Dear HS parents,
I am writing to you today to share information about and to confirm the adjusted High School schedule for the 2021/22 school year.
You will recall from earlier communications and from the January HS PTA meeting, that the HS Admin team and HS faculty have been looking at ways to adjust and improve the existing HS daily schedule for the coming school year. Along the way, we shared a number of drafts with the HS faculty, consulted with the Student and Service Councils and gathered feedback from our students and met with a small group of interested HS parents before deciding on an adjusted schedule for the coming school year.
We were not able to confirm this schedule until quite recently as we needed to wait for the school wide decision regarding the timing of and the number of early release days for the coming school year. Additionally, we needed to work with the MS team and make sure that the HS and MS schedules align, due to a number of teachers that teach in both the MS and HS and a small number of MS/HS students who share classes. We are now able to share the confirmed schedule with teachers, parents and students in this letter and share a presentation of the new schedule with parents at a zoom webinar on Friday June 4th at 10.30am. Parents can register for that zoom webinar by following details below.
Topic: Parent Webinar HS Schedule
Register in advance for this webinar:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_5XFqvOHtSCKHcQqW0mObhA
Aims and Goals of adjusting the current schedule
- To positively impact student wellbeing.
- More frequent check-ins / meetings with advisory groups.
- Create a CORE block for Grade 11 and 12 Students (delivery of TOK/CAS/EE/College counseling).
- Increase IB HL time and move to a different time of day (not at the end of the day).
- Maintain a dedicated lunch time (no club or advisory meetings during this time)
- Allow for dedicated HS Athletics/Arts/Block that does not conflict with MS Athletics.
- Try to maintain a later start to the school day for the majority of HS students where possible.
Summary of changes to the schedule
- All Gr 9-10 classes, non IB classes, and IB SL classes start first class at 7.50am.
- HL extra block moves from the end of the day (2.50pm) to the start of the day at 7.20am
- Gr 11 IB HL classes will start at 7.20am on the days when that class is scheduled to meet first block of the day.
- Panther block (Clubs) moves from 11.20am to after school 2.50-3.30pm (Mon, Tue, Thu and Fri).
- Advisory meets four days a week for 15 minutes (Mon, Tue, Thu and Fri).
- Lunch takes place at 12.40pm (after three lessons).
- Longer break for food/snacks after advisory/first lesson at 9.30am
- Assembly/grade level meetings will take place on Wednesdays.
Remains the same
- 8 day rotation with 4 classes each day.
- Late bus time for Athletic/Arts/Activities will stay the same (5.15pm)
- Early release days (8 during the year) classes will finish at 1.10pm
Times of day and 8 day rotation
You can see the timings of each block, advisory, lunch times etc by looking at this image below or by clicking on this link. We will continue to list the days’ rotation on school printed and online calendars for the coming year.
Panther Block (Afterschool Clubs and Councils)
Clubs and Councils will now meet on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday from 14:50-15:30.
Grade 9 and 10
Students will be required to join at least one ISB service club or council in order to meet their service experience requirements. In order to fulfill the service requirements, students will have to demonstrate commitment by attending most meetings and provide evidence of their involvement in the club’s activities/events. A student must demonstrate commitment to the club or experience through continual involvement over time. Special circumstances can be considered to students that apply and schedule an interview with Mr Assimakopoulos.
Grade 11 and 12
Students will use CAS as their guide as they maneuver through all the expectations of their academics and co-curricular activities.
Leadership
As officers; students are required to run meetings, plan events, organise, and communicate with members. Councils will meet on Tuesdays every week during Panther Block afterschool.
Students can hold no more than three leadership positions or two leadership positions and one council position.
HS Athletics program
Seasons: Athletics is split into four seasons throughout the year. Seasons one, two and three involved local and international competitions for the Varsity and local events for the Junior Varsity.
Season One: Cross Country, Soccer and Volleyball
Season Two: Swimming, Rugby/Touch, Tennis and Basketball
Season Three: Baseball/Softball, Golf. Badminton, Track and Field
Tryouts: Each Season tryouts are conducted for the selection of the Varsity and Junior Varsity teams. Students are given at least two days of tryouts before selection.
Training times: Monday, Tuesday and Thursday – 3:40 – 5:10. Wednesday – 4:00 – 5:10. Friday 3:10 – 4:40
HS Design, Fine & Performing Arts
Design, Fine & Performing Arts options at the high school are plentiful with over sixty courses offered annually in band, choir, dance, digital art, drama, design technology, film, media studies, photography, strings, and visual arts. IB group six courses include computer science, dance, film, design tech, music, theater, and visual art. Additionally, extracurricular activities include dance, drama and musical theater productions, Arts Council, and VEX robotics as well as opportunities for involvement in IASAS art, band, chess, choir, dance, debate, drama, film, forensics, MUN, music, piano, strings, and theater tech.
Upcoming Webinar
Thank you for taking the time to read this important communication about the adjusted schedule for the HS for the coming school year. Please join us on Friday at our Zoom webinar at 10.30am where we will share a short presentation and answer any questions about the schedule. You can register by clicking on this link – Webinar Link
Regards
Justin Alexander
HS Principal