Once again welcome to the 2023-24 school year!
It’s been a great start to the new year so far! Grades 2-5 students met their teachers on Tuesday afternoon and started school on Wednesday whereas students in families in PreK-Grade 1 have been engaging in family meetings with teachers as well as starting to come to school everyday. Thank you goes out to all teachers and parents for working in partnership to support each child’s transition to their new grade level and classroom community!
We know that students of all ages are most successful when there is a strong home and school partnership where families are able to link the learning from school to home. This is why ISB faculty and leaders provide parents with tools and strategies to allow you to link learning happening at school to home in a wide variety of ways such as next week’s PreK-Grade 1 one-on-one meetings with families, August 24th ES Open House sessions, weekly Friday ISB ES eNews updates, classroom updates to parents, student Seesaw posts, regularly scheduled “ES Parent Engage” workshops, Grade Level Curriculum Unit Overviews, and student-parent-teacher conferences.
I wish all students, families, and teachers a great start of the year where building strong classroom communities in which every student feels a sense of belonging, and launching strong home and school partnerships are of the highest priorities!
Your partner in education,
Michael Allen
michaela@isb.ac.th
Arrival/Dismissal Procedures & Parents on Campus
As a school, we will strive to keep you informed on a regular basis through our weekly eNews. Please ensure that you also review the ES Parent/Student Information Handbook. It contains important information on learning, school activities, programs, and school policies.
Outlined on Page 57 of ES Parent/Student Handbook and copied below:
ARRIVAL PROCEDURES
The Early Childhood and Elementary School turnstiles open for students at 7:00am. Students head to the outdoor play spaces or ES Hub (for Grades 1-5) until the 7:35am bell. PreK parents are welcome to escort their children to the outside classroom door at 7:35am. Teachers submit attendance to the office electronically no later than 8:00am. If parents have not contacted teachers or the office regarding the absence the office will call the parents to report the student is not in school.
DISMISSAL PROCEDURES
Pre Kindergarten
Students in PreK are dismissed at 1:10pm. Parents pick up students from the external red classroom door. For families picking up PreK students at 1:10PM and waiting on campus until elementary dismissal at 2:25, you are welcome to wait in common areas such as the MS/HS Cafeteria, The Grind & garden area, the ES HUB Terrace or the Panther Park (after 1:35PM). Please ensure you are actively supervising PreK students, and respecting spaces around the elementary school that are being used for learning until 2:25pm.
Bus monitors collect PreK bus-riding students from the classroom. Bus monitors should be informed of any bus rider who has left school early or has left school by other means.
Parents escort their child to their Panthers Activities and Athletics Program. Parents unable to escort their child to the after school activity are to liaise with the activity coordinator who will pick the child up from the PreK Piazza at 1:10pm.
KG
Students in KG are dismissed from the Early Childhood turnstiles; not the KG quad. If you are on campus, you are welcome to wait for your KG students by the Early Childhood gazebo.
Bus monitors collect bus-riding students from the KG turnstiles. Bus monitors should be informed of any bus rider who has left school early or has left school by other means.
A Panther Activities and Athletics supervisor picks up registered KG students from the KG Quad at 2:15pm to escort them to the ES cafeteria. Parents are welcome to meet their child at the activity.
Grade 1
Grade 1 students who are being picked up by a parent or caregiver will wait at the ES HUB Terrace. Any student who has not been picked up by 10 minutes after dismissal should be escorted to the office where parents will be contacted by phone and signed out to a parent or guardian. Please note that the Grade One quad is a learning space. Parents/guardians must wait for their children on the Hub Reading Terrace.
Bus monitors collect Grade 1 bus-riding students from the KG turnstiles. Bus monitors should be informed of any bus rider who has left school early or has left school by other means.
A Panther Activities and Athletics supervisor picks up registered Grade 1 students from the Grade 1 Quad at 2:15pm to escort them to the ES cafeteria. Parents are welcome to meet their child at the activity.
Grades 2-5
Students in Grades 2-5 go to their activities or bus independently or exit campus through the turnstile of their choice. Grades 2-5 students who are being picked up by a parent or caregiver agree where to meet at 2:25pm. Any student who has not been picked up by 10 minutes after dismissal should report to the office or classroom to seek assistance. The office will contact parents by phone and the student will be signed out to a parent or guardian. For students participating in Panther Activities and Athletics, parents and caregivers are welcome to meet their child at the activity.
Note that parents and caregivers are welcome to wait in common areas such as the MS/HS Cafeteria, The Grind & garden area, the ES HUB Terrace or the Panther Park; please avoid waiting in learning spaces and quads as this disrupts student learning.
STUDENT PICK UP/EXIT DURING THE SCHOOL DAY
All ES students leaving school during the school day must go through the ES Office or Nurse’s Office, and be signed out to a parent or guardian. They are given a gate pass by the office or nurse. If a student is being taken out of school prior to 2:20, parents/guardians must report to the ES Office to sign out the student and collect a gate pass. The office staff will then call the classroom at which point the student is sent down to meet their parent/guardian. Parents who come directly to the classroom will be asked to report to the office first for the student to be signed out and receive a gate pass.
