High School Upcoming events (Please click):
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Four day weekend
Philip Bradley
philipb@isb.ac.th
We would like to wish all our students and families a restful and relaxing long weekend. The pace of life in HS is unrelenting so I know students will enjoy two extra days break. School resumes – Monday Sept 19th.
HS Powerschool
Philip Bradley
philipb@isb.ac.th
Dear Parents
You will be aware that one of the ways we provide feedback to parents on student progress is via Powerschool. Powerschool provides attainment, HAL, attendance and other learning data. If you are used to Powerschool at ISB you might have noticed a few glitches and blank data fields. These issues have arisen as we have migrated data to a new version of Powerschool and certain field settings have affected data in ways we did not expect. All inputted data is secure but the way it has displayed is not what we are used to. You can view the original data for specific subjects by clicking on a grade in quick lookup or the double dash (–) where a grade might normally have been. We apologise for this inconvenience and once again want to stress that no data is lost. The next cycle of grade entries will display normally.
HS PTA
Philip Bradley
philipb@isb.ac.th
Please take note of the change of date for the next HS PTA meeting. It will now take place a week later on Thursday September 29th at 6:30 pm.
Please join us for brief presentations/overviews on the following topics/areas:
- Counselling
- Arts
- Athletics
- Activities
- GCW
Global Citizenship Week (GCW) Registration Begins Next Week!
Andy Vaughan
andyv@isb.ac.th
Registration for the annual Global Citizenship Week courses begins Monday, 21 Sept at 7:00pm for students in Grade 12 and Wednesday 23 Sept at 7:00pm for students in Grade 11.
To find out more about all the courses offered as part of this year’s GCW week, please go to the ISB website at this link: https://www.isb.ac.th/learning-isb/academics/hs/gcw. The 2016-17 GCW Handbook can be found at this link.
We strongly encourage that prior to this date you have conversations with your child about expectations – both cost and experience as there are some essential requirements for students as they register for courses. If students register for courses and change courses at a later date they will be moved to local low cost courses.
Important guidelines:
- Students must register via the online registration site (see below).
- Students are required to complete a Category 1 (in Thailand) course before they graduate (Note: Internships do not count as Category 1)
- Students may only select a Category 3 (outside Asia) course if previously completed Category 1 (in Thailand).
- In order to participate in an out of Asia course (category 3), students must have first participated in a course within Thailand (category 1).
- Students will be asked to register listing courses by preference. If one choice is full, we will try to place each student in the next course in order.
- Students should communicate with parents before registering. Any changes after registration will result in students moving to the end of lists or to low cost local courses.
- Students will receive an email to their school account confirming their registrations, this often goes to their SPAM folder. If your child is panicking because they didn’t receive a confirmation email, please ask them to check their SPAM folder as it should be in their
- Students should register online using their ISB username and password. Students also need to log out of all other Google Accounts before registering.
The registration site can be found here: https://www2.isb.ac.th/gcw (Students should hold ‘command’ down when clicking on the registration link to ensure that they can open this link).
Registration is by grade level prioritised as follows:
First Priority Selection: Grade 12
Monday, September 19, Online registration window opens 7:00 pm.
Tuesday, September 20, Online registration window closes 12:00 pm.
Second Priority Selection: Grade 11
Thursday, September 22, Online registration window opens 7:00 pm.
Friday, September 23, Online registration window closes 12:00 pm.
Third Priority Selection: Grade 10
Monday, September 26, Online registration window opens 7:00 pm.
Tuesday, September 27, Online registration window closes 12:00 pm.
Fourth Priority: Grade 9
Thursday, September 29, Online registration window opens 7:00 pm.
Friday, September 30, Online registration window closes 12:00 pm.
Fifth Priority: Students without registration assigned
October 3-4, any student who has not selected a course will be assigned to available courses.
Counseling News
Ryan Haynes
ryanh@isb.ac.th
Grade 12
Students have been taking advantage of the many university visits to ISB. These will continue (over 80 from the Netherlands, UK, US, Canada) in the next three weeks. Remember parents, you are welcome to attend the visits too.
Students will meet with their counselor for their second Senior Seminar on Monday, September 26 during Panther Block. We will discuss when/how to seek help, preparing for the transition to university, and review some timely reminders in preparation for university applications.
Grade 11
The most important priority for students right now is focusing on doing their best in classes and continuing to pursue their unique areas of interest whether it’s through clubs, activities, sports, or other outside interests. Parents can provide a lot of support to students by:
- Encouraging your Junior to ask questions in class, engage with their teachers and peers, and focus on genuine learning, not grades and GPA.
