Fathers Day
Dear Parents,
Once again a busy week at ISB with a number of concerts and events that our HS students have been able to participate in and perform at. Over the past week and a half, I have been able to see our HS Bands, HS Strings ensembles, HZ Jazz band and guitarists all perform in the Chevron and CCT with a live audience. It has been fantastic to hear live music and to be able to appreciate the hard work and preparations of our students under the guidance of our wonderful music teachers (Mr. Myers, Mr. Udagawa, and Ms. Gricius). There are a few more concerts to look forward to in the weeks ahead before our winter break.
Speaking of breaks, we all have the chance to enjoy a long weekend break courtesy of the Fathers day holiday this weekend. I hope you are all able to take a break from school and enjoy time with your family.
Stay safe and stay well.
Justin Alexander
High School Principal
GCW
Peter Assimakopolous
petera@isb.ac.th
The latest communication about GCW was emailed this week. In case you missed this email, you can find it here. At the moment, you might be curious about sign-ups or when the list of options might be released. A detailed GCW list with trip itineraries will be shared in the second semester. Information on course selection and sign ups will also be shared at the start of the new year. All trips this year will be in Thailand and will include overnight and day trip options.
News from the College Office
Sonya Ohlsson
Sonyao@isb.ac.th
Seniors:
Seniors had their last “official” Senior College Seminar this week. Next semester, they don’t have it built into their schedule but we will still be available for one-on-one meetings with students as needed.
We STRONGLY encourage seniors to submit their applications well before the deadlines. We have seen, and some ISB students have experienced, application websites crash under the weight of the last minute submissions. Just this week, the University of California system crashed and they had to create an emergency extension. We have been telling students for the past several months to try and submit at least 3 days (minimum) before the deadline to avoid the panic and possible heartache of having a system crash!!
UCAS submission deadline is today, December 4th. Submission sends the application to the counselor. We review it, add the reference and then submit it on to UCAS, if there are no issues. We will submit all UCAS applications before we depart for the holidays.
The College Office is busy submitting all the school-related documents for applications that have a deadline before February 15. It is very important to be aware that students may get an email or portal status back from the schools they apply to that documents are still missing. This is an automatic response and so they will not have had time to even check to see if they have received the documents. Be aware that it can take the universities up to 2 weeks to process the thousands of documents they are getting from all over the world. Just because it’s electronic, doesn’t mean it’s instantaneous!! So, please be patient.
A gentle reminder that the college counselors will not be available during the holiday break as it is a break for everyone. Therefore we encourage the students to complete their applications as soon as possible so they can have a restful break as well.
Juniors:
December 10 will be the next Junior Seminar and we will focus on how to determine the priorities and preferences that will be important to a students’ research into universities and finding the right fit.
PSAT 11 Scores Available Next Week:
The College Board says they will send PSAT scores to the email address that the student put on their registration form. Students should check their emails between December 7 – 10 to find out their score–be sure to check your spam mailbox!!
SAT Saturday, December 5:
All students must bring their school ID to get on campus. ALL STUDENTS must bring their Passport or Thai National ID and Admissions Ticket to gain entrance to the test rooms. No student will be admitted without a Thai National ID or a Passport and their Admissions Ticket. A school ID is NOT accepted for testing purposes. There are NO exceptions–College Board makes these rules, not us. 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.
The next SAT will be March 13, 2021 (SAT only, no Subject Tests) and the registration deadline is February 12, 2021.
Parent Coffees:
Just a reminder that the presentations that were held this semester virtually are all available to view on the College Google site under the resources tab. The topics this semester were:
- An Intro to College Counseling at ISB
- Standardized Testing
- Rankings: What Do They Really Mean?
Next semester, if all goes as planned, we will hold the remaining Parent Coffees in person!
~Sonya Ohlsson
Head of College Counseling
News from High School Counselors
Jackie Valenzuela
jackiev@isb.ac.th
There will be many in class summatives and final projects due over the next two weeks. The HS departments have worked out a schedule so that exams are spread out over several days. Even with this approach, time management will be essential for students through the semester home stretch. If you have a chance, it might be a good idea to ask your student to share how they plan to prepare/study for their exams.
We are encouraging students to meet with their counselor over the next two weeks if they want to make a change to their second semester schedule. The master schedule is tight making it difficult to make many changes to students’ schedules. However, when possible, we will do our best to accommodate their requests.
Enjoy the holiday weekend.
News from The Main Library
Chris Bell
chrisb@isb.ac.th
Next week is the International Week of Computer Science. This year’s theme is Social Injustice which is really exciting. To celebrate the week, Tech Council is offering ‘Come Learn About Coding’ at lunch every day in the Library Green Room. Each day a different coding language will be explored. These sessions will be taught by Tech Council members which should make them fun and interesting for students. Our hope is that we start the conversations about coding in High School and get some interest developed.
- Tuesday: Python and Machine Learning with Mimi
- Wednesday: HTML and CSS with Tyme
- Thursday: App Design with Sorn
- Friday: C# with Narai
Also next week in the Main Library we are hosting the Grade 9 students and their work from English in creating ‘The School of the Future’. This is an amazing piece of work that included research, persuasiveness, different forms of media, and presentation. Student work will be up in the library from 16-18. Presentations will also occur as classes come and go. Students will be making their pitches to their peers and school Administrators will be walking judging the ideas and projects for possible implementation. Come join in the fun!