FAMILY MEMBERS ON CAMPUS
Family members with ISB ID cards are welcome on campus at any time to attend special events, purchase items from the Booster Hut or Book Store, drop into the libraries to checkout books, and/or enjoy a coffee or snack in the MS/HS cafeteria or Grind and garden area. We ask visitors on campus to respect the learning happening in learning spaces and avoid waiting in the grade level learning quads and other learning spaces.
We welcome parents to visit classrooms to participate in scheduled celebrations of learning and special events, which will be communicated by teachers through Seesaw or email. If parents are interested in meeting with a teacher to discuss their child’s learning or wellbeing, please contact the teacher first by email to schedule an appointment.
Parent messages may be delivered to students if they are received in the office by 1:45 p.m. Please visit or call the ES Office at 02 963 5800.
Meet the ES Counseling Team
Join us on Thursday, August 17 @ 7:45am in the MPB3 located above the MS/HS Cafeteria to meet the ES Counseling Team and learn more about the comprehensive counseling program at ISB.
ES Open House – August 24 @ 6:00pm
The most important night of the school year is coming soon! Open House 2023 is on Thursday, August 24th and is essential in our launch of our home-school partnership for the year. This is a wonderful night to meet your child’s teachers, understand classroom procedures and expectations, and learn more about the learning your child will experience at ISB this year. If possible, it will be important for both parents to attend Open House, especially if you have more than one child in the Elementary School. Families with children in multiple grade levels might need to divide and attend different classes at the same time. Please keep in mind that this evening is for parents only and there will be no child care provided.
Reminder to attach your child(ren) ID with the bags
Please attach your child’s ISB ID card to their bags in order to get into the school everyday.
Many people move houses over the summer, details change (phone numbers etc). We are in the process of updating phone numbers, addresses and emergency contacts. Please take the time to login to Powerschool Parent Portal and check the details that ISB has on record. Please update if necessary. It is really important this information is accurate, as we use this in emergency situations.
Instructions
Step 1. Login to Powerschool
- If you are new, you should have received an email with your login details, if not please contact help@isb.ac.th
- If you have forgotten your password please contact chatnapats@isb.ac.th
Step 2. At the bottom of the left hand menu click “Contact Update”. This information will then take a day or two to update (we manually check for accuracy).
If you have any questions or queries, contact chatnapats@isb.ac.th
ES Cafeteria Menu
Please find the ES Cafeteria menu for next week linked here, and here is the menu for Allergen Free.
Hidden Multilinguals
Dear Parents,
ISB’s after-school Panther Native Language Academy (PNLA) aims to support multilingual students unable to take a class in their native language(s) during the school day, or who need additional support as determined by the daytime teacher.
A native language is generally described as a language used on a daily basis with at least one parent. We typically send PNLA information to families we know use the languages taught in PNLA.
However, we sometimes miss “hidden multilinguals” whose native/near-native language(s) we don’t know about. Examples:
- Korean student who attended school in French in Africa
- Thai student who studied Chinese intensively at prior school
If your child(ren) are “hidden multilinguals” and may benefit from PNLA, please get in touch: PantherNativeLanguageAcademy@isb.ac.th
The after-school language classes open for registration for Season 1 are native Dutch, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, and Thai for PK2.
More details about native/near-native language classes at ISB are here.
Please let us know if you have any questions!
PantherNativeLanguageAcademy@isb.ac.th
Elementary Music Ensembles: Free, Open to Grades 3-5
Do you love to sing, move, or play instruments? Think about signing up for one of our free ES music ensembles: Panther Choir, Panther Orff Ensemble*, or Panther String Ensemble. Click HERE for more information!
*Please note that the Orff Ensemble is currently full, but if you’d like to be on the waiting list, please send an email to angelaw@isb.ac.th.
NEW PANTHER DANCE SEASON!!!
Welcome back to another exciting season of PANTHER DANCE with a performance on stage with costume in May! Registration opens August 7th at 6pm. Relive the magic of our last performances, “We’re Back, Again!” ES Video, MS/HS Video
Interested? Contact Yoona : pantherdance@isb.ac.th
Welcome back ES Parents!
It has been great to have your children back on campus. As we get back into the school rhythm, here is some hopefully helpful information from Athletics.
Understanding ES Athletics
We know that there are many ways to be active at ISB and that it can sometimes be confusing, especially if you are new. Please look at this presentation to help you understand the different athletic options for your child(ren).
Important Dates:
Saturday, August 19th: Panther Run #1 – join for a fun, friendly, community 3km or 5km
Monday, August 21st: Panther Activities & Athletics begin
Tuesday, August 22nd: U11 Season 1 Begin