ES e-News for August 2, 2019

Welcome to a New School Year!
Greetings, and welcome to our 2019-20 school year!  During the past weeks we have been busy preparing for our first day of school which will be on Tuesday, August 13 (grades 2-5).

The start of a school year is a new start for everyone:  a new grade level, new teachers, new friends, and for many, a new school and a new country.  We are sensitive to the many challenges involved in adjusting to these changes and will work with you to help make this transition a smooth and successful one.  Together, we will work to ensure that the Elementary School is a place where your child feels safe, and experiences the joy of learning and growing.   

ISB Elementary School has a caring, committed, and skilled staff dedicated to providing a challenging, supportive, and child-centered learning environment for each child.  Central to this process is our partnership with parents. We encourage you to be involved in your child’s education by staying well informed, attending school events, and when able, assisting with school activities.  We know that you will also be an effective partner in your child’s education by establishing and maintaining open communication with your child’s teachers. Please do not hesitate to contact a teacher or one of us should you have any questions or concerns. 

As a school, we will strive to keep you informed on a regular basis through our weekly eNews and the Parent Portal. Please ensure that you also review the ES Parent/Student Information Handbook before the start of school.  It contains important information on learning, school activities, programs, and school policies. We strongly encourage you to take the time to read through it and ensure that both you and your child understand the information. 

On behalf of all of the ISB Elementary School staff, we welcome you and look forward to a wonderful school year together. 

Sincerely, 

Kelly Armitage                                                          Sarah Fleming and Jeff Scott
Elementary School Principal                              Elementary School Vice-Principals

Student Class Placement and Grades 2-5 “Meet Your Teacher”
Class Placement for the 2019-2020 school year will be sent via e-news and posted in grade level quads at 2pm on Friday, Aug. 9th. Students may visit their new classrooms and homeroom teacher for “meet the teacher” from 2:00-3:00 on the 9th. This time will be a chance to say a quick hello and find the location of your child’s homeroom classroom (not specialists). The purpose of this time is to see a face and a place to start school, not to conference with the teacher or to receive information.  You will receive information about the school year later in the week and at our Elementary Open House on Aug 29.  Also, please realize that teachers continue to work on setting up the classrooms throughout this afternoon and we’ve encouraged them to end promptly at 3:00pm. 

Please note:  PreK, KG, and Grade 1 students will be meeting teachers during appointments on August 13, 14, and 16. You will receive an email with your appointment time next week.

Important Dates for the new School Year: 

 School Supplies
ISB will provide all essential school supplies with the exception of earphones and flash drives.  

Uniform Embroidery 
ISB offers parents a uniform embroidery service to have either the ISB uniform shirt or PE uniform shirt embroidered with your child’s first name and last name initial.  This helps with student identification and we encourage parents to have this done.  Khun Zom is the contact person for this service. She is currently located in the ES Gym, where uniform sales are taking place.  Orders can be placed up until Friday, Aug. 9, at 2:00 pm.

Essential Paperwork
Some important paperwork will be coming home the first day of school, such as departure/arrival form, “Safe Haven” form, etc.  Please make sure you look for them, and return to your child’s homeroom teacher as soon as possible. 

Upcoming Events

• Welcome Coffee

On the first day of school all parents are invited to an informal Pre K-12 PTA Welcome Coffee in MPB 1 at 7:20am to meet other parents and enjoy some refreshments.  If you plan to be at school on the morning of August 13th, please make your way to the MPB 1 once your children have gone to their classrooms. We look forward to greeting our new and returning families at this time.

• New Parent Orientation

There will be an Orientation Meeting for New Elementary Parents on Thursday, August 15 th at 8:15am (please note the new start time) in the Multi-Purpose Building (MPB) 1.   Please join us to learn more about the school and meet other parents.

After School Thai Class 2019-2020
Thai Nationals enrolled in our “pull-out” English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and “pull-out” Learning Support (LS) programs are required to learn Thai during after school sessions.  These lessons are scheduled every Monday and Thursday afternoon. The first class starts on Monday, August 19 at 2:30 – 3:15 pm in Thai classroom numbers 111 and 113. Our Thai teachers, K. Ying and K. Charuwan will teach these classes.

eNews 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.
naiyanar@isb.ac.th is for Elementary School (ES) announcements of interest to ES families.
phremjiz@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 Director of Marketing and Communications 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.

Calendar of Events
August  2019