‘IASAS Cultural Convention’
Justin Alexander
justina@isb.ac.th
Dear Parents,
We hope that you are as excited as we are about the return to campus on Monday morning for all of our students at the same time. We have experienced great success with the partial opening of campus over the past five weeks and are certainly ready to have everyone back. Our students will be reminded about existing and some new safety protocols by Andy Vaughan (email coming soon) and also on Monday when they are at school.
We are also looking forward to our HS students being part of the virtual IASAS Cultural conventions taking place this coming week in Film, MUN and Visual Arts. These conventions start on Wednesday or Thursday and run through to Saturday and will involve all of our partner IASAS Schools (TAS, ISKL, SAS, JIS, ISM and of course ISB). Mr Anthony Giles and his team have worked tirelessly to be ready for this virtual event and I look forward to sharing some highlights of these conventions with you next week.
In the weeks ahead we will see our clubs, activities and athletic programs becoming more active and being able to meet on campus with students from Gr 9-12 all participating. A spirit week is not far away and excitement amongst our athletes and artists etc is rising as well.
Student Parent teachers conferences will be held on Thursday November 18th and Friday 19th and you can read details in the separate article below about how to register and sign up for these virtual conferences. Please be sure to sign up early and before the deadline as we will not be able to entertain late registrations. These conferences will be held on zoom with your child joining the zoom meetings with their school email address sitting alongside you.
Have a wonderful weekend and all the best to our IASAS Cultural Convention participants.
Go Panthers
Justin Alexander
High School Principal
HS Student Parent Teacher Conferences
Justin Alexander & Andy Vaughan
justina@isb.ac.th & Andyv@isb.ac.th
This year’s semester 1 Parent-Student-Teacher Conferences will be hosted online using Zoom on November 18 & 19. Parents will sign up for short timed conference slots (5 mins typically) per child, with each teacher they want to meet. We will use a service called “Pick-a-Time” to coordinate this sign-up process, which blocks off time slots for appointments once they’ve been booked.
An email will be sent to our parent community on Tuesday, November 9th at 8:00 AM to open the sign-up application. It will remain open until Monday, November 15th, 3:00 PM.
Once the sign up is completed, you will be able to receive an email with your schedule and the zoom links for each meeting, this email is generated in Pick-a-Time.
Here are some instructions that you may want to look at, before Tuesday’s sign-ups.
On the day of conferences, it will be essential that your child logs in with their Zoom account so that the teacher can recognize which family is in the “waiting room” and they can remain on schedule. If you can sit with your child during conferences, then you can sit together in front of their computer. If you need to log in from a different location as your child, then your child will still log in and join and parents can join so that students can inform us to let you in from the waiting room. In many cases, we can’t recognize who is in the waiting room (due to names like “iPhone or iPad”).
Timing: Given the shortness of the interviews (5 minutes) please have your child join the teachers waiting room a few minutes before the start of that conference. Teachers will be instructed to keep the conferences to the times as per the sign up, so please understand that teachers will finish the conferences on time. You may want to leave a gap in between the conferences that you sign up for to allow you time to ‘move’ from one meeting to another.
If you have any questions about the sign up process for HS, please contact Khun Arisa at arisap@isb.ac.th
Upcoming Focus Meetings and Events for HS Parents
Justyna McMillan
justynam@isb.ac.th
A quick heads up to save the date, for informational meetings and workshop, focused on different groups in the High School.:
- Students Parent Teacher conferences – November 18th / 19th
- AP Informative Session for Parents – November 26th @ 10:30 AM (on zoom)
- Assessment and Grading for Learning with Ken O’Connor – December 1st @ 8:30 AM (on zoom)
- Mathematics and Language Pathways Workshop – December 2nd @ 10:30 AM (hopefully live)
- IB Basics – January 20th @ 6:30 PM
- Junior Parent University Night – January 20th @ 6:30 PM
- Grade 10 course Information Night – February 1st @ 6:30 PM
- HS Course Registration for Gr 9 & 10 – February 3rd time tbc
Justyna McMillan
High School Dean of Academics
Distribution of ATKs
Andy Vaughan
andyv@isb.ac.th
Additional ATK supplies were distributed to G9 & 10 students on Tuesday 2nd and G11 & 12 students on Thursday 4th November. In the event that a student was not at school to receive the ATKs, please email your division, Khun Vijit (Hui) vijitl@isb.ac.th to arrange pick up.
