Lingua franca The
Lingua Franca
The Magazine of International School of Brooklyn
From 17th century Italian, the term lingua franca literally means “Frankish tongue.” Historically, it was a composite language, made up of elements of Arabic, Greek, French, Italian, and Spanish. It was used as a means of communication in Mediterranean ports, which were bustling centers for trade between people from many different countries. Today, a lingua franca is any language that two or more speakers have in common and by which they can communicate efficiently. At International School of Brooklyn, we are proud of the spaces we have dedicated to immersion in French and Spanish, as well as our community of passionate, internationally-minded learners who flourish in those spaces. The Lingua Franca serves as a publication where everyone can go to find out what is happening inside the school and in our growing alumni community, delivering all ISB-related news and stories in a common tongue.
Editors
Danielle Valenti, Director of Communications
Paul Romano, Associate Director of Communications
Design & Layout
Kelvin Ward, Director of Admissions, Marketing, and Enrollment
Principal Photography
Caroline Mardok, Enlight Studio
Tell us what you’re up to!
International School of Brooklyn 192 Luquer Street Brooklyn, NY 11231 isbrooklyn.org
We want to hear from you and would love to share your story with the ISB community. Please email us your latest news, photos, and more at communications@isbrooklyn.org
Artwork by: Zazie, 7th Grade Natasha, 7th Grade
A Note from the Head of School
When I joined ISB in 2013 as the Director of Middle School, the school was in its ninth year, and our most senior students were in 7th Grade. At that time, the picture of ISB graduates moving confidently into the world as bilingual, globalminded adults was still just a dream for our school’s founders and educators. We knew that our students would go on to achieve amazing things, but it would be a long wait before we could experience their success for ourselves. Well, we no longer have to wonder!
Fast forward ten graduating classes and, with our first alumni now starting their professional careers, we couldn’t be more impressed to learn how our former students are advancing their ISB education. During the past year, we welcomed many of these alumni back to campus. Some joined our staff for summer and after school programs and made for the most incredible role models for our younger students. Others popped in to catch up with their former teachers, even interviewing them about their ISB careers for this very edition of the magazine. Our alumni lent their talents to community heritage celebrations, gave an inspiring presentation at our Pecha Kucha evening, and volunteered to participate in one of our ongoing service initiatives in partnership with Books Through Bars and Project Cicero. We were also thrilled to have over 100 alumni and their parents return to campus for our hugely successful alumni reunion. This was a joyous occasion, with alumni from each of our graduating classes reminiscing and updating one another on their journeys in high school, college, and beyond.
These students are forever a part of the ISB family, and reconnecting with them as they embark on new adventures is as heartwarming as it is humbling. Many who come back for the first time remember me from 7th or 8th Grade, and sometimes they will remark that I am not as tall as they remember – a good time for me, with a bit of a chuckle, to put on my Science teacher hat and give a brief genetics lesson about those of us who hail from coastal Mediterranean regions! All kidding aside, our alumni have proven themselves to be compassionate and committed citizens of the world, doing amazing things and making a real difference. This summer’s inspiring edition of The Lingua Franca shares their stories and shows how an ISB education extends far beyond our red doors.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
In the Year of the Dragon, when women’s basketball has taken the country by storm with a renewed interest in the WNBA, our Dragons Girls team made history by winning ISB’s first-ever basketball championship! Dragons fans came out en masse to an away game versus The Windward School to support our girls, going cheer for cheer with our rivals on their home court. It was a hard-fought game, but our ISB Dragons came out on top, sealing the deal on a perfect, undefeated season and a well-earned Championship title. Congratulations, Dragons!
Board of Trustees
Board Members
Concluding Their Service
ISB Trustees Bradlee
Benn, Paul Edelstein, and Juliette Michaelson have completed their terms this summer. We are so grateful to Juliette, Paul, and Bradlee for the unparalleled dedication they have shown to the school.
Bradlee Benn held the position of Treasurer and sat on the Space Task Force during his tenure. Many of you may recall the thoughtful school budget presentations he gave during the Parents Association meetings. Brad spent countless hours working to ensure the financial strength of ISB.
Paul Edelstein held the position of Governance Committee Chair and sat on during his tenure. Paul ensured the Board followed all independent school regulations and met often with community members to find just the right person to fill Board member vacancies.
Juliette Michaelson was instrumental to the Board’s Development Committee and Space Task Force. Juliette’s understanding of our community helped the Board come to sound decisions, including the expansion to include a high school.
New Trustees
We are excited to welcome three new Trustees: Yousuf Aftab, Jon McIntosh, and Mathilde Qader-Patrelle. Each of them brings a passion for education as well as a wealth of expertise and experience to the Board.
