ES Virtual School Launches Monday, January 11 @ 10AM
ES Virtual School will launch on Monday, January 11 @ 10AM with a Zoom Class Meeting hosted by your child’s homeroom teacher. Prior to 10AM your child’s teacher will share the Zoom link with you and your child via Seesaw. Homeroom teachers will also share the finalized Grade Level Virtual School Weekly Schedule. To best support you as you support your child, homeroom teachers will share a learning tasks overview for core areas via Seesaw each day prior to 8AM.
ES iPad Pick Up Starts Friday, January 8 @ 8AM!
An essential aspect of ES Virtual School is that all students have access to their ISB iPad, loaded with all necessary applications. All ES families are asked to come to campus to collect their child’s iPad kit from the collection points located at the pickup/dropoff areas of ISB. Families are invited to pick up their iPads during the following times:
Friday, January 8 @ 8am-11am and 12pm-2:30pm
Sunday, January 10 @ 12pm-3pm
Monday, January 11 @ 7:30am-10am
ATTENTION MONTRI BUS RIDERS: On Monday, January 4th all families who use the Montri bus service were contacted via email by Michael Allen. Families who use the Montri bus service are welcome to come to campus to pick up their child’s iPad at the times listed above or can complete the digital form sent via email before 8AM on Thursday, January 7th so the iPad can be delivered to their home on Friday, January 8th.
Link to the ES Community Virtual School Handbook
The ES Community Virtual School Handbook (linked here) includes detailed information about our contingency plans for continued learning when extraordinary events force a closure of the campus. ISB uses a combination of online tools and resources to keep student learning moving forward and keep students connected to their teachers and peers. Virtual School can never replace in person learning; however, we strive to ensure that virtual learning experiences are engaging, based on our learning objectives, and as meaningful as possible.
Virtual School Technology Orientation – Monday, Jan 11 @ 9AM
Join us via Zoom on January 11 @ 9AM for a Technology Orientation focused on supporting your child with Seesaw & Zoom with Innovation Learning Coach Mark Marshall. Join this session to ensure you are set up with our core digital tools for Virtual School for your first synchronous class meeting at 10AM.
Zoom Link Here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7738826820
Welcome Back!
Happy New Year to our ISB Elementary School families! We hope that your vacation has been restful and enjoyable. Also, a fond welcome to the new families who are joining our elementary school and ISB community.
Unfortunately, our new semester will not begin as we would have hoped. As you know, in response to the growing cases of COVID-19 in Thailand, the government has closed school campuses until January 31st. ISB will be starting semester 2 on Monday, January 11th with Virtual School.
The good news is that everyone at ISB has been preparing for a return to Virtual School for many months and detailed plans are in place to support our students’ ongoing learning and development!
Part of maintaining a healthy, active, and balanced life will be managing time on screens for students. Given that school will require a significant amount of screen time during Virtual School, we hope that families find ways to encourage other use of time outside of school “hours” during this period. Physical activity, time outside of the house, playing board games, and reading books can all help provide balance for children (and ourselves).
We also recommend setting up a clear workspace at home so that students can focus their attention on school work, but then also separate from it when disconnecting.
Finally and most importantly, Virtual School relies on students’ own engagement during Zoom classes to make the most of this learning time. Keeping them on-screen and actively participating during class, having a designated workspace, and avoiding distractions like phones and/or multi-tasking that might take their attention away from class time can all help ensure we maximize this learning time until we are all back in classrooms on campus.
Our strong home-school partnership is essential to student success at all times, and this is especially true during virtual school where students are engaged in Zoom sessions and learning tasks from home. We invite you to ask questions and seek clarification at any time as we work to support you while you support your child(ren)’s learning.
Your partner in education,
Michael Allen, Ed.D.
michaela@isb.ac.th
November 26 ES Virtual Parent Engage Recording – Virtual School Plans Overview
On Thursday, November 26th parents participated in our ES Virtual Engage session where we discussed the ES Community Virtual School Handbook (linked here). The recording of the session is available here.
New Families: Tech Support Session (Jan 11) and ES Orientation (Jan 14) Links
We are thrilled to welcome all our new families to ISB, and have planned a variety of sessions and supports for you during the first week. In addition to your individual Zoom session with an ES counselor as well as support from the ISB Admissions team, we are offering two Zoom sessions to help you feel connected and prepared for our Virtual School experience:
Virtual School Technology Orientation – Monday, Jan 11 @ 8AM
January 11 @ 8 AM Technology Orientation (Seesaw & Zoom) with Innovation Learning Coach Mark Marshall. Join this session to ensure you are set up with our core digital tools for Virtual School for your first synchronous class meeting at 10AM.
Zoom Link Here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7738826820
ES Engage – New Parent Orientation – Thursday, Jan 14 @ 7:45AM
January 14 @ 7:45 AM on Zoom with ES Admin & ES Counselors. Our January ES Parent Engage is an orientation for all New Elementary Parents. Please join us to learn about the school, how we approach learning, and to meet other new parents!
Zoom Link Here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4732749923
ES HUB IS OPEN!
The ES Hub is open to parents during school school hours via scheduled appointments located in PowerSchool. Parents are welcome to book appointments to check out books for their family. Please note that only parents (not students) with a scheduled appointment are able to access campus during the campus closure.
ZOOM: HELPFUL TIPS!
With video conferencing being used (Zoom), we want to ensure that privacy is maintained for all and that teachers and students have appropriate interactions.
- Students enter the teacher’s Zoom Room via a waiting room that allows the teacher to select who enters. Please check that your child’s first and last name are accurate as you launch Zoom.
- Students should dress appropriately for school. While they do not have to wear uniforms, they should avoid pajamas, sleepwear, or clothing not acceptable at school.
- It is best to use workspaces like dining rooms, desks, etc. rather than personal bedrooms. Of course, with many children in a home, this can be unavoidable.
- Everyone in the household should be aware that live video conferencing is happening, so that we avoid accidental privacy violations in the background (including noises and conversations).
Coming Soon: Learning Materials Pick Up
Next week, we will share more details regarding the pick up of additional learning materials and resources. Teachers will spend the week of January 11th preparing resources for your child that will support their learning at home during the campus closure. Parents will be invited to pick up the materials the week of January 18th.
Panther Activities Suspended
Panther Activities are suspended during the campus closure. Please contact Livnat Ziskinder, ES Explore Coordinator, at esactivities@isb.ac.th with any questions.
(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.