ATK Testing – Important reminder
A reminder that ATK testing now takes place on Sundays and Wednesdays between 4:00pm and 8:00pm – with results uploaded on the ATK Form within that same timeframe. If you need assistance with the ATK Form, please write to help@isb.ac.th
Please note that any student who has not completed their ATK test will not be allowed on campus and will need to return home to complete this.
iCare Food Drive
Peter Assimakopoulos
petera@isb.ac.th
iCare is now opening to accept food and necessities donations! “Food Drive” will be held from 11th, 12th, and 15th November. You can drop off food and necessities in front of the Panther all day. All the stuff will be donated to iCare Thailand Foundation. Please help out by bringing purchased food and dropping it off!!
This are list of food and necessities we are looking for:
- rice
- sardines
- bottle of oil (standard size not the 5L size)
- bottle of nampla (fish sauce)
- bottle of shampoo
- bottle of dish soap
- sponge for doing dishes
- bar soap
- laundry soap
- toilet paper
- mama noodles
- carton of Soya milk
- 1carton of milk
- snacks
Need to book me for an appointment? Use this link to make a booking.
News from HS Counselors
Jackie Valenzuela
jackiev@isb.ac.th
We are looking forward to having all students on campus this Monday. The next few weeks will certainly be a time of adjustment for all of us as we transition back to what used to be our typical routine. For most students it will be a welcome change. There are some, though, who have enjoyed virtual and/or the hybrid model of learning. If your student is feeling anxious about the return to school full time, please reach out and let their counselor know. We will make sure to check in with them this upcoming week.
News from University Counselors
Debbie McDowell
debbiem@isb.ac.th
Thank you to the parents who joined Mr. Nichols and Mr. Becker for the Parent Coffee focusing on Ranking. You can see the recording and access the slides here. Be sure to check out all the resources that were discussed in that session by clicking on the links in the slideshow! Watch this space for the announcement about future Parent Coffees that will be on the calendar for semester 2.
Seniors applying Early Action/Early Decision finished applications and submitted those by 1 November. The next deadlines will be 15 November for other Early Action applications and the University of Washington, 30 November for applications to the University of California and California State institutions, and then 1 December for all students applying to the UK through UCAS. Please encourage your child to submit well before any deadline. Last minute complications or unforeseen events could totally wreck an application. Have your child reach out to his/her counselor if they need support, application review, or essay feedback well in advance of submitting an application!
Please note: The Transcript Request Form is due on 23 November for all applications that have a deadline before 15 February. This will include most applications to Canada, Netherlands, Thailand and the US, as well as many others. Please discuss this deadline with your child to make sure he/she gets that form in before 23 November to guarantee that all supporting documents from ISB will be submitted on time.
Juniors will be joining their University Counselor in Junior Seminar #3 on Thursday next week. Counselors look forward to working with the students as they do the heavy mental work of self reflection and thinking about their preferences and priorities for their university applications. Now’s the time to start those conversations about expectations, limitations and aspirations relating to university selection and applications.
Next Monday!! 8 November, UK / Irish University Fair: 4:00-6:00 PM (Thai time). The UK/Irish Virtual University Fair will be live and interactive and hosted through the platform Airmeet. Students with their parents will have the opportunity to meet individually with university admission representatives at virtual university booths. The tentative list of universities participating can be found here. Pre-registration for the event was required in advance of the event (by 1 November) with the student’s school email. Those who pre-registered will receive a unique log in via email to be able to enter the event on 8 November. If you and/or your child registered for the UK & Ireland University Fair, please make sure they check their email for the email from Airmeet that will allow them to sign up for the account with Airmeet and then have access to the fair. See you there on Monday!
Exciting news! ISB and 13 other international schools in Bangkok will be hosting the first ever Virtual Thai University Fair on 30 November, 2:30-4:30 pm. The early list of universities that have confirmed their participation includes 12 universities and 26 Faculties. The list will be made available closer to the time. The event will be held on the Airmeet platform and pre-registration will be required for students and parents to participate. A school email will be required to register for this event. Registration link will be provided closer to the date.
Interested in learning more about US University Admissions?
