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Message from HS Principal

Hi Everyone,

We are continuing to enjoy having students perform and share their talents with their classmates and with parents in recent weeks with a number of performances taking place. More than 200 parents and friends gathered in the Chevron to watch our first live BOrCH convert for a number of years. Our Band, Orchestra and Choir ensembles were able to finally share their talents and skills live on Tuesday night and it was wonderful to see our proud parents in the audience clapping and cheering on their children in person. Thank you to our music teachers and our wonderful support staff for putting together a great concert.

We were also able to wish our senior students all the best with their exams as they finished their classes on Tuesday afternoon. It was great to see them enjoy a countdown in the MPB to 2.40pm before officially finishing their IB classes and then jumping in the pond at the front of school! Good luck Seniors.

We are continuing to monitor our absences due to Covid and can report that HS cases have continued to stay low over the past few weeks You can see the numbers for the past few weeks on this chart. Please do be sure to contact the Health team and me asap if your child does test positive so we can check on close contacts and let teachers know about absences.

Justin Alexander

HS Principal

ATK Kit Final Distribution

Andy Vaughan
andyv@isb.ac.th

Your child’s current supply of ATK’s will run out on Sunday 8 May. All Grade 9-11 students will be issued the final round of ATK’s on this coming Monday/Tuesday 2nd/3rd May.

As a reminder, ATK’s supplied to each child is based on their use only at the scheduled and required ISB times (Sun/Wed). If ATK’s provided by the school have been used by families for additional testing purposes, then we ask for you to replenish them yourself by purchasing ATK’s from a local pharmacy.

Parents on Campus
Andy Vaughan
andyv@isb.ac.th

Please note that ISB parents are now allowed on campus from 1:30pm weekdays.

For campus access, parents will need to have had a negative ATK and submit the ATK Self-Declaration Form (ATK’s can be purchased at a local pharmacy. If you use a school provided ATK, please replace it as they are intended for student use only).
- For access Monday – Wednesday (Test between Sunday at 4:00 PM and Wednesday at 3:00 PM)
- For access Thursday – Sunday (Test between Wednesday at 4:00 PM and Sunday at 3:00 PM)
Please wear ISB lanyards at all times and remain in the common public areas of campus (i.e. MS/HS cafeteria) and avoid learning spaces (grade level and subject area quads, libraries, etc).
Appointments will still be needed to meet with staff and administrators
Masks must be worn properly at all times in all areas of the school.
Any food or drink must be consumed only in the designated cafeteria spaces with appropriate spacing maintained.

2022 Prom

Peter Assimakopoulos
petera@isb.ac.th

Dear Parents,

As you will be aware, we have started selling tickets for Prom this week. Prom is on Saturday night, May 27th from 6:30 to 10:30 pm at the Shangri-La Hotel, 89 Soi Wat Suan Plu, New Road, Bangrak, Bangkok.

Prom is such a great event where students get to have a night to celebrate together. We are certain that everyone will have a great time and many pictures will be taken and memories formed. In order to make this event a success, there are some rules that everyone must be aware of before attending Prom.

As students purchased tickets, they signed the Prom Attendance Agreement, which is attached to this email. Additionally, we would like to remind all students of our Dance Policies as outlined in the ISB High School Student Handout (page 42-43). Key points are outlined below.

Here are a few reminders for the evening:

Formal Attire is required.
Students must arrive by 7:30pm, if there is a situation with traffic, please call an Andy Vaughan (0875149550) or Peter Assimakopoulos (0995401474) to inform us.
Students must sign out if they leave the dance, recording the time at which they left.
Students leaving the dance early will not be permitted to return. This means that students remain in the designated dance/activity area.
All ISB rules regarding alcohol, drugs and tobacco are in effect.
Attendance at school or school sponsored events, on or off campus, having used drugs or having consumed alcohol, in any amount, either at the event or prior to the event will be considered a major rules infraction. Any infraction will jeopardize a student’s right to walk at Graduation.
There is no transport provided to and from this event. ISB Staff will remain in the hotel lobby until all students have departed.
The High School Administrative team and a team of chaperone teachers will be supervising the event.
At 10:30 pm, the event will conclude. Students and chaperones will be asked to leave the venue at this time, we ask that all students are picked up by 10.45pm at the very latest

Kind regards,
Peter Assimakopoulos and Andy Vaughan

DELVE & COVID

Peter Assimakopoulos
petera@isb.ac.th

ISB Covid-19 Trip Policy

As we are getting closer to our DELVE trip departure dates, I wanted to remind everyone of our current COVID protocols. If someone were to test positive for COVID on DELVE, we would follow these steps below.

