‘Black and Gold’
Justin Alexander
justina@isb.ac.th
Dear Parents,
With IASAS Season 2 fast approaching, the level of excitement around the campus has been building up quite a bit. We all enjoyed the ‘Black and Gold’ Assembly on Tuesday where all of our traveling teams were recognized and celebrated in advance of their tournaments starting next Thursday. The ISB Panther community will be able to follow the action on various IASAS livestream links which will be shared by the Athletics Department in the coming days.
We wish all of our student-athletes all the best as they compete in
Swimming – Kuala Lumpur (ISKL)
Rugby/Touch – Jakarta (JIS)
Tennis – Singapore (SAS)
Basketball – Manila (ISM)
Congratulations to the Grade 11 students selected to present their ‘TEDx talk’ live on Tuesday to a cheering audience on Tuesday night in the CCT. They all had ‘stories worth sharing’ and were very well prepared by their English teachers in the lead-up to their great performances. These speeches will be uploaded onto the official TEdX website in the coming weeks, so you will have a chance to watch them if you missed out.
Have a great weekend and all the best to our student-athletes and their coaches next week as they represent ISB Panthers!
Regards
Justin Alexander
High School Principal
GR10 Course Information Session for rising GR11 Students
Justyna McMillan
justynam@isb.ac.th
Dear Parents,
Thank you for coming to our session on Thursday 26th January. We hope the evening provided a good opportunity for you and your children to talk with subject teachers about all the available courses on offer.
As mentioned during the evening, we are sharing the slide presentation from the overview HERE for your reference.
Should you or your child have any questions about pathways or courses on offer, please feel free to reach out to us.
1st February to 9th February 2023:
- Course Registration open on PowerSchool for all grade levels
For further information about subjects on offer and other opportunities, please refer to our Program of Studies, which is available on our website.
Course Registrations for the 2022-2023 Academic Year
Justyna McMillan
justynam@isb.ac.th
Dear Parents, here is another reminder about our upcoming sessions for Gr8 into 9 and Gr 9 into 10 students:
31 January 2023
- GR8 Course Information Session for rising Gr9 Students @ 6:30 in the Chevron – this is open to parents of current Gr8 students. We will provide an overview of course choices along with key things to think about as you help your child make choices about their subjects for Gr9. A separate session is being offered to students, during the school day.
1st February 2023
- Gr9 Course Information Session for rising Gr10 students @ 10:30 in MPB1 – this is open to parents of current Gr9 students. We will provide an overview of course choices along with key things to think about as you help your child make choices about their subjects for Gr10. A separate session is being offered to students, during the school day.
1st February to 9th February 2023:
- Course Registration open on PowerSchool for all grade levels
For further information about subjects on offer and other opportunities, please refer to our Program of Studies, which is available on our website.
HS Absences & Tardies
Andy Vaughan
andyv@isb.ac.th
As we have reviewed last semester’s absences we have seen an increase in our total student absences throughout the semester. We understand that this is natural as we have returned to no masks and sickness appears to be travelling quicker in our student population than when we were masked over the past couple of years.
One of our goals this semester is to increase communication to parents about student absences and tardies. In particular, when a student starts to accumulate absences at a rate that may place them at risk of losing credit, or when tardies grow to a point where there is a disciplinary action. In these situations students and parents will start to receive an email each Friday afternoon if their absences in any class have exceeded 5 absences, or if their tardies are growing high. The basic discipline for tardies and absences can be found on p.5 of our student handbook.
If a student has over 7 absences in one semester in any one subject they will need to appeal the loss of credit in that course. This can only be done once in a student’s High School career. It is important to note that any absence from class whether excused, ill or even for IASAS counts towards the total absences.
An explanation of the most common attendance codes are listed here:
Blank=Present in class
X=Absent prior to a reason being established
T=Tardy to class
AbT=Absent on Test Day (even if sick or excused)
TE=Tardy Excused
AbE=Absent Excused
AbU=Absent Unexcused
HLAb=Absent on HL time
NPVS=Not Present Virtual School (COVID absences)
SPC=Special Event
I=Ill
N=Nurse
C=Counselor
M=Office
F=Field Trip
Y=IASAS
R=ROTC
E=Exam
Z=IB Exams or Mock Exams
SA=School Activity
As a reminder, please contact Khun Tukta if your child needs to be excused from school via email (hsattendance@isb.ac.th). You can also call to discuss any absence with Khun Tukta via 02 963 5883 (ext. 3305). It is appreciated if this email can be received before 8.00am so that we can alert teachers early.
