Message for all Montri Bus Riders
Please be informed that from Monday, February 8th to Friday the 12th, we will not have the 5:00pm and 4:30pm late buses as HS is on their Global Citizen Week. We will have the regular 2:15pm and 3:30pm buses. We will provide one van from ISB to Sanam Pao at 5:00pm on February 8 to 11th and 4:30pm on February 12th.
Best Regards,
Suthida Jiravichai
Transportation Supervisor
No Substitute for Experience!
by Dennis Harter
It must have been a quiet few days or week for you with your middle school children away on their class trips. As they will tell you this weekend, they were out this week engaging in cultural, natural, and bonding experiences. They learned more about Thailand, appreciated nature and a different pace of life, and engaged in challenging activities individually and as a team. In short, these trips have afforded our students experiential learning opportunities.
“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
These trips provided our students new experiences, encouraged them to believe themselves capable to take on newer ones in the future, and ultimately bonded them with each other through shared adventure.
We are excited to provide them with this opportunity and appreciate the continued parental support in “letting go” of them during this time. We appreciate the trust that parents place in us, to ensure their child’s safety away from home. They might come back with some scrapes and bruises, but the more lasting impact happens on the inside, as they develop greater independence, confidence, and resilience in themselves.
Now that all the trips are back, we will collect all of the photos from the trips and share them in our eNews next Friday.
How’s It Going So Far?
by Dennis Harter
Now that we are three weeks into the second semester, teachers have provided updates on how your child is approaching their learning in class. At ISB, we refer to these as Habits and Attitudes for Learning (HAL). At other schools, you may have seen or heard of these as Attitudes To Learning (ATL).
We divide the HAL into three sub-categories of Responsibility, Engagement, and Collaboration and look for how frequently or consistently a student behaves in these areas.
At this time, teachers have been asked to provide all students with a HAL update for this early part of the semester. You can see this HAL reporting in PowerSchool for each of your child’s classes. While parents may not always be able to help with specific content from courses, they can always engage their child in a conversation about work habits and attitudes to be help them be successful.
As we progress into the semester further and have more assignments to report on, we will share with you specific PowerSchool update dates, when you can be assured that work submitted has been assessed and entered onto PowerSchool.
School Photos
Dear Parents,
If your child just had their MS Yearbook photo taken (new students) or re-taken recently, our photographers from Kids Photos Studios will be delivering the photo proofs on Thursday, February 11th, which will be sent home with your child that day with instructions on how to order copies. Orders will be accepted in the MS Office until February 26th and orders will then be delivered to the school on March 29th.
Season 3 tryouts for U13 and U15 Sports
Dear MS Parents,
Season 3 tryouts will begin soon. Students will have the opportunity to play tennis, water polo, volleyball or softball. As well, Track and field will continue until March 5 and they are looking for more athletes as well.
Note:
- There have been some changes to Season 3 sports. Please follow this most up to date schedule. Here is the link to the website as well.
- U13 softball is no longer an official BISAC sport however, students can still tryout for U15 and there may be an intramural softball option.
- These sports overlap with Track & Field, therefore if students wish to do both they will be expected to attend track and field 1 time per week until the track met on March 5.
(Repeat Announcement) MS COUNSELOR CORNER
In the news this week:
- Mark your Calendar for a Parent Education session on ‘Keeping Your Children Safe in Bangkok’ Friday March 4th 7:30 – 8:45am. More information to follow in February.
- Information about upcoming Freedom from Chemical Dependency Visit
MS FCD March 1 – 4th Visit to our MS
Dear MS Parents,
As part of our Wellness Program, a visiting consultant Eduardo Torres from the Freedom from Chemical Dependency (FCD) organization will meet with students in grades 6 – 8 on March 1 – 4th.
- 6th graders will meet for a one-hour session during one of their science classes this week.
- 7th graders will all meet via a 7th grade one-hour assembly and a one-hour session during one of their science classes this week.
- 8th graders will all meet via an 8th grade one-hour assembly and two 55-minute sessions this week, one session during one of their math classes and the other during one of their science classes.
A native Spanish speaker and fluent English speaker, Eduardo Torres joined FCD as a Prevention Specialist in 2012 and currently also holds the position of Regional Officer. He has a BA in Addiction Counseling with an emphasis in Chemical Dependency from Grand Canyon University. He has worked as a mentor and teacher of at-risk teenagers and as an addiction and prevention counselor. Eduardo volunteers for a nonprofit organization which serves people with severe physical and mental impairments and was a Central American champion in Karate.
The sessions will focus on positive discussions on the health risks of alcohol and substance use to the developing teenage brain, possible long term addiction problems tied to early use, social norms and the misconceptions about teenage behavior, and strategies for maintaining healthy choices.
Carmel (Gr 6) carmelk@isb.ac.th
Janel (Gr 7 ) janelw@isb.ac.th
Jackie (Gr 8) jackieg@isb.ac.th
(Repeat Announcement) International Family Fair – MS Photography Competition
Inviting all MS students to take part in this fun photography competition!
THEME: Living in Thailand
DEADLINE: Monday, February 22nd – 8:00am
Click here for more information
(Repeat Announcement) 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.
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.