Message from High School Principal
Dear Parents,
Welcome to the February break. After three weeks of virtual school and then three weeks of face to face learning, it is time for a break and a recharge for our students and teachers. Of course our Grade 12 students might be taking some of this time in order to prepare for their mock exams, but generally speaking we should all be taking a bit of a break at this time.
Despite not being able to host large audiences for our IASAS Showcase events this week our Dance, Drama, Tech, Music, Forensics and Debate teams/ensembles were able to perform and share their talents and skills with their fellow students and some teachers as well. Congratulations to all of these students for making their respective squads, ensembles and teams for IASAS and we wish them all the best for their virtual IASAS that takes place after the break.
When you return from the February break, please be ready for an email from ISB where you will be given instructions about how to register and sign up for the HS Student Parent teacher conferences which will be held on Friday March 12th in the Rajendra and ES gym. We will be offering four sessions for parents to sign up for in order to meet teachers and discuss the progress of their children. Students in Grade 9-11 are required to attend the conferences with their parents. Grade 12 students will be undertaking Mock exams at this time. ISB will use the same registration platform for ES/MS and HS conferences and this link will be sent to all parents at the same time. Parents will be allowed on campus for the conferences.
The sessions available in the HS are listed below.
| 8.00 – 9.45 Session 1 |
| 9.45 – 10.00 Break |
| 10.00 – 11.30 Session 2 |
| 11.30 – 12.15 Lunch |
| 12.15 – 1.45 Session 3 |
| 2.00 – 3.15 Session 4 |
Have a wonderful break and we look forward to seeing you on campus for the conferences on March 12th
Regards
Justin Alexander
High School Principal
Early Planning for 2021-22 School Year
Andy Vaughan
andyv@isb.ac.th
As you book flights for the summer vacation, please keep in mind that if your child is a Student Ambassador, the New Student Orientation in August will be on Friday 13 August. Please check with your child if they are in this program as you book flights and take into the consideration the required state quarantine requirements.
For parents of 8th grade students, our class of 2025 students will be required to attend a Grade 9 Orientation on the Friday afternoon of 13 August, starting at 1pm.
HAL and Grade progress posted on PowerSchool
Justyna McMillan
justynam@isb.ac.th
Your child’s grade in progress will be posted on Powerschool by Monday 22nd, 3PM. You will also see the Habits and Attitudes towards Learning (HAL) progress, alongside their academic grade. Please remember the grade is a ‘snapshot’ of achievement and your child will continue to receive feedback on their progress in learning. The next grade update will occur on March 26th with mid-semester comments on April 2nd.
Updates from the IB for the May 2022 session (Gr11 students)
Justyna McMillan
justynam@isb.ac.th
The IB has shared an update regarding the preparation of students for May 2022 IB examinations. To help mitigate disruptions to learning during the pandemic, assessment components have been removed or ammended, and there has been some adjustment to curriculum content. Teachers will be adjusting their teaching and preparation accordingly. We are sharing the statement from the IB regarding this amendment. Your child subject teacher will be communicating this with their students, in class:
“Due to the continued loss of instructional time which will also have impacted these students, we have decided to extend the adaptations which were put in place for 2021 for sessions in 2022 (May and November). We have taken a detailed subject-by-subject approach to ensure assessment objective coverage whilst maintaining breadth and depth of the programme as a whole.”
High School Principal’s Forum
Selma Benmoussa & Dhooleka Raj
Co-Chairs, on behalf of the HS’s PF Parent Committee
hsppforum@isb.ac.th
High School Principal’s Forum – Term 2 – March 18 : Call for questions
All HS parents are welcome to submit questions via Spring 2021 – HS Principal’s Forum – Questions from Parents – Intake Form Please note: closing date for question submissions is March 10th. All questions are presented anonymously to the HS Admin and during the PF meeting.
SAVE THE DATE: High School Principal’s Forum – Term 2 – March 18th
All HS parents welcome to attend, sign up details for the session will be shared by HS closer to the date. The meeting will be led by HS Principal Justin Alexander with Dean of Students – Andy Vaughan and Dean of Academics – Justyna MacMillian & other HS Team members to address questions raised by parents.
