Have a Wonderful Break!
by Dennis Harter, MS Principal
dennish@isb.ac.th
On behalf of our Middle School Faculty and Staff, I pass along our best wishes to our entire community. Thank you for your continued support of our teachers and your children. Our partnership to the students (your children) in the best possible position and mindset to learn. It has been a terrific semester – we have enjoyed every minute of it.
We offer everyone our sincerest wishes for a relaxing holiday filled with family, friends, rest, peace, and joy. We encourage your children to read as much as they can over the break (for recommendations, see separate post in this eNews). Reading helps keep the brain active and fosters vocabulary growth and language sophistication development.
Have a wonderful break! See you in 2019!
Ensuring Care for Students – Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire
Dear Parent/Guardian,
At ISB we care deeply about the well-being of our students. To help us meet our mission to support them in leading healthy, active and balanced lives, we will pilot the administration of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire to all Middle and High School students in January.
Why is the questionnaire being administered?
The purpose of this questionnaire is to:
- Identify students who require immediate support
- Identify students who are struggling with social/emotional/behavioral issues in order to provide appropriate early intervention/prevention support
- Obtain an overview of the social/emotional/behavioral needs at our school to ensure that we are providing optimal support for our students
How and when will the questionnaire be administered?
The survey will be administered on Monday, January 28 to Middle School students. The online questionnaire will be administered during an Advisory class period and will take approximately 10 minutes to complete. Your child’s participation is voluntary. The survey items are available for you to review here.
How will the results be used?
- The data collected will be managed, analyzed, and reported by a team including the school counselors, school psychologists and the Director of Student Services in accordance with the ISB Confidentiality Policy.
- Individual student responses to the questionnaire are confidential. Any concerns raised through the survey administration process will be shared only with school personnel involved in supporting that student.
- The questionnaire administration process has been designed to identify specific students who need additional support. The survey will be conducted electronically and students’ names will be captured along with their responses. ISB counselors will meet with any student whose responses indicate a need for follow up and parents will be notified.
- School counselors, school psychologists and administrators will analyze overall trends to help improve student support at ISB.
- In completing this questionnaire your child will have an opportunity to privately reflect on his/her current social emotional health and wellness. Some parents may choose to use the questionnaire as an opportunity to create dialogue related to social emotional wellbeing topics with their child following completion of the survey.
- Key findings will be shared with teachers and parents.
Does my child have to complete the questionnaire?
No. As a parent or guardian, you can opt out of having your child complete this questionnaire. Students will be informed that they may choose to skip any questions that they do not feel comfortable answering.
Parents/Guardians who do not want their child to take the survey should let their child’s school counselor know by phone or in writing no later than January 14. ISB will assume parent/guardian consent to their child participating unless the school counselor has been notified. Parents do not have to do anything unless they do not want their child to participate.
Thank you so much for your support with this important project.
The ISB Counseling Team
Middle School Counselors:
Karen Kinsella (karenk@isb.ac.th)
Colleen Coady (colleenc@isb.ac.th)
High School Counselors:
Jackie Valenzuela (jackiev@isb.ac.th)
Kevin Callahan (kevinc@isb.ac.th)
Kevin Davy (kevind@isb.ac.th)
MS and HS School Psychologist:
Ryan Ruhl (ryanr@isb.ac.th)
Director of Student Services:
Cindy Warner-Dobrowski (cindyw@isb.ac.th)
What books to read
This holiday, we hope that you and your child have lots of opportunity to settle in for a good book. Whether on the plane, or snuggled up on the couch; whether on a device, or with the paper in your fingers, reading is one of the great pleasures of the holiday period. We also know how helpful it is for young people in their brain development.
Please encourage your children to read – whether that’s in English or another Native Language – and model that yourselves. To help with this, Melinda Kehe (MS) and Mike Rutherford (HS) our Main Librarians have put together books lists and award winners.
Here are some of the most popular authors for Young Adult Fiction, as well.
Here’s a list of the Bangkok Book Awards titles.
They’ve also shared the New York Times most Notable books of 2018 list.