BOOK RECOMMENDATION
World War Z ~ by Max Brooks
I have to admit, this is a great movie, the book is too! They are very different. In thinking about the vaccine for COVID, I thought I would re-read this one and I was not disappointed. It is so realistic and believable that it almost feels like it could happen. It is violent and intense, but maybe the most interesting thing is that it is told as if it already happened and people are recounting the events as they happened. Need a scary? Get this one.
TECH RECOMMENDATION
Tired of having your videos interrupted by some crazy ad that doesn’t even appeal to you? Try AdBlock for Youtube. It works really easily and as long as you are viewing Youtube through Google Chrome it works really well. Simply add this extension and restart Chrome and you are good to go!
News from the Athletics Office
Chris Mott
chrism@isb.ac.th
Upcoming events
12 December – U13-U15 Badminton tournament at ISB
17th December – Last day of Varsity and JV Training
For the latest information on games, please visit www.isbathletics.com
Registration for Semester 2 Panther Activities Opens Today!!!
Anthony Giles
anthonyg@isb.ac.th
Choose from Panther Art, Dance, Golf, Gymnastics, Music, Native Language Academy, Soccer and Swim. Space is limited for some programs so check out what’s on offer soon by going to CHQ through PowerSchool, or contact any one of the Panther Activities Coordinators listed below for more information.
Thanks,
The Panther Activities Team
PantherNativeLanguageAcademy@isb.ac.th
IASAS CC Visual Art Exhibition
Anthony Giles
anthonyg@isb.ac.th
19 November 19 through December 17 Chevron Gallery
Stop by the Chevron Gallery to enjoy the wide range of artistic pieces submitted for the IASAS Visual Arts Cultural Convention! Also on display are the collaborative piece created by the convention delegates, 3-color reduction woodblock prints created in workshops with visiting artist, Ralph Kiggell, and the community collaboration woodblock print featuring Wat Arun.
Festival of Lights: A Virtual Concert
Anthony Giles
anthonyg@isb.ac.th
This year, in order to meet a variety of needs and to satisfy safety measures, the elementary Festival of Lights concert (featuring the G3-5 Panther Choir, Orff Ensemble and String Ensemble) will be virtual. The concert will be shared with ensemble families on Wednesday, December 16th, with the ISB community on Thursday, December 17th, and with the ES student body on Friday, December 18th as part of our Festival of Lights Virtual assembly. On December 17th, please stay tuned for a special enews with a link to this beautiful celebration of holidays from around the world, presented through the singing, playing and dancing of our young musicians!
Inclusive Schools Week @ ISB – December 7-11, 2020
Anthony Giles
anthonyg@isb.ac.th
December 7th-11th marks the 2nd annual ISB Inclusive Schools Week – a week dedicated to celebrating inclusion and our differences at ISB in unity. Throughout the week there will be numerous student-led initiatives celebrating inclusion including speeches at Friday’s open mic, discussions about mental health, and learning differences, club booths, along with smoothie sales sponsored by the vocational learning center StepsWithTheera.
Inclusive Schools Open Mic – December 11, 2020
Anthony Giles
anthonyg@isb.ac.th
Calling all students and staff for the InvisAbilities/ArtsCo Inclusive Schools Open Mic event on Friday December 11th! Join us at the Panther Commons stage by signing up HERE to share a song, speech, open letter, or slam poetry around the theme of “inclusion”! Contact 15749@students.isb.ac.th or 20379@students.isb.ac.th for more information.
HS Arts Council’s Artists Under the Stars
Anthony Giles
anthonyg@isb.ac.th
HS Arts Council’s Artists Under the Stars – 5:30pm to 8:00pm Thursday, December 17
December 17th is the date for this year’s Artists Under the Stars event! Get ready for a cozy evening of awesome performances. If you would like to perform, please fill out the form HERE.
The ISB Invention Center hosts…SCRIMMAGE IN SIAM Saturday, December 12, 2020
Anthony Giles
anthonyg@isb.ac.th
WHAT: Change Up – A HS Robotics Scrimmage where high school robotics teams battle to make it to the next round.
WHERE: ISB Invention Center
WHEN: Open at 8:00am with matches from 9:00am to 12:00pm Saturday, December 12
Second Semester Course Choices (Repeat)
Justyna McMillan
justynam@isb.ac.th
Second semester is not too far away and with this in mind we have opened up second semester classes on PowerSchool. As usual there may be some movement of students between sections in year long courses, to accommodate elective choices in S2. Where possible we have tried to minimise such disruptions.
Students who are considering changing their course choices for the second semester should see their counselor in the next week. Where possible we can try to accommodate changes, but many of our courses are full.
If students have any questions, please contact their counselor.
Community Choir Concert 6:30 Wednesday, December 9th Chevron Theater (Repeat)
Anthony Giles
anthonyg@isb.ac.th
On December 9th, 120 Middle School, High School and adult singers will join together for the annual Community Choir Concert. This event is a display of all of the hard work that these musicians have put in over the last couple of months and a celebration of the position we are in in Thailand to be able to sing together while much of the world has been music-less. The concert will feature the Middle and High School Choirs under the direction of Ms. Lindsay Fuson, accompanied by Ms. Miao Rong Wang with special guests ISB’s Choral Union.