MS Single Page View |

Reopening campus on Monday Jan 17th – Safety Expectations

by Dennis Harter, MS Principal
dennish@isb.ac.th

As you will have seen from Dr. Davies’s communication on Thursday evening, ISB will reopen on-campus learning on Monday, January 17th.

The first week of the semester online has been a good one to re-connect with students while working through uncertainty and positive cases in our community. We are now excited to welcome students back into our classrooms again with confidence in our safety measures and understanding of spread within the community.

Of course, in our efforts to keep everyone safe and our campus open for learning, we need the commitment of all community members to follow the safety protocols here on campus and to support that messaging outside of school.

At school we will continue to insist that students and staff:

wear approved masks properly in class, in halls, and throughout campus unless eating in the designated spaces or directed by their PE teacher/coach
hand sanitize before entering any classroom or other learning space
maintain distancing guidelines
have their own water bottles for refill and use
pull their mask back on properly after taking a sip from a water bottle when consuming outside the designated eating area (rather than walk around with masks off, while drinking)

We will continue to space desks in classrooms and assign seating to help with any contact tracing needed as follow up. Students will clean their own desks after use each lesson. All classrooms are thoroughly disinfected each evening.

Please remind your MS children to:

Bring their ID card – this is essential for entering campus
Bring a water bottle – otherwise it’s a long time without hydrating
Pack their backpack only with materials for the classes THAT day – otherwise bags get really heavy
Have some extra masks, especially for PE days – it’s nice to change out of a sweaty one
On PE days, they have to have PE uniform to change into and a uniform to wear for classes

And finally, we remind all families that the ATK tests and forms should be submitted on daily from Sunday to Thursday evenings, 4-8 pm. (Jan 16-20)

Last semester, our community was very good at following these guidelines and expectations. Of course, mistakes were made, but adults were monitoring and students were responsive to redirection. Messaging and modeling at home goes a long way to support our success with mask wearing – when parents remind their children about why it’s important, students are more likely to wear their masks properly at school. We appreciate your support.

We look forward to having students back on campus, learning and interacting together again. While we learn to live with COVID in our world, we will continue to maintain safety protocols to do our part to prevent transmission.

Schedule for Jan 17-21

We are excited to return to campus on Monday, January 17th. To ensure alignment with the daily schedule, Monday, January 17th will follow a Day 6 schedule, starting with Advisory in the morning.

Please note that on-campus schools starts at 7:20 AM in the MS and students should arrive to campus with sufficient time to make it to Advisory on time.

Since we are just returning to campus, Wednesday will be a full-length school day, not Early Release as scheduled in the calendar. School on Wednesday will be from 7:20 to 2:25 as usual.

Monday, Jan 17 – Day 6
Tuesday, Jan 18 – Day 7
Wednesday, Jan 19 – Day 8 (full day schedule)
Thursday, Jan 20 – Day 1
Friday, Jan 21 – Day 2

Here is a copy of the full rotation … again, please note the Monday, January 17th will follow the Day 6 order of classes.

Continuing Learning for those not coming to campus

by Dennis Harter, MS Principal
dennish@isb.ac.th

While we are excited to reopen on-campus learning on Monday, we understand that there are some students who are still unable to join us at this time. Our focus during school hours will be on in-class instruction, observing and ensuring safety measures, and making the most of in-person interactions and learning. As such, Virtual School will not continue with online “zoom classes” any longer.

The learning model for off-campus students will focus on providing resources and assignments online through our usual means of PowerSchool Learning and/or Google Classroom, along with direct email contact between teachers and students. Teachers will also maintain office hours immediately after school so that off campus students can connect personally with their teachers through Zoom.

Teachers will determine the best means with which to deliver learning for students unable to join on-campus classes.

The main guiding principles of our model for off-campus students are:

Teachers know the learning outcomes, the students, and the lesson plans best
It is not always possible to match online learning to face-to-face learning
Zooming in to watch a class in session is not the same as being there and can often be detrimental to students’ social-emotional wellbeing
We must ensure online students feel connected and engaged with their classmates and the learning
Clear communication between teacher and student is essential
Teachers will be available for off-campus Zoom during scheduled office hours after school.

We believe a “one-size-fits-all” approach to learning for students who are off-campus is not good for learning. Instead, we ask our teachers to consider their lesson plans, the class activities, and most importantly, the desired learning outcomes.

Depending on the learning circumstances, subject matter, lesson plans for the day, etc. the best way to access class learning should be and will be different. Teachers share specific instructions with students who aren’t on campus that may or may not include joining live on Zoom through email or other school communication tools (google classroom, PowerSchool Learning, etc.).

