Dear HS Parents and students,
Thank you for reading this message and being ready for the start of the school year on August 16th. As you all know via Dr. Davies’ regular updates, the COVID situation in Thailand, unfortunately, has not improved and we will be starting with our virtual school program for at least the first two weeks of the school year. Whilst we are hopeful for some version of returning to campus soon, we recognize that we might be in a virtual school setting for a period of time.
New year / new teachers
Please join us in welcoming our new ISB HS teachers.
Omar El Maaroufi (Mathematics)
Jared Hines (Yearbook and Annual Sub)
Curt Nichols (College Counselor)
April Soo (Mathematics)
Tracey Su (Strings – maternity cover for Adrianna for Semester 1)
Andrea Walsh (EAL and English)
Congratulations are also due to Adrianna Gricius (HS/MS Strings teacher) and Shafiq Aweida (MS Math) on the safe arrival of Okeanos (Ochi) Aurelio Gricius Aweida on July 28th here in Bangkok.
Virtual School
We have had some practice with virtual school over the past few years, and although it is not our preferred choice of providing instruction and learning to our students, we have worked hard on making sure that our virtual school protocols and online instruction from our teachers provides the best possible learning experience that we can under the circumstances. We have made some slight adjustments/improvements to our virtual school procedures based on feedback and suggestions from teachers and our community and we would now like to share this with our HS community
Daily virtual school schedule
We will start the school year on Monday, August 16th with a special schedule that will allow us to hold a welcome assembly, advisory, grade-level meetings, and short zoom meetings for all 8 classes. On Tuesday, August 17th we will follow a Day 1 rotation (classes 1, 3, 5, and 7) with the timings as listed below. Wednesday, August 18th will follow a Day 2 rotation (classes 2, 4, 6, and 8) and we will then repeat on subsequent days.
The day’s rotation and schedule is shared daily via the student notices which are emailed to all HS students each day. Students will be emailed the correct zoom links for their teacher’s classes, on or before Friday, August 13th.
Adjustments/Improvements
HL Time: Students in Grade 11 or 12 taking HL classes will be assigned an extra class from 8-8.45am according to the 8-day rotation.
Advisory: Will meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11.20-11.35am
Assemblies: Will take place on Wednesdays from 11.20-11.40am
Clubs/Arts/Activities and Athletics will take place after 2.50 pm each day
Times for Virtual School classes
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8.00-8.45am (extra HL classes for Grade 11/12 IB students)
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8.00-9.00am (students available for meetings with teachers as needed)
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9.00-10.00am (first block)
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10.15-11.15am (second block)
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11.20-11.35am advisory (Mon/Thu)
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11.20-11.40 Assembly/class meeting (Wed)
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11.45-12.30 Lunch
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12.30-1.30pm (third block)
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1.45-2.45pm (fourth block)
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2.50 onwards – Clubs/Activities/Athletics as per schedule
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2.50-3.50pm (students available for meetings with teachers as needed)
Link to more detailed virtual School Schedule
Resource/Material pickup
With all HS students having their school laptop with them, they already have access to the resources and materials that they need to start the school year. As we commence classes, we may be asking some students to make arrangements to come to campus in order to collect some materials or resources. This will not happen in the HS until after school has started and we will be sure to give advance notice to students and parents.
Virtual School Program details
Virtual school details are available in our handbook through the link below.
HS Community Virtual School Handbook 2021/22
This handbook includes sections on
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Communications and Directory
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Organization of Virtual School
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Virtual School Schedule (HS)
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Delivery of instruction (synchronous)
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Delivery of instruction (asynchronous)
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Student expectations
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Student Guidelines for Digital/Virtual Conferencing/Learning
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Requirements from home
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FAQs
Where will you be?
We know that some of our families may have decided to delay a return to Thailand or are in other locations at the moment due to the situation here. If you are in that situation, please do contact me (Justin Alexander) at justina@isb.ac.th so that we are aware of where your HS student will be and what time zone they are living in. This will help our teachers to be able to better support your HS student during virtual school.
Wellbeing
With more time online and in front of computers, it is important that we all make an effort to get away from screens, take time to exercise and interact with our families and friends to keep our energy levels up and be supportive of one another. Online school and time away from friends and teachers is not easy for many of our students and they may find this difficult and hard to face. Please know that our teachers, counselors, and administrators are all here to support you and your children during these challenging and uncertain times. Please do not hesitate to reach out and speak with us to seek assistance, support, and ideas to help you or your children.
We look forward to seeing our students in assemblies/advisories and classes soon and then back on campus in due course.
All the best
HS Admin team
Justin Alexander HS Principal
Justyna McMillan HS Dean of Academics and IB/AP Coordinator
Andy Vaughan HS Dean of Students