The HS Principal’s Forum is a channel of communication between HS parents and the HS administration. It is a platform that allows all HS parents to bring forward any questions, suggestions, or concerns to the Forum’s parent committee. The PF committee is composed of parents of 9th/10th/11th & 12th-grade students. Their role is to gather parent questions, help to process questions by theme/grade level, and present parent concerns to the HS team.
All questions are shared anonymously with the HS Admin team. If you would like a member of the PF to follow up on your query, there is an option of sharing your email ID (in case a question is not addressed during the Forum). For those who would like to avail of this, please share your Email ID in the form. The primary purpose of collecting your email is for a Principal Forum committee member to provide an answer directly to you if your concern/question is easily answered by email, or is not able to be included in the HS Principal Forum Meeting. All queries are shared anonymously with the HS team.
As always, if there are time-sensitive questions and individual concerns, please reach out directly to the teachers, counsellors, HS principal’s office and admin team. They are always your first port of call and will be happy to assist and support you.
Please feel free to be in touch with us if you have any questions, or would like to understand more about the HS PF process.
With kind regards,
Selma Benmoussa & Dhooleka Raj
Co-Chairs, on behalf of the HS’s PF Parent Committee
New from HS Counselors
Jackie Valenzuela
jackiev@isb.ac.th
All high school students completed their course registrations for next school year this week.
Schedule changes this semester can only be made for the following reasons and by the following dates:
- If a teacher recommends a level change due to misplacement (i.e. Extended Math to Core Math, Spanish III to Spanish II), a change can be made with parent, counselor and administrative approval. The original class will not appear on the transcript. Deadline was Friday, February 12.
- Between the 5th and 10th week of a course, if a student needs to move down a level, the dropped course will be listed on the transcript with a WP (Withdraw Pass) or WF (Withdraw Fail). The WP or WF grade is not included in the calculation of GPA nor is credit granted. The grade calculated in the new course will only include work completed for the new course. Deadline is Friday, March 19.
- No level changes after March 19.
Wishing your family a restful and fun February Break!
News from the College Office
Sonya Ohlsson
sonyao@isb.ac.th
Seniors:
Continue to update your Cialfo with results! Amd if you were admitted EDII, do not forget to withdraw your outstanding applications–not doing so could put your EDII admissions in jeopardy as universities share their EDII admits with other schools.
If you are still planning on applying to schools, especially those with later deadlines (Korea, Japan, Australia, etc.) please be sure to fill out the Transcript Request form on the College site. You must do that 3 weeks in advance of the deadline or application window.
Juniors:
Today we had Junior College Seminar #6 and spoke about essays. We looked at US style narrative essays as well as the UK Style personal statement, which is used by many other countries around the world. Students had a chance to brainstorm some ideas and they will produce a first draft of an essay by mid-March.
We are still meeting with juniors and parents in the Junior-Led Conference. If you have not had that meeting with your child’s college counselor, please ask your student to set that up as soon as possible. All meetings need to be concluded by March 26th.
Virtual Visits:
No Virtual Visits next week at ISB, but do keep checking the College Google site for other virtual visits. And, as always, go straight to the college of interest and see what kind of virtual offerings they may have. Use the virtual visits as a way to explore schools you don’t know a lot about. This can be an efficient way to include or exclude schools from your longlist.
We hope all students enjoy their break and come back reinvigorated!
DELVE iFair & Registration Coming Soon!
Peter Assimakopoulos
petera@isb.ac.th
On March 1st, we will be opening the DELVE page on the CAS website (cas.isb.ac.th) for all students. The website will include all the trips on offer for this year’s DELVE. Students will have until March 9th to familiarise themselves with the courses and trips offered this year.
DELVE Timeline 2021
March 1st: iFair opens at cas.isb.ac.th
March 4th: DELVE Advisory
March 9th: Q&A with teacher sponsors
March 9th: Registration opens
March 11th: Registration closes
It is very important that during this time and prior to your child registering, you have conversations with them that clearly limit the cost of trips you are willing to pay.