Yousuf Aftab is a corporate sustainability lawyer with expertise in advising Fortune 100 companies on global human rights issues. He holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Arts from McGill University. Currently based in New York, he leads a boutique law firm and consultancy. He is also involved in non-profit work, serving on the board of the RETI Center, which focuses on climate resilience and green jobs, and previously on the board of Broken Box Mime Theater. In his free time, he enjoys tennis, snowboarding, and magical realism. Yousuf is a parent of an ISB 1st Grader on the French track.
Jon McIntosh is a leader in academic and school systems, with experience in charter and traditional public school sectors. At Equitable Facilities Fund (EFF), he develops evaluation methodologies, provides loan recommendations, and supports portfolio members’ academic performance. He was also Chief Academic and Schools Officer at Prospect Schools and founding School Director at Brooklyn Laboratory Charter Schools. Jon has a background in policy debate and an extensive education, including studies at Drury University, Columbia University, Bank Street College of Education, and Johns Hopkins University. He lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife, Jessica, and their two daughters.
Mathilde Qader-Patrelle grew up and studied in Paris, surrounded by art and fashion. She moved to the US in 2008 and holds a bachelor’s degree in Hospitality Management from Vatel Institute. With experience in luxury hotels and high-end restaurants, she is dedicated to ensuring customer and client satisfaction. As a mother of three students on the French track at ISB, she is excited to contribute her excellence and artistic flair to the institution’s mission.
Artwork by: Nadine, 4th Grade
Joy as an Act of Resistance: Community-Driven
Celebrations That Inspire and Unite Us
ISB is a space full of love, learning, inquiry, and international spirit. The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Office seeks to create and implement programming that centers on these aspects of our identity while also challenging ourselves to think and act outside the box. At school, we strive to find dynamic ways of teaching our students about the important historical and current truths of marginalized communities. At the same time, we believe it is paramount that this education occurs in a context and community of joy. Joy is the ultimate act of resistance; it helps to remind our students – and ourselves – of all of the reasons why we are proud of who we are and where we come from, and why we should always push for others to feel the same. This year, we are thrilled to have begun a series of communitybased and parent-driven celebrations that highlight, celebrate, and educate about the rich and deeply diverse school community that we love. Throughout the 2023-2024 school year, the community came together, formed ad hoc committees, and harnessed their own cultural backgrounds and experiences to create events that were vibrant, authentic, and unifying. The celebrations were wildly successful and we are already looking forward to celebrating more cultures and communities in the upcoming school year!
Hispanic and Latinx Heritage Month was the perfect opportunity to celebrate one of the most dynamic musical aspects of the cultural diaspora: salsa! The evening featured delicious food from local Latinx restaurants, live music performed by an incredible six-piece ensemble led by ISB parent Charly Schwartz, and salsa lessons from ISB Faculty Karuna Hernández and Emilie Catinot. Our salsa-loving community danced the night away!
ISB held its inaugural Lunar New Year celebration. February’s new moon brought the Year of the Dragon, and on that same day, our own ISB Dragons and their families enjoyed a calligraphy workshop, paper crafting, and delicious food, as well as a traditional Lion dance performed by one of our 3rd Graders.
Hispanic and Latinx Heritage Month
Lunar New Year
Is there something you’d like to see celebrated at ISB? Get involved! The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Office welcomes and embraces suggestions and volunteers from our community to continue building enriching programs that serve ISB’s incredible leaders, adventurers, changemakers, and advocates.
Arab American Heritage Month
In April, our community not only joined together but joined hands for our first-ever Arab American Heritage Month celebration. The joyous event showcased ISB Alum Safira Berrada-Riggs ‘22 playing the oud and singing in Arabic, a dance troupe who performed three different types of dances from across the Arab world, and even a community dabke! The celebration continued with lantern and bracelet making, calligraphy, dance lessons, music, mosaic art, and a delicious meal featuring an impressive array of delicacies. It was a beautiful celebration of the richness of Arab culture and the diversity of our own ISB community.
Jewish American Heritage Month
May’s Jewish American Heritage Month Celebration event featured a potluck sampling Jewish dishes from all over the world, as well as interactive activities designed to provide a hands-on exploration of the richness and beauty of Jewish culture, including music, trivia, and the opportunity for community members to design seder plates to reflect their own identities. It was a fantastic moment for our school community to come together, embrace diversity, and deepen our understanding and appreciation of one another’s backgrounds and cultures.
Baby & Me at ISB is a weekly language class for toddlers aged 12 months to 3 years accompanied by a parent, caregiver, or relative. Building on ISB’s successful language immersion model, Baby & Me provides a jumpstart to your child’s bilingual journey through early exposure to French or Spanish. Baby & Me classes are open to the public.
10 Years
Faculty & Staff
Elisa Hevia
Spanish Pre-K 3
Associate Teacher
An artist and educator, Elisa Hevia brings her creativity to the classroom in a way that inspires our Preschool students to let their imaginations run free as they learn to understand and speak about the world around them in Spanish.
LF: How did you come to know about ISB?
“Preschool students are so loving, curious, eager to learn, and authentic.”
