by Dennis Harter, MS Principal
dennish@isb.ac.th
When we select topics for presentation at the MS Principal’s Forum, we prioritize questions that require explanation and discussion. Of course, we receive other questions that can be answered more directly, or they require us to forward them on to other groups within the school.
Below I try to address some of the other questions that came up:
Smoothie Size at the Grind and other Cafeteria concerns
This discussion will be passed along to the Cafeteria staff for consideration.
Thai as a new/foreign language for students
Thai is offered at the Elementary School for students to learn as a non-native language. At the middle school, we offer Thai Native for Thai students, but do not offer Thai as a non-native language beyond the required Thai Language and Culture course for new students. The reason for this is lack of sufficient student interest – we do not have enough students who wish to take Thai as a non-native language to staff for classes. This is likely because our transient population know that Thai is not typically offered at schools outside of Thailand, so it would be hard to continue the language after ISB and because the IB does not offer Thai B (foreign language) as a possible subject. Without this IB course in the Diploma Program, students select other languages so that they can continue that language into the IB Diploma Program in high school.
Standardized Testing in the Middle School
At ISB, we use the Measurement of Academic Progress (MAP) test and the International School Assessment (ISA) as external testing measures of how our students are doing, normed against other students their age around the world. Both are widely used at international schools. While there are many types of tests around the world, we do not focus our time with students on too much testing. Tests like the PSAT, SAT, and ACT are intended for HS students, not MS.
For some camps and boarding schools, there is the SSAT, which is offered at ISB several times a year.
Specifically, we were also asked about the SCAT, which is a test used by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Talented Youth. This is a test specific to their program and we are not a test center for that one program.
For future communication we will prepare a table of external tests and what they are used for.
MS Olympics Questions
The MS Olympics is a fun day of combined team games, cultural games, and a track and field meet. All students are placed on teams with colored shirts given to them to wear on the day. The MS Olympics also include a biathlon (swim-run) and mile-run which take place on different days leading up to the MS Olympics on December 19th.
Students CHOOSE the track and field events they wish to participate in. None of the competitive events are mandatory. There is a participatory “Color Run” in which all students participate and are on the track at the same time, spread around the whole track. The goal is that the colors all mix together, so there is no race, placing, or “coming in last.” It’s a full oval of people.
Air Purifiers in the Middle School
ISB is in the process of installing air purifiers in all classrooms. Our youngest learners were targeted first, so the ES is now complete. Our staff will be installing in the MS and HS as we go throughout the year, with the plan to have MS classroom complete after the December break.