Jennifer Melton
jenniferm@isb.ac.th
For all HS Parents – Two new books have been added to the ISB HS Counseling Library: Teach Your Children Well by Madeline Levine and The Complete Guide to the Gap Year by Kristin White. Stop by the counseling office to check these out and others.
Grade 12 – Seniors met with their counselor on Monday for their second Senior Seminar. We talked about the value of asking for help and reminded them of upcoming important dates and deadlines. In addition, students took time to self-assess where they are in their classes and self-predict their IB grades. Teachers will make IB predictions by mid-October.
Students with application deadlines later in the school year (Japan, Korea, Australia), were encouraged to continue focusing on doing their best academically. While students with university deadlines in the next few months were reminded of the following:
- Teacher Recommendations– Students should have already completed these pink forms, returned them to their counselor for approval and then given them to their teachers.
- Early Applications– Transcript request forms for universities with deadlines in November are due by October 7. Turning them in earlier is always helpful!
- Transcript Requests– Requests for application documents (i.e. transcripts and letters of recommendation) from ISB for university deadlines between December and January are due by November 21.
On Tuesday, several students attended the UK Personal Statement Workshop. They were given helpful tips for writing their Personal Statement.
It continues to be a busy time for seniors! As always, thank you for your support.
Grade 11 – 11th graders completed the pre-registration this past week for the PSAT. The test will take place during the morning on Wednesday, October 19. Any student not needing an ACT or SAT, should have already seen their counselor this week to complete an Opt Out form.
As we get further into the school year, students are faced with mounting workloads and assessments. As parents, you can help students to manage this and encourage them to find time for balance, and get a full night’s rest.
We look forward to seeing you on October 7 at conferences. Please remember to bring your student to conferences as it’s beneficial for the parent, student, and teacher to work together, especially as students are working toward independence and autonomy at university.
Grade 10 – We encourage parents to keep track of the progress of their sons and daughters. Looking on Powerschool once a week or so will help you to keep up to date on their performance and attitudes to learning. (No need to look every day and add to the stress of your son or daughter.) Seeing their progress in PowerSchool will help you in having conversations with their teachers in the upcoming Parent-Teacher Conferences next Friday, October 2nd. The best starting point is the HAL (habits and attitudes to learning) mark for your son or daughter. Ask the teacher to comment on that mark; it will be a good conversation starter. Stop by and see your son or daughter’s counselor as well. See you next Friday!
Grade 9 – Students received a presentation from Mr. Vaughan (Dean of Students) on the process on signing up for Global Citizenship Week; many students had good questions for him. GCW sign ups were opened up to 9th Graders on Wednesday Evening.
There will be no Freshman Seminar now through October break. Until then Mr. Davy will using this time to try and meet with all 9th graders individually. The goal of this meeting is to check in to see how high school life has been up to this point in the year.
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):
International University Fair
Shangri-la Hotel
Saturday, October 1
3:45 to 5:45