Message from the Principal

Dear Parents,

We have enjoyed a great week of school being back on campus, but are looking forward to the weekend for a rest. It always takes a little time to get back into the swing of things with the early morning start and the fullness of a regular school day, but our students and teachers are right into it. As the week progressed, we saw more and more students return to campus after completing travel or covid related quarantine periods. Our attendance has been excellent with Thursday’s attendance approaching 93% and we anticipate even more students joining us on Monday once their quarantine period finishes. 

The months of February and March are busy as we start the process of subject and course selections for students currently in Grade 8, 9, and 10 in particular. Please keep a lookout for more details from Ms. Justyna McMillan about upcoming events and information that you and your children should be aware of in advance of submitting subject choices for the next academic year. 

Once again, we are excited to be back on campus with activities, athletic events, and club meetings all taking place. 

All the best
Justin Alexander
HS Principal

• Please be reminded that we return to our ‘usual’ ATK testing regime – Sunday night and Wednesday night (between 4-8 pm). Students who do not complete an ATK test on those evenings will not be able to access campus the next day. 

 

IB Basics Presentation 

Justyna McMillan
justynam@isb.ac.th

Dear Parents,

 Thank you to those parents who joined us on 20th January, for this informative session. We hope the presentation was useful and helped to answer any questions about the IB at ISB . For those who were unable to attend, we are happy to share the video and presentation slides.  

Link to Video Presentation 

Link to Presentation Slides 

If you have any further questions, please let us know. 

 

Course Registrations for the 2022-2023 Academic Year

 Justyna McMillan
justynam@isb.ac.th

Although it is only the beginning of Semester 2 of this year, it is never too early to start thinking about the next academic year. We are happy to share the Course Registration timeline and what is happening in the next few weeks:

Friday 21st and Friday 28th January: 

• Grade 8 into 9 – Course Registration Sessions with Counselors (students only)

Tuesday 1st February: 

• Gr10 Subject Fair, providing students with the opportunity to talk to subject teachers about options for GR11  (students only)
• GR9 into 10 – Course Registration Session with Counselors and Subject Fair (students only)

Tuesday 1st February:  

• GR10 Course Selection Webinar @ 6:30PM – this is open to current GR10 students and parents and will provide an overview of pathways and courses available. Webinar registration link will be shared next week.

Wednesday February 2nd to Thursday February 8th:

• Course Registration open on PowerSchool for all grade levels

Thursday February 3rd:

• GR 8 and 9 Course Selection Webinar @ 10:30 AM (for parents). Webinar registration link will be shared the week before. 

 Please note that apart from meetings with counselors, subject fairs and webinars, teachers are also talking to students in class about different opportunities available. Gr10 students will have the opportunity to talk with their College Counselor regarding pathway and subject choices, between February 3rd and 8th in dedicated small group sessions. 

For further information about subjects on offer and other opportunities, please refer to our Program of Studies, which is available on our website.

 

ISA Testing for Grade 10 Students

Justyna McMillan
justynam@isb.ac.th

ISB conducts external standardized testing periodically in order to review our programs and compare ourselves to like-minded schools, evaluate the effectiveness of our curriculum, and monitor student progress and trends across the school.  

On February 3rd and 4th,  students in grades  7, and 10 are scheduled to take the International Schools Assessment (ISA) in Mathematical Literacy, Reading, and Writing.  More details about the tests will be communicated  next week. 

You can access the ISA Privacy Statement here. If you have any questions, please contact Debi Caskey, Deputy Head of School for Learning (debic@isb.ac.th)

 

News from the University Counselors
Debbie McDowell
debbiem@isb.ac.th

Grade 11

Junior Seminar was on Monday and all grade 11 students met with their university counselor during that time. The students were introduced to the Maia Learning platform that we will be using for university research, application lists and delivering application materials. The main topic of the seminar was about Junior Led Conferences. Students were given a template to guide their preparation for the meeting that will take place with the student, their parents and the university counselor. 

Junior Led Conferences begin 1 Feb through 31 March (University Counselor office and/or Zoom). All grade 11 students are required to schedule a Junior Led Conference with their university counselor and their parents during the months of February and March. The meeting will be the starting point for the university research and selection process for each student and family. Please work with your child to set that appointment well in advance during the student’s free period or if the student doesn’t have a free, after school. This is a mandatory meeting and both parents are expected to attend, in person or via zoom. The counselors look forward to hearing from the students about what their plans are for after ISB!

Thanks to all the parents and students who attended the Junior and Parent University Night on Thursday. The counselors are always grateful for the opportunity to meet with families and provide information about the university selection and application process. To review the presentation, please find the link on the University Counselor website. 

