Message from the HS Principal
Dear Parents,
I hope that you and your families are all safe and well at the moment. Our thoughts are with everyone who is currently impacted by the changing COVID situation and in particular members of our ISB community who have tested positive. Please join me in sending our collective support and best wishes to them and we all hope that they have a quick and full recovery.
Virtual school continues for the coming week and I want to pass on my thanks to our students for their efforts and engagement in virtual school classes this week. Our teachers too are working hard to provide engaging and challenging lessons and they continue to lead the learning for our students. Thank you to our teachers for their efforts at this time.
A challenge for everyone (parents, teachers and students) is the uncertainty of the current situation, particularly regarding when school might reopen and if so, what restrictions may be in place at school. To help combat some of that uncertainty, we are making decisions about a number of upcoming events that are in question. In particular that includes canceling the Gr 9 – 11 exams, DELVE, the May 8 and June 5th SAT’s and making adjustments to a number of other events that are coming up in the next month or so. An emailed letter was sent out earlier today to all HS parents and students explaining in more detail the reason behind the cancellation of the Grade 9 -11 exams along with a list of other canceled or postponed events.
The HS admin team met earlier today with the HS Parent graduation committee and our Senior Student council to discuss possible plans for this year’s graduation given the current situation. We plan to have a communication ready to share with parents of seniors and the class of 2021 by Tuesday morning, that will give more details about the possible plans for graduation at this time.
Parents who plan to leave Bangkok or Thailand prior to June 11 are asked to contact Justin Alexander, HS Principal at justina@isb.ac.th , to share the details of your departure. Please note that when virtual school ends and classes resume on campus, virtual learning for students who don’t return to campus will continue in the form of asynchronous learning tasks and assignments.
Once again, please be sure to stay safe and stay healthy. Our teachers, counselors and HS admin team are ready to help you and your children with any questions or concerns that you might have at this stage.
Please do reach out to any one of us if you need some help or someone to talk to.
All the best
Justin Alexander
High School Principal
justina@isb.ac.th
DELVE Refunds
Andy Vaughan
andyv@isb.ac.th
We are in the process of organising DELVE refunds for all families who have made a payment prior to the cancellation of these trips.
We are pleased to inform parents that we are able to make bank transfers directly into your Thai account this year. For those that don’t have a Thai Bank account, we have a variety of options available for you.
Please complete the form that will be shared via email by Wednesday 28 April in order to allow us to process refunds by mid May.
Parent Drug and Alcohol Presentation
Andy Vaughan
andyv@isb.ac.th
Thank you to the many parents that joined us for Wednesday night’s presentation on Drugs and Alcohol. We were fortunate to have John Schachnovsky, a retired Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent with 25 years of federal law enforcement share his experiences.
John worked with our Grade 9,10 and 12 students earlier in the year so we were able to share some of what he shared as well as engaging in a Q&A session for parents.
For those parents that missed Wednesday night, the recording of this is available to view at the link below:
Topic: Drug and Alcohol Parent Presentation
Date: Apr 21, 2021 06:11 PM Bangkok
Meeting Recording:
Access Passcode: Panthers21!
Celebration of Service CANCELED
Peter Assimakopoulos
petera@isb.ac.th
Dear All,
A note that the Celebration of Service has been canceled this year. Originally, we were looking to postpone this event to a later date. With the uncertainty of the COVID situation at this time and a probable restriction to our campus for visitors, we have made the decision to cancel Celebration of Service this year.
If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out via email at petera@isb.ac.th
Prom and Grade 9/10 Dance CANCELED
Peter Assimakopoulos
petera@isb.ac.th
Dear All,
As you might have read in our previous communication, PROM and the Grade 9/10 Dance have been canceled this year.
Thank you,
Peter A
News from the College Office
Sonya Ohlsson
sonyao@isb.ac.th
Seniors:
If you have received a decision from a university, please put it into Cialfo. If you have made your final decision about which university you will attend, please also indicate that in Cialfo. This is how we will know where to send your Final ISB Transcript. If you do not indicate your attending university in Cialfo, we will not be able to send a Final ISB transcript. For the schools you are not going to attend, please let those schools know so they can dip into their Waitlists and make offers to other students. Do this by going on to your portal or sending an email to the admissions office that includes your full name, date of birth and high school. Everyone on a Waitlist would really appreciate it!!
Several weeks ago, you would have received instructions from Mrs. McMillan about which schools you want to have access to your IB exam results–this is different from the ISB transcript. We do not send your IB Exam Results to your schools, so make sure that if your chosen university needs your IB Exam Results you have followed those instructions. IB Exam Results are only official if they come directly from the IB Organization.
