Celebrating Involvement
by Dennis Harter, MS Principal
dennish@isb.ac.th
This week Middle School hosted our Open House evening. Thank you to all parents who came out to hear about our school, meet teachers, and learn about our curriculum. We hope that parents came away understanding that their children are cared for and that we are all working together for students’ present and future success.
In addition to the family-school partnership, “involvement” is a strong contributor to student’s academic and social emotional success. In the coming week, students will learn more about the clubs and service opportunities offered in the middle school. Auditions for performing arts, try-outs for sports, and community activities and athletics are all kicking off. Encourage your child to look for and seize the opportunities that help them foster an existing interest or develop a new one.
Involvement doesn’t stop with your child … our community is made of parents as well and we encourage you to get involved with school life and making ISB a wonderful place for learners. Contact your MS PTA (mscoord@isb.ac.th) for more information on ways you can get involved with our ISB community.
We are very proud of who we are as a school – as much for what we do for learners as for how we always try to get better. We are excited about the year ahead with this wonderful community.
Home Learning in the Middle School
by Dennis Harter, MS Principal
dennish@isb.ac.th
Each year at Open House, we remind parents about our Middle School Home Learning Policy. In place for many years now, our MS Home Learning Policy reflects research on the effectiveness of homework in improving academic performance. To capture a Duke University Study headline that sums up much of this research, “homework helps students succeed in school, as long as there isn’t too much.”
A key part of our policy is sharing student and parent responsibilities as well as the purpose of homework. For your reference, here are the Parent Responsibilities:
- Take an active interest in my child’s home learning, understanding that home learning time is a guideline for each grade level, and that on occasion, my child may not have any home learning assigned. If, on a regular basis, my child is taking a longer time to complete work at home than the grade level time guideline offers, I will contact the teacher(s) to provide them with that feedback.
- Encourage healthy habits for my child, and establish routines that promote a balance between home learning, free time, and sleep.
In keeping with our Mission point to ensure students lead healthy, active, balanced lives, the amount of time students should spend on homework in limited. Please let teachers know if you feel that your child is spending more time on homework than we’d expect. Your help in monitoring this will ensure that we partner to your child being both academically successful, as well as balanced, rested, and active.
MAP testing dates – Session 1, 2018-19
by Cindy Plantecoste, MS Dean of Academics
Between August 29 and September 19, MS students will take the NWEA Measurement of Academic Progress (MAP) test in Math and Reading, during their regularly scheduled Math and English classes.
The MAP test is a computer-based test in either Reading or Math, that assesses students on each question, adjusting subsequent questions to determine appropriate challenge and provide a snapshot of what the student can do at a specific point of time of the year. This information is useful to our teachers as they decide how to differentiate the learning experience for their students.
Students will be given a full class period to complete each MAP test. For students who aren’t able to finish their test in the allocated time, we will host after-school sessions for students to complete their test(s).
While the test is not timed, the NWEA shared that 60 minutes should be enough time for most students. Between a full 80-minute block and the afterschool extended time, a student would have 110 minutes to complete each the test, if needed. Results from past testing sessions show that there has not been an impact on student performance due to the time allocated for testing.
Parent Partnership – How do I know what my child is working on?
During our MS Open House this week, teachers shared with parents how they communicate assignments and upcoming assessments with students. PowerSchool Learning (formerly known as “Haiku”) is the online learning management system we use to share resources, post assignments, and organize learning units with students.
Teachers are in the process now of setting up their online class environments and creating the structures for communication and resource sharing in PowerSchool Learning.
When it is up and running, we encourage you to sit with your child and have them show you their PowerSchool Learning classes. They can show you how they know what assignments are due or what was worked on that day in class. This can be helpful when students are absent and need to know what they’ve missed.