Whether for a gift or for yourself, we hope these lists get us all reading this break!
If you are around, please note that the ISB Main Library will be open on the following days:
The library will be open during the following days over the vacation:
- Monday – Friday: Dec 17th to 21st, 2018
- Tuesday – Friday: Jan 2nd to 4th, 2019
MS Semester 1 Report Cards
You will be able to access and download semester one report cards on PowerSchool starting on Monday, December 17th.
INSURANCE FOR NEW LAPTOPS
With the long awaited release of Apple’s updated MacBook Air, students in grades 6-12 will be excited to hear they’ll be receiving a new laptop early in Semester 2. Compared to the current ‘bulky’ machines, this newly released laptop provides a streamlined and powerful learning tool.
This cutting edge technology does come with some drawbacks, specifically it is ‘less repairable’. The modular design of the 2018 MacBook Air means parts need to be replaced rather than repaired. Where before we were able to repair in-house for a modest cost, this is no longer an option. The typical issues we see from the students, cracked screens and liquid damage, both would require comparatively larger costs.
As a consequence ISB is offering an optional (but recommended) insurance for the laptops provided to the students.
ISB offers families the possibility of purchasing optional insurance for laptops provided to students. Insurance is valid throughout the second semester until June 30, 2019. The insurance coverage lowers your cost of repairs and is based on the number of incidents per year as laid-out in the schedule below. The cost is THB 1000 per laptop payable online through Powerschool within the first two weeks of the second semester.
If payment is not received by January 18, 2019 then you will not have any insurance and agree to be liable for the full cost of repairs and loss as laid-out in the schedule below.
Snow Ball Thank You
Repeat Announcement: GYMNASTICS REGISTRATION FOR SEMESTER 2 2018-2019 – OPENING
The ISB Panther Gymnastics is now accepting registrations for all MS boys and girls for semester 2 2018-2019. Any ISB MS student interested in learning gymnastics skills for fitness, recreational or competition reasons are welcome to join as of January 7th. It is never too late to start gymnastics. It is a great foundation for all sports, develop strength, flexibility, agility and coordination. It is a year round sport at ISB and offer a great combination with other sport and activities. Two programmes for our MS Students; Tumbling Classes and Artistics Gymnastics.
Artistics Gymnastics for MS students all level:
Tuesday & Thursday: 16h40-18h40
Wednesday: 15h40-17h40 or 17h40-19h40
Friday: 16h40-18h40
Saturday: 09h00-11h00
Tumbling gymnastics: Learn to fall learn to fly:
We still offer special training for students that love parkour, jumping everywhere, enjoy dance street or dream to be in a circus, etc… Every MS student can learn to fall…and fly in a secure environment. Limited space available:
Wednesday: 15h40-17h40
Friday: 16h40-17h40
Please consult the schedule per age and level and the fees here. You can register as of December 11th by following the link HERE.
If you have any questions, you can email to isbgym@gmail.com
Repeat Announcement: IF
– If you can find what makes you happy…
– If money was shared equally…
– If humans had gills…
– If the world was peaceful…
These are just a few of the dozens of “If’s” that artists in 2-D art explored this semester. Some artists worked in watercolor while others spent time with visiting artist, Jeff Ross, learning how to screen print.
Stop by the Main Library or Adminstration office to see this student created and curated display. IF is on exhibit from 6 December – 1 February.
Thank you to Phatsakorn (Ang) Buraphaphong (grade 7) for the poster image!
Repeat Announcement: PTA – Welcome Back Coffee: January 7th
The PTA cordially invites everyone to our January Welcome Wai event .
Please visit our next Welcome Back Coffee right after the Christmas break. It’s a great opportunity to meet the new families who arrived over the break and to say hello to old friend on the first day of school in 2019!
Date Monday 7th January 2019
Time 7.15- 9.00
Location – ISB, MPB 1
Repeat Announcement: Leaving ISB?
If it is possible that you are leaving ISB after the first semester, please inform the counseling office as soon as possible. This allows us to process the proper paperwork for your child’s next school in a timely manner, ahead of the vacation. It is very difficult to get documents together once the vacation has started.