LF: What were your first impressions of ISB?
Elisa: It was love at first sight. At the same time Joaquín was in summer camp, I was doing puppetry, and the Summer Program Director asked me to perform a bilingual puppet show. I did four shows. Then, I started doing other special activities for summer camp, like art classes. And when I was looking for a full-time teaching job, I was happy to find that ISB was ready to offer me just that!
LF: What’s changed in the past 10 years about ISB?
Elisa: I was raising my son, Joaquín ‘23, in a Spanish-speaking household. I found ISB because I was looking for a summer camp where he could play and learn in Spanish as well. Our family is Venezuelan, and I always wanted him to have a solid education in the language. He was in Leticia’s [Spanish tPre-K 4 Head Teacher Leticia Gonzalez] class in camp.
Elisa: The school has changed a lot. It’s grown quite a bit, but, for me, I have always worked in the Preschool, and the Preschool has been the same for me for many years, a place of wonder and exploration. I have worked in either Pre-K 3 or Pre-K 4 for my entire time at ISB, and that I wouldn’t want to change!
LF: What do you like most about teaching Preschoolers?
Elisa: They are the cutest! Sometimes the job can be physically demanding, since there is so much energy in the class and you’re moving around so much. At the same time, Preschool students are so loving, curious, eager to learn, and authentic. That stage of life is so particular. They change so much and so fast during the year that I’m with them. I know them as people, but also at a very unique moment in their lives.
LF: You are a visual artist. How do you express your creativity in the classroom?
Elisa: In the Preschool classroom, I have been encouraged since the very beginning to use my skills and talents as an artist. For instance, the column in the middle of our classroom has always been like a blank canvas for me. Now it’s a palm tree, but I remember the first time I designed a use for it was during our “Who I am” unit, when we drew the human body on it. During this Black History Month, we focused on art,
and I helped our students get inspired by the work of Black artists, their technique, their aesthetic. The students made such beautiful art, in which you could really see the influences of the artists whose work we explored.
LF: What is your favorite PYP unit to teach?
Elisa: Of course, my favorite unit is “Imagine!” I love it because we get to make puppets and put on shows, to create masks and costumes and inhabit characters, to tell stories, and read stories in books from all over the Spanishspeaking world. Our classroom becomes a wonderland where fantasy reigns! We also use a lot of recycled materials for our projects, which makes them more unique and exciting.
LF: How have you grown as a teacher over the years?
Elisa: I feel more confident as the years go by, thanks to practice and experience. Our responsive classroom training has been very helpful with classroom management. We adjusted the practice for the little ones!
LF: Your son, Joaquín, graduated last year. What was it like having him here at school with you during his Middle School years?
Elisa: Even before attending our Middle School, Joaquín would always come for summer camp
and after school. He was always welcome. He knew everyone in the school. I loved having him in the building during Middle School, especially because it was during the Covid years, and because of the extraordinary way we handled the pandemic as school. I could trust ISB with our safety and the education of our students, which was happening against all odds during those tough times.
LF: Do you feel ISB has had an influence on the young man he’s become?
Elisa: ISB felt like home for him. He felt safe, seen, and heard. He felt taken care of. He was able to make strong connections with teachers, and that was great because he learned to ask for help, thanks to how approachable they were. Whenever he is free, Joaquin asks to come with me to work so he can visit the school.
LF: What is one of your favorite memories while teaching at ISB?
Elisa: It’s unexpected, but I remember being very moved and impressed during my first year as a School Aide in the Pre-K 3 class. I don’t know how the Head of School, Rebecca Skinner, knew that my grandma had passed away. Maybe she just saw that I wasn’t myself, but she came and asked how I was doing and gave me a hug. Rebecca was always kind and caring; she followed the international news and
Melanie
Cozzi
Preschool and Lower School Music Teacher
when something was happening in Venezuela, she would never fail to ask me about my family. That made ISB feel like home.
LF: What would you like to see for ISB’s future?
Elisa: I can’t wait for the ISB High School. I see it with a beautiful science lab. I used to love going to science lab when I was in high school. I also hope we get an auditorium for our amazing plays, musicals,
concerts, and other performances.
LF: Anything else you’d like for our readers to know?
Elisa: ISB has been really important to my family and me. It’s always offered me stability and a sense of belonging. I don’t think it’s easy to find another school like this. My colleagues are more than colleagues–they are my friends. What we have is a real community.
Aclassically trained vocalist who spent many years performing choral music, Melanie Cozzi spreads her love of music all
throughout the school. Whether it’s kicking off a concert with the tunes of her famous ukulele, leading the annual staff choir rehearsals, or helping students learn to express themselves through music in her
class, the joy Melanie finds in music is contagious!
LF: How’d you get into teaching coming from your background as a musician?
Melanie: I was in graduate school for vocal performance and was working at a program similar to ISB’s new Baby and Me class, with babies and their parents. I realized that I really loved that environment and decided to switch my focus from performance to teaching. I’ve been in music education since then, and I’ve never looked back!