If you are Waitlisted, please don’t forget to go ahead and make a deposit somewhere you were admitted so you have a spot saved for you in case you do not get off the Waitlist–make sure it’s someplace you would be happy to attend!! Waitlists are tricky and unpredictable!
If you have received all of your UCAS/UK school decisions, please make your choices–one Firm and one Insurance choice. Then please release any remaining offers so that those spots can go to other candidates.
Juniors:
Juniors had their first essay draft due to their college counselor on April 9th. We look forward to reading them and giving feedback to help support the development of some amazing essays.
April 9 was our last Junior College Seminar of the year. We had a lot to talk about as a group, but it is not the last time juniors will meet with their counselors! They should continue to reach out and schedule times to meet throughout the rest of the semester.
Juniors have also formally asked their teachers for letters of recommendations this week. They have a questionnaire they must fill out, one for each of the two teachers they asked, and they put the questionnaire and requested the teacher in their Cialfo account, following the step-by-step directions they were given after the presentation on April 9.
Juniors have all met with their counselor and presented for their Junior-Led Conferences. At this point, they should be continuing on with their research, looking at their Cialfo Longlists and adding or deleting things from it as they research. It will be important for them to keep meeting with their counselor so that we can provide feedback and guidance, especially as they look at potential colleges and universities.
Parent Coffees:
On Wednesday, we held a webinar on Financial Aid and how it works in multiple countries around the world. It is a complex issue and it can change each year, so it’s important for students and families to do their research. It’s helpful if a student and their parents can share their realistic budget with their college counselor early on in the counseling process so we can have an understanding on how to help support the student in their searching for schools and helping them find options.
To watch the presentation, please find the recording on our site: tinyurl.com/isbcollege. And here is the PDF of the presentation with clickable links.
On Thursday, we hosted a representative from the US Embassy to talk about applying for a student visa. For all students, no matter what your passport is or where you are attending university, if you will need a visa to study in a certain country, please reach out to that country’s embassy or consulate to get the latest information about what you need to get a student visa to attend university. A recording of the session will be placed in the Resources section of our college website.
Summer Programs:
If you are wondering what to do during the summer, check out our summer program opportunities list on the College Counseling Google site: Summer Programs
PSAT10:
Just a reminder that the PSAT10, scheduled for the afternoon of April 27th, has been cancelled. Students will have the opportunity to take another Practice test in October, as juniors.
ISB Virtual University Visits:
There are currently no virtual visits scheduled, but we strongly encourage students, especially Juniors, to take the time to check out the schools they are interested in or want to learn more about and join in on one of their virtual campus visits, virtual information sessions or open houses. Showing demonstrated interest (officially signing up and participating) will play a far more significant role in admissions in the next few years than it ever has done in the past–this is coming directly from universities. So, please, do not neglect the usefulness of gaining virtual access to places you might apply to!
To find the links and registration for some virtual events, go to our College Site.
There is a USA Community College Fair is tomorrow. Community Colleges are a great (and cheaper) way to prepare for a 4-year degree!!
Saturday, April 24th from 11:00am-1:00pm (Thailand time). This fair is FREE and is open for students and parents to join!
Here is the link to pre-register, learn about the participating colleges, and join the fair: https://aeotour.com/community-college-event/
Zoom presentations (these will also be recorded and the links are on the website):
- 11:00am-11:10am (Thailand time) – “Meet our University Partner! CCS+Gonzaga University” – Trina Allen, Community Colleges of Spokane
- 11:10am-11:20am (Thailand time) – “Advantages of Studying at Community Colleges” – Sandra Bonifield, Bellevue College
- 11:20am-11:30am (Thailand time) – “Misconceptions About 2 Year Colleges” – Rachel Wood, Butte College
~Sonya Ohlsson (she/her)
Head of College Counseling
News from HS Counselors
Shannon Leoni
shannonl@isb.ac.th
We hope that virtual school has gotten off to a strong start for everyone, and that April break was as restful and relaxing as can be expected.
One event to highlight from this week was the well-attended ‘Drugs and Alcohol in Bangkok and Your Child’ presentation from John Schachnovsky, a retired Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Agent. There was a great discussion with parents, and lots of helpful takeaways. The presentation focused on ways to have thoughtful and consistent conversations with your children about healthy decision-making, and ways that ISB continues to provide resources and support for students in that area as well. We welcome any questions or comments from parents around this topic.
As we continue with virtual school, please let us know if you have any concerns about your child or would like us to get in touch with them. Our counseling team is ready to be supportive in whatever ways we can. We remind students to keep finding the balance with school and self-care, and to stay safe and well.
News from HS Library
Christopher Bell
christob@isb.ac.th
Please click News from HS Library