High School Upcoming events (Please click):
Open for learning
Justin Alexander
justina@isb.ac.th
Dear Parents,
Thank you to our teachers and students who have made the commitment to organise and lead one of the more than 60 Clubs that take place in the High School. All HS students attended the Club fairs this past Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to learn about the interesting, fun and meaningful clubs and activities that take place at ISB. The rich service and interest focused clubs provide many different opportunities for our students and I encourage you to chat with your children to see what they signed up for. Ms. Hansberry and her team have worked tirelessly to organise the club fairs and to support the student leaders as they get their clubs underway this year. Go Panthers!
I look forward to seeing you at the annual HS Open house on Thursday 6th September. Parents will have the opportunity to learn more about the courses that their son/s and/or daughter/s are taking this year and to meet the teachers that make the learning happen! Learning at ISB is a partnership with all concerned – students, parents and teachers and as such we want to invite you into school to see how the learning will take place.
Please arrive prior to 6.00pm and make your way to the front of the Chevron Theater where you will be able to collect an individualized schedule for each of your children. This schedule will guide you through the evening with details on class periods, teachers and locations. We will then commence our evening at 6:00 pm with introductions and some helpful information for parents in the Chevron Theater. From 6.20pm – 8.10pm parents will then follow the eight-period HS schedule to meet their teachers and to learn about the exciting courses on offer. Please be reminded that the Open House is not a parent-teacher conference, so if you have specific questions about your child’s progress etc, please contact the teacher to make arrangements to meet/talk at another time.
Please mark your calendar for the first HS PTA meeting of the year on Wednesday, September 5th at 9.30am in the morning. The agenda and further information will be shared next week, but do be sure to add this event to your calendar.
See you at the Panther run on Saturday morning at ISB.
Justin Alexander
High School Principal
Schedule Changes
Susan Canobie
susanca@isb.ac.th
Thank you for your patience and flexibility during the first 8 days of school as we have worked to balance schedules through providing students with their choices and keeping class sizes at the best level for learning.
Today, Friday Aug. 24 was the last day for student requested schedule changes. Please note, schedule changes may still occur up to week 5 of the Semester (Sep. 14th) if recommended by the Student Support Team or the Classroom teacher believes the student is in the wrong level (eg. HL to SL, Spanish III to Spanish II). This change does not appear on the student transcript. Upt to the 10th week (Oct. 19), if there is a schedule change due to the above situations, the change can occur, but the original course will be placed on the student transcript with a Withdraw Pass (WP) or Withdraw Fail (WF) dependent on the student grade at that point. Beyond this period there can be no schedule changes.
This is all clearly explained in the Student Handbook on page 54.
College Counselors
Stephen Golas
stepheng@isb.ac.th
Seniors: Please remember that if you are applying to the UK for university, the UCAS Application Workshop is on Monday! We are also hosting on Senior College Night – for all seniors and their parents – next Wednesday, starting at 6:30pm in the CCT. All seniors are expected to attend!
For Parents: We are hosting our first of 8 College Counseling Coffees – short presentations on different college- and university-related topics – on Wednesday morning at 8:00am, just ahead of the PTA Meeting. This first coffee will be an introduction to the College Counselors, a bit about how the process is structured over the high school years, and information about the many new programs and workshops we are unveiling this year.
For Juniors, Seniors, and their Parents: Many colleges and universities have begun scheduling their visits to ISB and the Bangkok Area; you can find and subscribe to the College Visits Google Calendar here: https://sites.google.com/a/isb.ac.th/isb-hs-university-advising/university-visit-calendar
And, finally, for ALL high school families: Please be on the lookout for an important calendar of College Counseling events in your inbox soon. We have put together and are hosting several new programs to address many of the questions, concerns, and curiosities you have about the university search and admissions process, which we hope you will find useful. Many of the new events are open to students and parents of students in all high school grade levels, and we hope to see and meet as many of you as possible in the coming months!
High School Counseling News
Jackie Valenzuela
jackiev@isb.ac.th
We hope your family’s transition back to school is going well and that as the year progresses and your student/s begin to juggle school and activities, they can find balance between both.
Please have a conversation with your child and make sure:
- a) they have a good idea of their teachers’ expectations.
b) they have a plan to be organized in managing their time and assignments.
c) they know how to relax after a long school day/week.
Over the course of this semester, we will meet with your student individually to check in and continue to get to know them better.
We hope Grade 9 students are finding the transition to high school a positive one. They are always welcome to stop by our office with anything from academic to personal concerns.
Last week, Mrs. Hansberry visited Freshman Seminar to explain the different types of service opportunities and service hour requirements for graduation. This week and next, students are watching “Screenagers,” a great documentary about the challenges of balancing social media, video games and academics.
Jackie Valenzuela
High School Counselor
Click here to schedule an appointment
School Laptops
Chad Bates
chadb@isb.ac.th
To start this school year we have issued MS and HS students with the existing MacBook Pro’s that we have been using for the past several years. While the processor is still okay and they have been upgraded with solid state drives, these machines are definitely starting to show their age, particularly in terms of size and weight. We considered upgrade options over the summer, specifically the slimline MacBook Air, and while it is a sleeker looking machine, the technology behind these laptops is also in need of a refresh. Therefore, rather than buy what we consider outdated technology, we are waiting for Apple’s typical Fall announcement for Laptop upgrades. Once we know the model, we will announce a laptop replacement schedule, likely over the next year.
Chad BATES
Technology Director
+66 81 809 1969
ISB Hosts the Annual Massed Band Festival
Anthony Giles
anthonyg@isb.ac.th
This year ISB hosts the annual Massed Band Festival event that will take place on the ISB campus on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 7th and 8th. Up to 200 students from 10 schools will gather in the Chevron Theatre to rehearse with our guest conductor for this year’s event, Mr. Gary Gillett. Gary is the retired director of bands from Missoula Sentinel High School in Missoula, Mt. USA and brings over 40 years of experience and knowledge as a festival adjudicator, conductor of honor bands and city municipal bands. He is a wonderful music educator/author that will work very well with our students to provide a positive musical environment. Schools from Northern and Southern Thailand as well as Malaysia will be joining us for this year’s festival to create a truly international event. Don’t miss the Gala Concert when the Massed Band will be performing the best of wind band music at 2 pm in the Chevron Theatre on Saturday, the 8th of September. Admission is free and all are invited!
Regards,
Anthony Giles
PK-12 Arts & Activities Director
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.