LF: How did you come to know about ISB?
Melanie: had just graduated with my Advanced Certificate in Music Education, and my Director at Brooklyn College passed along ISB’s job posting for a very part-time music teaching position for Pre-K 3 to 1st Grade. I was eager to put theory to practice, so I jumped on the opportunity.
LF: What were your first impressions of ISB?
Melanie: Everyone was professional, friendly, and a joy to be around. It was a genuinely positive experience through and through.
LF: What’s changed in the past 10 years about ISB?
Melanie: Well, none of those characteristics have changed!
Physically, there is a very different configuration; the Music Room used to be in the basement and now we have this lovely space. I love our Music Room. It’s one of my favorite things about working here. The big windows and natural light help inspire the students. The school leadership has also changed during this time. I’ve gotten to see so many of my colleagues grow professionally. It has been really nice to see how ISB not only allows but encourages that growth across the board.
LF: How have you grown as a teacher over the years?
Melanie: Thankfully, I got to know Ledell Mulvaney, our extraordinary Music Teacher who passed away in 2015. Ledell was very loved by the entire community and I learned so much from working with her. She had 30 years of experience; she really knew what she was doing. A lot of the things that Ledell taught me in our time together still influences how I teach today. When I started here, I didn’t play the ukulele! She was the one who told me that I should be playing more instruments with my students, and that got me to play ukulele. Now it’s part of who I am; my signature ukulele is a part of my identity here. I also still teach songs that I learned from Ledell, such as “Honey in the Rock.” Some of those songs have become beloved traditions here at ISB. She left a real legacy.
LF: What do you like most about teaching music?
Melanie: Music brings joy to so many lives. Seeing the students excited about singing or playing an instrument, helping them learn to express themselves in ways they never imagined – and in very different ways than they do in their academic lives. That’s what I’m here for, that’s my purpose as an educator. I want to offer students new forms of self-expression and for them to experience the joy of listening and playing music. Having fun with it!
LF: What has it been like to see your students grow up in the school?
Melanie: I have students from Pre-K 3 through 4th Grade and the best is seeing my students continue with music in Middle School, expanding on their skill sets and falling in love with the process! It is very rewarding. Some students I expect to enjoy music as they go through Middle School, and some surprise me by their continued involvement, whether it’s in the Vocal Ensemble or Modern Band, or like one student I had who was very shy when they were younger and is now starring in the musical!
LF: What is one of your favorite memories while teaching at ISB?
Melanie: Teaching music was extremely difficult during the pandemic, and stronger
protections were in place to keep everyone safe when it came to singing and playing instruments indoors. One of my favorite memories was the day I was able to tell my students that they were allowed to take off their masks and sing in the music room. There were students whose faces I had never seen before, and it was as if I had met them for the first time. I’ll never forget the joy and relief I felt when I saw them use their voices and smile, knowing that we were all going to be okay!
LF: What stands out to you about the winter and spring concerts you’ve put on with students over the years?
Melanie: The finales! Our students, across grades, are always super excited when they all get to sing together.
LF: Looking ahead to the next ten years, what would you like to see for ISB’s future in music?
Melanie: I would love to see what other instruments we could bring into the program for students to explore. I would also like to see how we could make our music — and joy! — reach further into the outside community.
“I want to offer students new forms of self-expression and for them to experience the joy of listening and playing music.”
Marianne Tober
Middle School
French Language
Studies Teacher
F“I find it incredible to watch our students navigate different cultures and different languages. It’s amazing to see how they are developing intellectually and as people.”
or Marianne Tober, our most tenured Middle School teacher, the freedom to innovate within the International Baccalaureate framework has helped her to create an adaptive curriculum that allows our students to discover inspiring authors, texts, and ideas, and to explore them in a world expanded by the gift of bilingualism.
LF: How did you come to know about ISB?
Marianne: I was living in the neighborhood. My older son, Balthazar, was enrolled in a local French bilingual program and I was looking for more French language education opportunities for him as he entered middle school. I was thrilled
to discover ISB and we were very interested in their French program. We applied to ISB for Balthazar, and, at the same time, I applied for a teaching position in the Middle School.
LF: The Middle School was just starting out at that time. What was it like? What were your first impressions of ISB?
Marianne: Well, it was a little school! But I liked it a lot. My first year teaching at ISB was the first year we had a complete middle school, with a full 6th, 7th, and 8th Grade. I had very different experiences teaching prior to ISB; I had a whole career in various New York independent schools as a French language teacher, and ISB was a unique private school,
in a good way!
LF: How do you feel like you’ve grown as a teacher during your ten years at ISB?
Marianne: I’ve broadened my skillset as a French language teacher. At ISB, I needed to adjust to a different student population and also an approach to language learning that was more immersive. It was the first time in many years that I had taught francophone students versus teaching French to American students. Before ISB, I was teaching in French but using much more English. So, I use a lot more French in the classroom, and, since I became a part of this community, I also have more French in my daily life, which is something that makes ISB feel like home to me.
