‘Looking forward’
Justin Alexander
justina@isb.ac.th
Dear Parents,
On Thursday we celebrated the end of the school year for five of our Senior students at our Mid Year graduation. This event has been in place for a number of years at ISB to support a small number of our students who have met graduation requirements early and are looking to begin their higher education in countries that may have a different start time. These students were surrounded by their classmates, parents and friends who joined us in the MPB for a suitably socially distanced graduation ceremony. We wish Wataru, Nonoka, Rei, Rio and Daniel all the best with their futures and thank them and their families for their contributions to ISB over many years.
As I write this last ENews message for the year 2020 and think back to the start of the semester, I remember the challenges we all faced at that time. From putting in place various Covid protocols and procedures to keep everyone safe, installing new turnstiles, having forms filled out, welcoming new parents and students via zoom instead of in person, having students who were stuck out of the country zooming in for their lessons it really was a tough start to the year. Additionally new families that were joining us from overseas or ISB families that had left Thailand for summer all had to endure 14 days of quarantine as well. Well done everyone for making it through the semester.
Thank you for your support and a huge thank you to our teachers for their wonderful work in making sure our students were engaged in their learning and were able to participate in athletics, the arts, debate, MUN and regular activities again.
I am looking forward to a more prosperous and peaceful 2021 for everyone. Wherever your (local) travels take you, I wish you safe and pleasant journeys and do enjoy the time with your family and friends.
See you in 2020.
Regards
Justin Alexander
High School Principal
PowerSchool Access and Report Cards
Justyna McMillan
justynam@isb.ac.th
Full PowerSchool access will return for parents and students by Monday December 21st. Student Report Cards will be posted on Monday and will include Semester Grades and HAL progress, but no comments.
As ISB continues to be ‘greener’ and timely we issue report cards through the PowerSchool Quick Lookup page. On the Quicklook Up page use the link at the top right to access a PDF report card for your son/daughter. The report can be saved and filed electronically and / or printed.
For students taking courses with Pamoja or GOA, grades will be communicated directly from the course providers to the students.
‘Soft Launch’ of Course Offerings for the Academic Year 2021-2022
Justyna McMillan
justynam@isb.ac.th
For those students and parents interested in initial exploration of options for next academic year, we are pleased to announce that our Program Of Studies has been updated. At the moment all courses are posted on department specific docs which you can access via our website https://www.isb.ac.th/learning-isb/programs/high-school/
This is a ‘soft-launch’ of our course offerings. In January we will share an updated magazine style course booklet and other resources including a google site, presentations and classroom discussions, as students explore academic possibilities for 2021-2022.
On the 21st January there will be an IB Basics Parent / Student Presentation for anyone interested in learning more about the International Baccalaureate. We also have a Course Information Evening on the 4th February for Gr10 Students and Parents. The Course Registration process will begin on February 8th.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact your child’s counselor or the Dean of Academics at justynam@isb.ac.th
All 11th and 12th graders are required to complete the CAS program: Creativity, Activity and Service. As part of this program, students need to do at least one experience in each strand in
CAS
Peter Assimakopoulos
Petera@isb.ac.th
Petera@isb.ac.th
All 11th and 12th graders are required to complete the CAS program: Creativity, Activity and Service. As part of this program, students need to do at least one experience in each strand in 11th grade and again in 12th grade. The Activity experience, referring to physical activity, is often the strand that students find challenging.
Students that have not completed their Activity requirement, are asked to complete their physical activity strand over winter break. If students do not have evidence for their Activity experience on Managebac by January 11th, they will be assigned to take a 2nd semester PE class for CAS credit. Activity experiences can be any physical exercise such as swimming, running, using the ISB gym, taking a fitness class outside of ISB, taking an online yoga class, HIIT sessions, anything that has the student working out regularly. If students are doing their Activity Experience at home, a significant amount of evidence is necessary to meet the requirements.
If you have any questions or concerns, please email Peter Assimakopoulos at petera@isb.ac.th
News from the College Office
Sonya Ohlsson
sonyao@isb.ac.th
Seniors:
Please submit your application well before the actual deadline as we have seen several examples of sites crashing due to the last minute rush!!
Please update your Cialfo with your college decisions! This data is vital and it lets us know your progress!
Remember, universities will also be closed much of the holiday, so your documents (that we have sent!) may not be processed during that time and may not be marked as received yet. Keep this in mind and be patient!