It is important that we receive this parental contact, because without it, your child is marked as absent (X) on PowerSchool. Unexcused absences may result in additional consequences, such as a discipline consequence or loss of credit if excessive absences take place within a subject. You can see whether your child has been marked absent (X) on any day using PowerSchool. If we receive confirmation from parents that the absence is excused/explained, then we adjust the code to reflect that. Please help us to ensure we best understand the reasons for your child missing school.
Please also note if a student misses a class during the day, they are not able to participate in co-curricular activities on that day without prior approval from the Dean of Students.
For extended absences, parents should email Andy Vaughan (andyv@isb.ac.th) and copy in their child’s counselor and Khun Tukta (hsattendance@isb.ac.th) for approval. Please note that in order to gain credit in a class, students must not exceed 7 absences (excused or unexcused).
Covid related absences
For any student that tests positive to COVID, we still have a separate policy in place, please ensure that email the ISB nurse and cc in the HS Administration.
ISB Nurse: nurse@isb.ac.th
Justin Alexander: justina@isb.ac.th
Andy Vaughan: andyv@isb.ac.th
For students who are not able to attend school due to testing positive to COVID and the 5 day quarantine period, these students will have a code of NPVS (Not Present Virtual School) listed on PowerSchool for the 5 day period, or until they test negative (so long as a minimum of 5 days have passed)
Please note that the NPVS code does not count towards their accumulated absences. Students who are isolated due to covid need to log onto their Google Classroom to keep up with their classwork, no zoom is available for any absent students.
Icare & Cycling Club
Peter Assmakoplous
petera@isb.ac.th
There are only two more days left. Every bike can give a child’s family access to education. Your donation goes a long way. Last year, 168 Bicycles were distributed to school children who have been spending their entire school life walking between 2-8 km daily to and from school. These bikes allow these children to bike to and from school and access education.
The cycling club and iCare are collaborating to host a bike drive! Drop off unused bicycles, pumps, and cycling equipment in the school parking lot. All bikes and money will be donated to children in villages living in North Thailand.
News from University Counselors
Debbie McDowell
debbiem@isb.ac.th
Junior Led Conferences are underway! These family meetings are enlightening and exciting. If your family has already had your meeting, you can attest to your child’s ability to self-reflect and plan for their university experience. If your child has not discussed this meeting with you, please do so ASAP to lock in a date and time for you to join your child in the counselor’s office for his/her presentation to share their university research, selection process and plans for application. This is an important part of the university counseling curriculum at ISB. Parents are expected to attend the meeting with their child.
Parents of juniors should have received an email last Friday about the Parent Perspective, which is due before the Junior Led Conference if at all possible. In that email, you also should have found the link to sign into Maia Learning. If you need assistance with either of those, please reach out to Ms Shrestha (swatis@isb.ac.th).
Grade 12
Next week on Friday will be the next Senior Seminar. Students are getting answers from their EA and Regular applications. Please encourage them to share all results (admit, defer, deny, waitlist) with their counselor!
Senior parents, mark your calendars. The University Counselors are offering a Grade 12 Parent Transition session just for you on Tuesday, 4 April, at 9:00 AM in the MPB 3. We look forward to seeing you there.
(Repeated Message) Seniors who are applying to countries with a start date in January 2024 or later, should be setting a Senior Conference meeting with their counselor. If your child is applying to Japan, Australia, Korea, or another region of the world with university application deadlines yet to come, please remind your child to get this meeting set so that an application plan can be prepared for your child.
Grade 10
Course registration for next year starts next week on 1 Feb. University counselors will be doing quick individual meetings with all grade 10 students Starting on Monday (30 Jan) and Tuesday (31 Jan). During that meeting, each student will have access to a google doc on which to take notes. Ask your child about that conversation and to see that document.
Parent Coffees
February Parent Coffees will be dedicated to those interested in finding out about different regions of the world:
| 7 Feb @ 9
10 Feb @ 9 21 Feb @ 9 23 Feb @ 9 28 Feb @ 9 |
Study in the UK (MPB1)
Study in Canada (MPB1) Study in the Netherlands (MPB3) Study in Hong Kong & Singapore (MPB1) Study in Australia (MPB1) |
Then, the meetings in March are focused on supporting the different national communities at ISB. These will all be in the Middle School Sky Box.
| 9 March @ 9
14 March @ 9 16 March @9 22 March @ 9 |
Japanese Community Meeting
Thai Community Meeting Chinese Community Meeting Korean Community Meeting |
So mark your calendars and come join the university counselors at these events!