LF: How have you seen the school grow since you’ve been here?
Marianne: We have been known by many people as a language school, but, even though bilingualism was one of our founding principles, we were always so much more than a French and Spanish program. Every year, as our program continues to expand, this is more and more true. As the school has grown and continues to grow, people are starting to recognize us for our strong academic program, our progressive education model, and our global sensibility. We’re not just viewed as a language immersion school anymore. Our school has real
vision, and it always has. We are always evolving, and it’s exciting to be teaching here at this time. At our core, we are a school with a unique approach to learning that prepares our students for a changing, increasingly connected world. In this way, I feel like we are pioneers at ISB. We are always innovating, connecting, and communicating, and we are not afraid to try new things. Over the past 10 years, I have witnessed this growth both as a teacher and as a parent, starting my career here with Balthazar and then more recently with my younger son, Anatole ‘22, as a student in the Middle School program.
LF: Do you have a favorite memory from these ten years at ISB?
Marianne: The Wax Museum is a favorite for me every year! For this project, students research, rehearse, and present, in character, a “living legend” or historical figure to our larger community. It is really an amazing sight to see, and that they do it in two languages is extraordinary! I take great pride in having started this tradition at ISB, and I absolutely love being involved in it. For me, it epitomizes the richness of the combination of the IB curriculum with our language program. This year, the 7th Graders were fantastic; we got to meet Michael Jordan, Simone de Beauvoir, Antonio Vivaldi, Sonia Sotomayor, Pablo Picasso, Fredrick Douglass, Napoleon Bonaparte, Nina Simone, and
more!
LF: You are the longest standing faculty member of the Middle School Language and Literature Department! What has it been like to grow that department?
Marianne: It’s interesting because I adjust what I teach every year. It’s great to have that kind of trust and control. That’s fantastic for all of the teachers at ISB, the freedom in what we’re teaching and how we’re teaching it.
LF: What is your dream for ISB in the next ten years?
Marianne: More space! There are a lot of things we could do if we had more space, whether it’s smaller groups or expanded elective offerings. An ISB High School would be really exciting for teachers, and for students as well. I think they would be even more invested in their IB education and their target languages if they had the option to continue their path at ISB.
LF: What is special to you about teaching here at ISB?
Marianne: There is a real sense of appreciation you feel here, which is important. You truly feel part of a team. There’s something so special about being in this community. At the start I was an expat; I left Paris after my Master’s degree and went to live in Hong Kong – I always had the travel bug. When I arrived in New York, it was love at first sight, and I never really thought
about going back to France because my international side is satisfied here at ISB. Plus, it’s really interesting to observe the cultural differences at play in so many levels with the parents, with the students, with your colleagues. For example, the way the students speak to you changes, depending which language you teach them in. I find it incredible to watch our students navigate different cultures and different languages. It’s amazing to see how they are developing intellectually and as people. Our approach to teaching is not just a matter of learning a language; it’s a matter of how to understand and engage with the world. In this way, we really do live up to our mission statement of creating adventurers, leaders, changemakers, and advocates. Once you see the world from a global perspective, your mindset broadens and your future becomes brighter.
HLF: What were your first impressions of ISB?
Hined: Coming from a small village
ined Haida loves teaching history, and she found her ideal school in ISB, which allows her to teach her favorite subject in Spanish, one of the three languages she grew up speaking along with Arabic and Catalan.
Middle School Spanish Individuals and Societies Teacher
Hined Haida
in Spain, I was very excited about the idea of working in New York City. It felt like such a huge achievement! Previously, I had been teaching English as a foreign language in Spanish public schools, and this seemed like a perfect match for my experiences. I was in love with the idea of the school because I had heard about the IB and was eager to learn about this new curriculum. I was also immediately attracted to the diversity of the school community, with the range of cultures among its staff and families. Working in an international environment was something I always really wanted to do.
LF: Tell us about your first year here.
Hined: I taught Spanish 1st Grade during my first year at ISB, which was my first time teaching that age group. It was a beautiful experience and also a challenge. For students this age, you are almost like another parent, teaching while also helping them reach their big milestones: how to read, how to write, introducing the basics of mathematics. It was beautiful to be with them in these moments and to see them become increasingly motivated to discover the world around them. The Class of 2022 will always be a very special class for me, as this was the only Lower School class I taught that I had again in Middle School. I remember feeling old when they first walked into my 6th Grade
class, but I loved reconnecting with them in a different setting and seeing them transition to this new part of their lives.
LF: And since then you’ve been on the Middle School Faculty?
Hined: Yes, I teach Spanish Individuals and Societies. History has always been one of my favorite subjects, and I find it so unique to be able to teach Spanish and history at the same time. Our Middle School program has grown tremendously. When I first came, the Middle School language classes were very small, with sometimes just six or seven students in a class, and now they are totally full! I think this is a testament to the school’s success and the strength of our program. Our students and families love the curriculum, and they are excited to continue on to Middle School.
