Welcome Back G4 Students!
Congratulations go out to our G4 students and teachers on the successful completion of their G4 overnight field trip to the Khao Yai National Park this past Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday! The trip provided our students with the extraordinary opportunity to dive deep into nature as they learned about water conservation, the forest and forest animals, and overcoming challenges.
PreK/KG Play Spaces – Goodbyes and Openings!
Our new Early Childhood playground is on schedule to open for students when school resumes after the Winter Break! Our PreK and KG students will receive a very planned orientation to the various features of the playground, and we will be temporarily restricting access before and after school until we feel students are fully aware of the safety guidelines.
We know that the existing early childhood playspace (especially the monkey bars) have been an important play space for our students for many years! Since next week will be the last week before the structures are removed, we invite parents to drop by with their children after school to have one last play and say goodbye.
SAVE THE DATE: PK Parent Engage Session – Jan 14 @ 12PM
PreK1 and PreK2 parents are invited to our PK Parent Engage Session on Thursday, January 14 from 12PM-1PM. The goal of the session will be to share more about the PreK program and the foundational skills our students develop during this important time in early childhood. Please join us!
Congratulations ES Panther Choir!
On Wednesday, December 9, the ES Panther Choir performed for their parents; their first live audience this season! They performed selections from their Festival of Lights concert, being released virtually on December 17th. They were joined by the Panther Orff Ensemble for their final song with additional voices and instrumental accompaniment. These students showed great responsibility by learning their music (in multiple languages) for the performance, and courage for singing in front of a live, captive audience. Congratulations, ES Panther Choir members!
Friday, Dec. 18 – Last Day of School – 11:30AM Early Dismissal
Just a reminder that on the last day of school students will be dismissed at 11:30am.
Weekly Message from Dr. Michael Allen
I had the privilege of joining our Grade 4 students, homeroom teachers, specialist teachers, instructional assistants, and nurses on the overnight field trip to Khao Yai National Park this past Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. It was an fantastic opportunity to connect with our students, and it was an ideal opportunity to see the ISB Definition of Learning in action! At ISB we have thoughtfully defined the kind of learning we wish to see in our curriculum and classrooms AND these were also evident during the learning activities and discovery walks during the field trip. ISB values meaningful and transferable learning where we construct understanding by developing and applying knowledge, skills and attitudes. As learners, we develop and show our understanding when we:
Whether it be on guided discovery walks through the forests, grasslands, streams or on a cool night safari, students were applying their learning to new situations and inquiring to extend their learning.
Students were constantly self-managing and finding their own solutions to their daily needs such as ensuring they always had a full water bottle, managing their daypacks and supplies, putting away their trash and plates after all meals, preparing themselves for bedtime, etc.
Throughout the field trip students were communicating in writing via their journals as well as verbally through ongoing discussions and dialogues with their peers. Time to reflect critically on their learning was built into the schedule at several key points, especially as students were challenged to think about their impact on the environment and the importance of conservation.
If you know any of our fourth graders, please be sure to ask them to tell you all about their Khao Yai adventures…as well as how they came to learn about some of the local creatures!
Your partner in education,
Michael Allen, Ed.D.
michaela@isb.ac.th
Festival of Lights: A Virtual Concert
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!
Panther Activities
I would like to thank all of our ES Explore instructors for a wonderful semester.
Next Semester’s ES Explore Program will begin on Monday, February 15th.
Please look out for registration information on the Panther (ES) Explore page.
Livnat Ziskinder
ES Explore Coordinator
esactivities@isb.ac.th
ES Cafeteria Menu
Please find the ES Cafeteria menu for next week linked here. Here is the menu for Kindergarten and here is the menu for Pre-Kindergarten.
Registration for Semester 2 Panther Activities Opens Today!!!