Grade 12
Application Results. Seniors should have heard back, or will soon hear, about the results of their Early Application or Early Decision applications. Universities making decisions on a rolling basis have also started releasing decisions. Please encourage your child to check their application portals, email inbox and spam folder regularly to watch for those decisions or in case other information or materials are required. Please be sure your child shares their university application results with their university counselor! The next Senior Seminar is 23 February. 

University counselors have sent out the Mid Year Reports to all universities that require those updates and to which the seniors applied. Students should monitor their application portals to ensure all materials are received by the university. 

Parent Coffees
Thank you to those who were able to attend the Parent Coffee on Monday. The topic was Higher Education in the United States. You can view the presentation on the recordings tab of the University Counseling website. 

Future Parent Coffees:
The next two months of Parent Coffees will be focusing on the application process in different countries. This is a great introduction for grade 9 to 11 parents about what is coming in the next few years for your child. So, mark your calendars!  The dates that are set so far are:

February 7: United Kingdom and the UCAS Application

February  21:  Applying to Canada 

February 28: Applying to the Netherlands 

In March, the focus will be on Hong Kong, Australia, Japan, Korea, and Thailand. Watch this space for the details and dates!

Virtual university visits: Be sure to check the Virtual University Visit list for university presentations that are available for students and families to join. 

Please check the ISB University/College Counseling website for loads of information. You will find university research tools, transition resources for students and parents, recordings of Parent Coffees and family presentations, virtual university visits, information about testing and how to sign up for the SAT at ISB, a list of summer programs about which the counselors have been informed, and the ISB School Profile. 

 

News from School Counselors

Shannon Leoni
shannonl@isb.ac.th

Next week in Advisory, we will focus on the topic of “Words Matter.”  The goal of our time together next week and throughout the rest of the semester is to celebrate and embrace our diversity through self-respect and respect of others and to empower our students to be an ally by speaking up against harmful words and actions.  

During the course of the week students will have the opportunity to watch a few short videos related to the power of words and then engage in reflective conversations within their advisory. On Tuesday, students will watch a TedX Talk by Alexis Jones titled “Locker Room Talk. Says Who?” This video invites, inspires and educates young men on the importance of respecting women.  Regardless of where the conversations are happening (the classroom, locker room, virtually or any other social settings) it is important that we highlight that young men are a large part of the solution of living in a world where all humans are valued and respected. This video is a frank, honest and inspiring video but Ms. Jones does use profanity a couple of times. 

We are looking forward to engaging in these important conversations with our students in the coming week, however we understand that there may be some families that would prefer their children not watch the video on Tuesday. If this is the case, can you please send a short email to your child’s school counselor so that we can arrange an alternative activity at that time.

For those that would like to continue the conversation at home, or aren’t sure where to start with this conversation, here are a few prompts to guide: 

• On Monday, we’ll discuss what it means to be an upstander. What does that look like for your child to be an upstander?
• On Tuesday, ask your student to tell you about Alexis Jones’ video and what they learned from it.
• On Wednesday we’ll discuss self-respect. What does self-respect mean to your child? 
• Thursday is a student-led activity about unhealthy friendships and relationships. What could your child do if they feel concerned about a friend impacted by one of those?
• Friday we’ll discuss further what it means to be an upstander and watch a few scenario videos. Please ask your child which scenario stood out to them and why.

For any questions, please contact your child’s counselor.

 

News from Athletics

Chris Mott
chrism@isb.ac.th

ISB Athletics season 3 registration is now open for Grade  9-12

Tryouts for Baseball, Softball, Track & Field and Golf start on Monday 21st February.  Please register on the ISB Athletics website https://inside.isb.ac.th/isbathletics/. 

Season 2 game schedules can be viewed on  www.isbathletics.com.

BMAC Short Course Championships @ ISB
Coach Day and the Aquatics team will be hosting the first BMAC Short Course Championship on Saturday the 29th and Sunday the 30th of January. 

NIST and Patana will be attending the this inaugural event involving some 300 swimmers over the two day event

Grade 3 – Grade 5 
8:0030am – 11:00am – Saturday the 29th 

Grade 6 – Grade 12
11:00 – 2:30 – Saturday 29th January 
9:00 – 12:30 – Sunday 30th of January 

 

News from HS Library

Chris Bell
christopb@isb.ac.th

Please click News from HS Library 

 

TEDx Night at ISB – January 26th, 2022

Anthony Giles
anthonyg@isb.ac.th

It’s time for the annual TEDx night at ISB!  Please join the English Department in celebrating our fantastic speakers.  The big night is Wednesday, January 26th at 6:30pm.  Come excited, come energize, and leave educated!  Due to Covid restrictions, a limited number of 90 tickets will be available for students.  The GOOGLE FORM will open on Sunday, January 23rd at 8:00pm.  Once registered, you may pick up your ticket on the night of the event at the door.  Please note one student may only register for ONE ticket.  Transportation available after the show for downtown students.  See you on the 26th!

