes. Here is a helpful summary and explanation of the various resources accessible by parents.

We need more boys for Rugby!

Rugby is a fun and fast game that many of us don’t know much about. We have 2 coaches eager to show our middle school boys just how great a sport it is. Prior experience is not needed. Right now we have about 10 players and we want about 20. Please come on Monday to C field (baseball field) to give it a try. Email the coach, Chris Clover chrisc@isb.ac.th, if you have questions.

eNewsletter Guidelines

by Tony Arnold
anthonya@isb.ac.th

ISB eNewsletters provide a valuable avenue for communication within the ISB parent community. Please see our eNewsletter guidelines below.

Submitting an announcement for publication
ISB accepts announcements from ISB families and ISB staff 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
• An image or photo (optional)

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.
dennish@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.

 

 

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