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
PantherActivities@isb.ac.th
PantherArts@isb.ac.th
PantherDance@isb.ac.th
PantherGolf@isb.ac.th
PantherGymnastics@isb.ac.th
PantherMusic@isb.ac.th
PantherNativeLanguageAcademy@isb.ac.th
PantherSoccer@isb.ac.th
PantherSwim@isb.ac.th
ISB Athletics
Upcoming events
12 December – U11 Boys Soccer Tournament at ISB
16 December – Panther Swim “Black and Gold” Meet at ISB
For the latest information on games, please visit www.isbathletics.com
(Repeat) ES HUB Library Opening Dates for the Holiday
The ES HUB will be open and ready for you over the December/January holiday.
Stop by to browse books or enjoy some quiet time.
We will be open from 8:00-11:00 and 12:00-3:00 on the following dates,
December 21, 22, 23 and 24
January 4, 5, 6, 7. 8
(Repeat) International Family Fair 2021
Save the Date! Saturday, February 6th, 2021. 12:00pm to 18:00pm
Sign up for a Food Booth
Share delicious food from your country!
Community Food Booth Sign Up
Would you like to participate as a vendor?
Vendor Sign up is open to ISB community members with valid ISB cards.
Vendor Table Sign Up
Have any questions? Send us an email at pta-iff@isb.ac.th
(Repeat) Leaving ISB at the End of the First Semester?
Parents of students who are not returning to ISB in January need to notify the ES Office, Khun Kunlawan (kunlawan@isb.ac.th) as soon as possible and fill out the ISB’s official online withdraw form to enable us to process school records for their next school. Thank you for your attention to this important matter.
(Repeat) Reminder: Student Passport Information in Powerschool
We are six weeks away from winter break. Please check your passports to see when your visa expires and contact Khun Tang in the admissions office to renew your paperwork before December 11th. Limited resources are available after December 18, and five working days are needed to process documents. The school is closed from December 25-January 3.
Also, in order to ensure that thorough contact tracing can be conducted if necessary and ensure that schools are maintaining proper records, earlier this school year, Thailand’s Office of the Private Education Commission (OPEC) issued a directive to schools regarding the collection of passport or national ID numbers and other details (listed below) of community members, including students and staff.
In line with Thailand’s Personal Data Protection Act, ISB would not disclose this information to any individual or organization for any purpose other than that designated by our legal obligation to the Government of Thailand.
Please ensure that one person from each family reviews and updates Powerschool with your student’s current demographic information.
NOTE: Passport issue date is a new required field.
Login to Powerschool Parent Portal> Contact/Passport Information
If you are unable to login to Powerschool or need assistance, contact: help@isb.ac.th
(Repeat) PARENT ACTION REQUIRED: Student Tracking of Student After School and Weekend Locations
All ES parents are required to login to Powerschool and update their journal for the week, listing locations visited outside school hours. All schools in Thailand are required by the Ministry of Education to have their students/parents keep and complete a daily journal of their whereabouts after school hours. Only 60 families have completed the needed ES PowerSchool form. ES secretaries will need to contact individual families who don’t complete the PowerSchool form, therefore we ask for your support in completing this important Covid-19 safety task each Sunday.
Logging into Powerschool, you will see a notification to update the Journal:
Each Sunday, complete the journal for the preceding week for each ES child. If you are having trouble accessing Powerschool or are unable to see your students in Powerschool, email ES Powerschool Secretary, Khun Tom <cholthis@isb.ac.th>
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.
Calendar of Events
December 2020/January 2021
| Dec. 16 | ES Festival of Lights Concert (shared with the ISB community) |
| Dec. 18 | ES Festival of Lights Assembly 9:00 am (shared with ES Students) |
| 11:30 am Student Dismissal | |
| Dec. 21 | Winter Holiday Begins |
| Jan. 11 | School Opens Second Semester |
| Parents Welcome Back Coffee 7:30 am (MPB 1) | |
| Jan. 14 | ES New Parent Orientation (Second Semester) 7:45 am (MPB1) |