University Visits at ISB
Universities are starting to make appointments to come to ISB to meet with students and parents. Please encourage your child to check the list and the TV screen outside the counseling office for who will visit and when.
Upcoming Visits:
Monday, 6 February: Ecole Ducasse Culinary School, 3:00-3:30, HS Small Conference Room
Monday, 6 February: Indiana University Bloomington, 3:00-3:30, HS Large Conference Room
Although there are no university visits planned on ISB campus next week, just a reminder that there will be an Australian and UK University Fair on Saturday, 4 Feb, 1-5 PM, at Novotel Bangkok on Siam Square. In addition there are lots of events in Bangkok as well as online. Please encourage your child to consistently check the Virtual and Off Campus University Events spreadsheet to know what’s available. Please note that pre-registration is needed for some events.
Please check the ISB University/College Counseling website for useful information. You will find university research tools, transition resources for students and parents, recordings and slide shows from Parent Coffees and family presentations, virtual and off campus 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 Counselors
Frank Sambula Jr.
franks@isb.ac.th
This week the counseling team did advisory lessons, “Tech and You,” for the grade 9 cohort. In this lesson, we shared the history of smartphones, the pros and cons of technology, how technology affects our behavior, and engaging in a “Flow State” activity. We encouraged the students to immerse themselves in a non-technological activity that is neither hard nor easy and meaningful. A “Flow State” activity can be reading, exercising, playing an instrument, working on a puzzle, or mentally stimulating activity. We hope students will learn to do more meaningful activities besides using their mobile phones.
As mentioned in the last eNews, the schedule change deadline has passed. However, here are the exceptions:
Schedule changes for the remainder of this semester can only be made for the following reasons and by the following dates:
- If a teacher recommends a level change due to misplacement (i.e., Extended Math to Core Math, Spanish III to Spanish II), a change can be made with a parent, counselor and administrative approval. The original class will not appear on the transcript. The deadline is Friday, February 10.
- Between the 6th and 10th week of a course, if a student needs to move down a level, the dropped course will be listed on the transcript with a WP (Withdraw Pass) or WF (Withdraw Fail). The WP or WF grade is not included in the calculation of GPA, nor is credit granted. Your grade in the new course will only include work completed in the new course. The deadline is Friday, March 17.
Please have your student speak with their counselor (Ms. Leoni, Mr. Sambula Jr., or Ms.
Valenzuela) if they need to make a schedule change for any of the above reasons.
News from HS Library
Christopher Bell
christob@isb.ac.th
Please click News from HS Library
Kinnari Music Festival June 19-24, 2023
Anthony Giles
anthonyg@isb.ac.th
The Kinnari Music Festival at International School Bangkok, aims to provide an incredible opportunity for young symphonic musicians throughout the region to further explore their passion and develop their musical prowess. Together with like-minded and passionate peers, each student will benefit from the instruction of veteran music instructors and seasoned members of the award-winning Thai Youth Orchestra.
This year’s inaugural festival will take place June 19 – June 24, 2023 at ISB and will feature lessons, masterclasses, workshops, performances by guest artists, and participation in the Festival Orchestra. With a student:staff ratio of 2:1 and space limited to fifty participants the Kinnari Music Festival offers an educational experience unique to Thailand and SE Asia. Musicians between the ages of 10-18 are eligible to apply and the deadline for applications is February 12, 2023. For more information, please visit www.kinnarimusicfestival.com or contact the Kinnari Music Festival organizer, Ja Wuttithamrong at ja.wuttithamrong@gmail.com.
Application Deadline: Sunday, February 12th, 2023
CELEBRATE THE MANY CULTURES OF ISB @ IFF
Anthony Giles
anthonyg@isb.ac.th
Calling all performers with acts that highlight the many cultures represented at ISB. If you are interested in joining the line-up for the February 25th, 2023 IFF Concert Hour hosted by Arts Council, please sign up HERE on or before Friday, February 3rd to reserve a place on stage, and to provide more information about your act. Know others that have something culturally significant to share at this year’s event? Just send them the link.