- Focus on providing positive support to students and having balanced conversations that don’t always revolve around school, grades, college, etc. Students need your wisdom and guidance bringing balance and helping put these things in the bigger picture of life.
- Continue to spend time together as a family whether for meals, or simply just being around and available.
The PSAT will be offered to all 11th grade students on Wednesday, October 19 during the school day. Any student who is confident they will not need the SAT (or ACT), should see their counselor to opt out of this test by October 3. Students received more information about this test on September 7.
Grade 10
Sophomores – Monday, September 12th was our first Sophomore Seminar. This year, the 10th graders are exploring their strengths, assessing what they are good at, and finding out what people who share their strengths and likes do for a living. It’s a good way to think about what a person might want to study in order to pursue a happy, productive career and life! On Monday, we completed (In most cases, we had a few technical difficulties!) the Via Character Strengths Survey to find each student’s top character strengths. You can read more about it (and take the survey yourself if you’d like)
at https://www.viacharacter.org/www/
Be sure to ask your student what their top five character strengths are. Are you surprised?
With school in full swing now, there is a sort of frenetic rhythm that the students adjust to, to a greater or lesser degree. Students (and sometimes their parents) put a lot of stress on themselves. Talk with your son or daughter to make sure that they don’t have too much on their plate. Being stressed and anxious about school indicates that students are overloaded and need to re-think their number of obligations. The counselor is always available to have a quiet chat about this.
Grade 9
This week in Freshman Seminar students had the opportunity to meet with of our new Dean of Academics – Ms. Canobie. She was able to share with the students some information about our academic programing and the importance of having a growth mindset.
Students are reminded if they are in need of extra support with an area of study they are reminded that teachers should be available after school for extra assistance – except most Tuesdays when they have faculty meetings. In addition, we also have our very comfortable learning center space that students can drop into at anytime and get help from our support teachers.
Upcoming University Visits to ISB and greater Bangkok area (please click on link below):
IASAS Soccer Exchange – Sept. 16-17
Derrick Quinet
derrickq@isb.ac.th
ISB will host the IASAS Soccer Exchange North this weekend. (Schedule)
Come out and support our Panthers as they take on TAS, ISM, and NIST/BSS. Don’t miss all the high level action and excitement, this Friday and Saturday at ISB!
The cross country teams travel to Kanchanburi for the first annual Thailand XC Invitational, with 11 other incoming teams. It promises to be a premier event, and highlights will be shared. The varsity volleyball teams travel to Singapore to take on all five IASAS foes. Good luck to all our Panthers!
SPIRIT NIGHT – SEPT. 23! Schedule
Derrick Quinet
derrickq@isb.ac.th
Mark your calendars for Sept. 23, and wear your best Black & Gold! All our high school teams will be in action as ISB hosts the annual volleyball and soccer invitationals. Teams from Chiang Mai to Phuket to Hanoi will be on site for our biggest, most exciting spirit night yet! Join the Booster Club and Varsity Council for all the fun, games, and surprises, this September 23rd at ISB.
Bangkok International String Festival
Anthony Giles
anthonyg@isb.ac.th
ISB is once again hosting the sixth annual Bangkok International Strings Festival this September 23-24! Soon, 75 high school orchestra students from international schools in Bangkok and Phuket will be coming together at ISB for 2 days of excellent music. The students get to work with a very accomplished guest conductor who will be flying to Bangkok from Minnesota, USA for the occasion.
The guest conductor, Mary Sorlie, was awarded the 2011 Minnesota String Orchestra Teachers Association’s Master Teacher Award. Ms. Sorlie is a frequent guest conductor and string clinician in the Midwest and is a member of WolfGang, a sextet which performs music of the 18th century. She resides in St. Paul, Minnesota with her husband Chuck and wonder dog, Lacie.
The festival orchestra will be performing a varied concert program, including works by Percy Fletcher, Antoinin Dvorak, and 20th century composer Norman Dello Joio.
This is going to be a great experience for Bangkok-area high school strings musicians and an excellent performance! Join us for the festival’s final concert at ISB’s Cultural Center Theater at 2:00pm on Saturday, September 24. Hope to see you there.
Todd Weinhold
Director, Panther Orchestras
International School Bangkok
eNewsletter Guidelines
Shelley Bragg
shelleyb@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.