While we recommend logging into PowerSchool Learning with your child, there are some cases in which you may wish to view this information yourselves with your own login. If we create this separate parental access, the parent receives emails from PowerSchool Learning as posted by the teacher. We understand that not all parents want additional emails from ISB, so we ask that parents sign-up if they want this additional, separate parent access to PowerSchool Learning, rather than just logging in with their child.
(Note: PowerSchool Learning is NOT PowerSchool. PowerSchool is the student information site & parent portal. Parents automatically have this account. “PowerSchool Learning” is the online classroom that aligns with classes your child is enrolled in.)
This weekend you will receive an email from ISB asking you to register for PowerSchool Learning access, if you would like it. You only need to follow the link and enter the code, if you want that parental access to PowerSchool Learning, the online classroom.
Clarification of Bus drop-offs
Now that after-school activities have started for middle school students, it is important to clarify the bus departure times and drop-offs. While nothing has changed from last year’s times, there was some miscommunication to new families in the middle school about drop off locations for the later buses (Middle School Orientation Information document).
Please note that for MS students, only the 2:35 pm bus drops students off door to door. All later buses drop MS students off at the “Top of Soi” (top of the street). For specifics on which drop off is closest to your home, please contact the Montri bus service.
Here are the accurate afternoon bus departure times for MS students, from ISB:
We apologize for any confusion caused by previously providing inaccurate information.
EdTech Update – School Laptops
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.
Sign your child up for the first Leadership Seminar of 2018-2019!
Our goal for our first seminar of the 2018-2019 school year is to examine student leadership and look at effective strategies for student leaders. As part of this seminar, we will review the roles we play in groups and we will focus on identifying important behaviors in effective team members. Students will practice trying out these roles and behaviors in fun, interactive activities. In addition, students will participate in a high school student-led workshop entitled Lead, Manage and Change: How to Take Action.
This seminar will take place on Saturday, September 1 from 9:00 AM-11:00 AM and you can sign your student up here. Please encourage your student to come join the fun- there will be lots of new, hands-on activities and it’s a great opportunity to make new connections. Your child will receive a certificate for participating in this activity.
School Photos Taken Sept. 3-5
On September 3-5, middle school students will have their Yearbook photos taken on campus by KidsFotos. Students will be taken to photo studio during the school day.
In addition to the standard Yearbook photo, KidsFotos will take photos of a variety of poses. The proofs will be made available to you in 2-3 weeks, if you would like to order a school photo of your child for 2018-19.
For the photo, students must wear their ISB Green polo shirt uniform. There will be extra shirts in the room, for those that forget, along with mirrors for last minute primping and adjustments. We recommend that your child bring their own hair brush, if they want to use one, so that students are not sharing combs or brushes.
Repeat Annoucement: Home Laptop Agreements
By Tico Oms, Dean of Students
ISB has a 1:1 laptop program to support student learning. To support home laptop usage we ask that parents have conversations with students on boundaries and expectations around computer usage at home.
It is important for parents to set guidelines and expectations for computer use in the home and to continue to revisit those guidelines as their child matures and as technology changes. We remind you that you still maintain parental authority over how, when, and where your child uses technology in your home. Your support and guidance is critical as students learn to navigate their digital lives.
Repeat Announcement: Would you like to receive the Good Morning MS Student Announcements via email each day?
If you would like to begin receiving the MS student announcements each day via email, please complete and submit the enclosed subscription form.
If you were on the list and receiving the announcements each day last year and would like to continue receiving them this year, you will need to resubscribe using the above link as we build the parent database from scratch start of each school.
Repeat Annoucement: Massed Band Festival
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. Erik Engebretson. Erik is the director of bands at Malta High School in Malta, Mt. and brings years of experience and knowledge as a festival adjudicator, conductor of honor bands and All-Northwest bands. He is a wonderful music educator 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. Don’t miss the Gala Concert when the Massed Band will be performing the best of band music at 2 pm in the Chevron Theatre on Saturday, the 8th of September. Admission is free and all are invited!