SLCs: Sign Ups Open March 3 @ 8AM!
We are looking forward to seeing you at our Student-Led Conferences (SLCs) on March 11-12. Please access your child’s individual letter containing additional details by logging into your PowerSchool account. Find “Parent Conference” on the left hand side. At the bottom of the letter you will find the link to schedule conferences through Pick-a-Time. Scheduling opens on Wednesday, March 3 at 8:00 AM and will close on Tuesday, March 9 at 2:00 PM
Here are some things to consider as we approach the conferences:
Before the Conference:
- Sign up for a time via PowerSchool before March 9th @ 2PM
- Complete the COVID disclosure form prior to arrival in order to access campus: https://form.jotform.com/210248021284041
- Be prepared to talk to your child about his/her strengths and areas for growth
- Understand this is the time for your child to take the lead and demonstrate their learning
During the Conference:
- Use the language with which you are most comfortable
- Be an active listener
- Be present (no mobile telephones, emails, texts)
- Avoid critiquing, instead focus on successes and new learning
- Ask questions of your child to help them reflect on their learning growth.
- Be mindful that what might seem small to you, might be a huge accomplishment for your child
- If your child seems nervous or shy, give them time and/or ask guiding questions about they work they are showing you
- If you want to take photos, please wait until the end of the conference
After the Conference:
- Talk with your child about the conference and develop a plan to implement any strategies that were discussed and goals that were set during the conference
- Remember to periodically check-in with your child regarding progress toward his/her goals
Feb. 22-26 February Break – No School
Have a wonderful February break! Classes resume on Monday, March 1. It will be an ‘A’ Day.
ES Parent Feedback to Class Placement Team 2021/22
As we want your child to flourish while attending ISB, your input as our partner in education is important. If there is any important or relevant information that you think your classroom teacher or counselor may not have that you feel would be helpful to consider as we make classroom placement decisions for the 2021-22 school year, complete the form linked here (hard copies available in ES office) and submit it to the ES Office by Monday, March 15, 2021. The information you provide will be taken into consideration by the Classroom Placement Team which includes the current and future grade level teams of teachers, counselors, and administration.
ES Parent Engage: Technology, Innovation, Design with Mark Marshall – March 4 @7:45
Are you interested in learning more about the new ES Makerspace? Would you like to learn more about design challenges and creating an innovator’s mindset? Then come to this session for some hands-on learning by doing a mini design challenge in the Makerspace. Full active participation is required! Please note that this will take place in the Makerspace. In order to attend, you need to first register with this link as the number of spaces are limited.
Join us on March 4th, 2021 at 7:45am!
ES Report Cards – March 5, 2021
Trimester 2 Report Cards will be ready to view or download through Powerschool on Friday, March 5 at 3PM. In Trimester 2, the ES report card measures learning in all areas. There are no comments given in Trimester 2, whereas the report card in Trimester 3 will contain both grades and comments from teachers.
You will need your log-in details for Powerschool to access your child’s report card. If you experience difficulty, or you cannot remember your log-in details, please contact our Ed Tech department at help@isb.ac.th.
March Music Celebrations of Learning
Please join us for the upcoming Music Celebrations of Learning for students in Kindergarten through Grade 5 in March! On the ES Music blog, you will find the dates and times for each grade level and class. Kindergarten and Grade 1 will be virtual watch parties that you may access via the Zoom links found in each class’s Seesaw announcement. Grades 2-5 will be sharing their learning live in the Chevron theatre. More information about how to register for the G2-5 celebrations will be updated in the near future. We hope to see you there!
Panther Park: Parent Supervision After Hours
Elementary students who are on campus after school or on weekends for ISB activities, must be supervised by a parent or guardian at all times. Masks are required for all students and parents on campus. Only ES students with a parent or guardian supervising are permitted in Panther Park. Please note that Panther Park closes daily at 4PM for cleaning and upkeep.
ES Free Dress Days
These two days are ‘Out of Uniform’ days in the Elementary School. On Pay choose to not wear their ISB uniform.
Appropriate dress guidelines for our ‘Out of Uniform’ days are:
- Pants/slacks/shorts—good condition
- Shirts/blouses—sleeves & midriff required, appropriate logos only
- Skirts/dresses/jumpers—sleeves required, modest length
- Shoes—sneakers, street shoes or leather sandals with back strap
- Hats must be worn all the time when playing outside during recess or during PE classes
ES Yearbook Photos
ES Yearbook photos will be taken the week of March 15th. Students will need to wear their red or white ISB uniform shirt. If your child’s PE and photo day fall on the same day, please send a red or white uniform shirt for them to change into for this photo session.
Monday, March 15 – Day C – All students who started school on or after September 17, 2020 will have their individual pictures taken.