If a member of the trip tests positive for Covid-19:

Relevant administrative team members will be informed to assist with Risk Management.
The student will be isolated in an Isolation Room (i.e. hotel room) as dictated by location and parents will be notified for pick up and return home.
- Individuals requiring a higher level of care will prompt the Emergency Response Plan to be initiated.
If a staff member/chaperone tests positive the individual will isolate from the group, arrangements will be made for return home at the discretion of the chaperone.
- A substitute will be called to replace the individual required to return home (where needed).
High risk contacts will be identified and removed from the larger group, whilst arrangements are being made for parents to come and collect students from the trip. Where there are two or more students identified as close contacts, parents may nominate one parent to collect the students on their behalf. Otherwise, each parent will need to collect their own child.

ATK Testing

ATK testing will be conducted twice a week as per our current practice. Students might have to test on a different day depending on the trip they are on.

Trips leaving Sunday for Overnight Trips – test Sunday morning (before departure) and Tuesday night (on the trip).
Trips leaving on Monday for Overnight Trips – test Sunday afternoon as per normal and Tuesday night (on the trip).
Day Trips – test on Sunday afternoon and Wednesday night as per normal.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact Peter Assimakopoulos.

With much gratitude,
Peter

News from School Counselors
Jackie Valenzuela
Jackiev@isb.ac.th

At ISB we care deeply about the well-being of our students. To help us meet our mission to support them in leading healthy, active and balanced lives, all students in Grades 9, 10, and 11 will complete the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) during Advisory on Monday, May 2.

Why is the questionnaire being administered?

The purpose of this questionnaire is to:

Identify students who require immediate support
Identify students who are struggling with social/emotional/behavioral issues in order to provide appropriate early intervention/prevention support
Obtain an overview of the social/emotional/behavioral needs at our school to ensure that we are providing optimal support for our students

How and when will the questionnaire be administered?

The online questionnaire will be administered during your child’s Advisory and will take approximately 10 minutes to complete. The survey items are available for you to review here.

How will the results be used?

The data collected will be managed, analyzed, and reported by a team including the school counselors, school psychologists and the Director of Student Services in accordance with the ISB Confidentiality Policy.
Individual student responses to the questionnaire are confidential. Any concerns raised through the survey administration process will be shared only with school personnel involved in supporting that student.
The questionnaire administration process has been designed to identify specific students who need additional support. The survey will be conducted electronically and students’ names will be captured along with their responses. ISB counselors will meet with any student whose responses indicate a need for follow up and parents will be notified.
School counselors, school psychologists, and administrators will analyze overall trends to help improve student support at ISB.
In completing this questionnaire your child will have an opportunity to privately reflect on his/her current social emotional health and wellness. Some parents may choose to use the questionnaire as an opportunity to create dialogue related to social emotional wellbeing topics with their child following completion of the survey.

Does my child have to complete the questionnaire?

No. As a parent or guardian, you can opt out of having your child complete this questionnaire. Students will be informed that they may choose to skip any questions that they do not feel comfortable answering.

Parents/Guardians who do not want their child to take the survey should let their child’s school counselor know by phone or in writing prior to the administration of the SDQ. ISB will assume parent/guardian consent to their child participating unless the school counselor has been notified. Parents do not have to do anything unless they do not want their child to participate.

Thank you so much for your support with this important project.

The ISB Counseling Team

High School Counselors:
Jackie Valenzuela (jackiev@isb.ac.th)
Kevin Callahan (kevinc@isb.ac.th)
Shannon Leoni (shannonl@isb.ac.th)

MS and HS School Psychologist:
Ryan Ruhl (ryanr@isb.ac.th)

Director of Student Services:
Keith Collins (keithc@isb.ac.th)

HS Dean of Students:
Andy Vaughan (andyv@isb.ac.th)

News from the University Counselors

Debbie McDowell
debbiem@isb.ac.th

We wish the seniors the best on their IB exams. This is the culmination of all of their hard work and we are certain that they will successfully demonstrate their learning. Please remind your senior to check in with their university counselor to report all of their university application results and to confirm the institution that they are going to attend.