LF: How have you grown as a teacher in 10 years?
Hined: A lot! The IB curriculum and philosophy that drew me to the school has developed my approach and made me a much more confident teacher. I can’t imagine teaching any other way! Throughout my time at ISB, I have had the opportunity to attend several IB workshops in various categories, and these have always been great professional learning experiences. Something I also really appreciate about our teaching culture at ISB is that our staff is a community of learners.
Our classroom doors are always open, and whenever you want to visit a class, you can stop by to observe, or go to a colleague for feedback or advice. We learn so much from each other, and this really helps us grow as teachers.
LF: Do you have a favorite memory from your time at ISB?
Hined: One moment I am always proud to share is when ISB’s Middle School Spanish won the International Spanish Academy (ISA) Award for the Best Spanish School in the United States in 2019. It’s also very special when alumni come and tell us how much they miss our classes, how much they learned, or how prepared they feel in high school thanks to the work we did together. They’re proud to speak Spanish so well, and I think they deserve to be!
LF: Looking back on these past ten years, what stands out to you the most about your overall experience?
Hined: ISB is very dear to me because of the people. You feel like people care when they ask you how you are. When there’s something going on in your life, they follow up and check in. It’s a real community. When I come to work, it’s like I’m coming to my second home. I think that’s something everybody loves about ISB. Our school is a generous and friendly place where people are never taken for granted.
LF: Ten years into your career
at ISB, what gets you excited about coming to school every day?
Hined: The mission of the school always resonated with me. I have a multicultural background and language has always been a part of my identity. I was born in Morocco, and with my parents I speak Darija, the Arabic dialect of Morocco. We moved to Catalonia, near Barcelona, when I was just three years old. That’s where I learned to speak Catalan and Spanish. I have always loved languages since I was a little kid, and I want my own kids to have that experience too. At home, I speak to them in Spanish and my husband speaks to them in Arabic, and they speak English out in the world. I want them to learn at least three languages, which is why ISB is the perfect school for them!
LF: That’s right, you have another big milestone as you celebrate a
decade at ISB – your son is joining the Spanish Pre-K 3 class!
Hined: Yes! ISB is officially a family for me now. When I first joined the school, the idea was to work here for three years, which became three more years, and then three more. Now I’m married and fully settled in New York, and I can’t imagine another place for my kids to begin their journey than here at ISB. Everything I love about the school – the curriculum, the atmosphere, the community of teachers and learners, the philosophy – now they can enjoy it too.
“Something that I really appreciate about our teaching culture at ISB is that our staff is a community of learners. We learn so much from each other, and this really helps us grow as teachers.”
of the Library Years
Maria Falgoust’s career at ISB is the story of our Library’s evolution from a few hundred uncategorized books into a diverse and expansive trilingual collection of books from all over the world in a charming hub that is the heart and soul of the school.
LF: What brought you to ISB?
Maria: Before I came to ISB, I had been working for three years at the American Overseas School of Rome, and I loved being part of the international community there. I knew I wanted to eventually come back to New York City, where I had studied Library Science and taught
in independent schools. When I learned about the opportunity at ISB, I thought it would be exciting to join a community with people from all over the world and take on the challenge of building a library collection and program from scratch.
LF: What was your first year at ISB like?
Maria: I was ISB’s first Librarian, so starting the job was like jumping into the deep end! I sorted hundreds of uncataloged books that the school had acquired throughout the years, pared down the collection, planned for what the school’s trilingual collection could look like in the context of the multicultural community and
Head Librarian
Maria Falgoust
the IB units of inquiry, and then made a strategy for the collection development. I set up the catalog, created policies, curated the web pages, got to know the community, organized volunteers, all while teaching 16 classes a week.
LF: What was your first priority when developing the collection?
Maria: My goal was to build a collection that met the needs of the curriculum and also piqued the interest of our students. Collection development involved learning PYP and MYP units of inquiry, as well as tuning into what the kids enjoy for pleasure reading, which turned out to be a lot of graphic novels. I also made resource lists to identify the gaps in our collection. It was challenging because I needed content in all three languages and sometimes specific topics weren’t available for children, but it was a fun challenge. From the beginning, I was always seeking books from a variety of countries, even if that meant searching places with fewer publishing houses. It was always important to me that our collection wasn’t only representative of Spain and France.
LF: What was the grand opening of the ISB Library like?
Maria: It was thrilling to see how excited kids were to discover the collection. Every
single student checked out the maximum amount of books that they could! The pure joy of faculty, staff, parents and students in the library truly reflects the values of the community. ISB cherishes literacy, and knowing my work is appreciated makes the job even more rewarding.
LF: The Library is often referred to as the heart of the school. When did that come about?
