Friday 28th August
Dear Parents and students,
Congratulations on successful completion of week 3 of school this year. We continue to be thankful for the opportunity for teaching and learning to take place on campus in person for the vast majority of our HS students. Our Athletics programs/seasons have now begun with teams being selected at Varsity and Junior Varsity level for our season one sports. Football, Volleyball and Cross Country seasons are now up and running and we are hopeful that when safe and permitted that we will be able to compete against other schools.
Thank you to parents of Seniors who attended the informative and helpful College night Presentation on Wednesday evening hosted by our College counseling team. As always, if you have any questions about the college application process please do reach out to any one of our college counselors.
You may have read in Dr. Davies recent Enews article that the Ministry of Education is requiring that schools ensure students maintain a daily record of their whereabouts outside of school hours in order to facilitate any needed contact tracing should a case of COVID be reported (confirmed) in our community. In order to comply with this directive, all HS students are required to complete an online form every weekday in the morning where they will need to list where they have been the previous day after school. HS students will be sent an email with a link to this form each weekday morning and complete this before school starts. We appreciate parent support in making sure that students complete this form every weekday. Students will be given more details from Mr. Vaughan on Monday morning.
Coming up in the next few weeks – HS PTA meeting on Tuesday September 8th at 9 am and the HS Open House Wednesday September 9th at 6 pm. Further details are listed below.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Regards
Justin Alexander
HS Principal
HS PTA meeting Tuesday September 8th 9am (Online)
Justin Alexander
justina@isb.ac.th
The HS team is looking forward to welcoming you to our first HS PTA meeting of the school year on Tuesday September 8 at 9am. This meeting will be conducted online through zoom, where parents can watch from home and ask questions using the Q and A function of zoom. Parents will need to register ahead of time in order to receive the correct link for the meeting. Registration details will be sent out next week via email.
The HS PTA Agenda for September 8th, 9am start is listed below.
- Welcome New HS PTA representative – Xiao He
- Introductions – HS Admin team
- Activities/Clubs/CAS – Peter Assimakapoulos
- Athletics – Chris Mott
- Arts – Anthony Giles
- DP Results – Justyna McMillan
- GCW (Global Citizenship Week) update – Andy Vaughan and Peter Assimakapoulos
- Attendance, out of school concerns – Andy Vaughan
- Questions and Answers
- Upcoming Events
HS Open House – Wednesday September 9th 6pm (Online)
Justin Alexander
justina@isb.ac.th
The HS Open house will take place on Wednesday September 9th from 6pm – 8.15pm via zoom (not on campus). Parents will have an opportunity to see and meet (virtually) their children’s teachers, learn about the curriculum, expectations of the class and discover what your children are learning at the moment. There will be opportunities for some questions with teachers during that time, but please note that this is not the time for parent conferences or questions about individual students. Our teachers are looking forward to meeting you and talking about the great learning that your children are experiencing in their classes.
Student Daily Record of Locations Outside of School
Andy Vaughan
andyv@isb.ac.th
The Ministry of Education is requiring all schools to ensure that students maintain a daily record of their whereabouts outside of school hours in order to facilitate any needed contact tracing should a case of COVID be reported (confirmed) in our community.
Students will need to record the very basic information on where they went each day via a Google Form. This information is only to be used in the situation of a contact tracing. Students will be emailed the form on a Monday – Friday at 7.00am and will complete this at the beginning of each day starting next week on Monday.
Confidentiality will be a priority. We appreciate any support at home that parents can provide to ensure students are maintaining this record.
Advanced Placement Exams – Information for 2021
Justyna McMillan
justynam@isb.ac.th
Dear Students and Parents,
Between September and November 2020, we will be registering students for AP exams for the May 2021 Session.
If you are interested in sitting an AP exam at ISB please read the AP Registration Form and look over the following information.
Please note, unless a student is taking the IB Maths SL 2 / AP Calculus course at ISB, all other AP exams must be discussed with the student’s counselor. At ISB, AP exams are open to students in Grades 10 and above.
AP Courses and Exams (Also linked in the form) – https://apstudents.collegeboard.org/course-index-page
AP Exams Schedule HERE
Focus on Academics – Informational Meeting for parents new to the High School
Justyna McMillan
justynam@isb.ac.th
A quick heads up to save the date, for Tuesday September 29th at 12:30 PM.
We will be holding a meeting for new HS parents who would like to know more about academics in the HS. If you are not a new parent, you are of course also welcome to attend! More details about the venue and agenda, will be shared in the coming weeks.
Gr. 12 College Night
Sonya Ohlsson
sonyao@isb.ac.th
Wednesday, 26 August we held the Gr. 12 College Night. Our new counselor, Swati Shrestha, was able to Zoom in and introduce herself to the crowd. We happily await her arrival in person later next week.