For any questions, please email Mr. Assimakopoulos directly at: petera@isb.ac.th
News from HS Library
Chris Bell
christob@isb.ac.th
Please click News from HS Library
PAW PRINTS: News from the Panther Den
Anthony Giles
anthonyg@isb.ac.th
Season 2 Panther Activities
Registration for Season 3 offerings (Panther Basketball, Panther Rugby, Panther Tennis, and Panther Volleyball) are open now through February 28, with those activities starting the week of March 1st. Please contact Zack Wade at PantherBaseballandSoftball@isb.ac.th for some exciting opportunities offered through the new Panther Baseball and Softball Academy. In addition, registration for Panther Paws Track & Field will open in late March for an April 23rd start. Again, if you have questions, please contact the Panther Activities Team at PantherActivities@isb.ac.th or any of the area coordinators for these programs listed below.
- Panther Baseball & Softball (PantherBaseballandSoftball@isb.ac.th)
- Panther Basketball (TopFlight) (PantherBasketball@isb.ac.th)
- Panther Rugby (Academy) (PantherRugby@isb.ac.th) *started February 10
- Panther Volleyball (BVA) (PantherVolleyball@isb.ac.th)
- Panther Paws (Track & Field) (PantherPaws@isb.ac.th)
Semester 2 Panther Activities
Semester 2 Panther Activities including Panther Arts*, Panther Dance, Panther Golf, Panther Gymnastics, Panther Music**, Panther Native Language Academy, Panther Soccer, and Panther Swim began Monday, February 8th with late registrations still being accepted through area coordinators. Note that students will not be allowed to participate in programs where payments are past due. Panther Explore classes began February 15th. Questions? Contact the Panther Activities Team at PantherActivities@isb.ac.th or any of the area coordinators listed below.
*Pather Arts include Watercolor, Architecture, Thai Music, Jewelry Making, Ceramics, Product Design and new this semester, Graphic Design which will be taught by Tommaso Maggio, an Italian graphic designer and visual artist with over 15years of experience as a practitioner and academic. PhDc on Arts Education. Resident Artist at Thai-Italian Chamber of Commerce. In Bangkok since 2009 where he taught Communication Design at Chulalongkorn University. Appointed consultant for graphic design and visual communication by the Embassy of Italy in Thailand for the Italian Festival in Thailand. Creator of the logo for 150’ years of diplomatic relationship between Thailand and Italy. The computer technology corporation Oracle and the fashion house Diesel are among his former clients. His work had been on display in Europe, Asia and America, and published in international magazines.
**Pather Music is fortunate to add Khun Chitipat Darapong to our strings program. Khun Chitipat comes highly recommended having studied in both Thailand and Vienna. He has many years of experience both teaching and performing. Khun Chitipat will be here on campus every Tuesday. For families interested, please contact our coordinator Angela Kohl at PantherMusic@isb.ac.th.
- Panther Arts (PantherArts@isb.ac.th)
- Panther Dance (ASD) (PantherDance@isb.ac.th)
- Panther Explore (ES) (PantherExplore@isb.ac.th)
- Panther Golf (PantherGolf@isb.ac.th)
- Panther Gymnastics (PantherGymnastics@isb.ac.th)
- Panther Music (IMP) (PantherMusic@isb.ac.th)
- Panther Native Language Academy (PantherNativeLanguageAcademy@isb.ac.th)
- Panther Soccer (PFA) (PantherSoccer@isb.ac.th)
- Panther Swim (PantherSwim@isb.ac.th)
The What, When and Where about Panther Activities
Panther Activities at ISB is the umbrella organization for a multitude of programs offered after school and on weekends that provide active, creative, diverse and collaborative opportunities for all students. Different from scholastic programs which are offered exclusively to ISB students as an extension of their enrollment, most Panther Activities include a fee and are open to both ISB and non-ISB students. Although some Panther Activities sessions align with the three ISB Athletic seasons which start in August, October, and February respectively, many are offered year round with two registration periods, August and January, in line with the start of each of ISB’s academic semesters. Although sometimes daunting to navigate, the plethora of choices available at ISB, coupled with multiple entry points to join throughout the year, allow students to dabble, dive deep, or diversify!