Maria: I think I started to hear that for the first time in January of 2017, when we moved to the newly-renovated Learning Commons. It was a big deal moving to the main campus, and this helped our space become more of a working library. The Annex had felt more like a bookstore than a library with its small size and limited hours. On the main campus, though, families could visit before and after school, and our Middle School students gained a lot more access. The Library quickly became a space for more than class time – chatting with friends, hosting meetings, drawing, doing homework, etc. It really did become a hub.
LF: What was your vision for the ISB Library?
Maria: I wanted the Library to host dynamic classes for our students while also providing creative, diverse programming for the whole community. Community
events are important, because I believe getting to know parents, teachers, and students helps me determine what the interests and needs are. Also, I like to keep things fresh and ensure we have a wide-variety of subjects, themes, and identities represented so there is something for everyone. When planning programs, I’m thinking about identity and representation from all angles. Everything we do in the Library is related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. It’s the role of a library to provide readers with windows, mirrors and sliding doors, books that offer views into lives different than their own, stories that students can see themselves in, and literary experiences that inspire wonder and empathy in readers. As a librarian, I want to ensure that I am curating a selection of children’s literature that prioritizes diversity, honors a variety of cultures, and nurtures empathy.
LF: How do you feel like you’ve grown as a teacher and a librarian since working at ISB?
Maria: Being a librarian, you always need to be ready to pivot. You don’t know who’s going to walk in the door, or what people need, what sort of technology will be developed, etc. As a result, I’ve grown in being more flexible and trusting of myself. I have more confidence in myself as an educator and as a public speaker. Talking in front of
large groups has not always come easy to me, and I’m proud to say that I’ve challenged myself by presenting at several professional conferences. I’m committed to my professional and personal growth, and to learning new things.
LF: What stands out to you about author visits in the Library?
Maria: Visitors are always so impressed by our students’ questions. Their critical thinking skills shine. Even authors who are used to highend events appreciate how cheerful, lively and unique our library is; it speaks for itself! That’s something that sets us apart from our peer schools. Our visits are small and intimate, and it’s easier for the kids to connect with the author or illustrator. Also, having the
students drive the decorations and bulletin boards keeps everything vibrant. I’m really proud of what we’ve created here.
LF: How do you feel like the Library has had an impact in the school community?
Maria: Over the years, I’ve heard from families that so much of what they love about the school is related to the Library, that it really encompasses the magic of ISB, or even that it was the reason they chose the school for their child. I am so proud that the Library reflects the mission of the school: adventurers, advocates, changemakers, and leaders. But it also offers something intangible. It’s a place of connection and intellectual stimulation that celebrates all forms of
storytelling. It’s a space that our students really own and cherish.
LF: What are you most proud of in your role as Librarian?
Maria: Among my greatest achievements is building a vibrant community of multilingual readers, while offering a top notch, thoughtful collection and programming. Additionally, I take pride in forging strong connections with local writers and bookstores, and keeping our school prominently on the map for exciting literary opportunities. It’s incredibly rewarding to see students participate in library events and also to witness the unwavering dedication of our fantastic Library Committee volunteers. Their support ensures the library runs smoothly, looks
inviting, and hosts events that draw enthusiastic crowds.
LF: What’s your vision for the future of the Library?
Maria: I envision a new, centrallylocated library with a flexible space (bookshelves on wheels), cozy reading nooks, more seating, and dedicated rooms for classes and independent study. I dream of a theater/auditorium space that could be used to host library programming, which could include collaborative events with peer schools such as mock Newbery Awards. This was something local independent school Librarians used to host, and it would be a fun program for our students. Another dream would be to organize literary and service learning trips both in the US and abroad.
LF: After 10 years, how do you stay inspired?
Maria: The community energizes me! We have such a curious, intellectual, motivated, and caring community, and it fuels my work. I
am grateful that the Administrative Team and the Parents Association are supportive of my programming ideas and allow me to be creative and resourceful. From Hervé Tullet’s outdoor all-school painting workshop, to our infamous Greek Night, to the Multilingual Minds panel, bilingual Drag Story Hour, Dr. Debbie Reese’s talk, Translation Is an Art panel; together we have created such memorable experiences! I am particularly proud of the Staff Common Read, the Multicultural Book Club, and the author and illustrator visits. ISB isn’t stuck in traditions in the way that older schools are; there is always room for experimentation and growth. Collaboration and community is key. I enjoy the unique challenge of running a multilingual, IB library. I’ll always be researching books, making connections, and planning new programs. That’s what drew me to librarianship; I will always be learning, and there is always variety. No two days are ever going to be alike, and I take great pleasure in being part of this lovely, friendly community.
“ISB cherishes literacy, and knowing my work is appreciated makes the job even more rewarding.”