Interested in performing at the Nichada Secret Garden event on February 10th? Please contact Akira at pr@nichada.com.
Arts & Activities @ ISB
Anthony Giles
anthonyg@isb.ac.th
January
27 & 28 “Cinderella” an ISB Panto Benefit Event CC Theater
28 HS Model United Nations @ BPS
February
1-5 AMIS MS Honor Choir @ Lincoln School Nepal
3-4 First Lego League Robotics Competition @ NSM
11-12 HS Model United Nations @ ICS
12 Applications Due for Kinnari Music Festival
21-23 HS IASAS Showcases for DDT, FAD and Music
22-26 AMIS MS Honor Band @ American School of Bombay
Invention Center After School & Saturday Programs
Anthony Giles
anthonyg@isb.ac.th
Come to the Invention Center on Saturday, January 28th from 9:00-12:00 and make a toolbox for your growing tool collection, craft supplies, or put planted pots in it. There will be materials for 6 toolboxes. This is a free project available to any middle school or high school aged students, parents, or staff. Contact Travis Dynes at travisd@isb.ac.th to sign up.
A reminder that the Invention Center is open to students, parents, and staff every day after school until 6pm and on Saturdays from 8am-2pm (elementary students need to have a parent present for supervision).
Raising Multilinguals: Unlocking the World with a Family Language Plan
Avery Udagawa
averyu@isb.ac.th
On Tuesday, February 21, from 7:45-9:15 a.m. in MPB 1, ISB faculty and administrators will offer a workshop for parents from all divisions (ES, MS, HS) about maintaining students’ native languages while they also study in English at ISB. This will be similar to the Raising Multilinguals workshop offered in prior years, and is especially useful for new families.
At this workshop, faculty and administrators will:
- Present reasons to maintain native language, based on research
- Describe language classes and resources available at ISB
- Discuss the importance of making a family language plan
Please join us! Parents of students in PreK through Grade 12 are welcome. For further information, please email: nativelanguage@isb.ac.th
Happy New Lunar Year
PTA – Korean Rep
ISB KPC, as a part of the entire ISB PTA, represents our Korean community in various school events and volunteer activities.
We also support children’s happy school life, friendship between parents, and information exchange and help new families settle down smoothly.
If you have any questions about ISB KPC registration or need other help,
Please click the link below.
*E-mail: ptarep-korean@isb.ac.th
News from ISB Booster Club and Athletics Department
Booster Club – Secretary
booster-secretary@isb.ac.th
Dear Athletes, Coaches and Parents
The ISB Booster Club and the Athletics Department cordially invites all athletes, coaches and parents of athletes to attend the Season TWO Varsity and Junior Varsity Athletics Celebration on Wednesday the 8th of February in Rajendra.
The event celebrates the accomplishments of our teams, honors our Panther traditions, and recognizes the outstanding athletic achievements of our students. Athletes from our Varsity and Junior Varsity teams are required to attend.
The event will commence at 5:15pm in Rajendra.
Parents of Athletes: Parents and Siblings of Season TWO Athletes are invited to attend. Tickets may be purchased in advance for a discount at the Athletics Office or from the Booster Hut. A limited number of tickets will be available for purchase at the door, but at an increased price.
Ticket Prices:
Season TWO Athletes: Free – Sponsored by the ISB Booster Club
Parents: 500 baht
Out of Season Students/Siblings: 300 baht
Same Day Tickets: 800 baht
Schedule:
5:15pm – 6:00pm – Athletes and Coaches in Rajendra. A celebratory meal will be provided.
6:00pm – 7:00pm – Awards presented for all Varsity and Junior Varsity Teams
7:00pm – 8:00pm – Season Two Team Rooms (team room times vary)
8:00pm – Downtown bus departs
TO THE ATHLETES: This is a special event for our teams and coaches, and we expect ALL TEAM MEMBERS to attend as we want all athletes to be recognized and honored for your participation and achievements during the first season.
Dress code: Smart Casual
IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO ATTEND, PLEASE INFORM YOUR RESPECTIVE COACH BY FRIDAY THE 3rd of FEBRUARY.
PLEASE EMAIL KHUN APPLE IF YOU NEED TO TAKE A LATE BUS DOWNTOWN. orathaik@isb.ac.th
Looking forward to celebrating with everyone on Wednesday the 8th of February.