Mid-Year transcripts (1st semester grades) will be sent automatically by us when they are available in late January. You do not need to request them and they are required by universities in the US.
Juniors:
Reminder: The University Research Assignment is due January 15.
If you did not get the email to access your PSAT scores, you can email Ms. Ohlsson and she can get you the access code after the break.
A reminder to all: the college counselors will be on break and unavailable during the holiday. We will be back in the office on January 11, 2021.
May you all have a restful and peaceful holiday time.
News from the Library
Chris Bell
chrisb@isb.ac.th
Interested in joining an adult book club?
EVENT: Book Club/Gathering
DATE: January 28, 2021
TIME: 5:00 – 6:00PM
LOCATION: ISB MAIN LIBRARY
SIGN UP: Linked Here
WHAT: A Bring Your Own Book (BYOB) book club. Do you love to read but don’t have the time to commit to a regular book club? Would you like to discuss or share books or interesting reads in a casual setting? Do you enjoy good books and good conversation over good books? Then this is the perfect book club for you. The idea is different from a typical book club, in the sense that we want to hear about and get some ideas for other books to read. Just bring a book you are reading or one you’ve read and join us. All genre of books, non-fiction, whatever you are reading is an option. It is an open discussion, we will have some light snacks and coffee.
Questions? Contact: christob@isb.ac.th OR dhooleka.raj@gmail.com
This was a super fun week in the library. Here are all the things we had going on this week:
- We have the Ted Talks going on with all of our Grade 11 students. Some were held in the library. Students had received research and presentation instruction from the Library. The culminating event will be held on Jan. 20th at 6:30pm
- The Grade 9 School of the Future projects all hosted in the library and will be there until Jan. 20
- Upstairs in the library is now open for silent study and the rooms are available for checkout – This INCLUDES the glass rooms.
- Grade 7’s were in doing a Virtual Reality experience on volcanoes and earth science.
- All of Grade 6 came in and got book talks as well as book checkout for the break.
- Most of Grade 12 got book talks and book checkouts for break.
- We have also begun recording a podcast series we hope to fully launch after the break that will include book talks, tech talks, and student interviews.
- Grade 2 students came to the Main Library for a book reading by Mr. Bell and then got to explore the Main Library.
- We hosted Grab and Go for teachers to come in and grab a cup of coffee and review some of the new books for the winter break.
- We continue to update the offerings via the Library Website
BOOK RECOMMENDATION
Frankly in Love ~ by David Yoon
Frank is a Korean boy in high school. His parents are very Korean and believe in many of the old traditions. Frank though has other ideas. He, and his friends are looking to just have a little fun. At the same time they are some of the highest achievers in the school. This is a fun and yet interesting look at the role culture plays in our lives and how it affects every decision we make. This is also a Bangkok Book Award Nominee.
TECH UPDATES
- BigSur the Mac OS update came out last week. PLEASE do not update yet as we are waiting to see if any issues arise. Also, it takes about 45 minutes to go through the process, so I would wait.
- Over the break make sure to take some time to clean your computer, both physically and electronically.
- Update your apps.
- It has come to my attention that lots of people are not restarting their computers – it is a good idea to do this at least once a week to reset all of the caches
TECH RESOURCE OF THE WEEK
How about working more efficiently and enjoying the world more? Maybe take a walk in the forest! This week’s tech recommendation comes from Well. He suggested Plantie and I started using it right away! It is an easy tool for you to put on your phone that helps you avoid distractions. It also helps you stay off of your phone so you can spend more of your time enjoying the up-coming break! It helps you stay focused by allowing you to track how long you work undistracted and rewards you with the ability to grow and harvest new trees. It is really kind of fun!
Warmest Regards,
Christopher Bell
High School Technology Coordinator and Librarian
christob@isb.ac.th +66 963-58900 ext 1193
“Festival of Lights” Concert, Proudly Presented by the ISB ES Music Ensembles
Anthony Giles
anthonyg@isb.ac.th
Click HERE to enjoy the annual performance by the ES String Ensemble, Orff Ensemble and Choir as they share song and dance from around the world. These grade 3, 4 and 5 musicians have been working since September to share messages of dedication, peace, unity and joy through their music. Their beautiful voices and musical spirits are the perfect start to the winter holiday!