Tuesday, March 16 – Day D – Class Photos – Gr1 (Barness, Murphy, Roback Scanton); Gr3 (Longman, Hart, Day); G5 (Goodman,Longfellow)
Wednesday, March 17 – Day E – Class Photos – PK1 (Trodden), PK2, KG (Brickerd), G2 (Eide, Hagen), G4 (Merrit, Dawson, Crimi)
Thursday, March 18 – Day F – Class Photos – ILC, G3 (Macky), G5 (Davis, Perkins, Murray)
Friday, March 19 – Day A – Class Photos – PK1 (Stalnaker), KG (Swanlaw,Whitman, Pool), G2 (Young, Giles), G4 (Bailey)
Photo Retakes: If interested in having your child’s September 2020 photos retaken, please email Khun Ann (naiyanar@isb.ac.th) any time before Wednesday, March 10th to sign up.
Weekly Message From Principal Allen
In this week’s eNews you’ll see that we have shared the link to the feedback form parents are invited to complete regarding their child’s classroom placement for the next school year. This is a great opportunity for you to share any additional information about your child that your child’s classroom teacher or counselor may not know.
Parents typically don’t complete the form as they feel that the teachers and counselors have all the needed information to set their child up for success, however if you are considering sharing feedback about your child with the classroom placement team, I encourage you to read the detailed letter that accompanies the form carefully as well as take a look at this short article for some advice about what you may want to include. The author’s suggestions align with the ISB expectation that parents not mention specific teacher names, and makes the following suggestions:
- write about your child’s strengths – academic and social – that the teacher or counselor may not be aware of.
- write about any concerns for your child that you haven’t had an opportunity to discuss with the teacher just yet. Include any details about special needs or personality traits that may need extra attention.
On behalf of the classroom placement teams, we look forward to learning more about your child through this parent feedback process!
Your partner in education,
Michael Allen, Ed.D.
michaela@isb.ac.th
Jumping for Elephants
2 weeks ago our students started jumping for elephants. This week we raised money from our sponsors. The turnout was incredible. At last count, we collected 245,000 baht. ES and MS students really stepped up with jumping and raising money! This money will be donated to OURLAND to be used to secure land to protect an important corridor allowing wild elephants and other wildlife to reach the river Kwai. Who is OURLAND? Click the link to find out. This could be a long term annual project since there is more land to buy, but our event raised more than enough to buy the first section which was our goal.
Thailand’s elephant population has dropped from over 300,000 elephants to less than 3500 wild elephants in about 100 years. While poaching for ivory and capturing elephants for entertainment are serious issues, the main reason for such a dramatic drop in wild elephants in Thailand is habitat loss. As human populations increase and more wild land is converted to farms, resorts, factories, housing, etc the elephants lose space and vital corridors to areas they need to reach. Thus protecting this corridor is crucial in helping elephants.
It is important to note that while we prefer hands on experiential learning at the site, Covid has made that very difficult and not practical right now. Ourland has also stated that funds are what they need most at the moment. Therefore, our action was this fundraiser. However, we will continue our long term relationship with Ourland for experiential service learning through Eco Trips and the Grade 7 service trip in May, 2021.
We thank all of you who participated and were a part of this solution to help keep wild elephants in the wild. If you would like to see our full presentation please click here.
Kerry Dyke
MS Service Learning Coordinator
<kerryd@isb.ac.th>
PAW PRINTS: News from the Panther Den
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!
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.
Panther ES Explore
Please note that during February Break, February 22 – 26 there will be no Panther (ES) Explore in session. There are few limited spaces available in some of our classes. Remember once the ES Explore schedule begins there are NO REFUNDS.
I am in the office daily from 2:00pm – 4:00pm if you have any questions or concerns.
Regards,
Livnat Ziskinder
Panther Explore Coordinator
PantherExplore@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.
Drinking Water Safety @ ISB
We are monitoring the articles in the media about the drinking water in Thailand and wanted to assure you that ISB is committed to ensuring that the water on campus is safe for our community. ISB drinking water systems are filtered and there have been preliminary onsite tests of 16 different water pollutants which have shown that the water is safe and below acceptable limits. In addition, ISB worked with an off site lab to do more extensive tests (12 parameters) on the tap and filtered drinking water, and the results of those tests confirmed that the water is safe and below acceptable limits. Please don’t hesitate to contact Facilities Director “Khun Mong” Pakpoom Sayampol <Pakpooms@isb.ac.th> with any additional questions or concerns you might have.
Kitti Narod – Visiting Artist ISB
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!
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.
(Repeat) Hub Access
The Hub Library is available to parents by appointment. Please mail ESHUB@isb.ac.th to set up your appointment, or visit library.isb.ac.th/hub.
See you soon,
Your HUB Team
(Repeat) 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 image
- 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.
(Repeat) PARENT ACTION REQUIRED: Student Tracking Locations
Even during VS, 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.
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>
Calendar of Events
February/March 2021
| Feb. 22-26 | February Break (No school) |
| Mar. 3 | Pick-a-Time Conference Scheduler Opens for Parents 8:00am |
| Mar. 4 | ES Parent Engage 7:45 am |
| Mar.4-5 | ES ‘Out of Uniform’ Day |
| Mar. 5 | ES Report card goes online @ 3pm |
| Mar. 5-22 | ISB ES Visual Art Exhibitions |
| Mar. 11-12 | ES Student-Led Conference |
| Mar. 15 | ES New Students & Retake Photos |
| Mar. 15
Mar. 16-19 |
Class Placement Parent Feedback Form Due
ES Class Photos |