The presentation offered an overview of where senior students are now in their college process, encouraged open and honest conversations between parents and students about the concerns and pressures, and urged students to take full ownership of the process. Of course, in the marriage between autonomy and collaboration, asking for help is always the mature and healthy approach–nobody gets through life without a little help sometimes!
If you missed the presentation, we have added it to our Resources page on our Google site as both a recording and a PDF of the Powerpoint.
Seniors, please do schedule your Senior Family Check-ins as soon as possible.
Sept 3 & 4 is the next Senior College Seminar. It is during your TOK or your Free. All Senior Seminars will be in MPB 1. The first part of each class will be required of everyone and then we will release those who are not using the Common App or UCAS (for the UK).
Our first Junior College Seminar is taking place on Sept.2, 6th period in the MPB 1, 2, & 3. All juniors will attend.
SAT Testing Saturday, 29 August
All students must bring their school ID to get on campus. They must bring their Passport and Admissions Ticket to gain entrance to the test rooms. No student will be admitted without both of these items. All phones will be turned off for the entire testing time and students may not access them until the tests are completed. We will let students in at 7:30am.
News from HS Counselors
Kevin Callahan
kevinc@isb.ac.th
Students are in their classes for the semester, mostly live and some virtually, and adjustments have been made to assure that class sizes are optimal for our students. It’s been a grueling start to the year for our teachers, who have made sure that clubs, organizations, sports, drama, dance and other activities are again part of the school year. Be sure that your student has a manageable schedule and is able to organize a balance between school work and extracurricular activities. The biggest source of stress for our students in being double-booked; having to miss an obligation and then explain why is hard on a young person! Check out this article from a Canadian publication about maintaining balance among all the demands on young people these days. And think about: what does my student do with their “down time”? After all the time we and our kids have been spending online, we are really lucky to be here in Thailand and able to go outside and enjoy some fresh air and exercise. Spend a little time with your student!
It’s Not Too Late To Participate!!!
Anthony Giles
anthonyg@isb.ac.th
Although many of the fall Panther Activities registrations closed on August 19th, there are still a number of programs that have space available. Note that the November BBSA League ‘early bird’ sign up rate has been extended through September 7 and that Panther (ES) Explore (PreK-G5) and Panther Volleyball (G5-G12) registrations open for the first time on Powerschool/CHQ tomorrow, Friday, August 28th. Check out what’s on offer by going to CHQ through PowerSchool, or contact any one of the Panther Activities Coordinators listed below for more information.
The Panther Activities Team
PantherActivities@isb.ac.th
PantherArts@isb.ac.th, PantherBaseballandSoftball@isb.ac.th, PantherBasketball@isb.ac.th, PantherCubScouts@isb.ac.th, PantherBoyScouts@isb.ac.th, PantherDance@isb.ac.th,
Panther (ES) Explore, PantherGirlScouts@isb.ac.th, PantherGolf@isb.ac.th, PantherGymnastics@isb.ac.th, PantherMusic@isb.ac.th,
PantherNativeLanguageAcademy@isb.ac.th, PantherRugby@isb.ac.th, PantherSoccer@isb.ac.th, PantherSwim@isb.ac.th, PantherTennis@isb.ac.th, PantherVolleyball@isb.ac.th
The ROTC meeting for grade 10
Krittiya J. Fitzgerald
krittiyf@isb.ac.th
Parents who have a son with Thai Nationality or Holding 2 passports.Please mark your calendars on Wednesday afternoon, September 2nd (15:10 -15:45 pm. at MPB 1). Important information will be provided regarding the application process for the ROTC 2020 -2021. All details pertaining to the application process, documents list, fees for training/ uniforms/transportation will be explained during this meeting. Also, the ROTC training
schedule and the exam date for 2020 will be announced. I will also provide time for parents to ask questions. Parents, please don’t forget to bring a copy of your son’s Thai ID or front page of your son’s passport.
ISB Parent Shuttle Bus Service to Downtown
Piyanuch KASUWAN
piyanuck@isb.ac.th
ISB Parent Shuttle Bus Service to Downtown will be in service again starting Monday, August 31st
Our service operates on Monday – Friday,
ISB to Emporium Suites 10.30 am , 4.10 pm
Emporium Suites to ISB 12.30 pm(noon)
* No service on Saturday
* Our service time will change according to our parents campus access hours.
If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact
ISB Transport Office Khun Chanarat (Pu), chanaraj@isb.ac.th
PTA – Welcome Back Coffee: Venue Changed
PTA – Welcome Wai
pta-welcomewai@isb.ac.th
Let’s enjoy a coffee together with our community members!
It’s a great opportunity to meet the new families who has arrived and to say hello returning friends!!
Date Wednesday 2nd September 2020
Time: 1:30-2:30pm
Location: HS cafeteria