Panther Activities Sessions 2020-2021
Semester 1: August, 2020 through December, 2020
Panther Arts, Panther Dance, Panther Golf, Panther Gymnastics, Panther Music, Panther Native Language Academy, Panther Soccer, and Panther Swim
Semester 2: January, 2021 through June, 2021
Panther Arts, Panther Dance, Panther Golf, Panther Gymnastics, Panther Music, Panther Native Language Academy, Panther Soccer, and Panther Swim
Season 1: August, 2020 through Mid-October, 2020
Panther Basketball, Panther Rugby, Panther Tennis, and Panther Volleyball
Season 2: Mid-October, 2020 through February, 2021
BBSA, Panther Basketball, Panther Rugby, Panther Tennis, and Panther Volleyball
Season 3: March, 2021 through April, 2021
Panther Basketball, Panther Rugby, Panther Tennis, and Panther Volleyball
Panther Activities is now on Facebook!
Anthony Giles
anthonyg@isb.ac.th
Please give us a like for the latest on program updates, what’s new, and announcements from Panther Activities.
Click here to go to our Facebook page.
In November and December 2020 elementary, middle, and high school art students worked with world renown artist, K. Kitti Narod, exploring themes of public spaces, groups and gatherings with his signature loose figures. This exhibition highlights the students’ joyful experiences with K. Kitti and his light, playful approach to his work. The works developed over his visit highlight some of the seemingly mundane aspects of daily life, those moments that provide the essential elements of connection, humor, wellness, and love. The focus of the work is apt with the current state of the world and the limits placed upon our interactions, communal gatherings, and movements.
Students considered questions such as… who has access to public spaces? What do public spaces provide for a community? A society? How do they reflect what a society values?
What are moments in my day that provide me with comfort? What makes me happy? Who do I love and want to surround myself with?
Visit Chevron Gallery to share in this experience!
INVENTION CENTER NOW OPEN AFTER SCHOOL
Anthony Giles
anthonyg@isb.ac.
Making in the Invention Center Workshop After School
Welcome to Mr. Travis Dynes, travisd@isb.ac.th, he will be our community workshop instructor for this semester in the Invention Center! His goal is to open the invention center up the ISB community after school and on weekends, offering classes and allowing time to work on personal projects.
Where? Invention Center
When? Everyday after school 3:00pm to 7:00pm and Saturdays 8am to 4pm in February and March
Stop by if you are interested!! You can also complete the safety form beforehand HERE. Hope to see you soon…
NOTES & BOLTS: News from Design, Fine and Performing Arts at ISB
Anthony Giles
anthonyg@isb.ac.th
IASAS DDT, FAD and Music CulCon at ISB – March 5th, 2021
Despite the challenges faced in response to COVID-19, our Dance, Drama, Tech, Forensics, Debate, and Music Delegates will be participating virtually with the other five IASAS schools March 3rd-6th with an opportunity for ISB HS students, faculty and staff to see the fifty plus debates, performances and speeches presented throughout the day on March 5th. See HERE for the tentative schedule and then make plans to attend. Seating is limited.
Kitti Narod Visiting Artist @ISB
Anthony Giles
anthonyg@isb.ac.th
In November and December 2020 elementary, middle, and high school art students worked with world renown artist, K. Kitti Narod, exploring themes of public spaces, groups and gatherings with his signature loose figures. This exhibition highlights the students’ joyful experiences with K. Kitti and his light, playful approach to his work. The works developed over his visit highlight some of the seemingly mundane aspects of daily life, those moments that provide the essential elements of connection, humor, wellness, and love. The focus of the work is apt with the current state of the world and the limits placed upon our interactions, communal gatherings, and movements.
Students considered questions such as… who has access to public spaces? What do public spaces provide for a community? A society? How do they reflect what a society values?
What are moments in my day that provide me with comfort? What makes me happy? Who do I love and want to surround myself with?
Visit Chevron Gallery to share in this experience!