Maybe students will be asked to work on things asynchronously and manage their own time. Maybe for some classes they will be invited to join “live on zoom” with their classmates on campus. Each class is different to match the learning that’s happening.

Teachers will communicate the model to best match the learning. We believe with good teacher to student communication, it is better for learning than a one-size-fits-all approach.

We appreciate the support of our parent community, as our teachers repeatedly adapt with professionalism and care to the frequently changing circumstances.

Semester 2 Reporting and Communication Timeline

In an effort to keep you informed about the progress of your child, we’re sharing the communication and reporting timeline for Semester 2. On the dates listed below, you can access accurate information related to your child’s progress in PowerSchool and plan for our student-led conferences. You should always feel free to reach out to your child’s teacher and/or counselor if you have any questions or concerns related to your child’s progress.

These definitions will help you understand our reporting terminology:

Attainment of Learning Goals:

Students are assessed upon their current level of attainment of our ISB academic learning goals, including the key knowledge, skills, and understandings identified by our ISB curricular standards and grade-level benchmarks using the descriptors listed below. Progress may be assessed between levels (example: Meeting/Excelling) when the student has attained one level for some goals and the other level for other goals in a particular learning area.

Habits and Attitudes for Learning (HAL):

Our ISB Middle School HAL are behaviors and dispositions that support students’ progress towards achieving our Mission. Students who approach their learning with these habits and attitudes develop a growth mindset and become independent, life‐long learners.

Semester 2 Reporting and Communication Timeline

Panther Needs Help

At this time, one of our most courageous Panthers, and a proud member of our PK-12 community, is in need of our assistance. Evelyn Durbin, daughter of ISB teachers, Augusta and Charlie, has been fighting cancer over the past year. At this time, complications are requiring daily blood transfusions during her battle in the hospital. A strong show of support via blood and platelet donations through the Thai Red Cross in her name would be greatly appreciated. There is currently a nationwide shortage of blood and platelets, and although we cannot donate directly to Evelyn, this increases the resources so that they have ample resources for her and those like her. For donor-related concerns, please feel free to reach out to the ISB Health Center at isbnurse@isb.ac.th. In addition, several members of the ISB community have reached out to offer monetary support, as we know that the mounting medical costs associated with Evelyn’s care has already topped over 11,000,000THB. To this end ISB has set up a special “Friends of Evelyn” account. See bank details HERE if you would like to contribute.

We will be hosting a Blood Drive on campus February 1, 2022 with the Thai Red Cross, but don’t feel the need to wait, consider donating today! [ Details to follow ]

Donation Centers :

Thai Red Cross [Henri Dunant Road] – contact our office for details
The Mall Ngamwongwan , 5th floor [Government Center] [20 minutes from ISB campus] [Open 12.00-18.00]
Central Plaza Chaengwattana , 6th floor in front of Fitness First [Open 11.00-15.00], 5 minutes from campus
The Emporium , Sukhumvit, 2nd Floor, Building B [Open 12.00-18.00]

We know her family appreciates all the prayers, best wishes, and positive thoughts our community can give during this difficult time.

MS Athletics News

U12-U14 practices resume on Monday 17th January. Game schedules continue to be updated on www.isbathletics.com.

Parents – how to subscribe to our daily student bulletin

Dear New/Returning ISB Middle School Parents,

MS students are automatically enrolled to receive the daily “Good Morning Middle School” – Daily Student Announcements in their student ISB email account. These are delivered before each school day in the evening at approximately 5:00 pm.

The GMMS shares announcements of events, activities, sign-ups, and schedules for all MS students.

As a parent, if you would like to start receiving these announcements in your own email each day for this school year, please complete and submit this subscription form to do so. If you have already been receiving these this school year, you do not need to sign up again.

PANTHER ACTIVITIES 2022

New Sessions to Start January 31st

Offering PK-12 programs in Art, Baseball/Softball, Basketball, Dance, Gymnastics, Music, Rugby, Soccer, Swimming, Tennis, and Volleyball,

AND new this semester – Creative Ukuleles and Surf-Skating!

Look for more details about how to register in next week’s eNews.

Hanuman Film Festival at ISB – February 7th, 2022

We welcome all upcoming and current filmmakers (of all grades) to join us in the upcoming Hanuman Film Festival! Create and send in original films for a chance to win awards and prizes in the upcoming film festival on February 7th! To learn more, please fill out the form HERE, or email hanumanfilmfest@gmail.com.

MS Single Page View