‘Starting again’
Dear Parents,
I hope that you are enjoying the last few days of your winter break with your children before school starts again on Monday January 11th. Although it is not the ‘normal’ start of school that we had hoped for, it is nonetheless the start of the second semester for our students and teachers.
Parents and students received lengthy emails from me on Wednesday this week which contained quite a lot of information about virtual school and what students can expect next week. Please be sure that your children have read those messages and are ready to join their first lesson at 9am on Monday. Our faculty are well prepared and organised for virtual school since the start of the year and are ready for classes on Monday morning.
For students:
- Attendance will be taken for each lesson and students will need to follow instructions from their teachers as usual.
- Will receive an email from their Day 1 teachers on Sunday night/Monday morning with instructions for Monday’s classes.
- Will receive an email from Day 2 teachers on Monday afternoon with instructions for Tuesday’s classes.
For Parents:
If any of our ISB families have left the country over the Winter break, can you please inform your child’s counselor and myself as soon as possible.
You can see all the details about virtual school in our HS Community Virtual School Handbook and visit our website at https://www.isb.ac.th/learning-isb/isb-virtual-school/ for more resources and information about Virtual school.
At this stage, any field trips, school tournaments, etc that are scheduled during the month of January will be postponed. Once school formally resumes next week we will give further information about other upcoming field trips and school events as necessary. We have already received a few questions about mock and IB exams for Seniors and semester exams for students in Grade 9-11. At this time, we plan on continuing with the timing and format of these exams, but of course, as circumstances change in the coming weeks/months we will adapt and adjust as necessary.
Upcoming events Postponed/Cancelled
- Habitat for Humanity, Jan 16, 17- Postponed.
- Junior Varsity – Season Two Invitational, Jan 15, 16- Cancelled.
- Harrow Soccer Tournament, Jan 15, 16 – Cancelled.
We are hopeful that we will be back in school for face to face instructions on February 1st. In the meantime stay safe, stay well and we look forward to seeing everyone on campus soon.
Regards
Justin Alexander
HS Principal
Schedule Changes for Semester 2
Justyna McMillan
justynam@isb.ac.th
In ordinary circumstances, students may change schedules only during the first 8 school days of each semester after consulting with their counselor. However, scheduling changes are always limited by our timetable and course capacity. This has been an unprecedented year with our High School facing maximum capacity in terms of student numbers, which has resulted in all our courses being full, especially elective courses for the second semester.
As a result we are sorry to announce that we will be unable to accommodate schedule changes for the second semester. The only change permitted is for students who have opted to take an 8th class and would like to drop down to 7 courses, as specified in our Graduation Requirements.
We understand this may be disappointing news for some of our students, who were thinking of making a change to the elective course that they had originally chosen, but we hope that students will still enjoy all of their elective options, nonetheless.
Please contact your school counselor, and / or Justyna McMillan (Dean of Academics) if you have any questions or concerns.
Activities, Athletics, Trips & Events
Anthony Giles
anthonyg@isb.ac.th
Although many student activities, practices, trips and events are cancelled or postponed until campus reopens, fees associated with any January fixtures will be adjusted or refunded once we are up and running again in February. Please be patient. Panther Activities and ISB Athletics are partnering to offer some virtual opportunities for kids soon. Look for more information about this exciting initiative next week or contact Anthony, Chris, Lucas or Mark with questions. We miss your kids!
Anthony Giles (Arts & Activities Director) anthonyg@isb.ac.th
Chris Mott (Athletics Director) chrism@isb.ac.th
Lucas Rivera (Panther Activities Sports Manager) lucasr@isb.ac.th
Mark Jaspers (Associate Athletics Director) markj@isb.ac.th