Consider joining the U.S. University Admissions Roundtable that the U.S. State Department’s Office of Overseas Schools is hosting in partnership with the College Board on November 10 for students and families. The roundtable will cover applying to U.S. colleges in these uncertain times and help guide students on any policy changes or enhancements resulting from COVID-19. The panel was very well-received by participants last fall. We will run the roundtable twice to accommodate for multiple time zones. Here are the registration links for quick access:
November 10, 2021 o 8:00 am Eastern Time o Register here!
November 10, 2021 o 8:00 pm Eastern Time o Register here!
Confirmed speakers include:
- Shawn Abbott, Assistant Vice Provost for Admissions, Financial Aid, & Enrollment Management, Temple University
- Adele Brumfield, Vice President for Admissions, University of Michigan
- Doug Hartog, Director of Admission, University of Virginia
- Diane McKoy, Senior Associate Director | Undergraduate Admissions, Director of Training and Professional Development, Columbia College | The Fu Foundation School of Engineering & Applied Science, Columbia University
- Elisabeth O’Connell, Senior Associate Dean of Undergraduate Admissions, University of Pennsylvania
Virtual university visits: The university counselors are hosting many virtual visits with universities from around the world (7:15-7:45 am, 12:50-1:15 pm, and 3:00-3:45 pm) for ISB students and parents. There are 3 sessions exclusively for ISB students and parents next week: Study Texas representing 40 universities in Texas, The Magnificent 7 Group, and Hofstra University! Be sure to check the Virtual University Visit list for university presentations that are scheduled exclusively for ISB students and parents (highlighted in yellow). In addition, there are many other virtual events available for any students interested in gaining more information about particular institutions so please check the Virtual University Visits list on the ISB University/College Counseling website for loads of information!
Want to find out more about the University Counseling program at ISB? Please visit the ISB University Counseling website.
ISB Athletics Season 2 registration – Varsity and Junior Varsity
Chris Mott
chrism@isb.ac.th
Season Two High School Athletics will begin tryouts on Monday the 8th of November. All students should remember to sign up HERE for their season two selection. Check out this week’s eNews for more information about what’s on offer.
News from HS Library
Christopher Bell
christob@isb.ac.th
Please click News from HS Library
PANTHER ACTIVITIES ARE BACK!!!
Anthony Giles
anthonyg@isb.ac.th
Registration will be open from 3:00pm November 10th through 3;00pm on November 12th for the return of Panther Activities. While some programs like the Panther Native Language Academy, ES Music Ensembles, and Cub, Boy, and Girl Scouts run throughout the year, look for new sessions in art, baseball & softball, dance, golf, gymnastics, music, soccer, swimming, tennis, and volleyball November 15th through December 16th. With COVID safety protocols in place, we hope that the return of these programs provides a number of pathways for students to stay active and engaged with the activities that capture their passion and interest. Please also check out Season 2 ISB Athletics opportunities HERE.
How to register on CHQ: Step by step instructions for navigating CHQ can be found HERE. Simply log into PowerSchool, then press the CHQ button on the left side of your screen. Once in CHQ you will find an account for each of your children in which you will only be able to see the activities for that child’s age group and grade level. Where available, you may click the blue “i” to the right of each activity title for a description of that activity. Please contact Lucas or Anthony at PantherActivities@isb.ac.th for general questions, or any of the Panther Activities Coordinators at the email address listed below.
PantherArts@isb.ac.th, PantherBoyScouts@isb.ac.th, PantherBaseballandSoftball@isb.ac.th, panthercubscouts@isb.ac.th, PantherDance@isb.ac.th, PantherGirlScouts@isb.ac.th, PantherGolf@isb.ac.th, PantherGymnastics@isb.ac.th, PantherMusic@isb.ac.th, PantherNativeLanguageAcademy@isb.ac.th, PantherSoccer@isb.ac.th, PantherSwim@isb.ac.th, PantherTennis@isb.ac.th, and PantherVoleyball@isb.ac.th.
IASAS Art, Film and MUN 10-13 November
Anthony Giles
anthonyg@isb.ac.th
Preparations are underway for IASAS Art & Film, and MUN. With over 300 delegates, 150 artworks, 27 films, 10 guest artists, 8 UN Committees and 1 International Court of Justice, this year’s events promise to be amazing!
