High School Upcoming events (Please click):
‘Welcome back’
Justin Alexander
justina@isb.ac.th
I trust that you are enjoying the last few days of your winter break (or summer break for our Southern Hemisphere friends) and are ready for school to start again on Monday morning. A reminder for our students that Monday, January 7th will be a Day 1 and that students will be able to access their schedules later this afternoon through PowerSchool.
Safe travels for those that are making their way back to Bangkok and a warm welcome to our new parents and students that are joining ISB in January.
Regards
Justin Alexander
Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire
Cindy Warner-Dobrowski, Director of Student Services:
cindyw@isb.ac.th
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 Thursday, January 17 to High School students and 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)
High School Principal
Justin Alexander
College Counseling
Stephan Golas
stephang@isb.ac.th
For G11 Students and Parents: Our second G11 College Night will be on Wednesday, January 16th at 6:30pm in the Theater. We expect to see all students and parents that evening as we discuss moving the university search process forward!
For G12 students and ALL high school parents: the College Counseling Office will be hosting an Alumni Panel on Monday, January 7th (our first day back from the holiday break). G12 students will attend the panel during their Advisory period; all high school parents are then welcome to attend starting at 11:00am. The panel is your opportunity to ask questions about university life and transitions from high school to university. The panel is made up of ISB Alumni who are currently attending university all over the world – the majority are ISB graduates from 2017 and 2018.
For G10 Students and Parents: ISB will over G10 students, free of charge, the opportunity to take the PSAT10 on April 23rd. The PSAT is an excellent practice tool for students preparing to take the SAT in Grade 11. Although the PSAT is great practice for the SAT, we understand that not all students need to take the SAT for university entrance. Therefore, the PSAT will be optional and G10 students will need to OPT IN to take it. The opt in form will be available from the College Counseling Office starting on Wednesday, January 9th, and will be due back to Mr. Weiser NO LATER THAN FEBRUARY 1st. This is a firm deadline because we need to order the correct number of tests for student who opt in. Please note: ISB suggests that G11 students take the SAT for the first time NO EARLIER than December. For more information about the SAT and standardized test planning, please see your college counselor or go to the College Board website at https://www.collegeboard.org.
Announcing ISB Arts Council’s 1st Ever First Friday Event HS Lunch January 11
Anthony Giles
anthonyg@isb.ac.th
Calling all open mic enthusiasts for the ISB Arts Council’s 1st ever First Friday event in the Cafeteria Pit during HS Lunch. Share a bit of your TEDX speech before the big event, wow us with an excerpt from your Forensics and Debate presentation, read poetry, or sing a song. All are welcome but space is limited so sign up HERE.
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.