 

Registration is now open for the next round of Panther Activities! 

Anthony Giles
anthonyg@isb.ac.th

Sign up HERE through 12:00pm Tuesday, January 25th for PK-12 Panther Activities programs in Art, Baseball/Softball/BBSA, Basketball, Dance, Golf, Gymnastics, Music, Native Language Academy, Rugby, Soccer, Swimming, Tennis, Volleyball, AND new this semester – Creative Ukuleles and Surf-Skating! 

Following the registration window, January 21-25, there will be a two day window for processing after which parents will be notified with 

confirmation of their selections by Friday, January 28th.  

Open Registration: January 21-25, 2022
Processing: January 26-27, 2022
Confirmation of Activities: January 28, 2022
Payment Window: February 4-11, 2022 

New sessions to start January 31st!!! 

For general questions contact Anthony or Lucas at PantherActivities@isb.ac.th. Or, for program specific questions, please contact our Panther Activities Coordinators at the email addresses listed below.

PantherArts@isb.ac.th, PantherBaseballandSoftball@isb.ac.th, PantherBasketball@isb.ac.th, PantherDance@isb.ac.th, PantherExplore@isb.ac.th, PantherFitness@isb.ac.th, PantherGolf@isb.ac.th, PantherGymnastics@isb.ac.th,  PantherMusic@isb.ac.th, PantherNativeLanguageAcademy@isb.ac.th, PantherRugby@isb.ac.th, PantherSoccer@isb.ac.th, PantherSwim@isb.ac.th, PantherTennis@isb.ac.th, and new this semester… PantherXtreme@isb.ac.th

 

High School Musical Auditions Extended through January 27th, 2022

Anthony Giles
anthonyg@isb.ac.th

Dust off your dancing shoes and warm up that voice for Virtual Auditions due January 27th. Live auditions will be held the week of January 31st (more details to follow). Still have questions about ISB’s production of  High School Musical: The Musical and how you can get involved with the show on stage or off? Contact Mr. Giles, Ms. Fuson, or Ms. Price at anthonyg@isb.ac.th, lindsayf@isb.ac.th, or jaleeap@isb.ac.th respectively. 

Remember, We’re All in This Together! 

 

STANDING TOGETHER WITH EVELYN

Anthony Giles
anthonyg@isb.ac.th

GIVE BLOOD

As you may already be aware, one of our most courageous Panthers, and a proud member of our PK-12 community, is in urgent need of our assistance. Evelyn Durbin, daughter of ISB teachers, Augusta Harison Denby and Charlie Durbin, has been fighting cancer for the past year. Complications from her most recent chemotherapy are requiring daily blood transfusions, and given the nationwide shortage of blood and platelets in Thailand, ISB will be hosting The Purple Blood Drive on campus February 1st, 2022 in partnership with the Thai Red Cross. Sign up HERE.   

MAKE A DONATION

Facing near total kidney failure last week required a special emergency treatment for Evelyn not covered by medical insurance, so besides the obvious anguish she and her parents are feeling, the mounting costs associated with her care have now topped over eleven million Thai Baht. To help on this front, ISB has set up a special “Friends of Evelyn” account with donations accepted through PayPal, or by direct deposit at Bangkok Bank. Time is of the essence. 

WEAR PURPLE

Finally, in a show of solidarity in support of Evelyn and her family, we are asking everyone to wear purple to school on February 1st!

 

 

IASAS Chess Tournament – January 22nd, 2022

Anthony Giles
anthonyg@isb.ac.th

This Saturday, from 9-12 in the morning, the 6 players from the ISB chess team will be competing against other Southeast Asian schools in the IASAS Chess tournament. The games will be live-streamed on the ISB Youtube Channel alongside commentary for viewers. We highly encourage friends, family, and teachers, even if they are chess beginners, to join us on Saturday and spectate. The link where you can watch will be sent a follow-up email. Don’t miss out, and best of luck to the chess team!

 

Maharaj Boys

Anthony Giles
anthonyg@isb.ac.th

The Maharaj Boys School has recently been struck with a wave of covid and needs help. The school is currently home to 1000 boys who are in need of supplies. The government is only providing the school 19 baht a day per child. For reference the average meal costs 30 baht, way less than the needs of the boys. If you want to help, a small donation would go a long way. These are the supplies that the school needs:

• Water (small cup for one time use)
• Soap
• Alcohol (hand sanitizer)
• Masks
• Gloves
• Trash bags
• Rice and other non perishable food
• Eggs
• Milk
• Cooking oil and other ingredients
• Snacks
• Disinfectant cleaner

If you would like to donate please contact Nami Amirmokri at 21348@stuudents.isb.ac.th