Just a gentle reminder that seniors need to make a deposit at the university of their choice. All US universities expect a deposit and commitment to attend by 1 May. In the UK, Canada and other countries, the universities have a deadline by which students must submit their deposit. Students may deposit at only one university (worldwide). They may not double deposit or deposit at multiple universities. If your child has any questions about selecting the university to attend, depositing at a university, what to do about a waitlist, etc, please have them reach out to their counselor.

Parent Coffees are winding down!

Thank you to those who joined us on 25 April @ 9:00 AM to hear about Financing University Studies. Mr Nichols and Ms Shrestha did a great job with a very difficult, complex topic!

The final Parent Coffee of the year will be on Friday, 20 May, @ 9:00 AM in the MS Skybox. We will return to campus for one last meeting before the year ends. The focus of the meeting will be “Year in Review and Open Forum”. Watch this space for a link to fill out a form to submit your questions for the university counselors. So mark your calendar! We hope you will join us for the last Parent Coffee of this year!

This week in Junior Seminar, the students registered for the Common Application and the UCAS Hub accounts. Students are encouraged to continue their in depth research into the universities and educational systems in the countries in which they are interested in attending university. Each grade 11 student should schedule a meeting with his/her university counselor to discuss their draft university essay (was due 25 April) and to look at their long list of universities to which they are interested in applying. Please keep in mind that university counselors will be encouraging students to have a balanced and diversified list of institutions on their application list. Students should be aspirational as well as realistic regarding their applications and selecting universities that are not the same ones as everyone else will broaden their opportunities for admissions.

SAT on Saturday, 7 May

ISB will be administering the SAT on Saturday, 7 May. Check-in will begin at 7:30 AM and the test is scheduled to start at 8:00AM. Students will take the test in MPB 1/2/3 where students can be seated more than 2 meters apart. Students must properly wear their masks at all times. Each student that is scheduled to take the test on 7 May must have taken the regularly scheduled COVID ATK test on Wednesday, 4 May evening and the results must have been loaded in the system between 4 and 8 PM on that evening. Any student who does not follow the strict COVID guidelines will not be allowed to sit the test. In addition, all students must bring the following items with them to be admitted to campus and the test rooms: School ID, National ID (passport or Thai national ID card), printed admissions ticket. Students are allowed to have a clear water bottle with them during testing but any snacks/food must be eaten in the HS Cafeteria during the breaks while students are seated at tables. No food can be consumed in the testing room or the hallways adjacent to the testing. Students must properly wear their masks at all times or they will be asked to leave the testing site and their test will be canceled with being scored.

University Visits

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.

Kindly,
Debbie

News from HS Library
Christopher Bell
christob@isb.ac.th

Please click News from HS Library

Invention Center Saturday April 30th. Check it out!!!

Anthony Giles
anthonyg@isb.ac.th

Need a study break or some end of the year stress relief? Come to the Invention Center on Saturday, April 30th from 10am-12pm and make balloon animals. This project is free and open to elementary, middle and high school students. Contact Travis Dynes at travisd@isb.ac.th to sign up. We will have materials available for the first 8 students that sign up.

Steel Panthers to Compete at VEX Worlds in Dallas May 5-7, 2022

Anthony Giles
anthonyg@isb.ac.th

Congratulations to ISB Robotics, the 2022 NIST Battle in Bangkok VEX Tournament Champions! Two of our teams also ranked first and second in Thailand for the Skills Standing part of the competition, qualifying them for the 2022 VEX Worlds in Dallas, Texas. Go Steel Panthers!!!

HS IB Visual Art Exhibition – April 5-30, 2022 CC Gallery (Repeat)

Anthony Giles
anthonyg@isb.ac.th

ISB is very proud to present its annual IB Visual Arts Exhibition from April 5-3o in the CC Gallery. This final exhibition is the culmination of our students’ IB experiences over the past 2 years. They have curated a selection of their artwork showcasing a variety of different media including painting, drawing, photography, digital art, ceramics, and film. Please come by anytime throughout the month to see the masterpieces created by our talented students.