In Conversation: Katie Rogers reconnects with Elliot Thomas-Gregory ‘18
Katie Rogers
Director of Middle School
Elliot Thomas-Gregory ‘18, now in her junior year at Trinity College, was a student in Director of Middle School Katie Rogers’ English Language and Literature class. During Elliot’s spring break, she returned to ISB to catch up with her old teachers and help celebrate Katie’s 10th anniversary at the school by interviewing her about her journey from one of the Division’s first teachers to the leader of our Middle School. Katie was one of Elliot’s favorite teachers and she even remembers having heard about her from her older sister, Emerson ‘15 and how eager she was to be in her class. Elliot says, “Katie’s book club was the most fun I’ve ever had reading books!” As they toured the campus, Katie and Elliot talked about a number of milestones and important events in Katie’s career at ISB.
Elliot: How did you get started at ISB ten years ago?
Katie: I was an English teacher in California before getting married, and my soon-to-be husband and I decided to take a leap and move to NYC. The day after our wedding, we were on the way to the airport, and I’ll always remember, I got the job offer from Joe Santos, who was the Director of Middle School at that time. I was thrilled!
Elliot: What a perfect couple of days! What was it like when you arrived in New York City? What did you think of ISB?
Katie: I had never been to New York before, so the move was a real leap of faith! Because I was coming from California without any family or connections in New York, I was really fortunate to enter such a warm community at ISB. I imagine what I felt is similar to what a lot of our international families find in our school, a sort of home away from home! The Middle School team was a really tight-knit group because they had literally started the Middle School together. It was a lot of fun, and my colleagues helped me gain the confidence I needed to dig into and really enjoy this new experience. When I first started, ISB didn’t seem like a school where someone would spend their entire career, because many in our international teaching community had the intent of eventually going home, but that’s really changed. Now,
more and more of our faculty and staff, no matter where they are from in the world, can imagine retiring at ISB, and this speaks a lot about how far we’ve come in the past ten years. Our institution is more established, but our core values haven’t changed. People love it here and are deeply invested in our mission and where we’re going next!
Elliot: Do you have a memory that sums up your experience at ISB, or a memory that really reaffirmed your choice to stay here?
Katie: I’ve had so many different experiences here, because I’ve held different positions. One of my favorite memories from when you were a student is our Literary Cafe. That was very special for me, because that was a project that was completely mine: my idea, my planning, my execution. It was the first time I took on something like that at ISB, and it worked really well and became a lasting part of our program. It’s moments like that that made me love ISB; teachers have so much freedom to create, and they are supported the whole way. I think our classes benefit from this ethos too. At ISB, we can push our students more than you could at other schools precisely because we have that freedom to be creative. I’m so impressed by what students can accomplish when they have the space to do it.
Elliot: So, as a teacher, you were also involved with helping to build out the curriculum?
Katie: Yes! Obviously, we constantly rely on state, national and international standards to ensure our curriculum content is appropriately challenging, but, within the International Baccalaureate framework, our teachers have a lot of room to implement and design learning experiences.
Elliot: Interesting! Did you change the curriculum often?
Katie: All the time. Part of being a teacher is also being a lifelong learner, so for me, the desire to make improvements or approach a new challenge is always there. Another thing that motivated me was having the chance to cycle with the same groups. As my roles expanded, I switched to teaching 8th Grade English, but before that, I was able to work across multiple grades, and that was a special experience. Moving around helps you gain perspective and see the program more holistically. We have to think about what the trajectory is from 6th to 7th to 8th Grade. Also, the curriculum changes as we get to know our students. Kids change a lot, the world around them changes a lot, and what students need changes with that. I think we’re living in a time when schools are reassessing the role of the teacher because there is so much information at students’
fingertips. To have an original thought can feel hard for kids, so teachers are there to facilitate critical thinking and empower students to seek knowledge wherever they can. In my role as Director of Middle School, I hope to support teachers as they ask themselves what we really mean to teach and how we want our students to get there.
Elliot: What do you think is one of the most important aspects of being an educator?
Katie: Forming rich connections with your students and genuinely wanting to know them is absolutely key, and this is something I always try to model. Middle School is a really important time in a child’s life – a person’s identity is formed so much during those years. Middle Schoolers need to feel seen and understood in order to fully commit to their learning. I would hope that every single one of our students gets to move into high school feeling that they’ve made at least a few really positive connections with adults who aren’t their parents. Something I really value about ISB is that we’re small enough that I can know and remember every student. When I was teaching in California, and also growing up there as a student, that wasn’t my experience. I think there’s something to be said for small, tightly-knit independent school settings such
as ours. At ISB, we value the development of the whole child, and our small student-teacher ratio and sense of community allows us to really fulfill the promise of a well-rounded education, one that fosters both academic excellence and social-emotional growth.
Elliot: When I was your student, I loved your class so much, it didn’t even feel like school to me! What do you enjoy most about teaching English Language and Literature?
Katie: What I like about teaching Language and Literature, specifically in the Middle School years, is that the subject matter creates a natural space for interrogating your own morals and talking about deeper concepts. At this age, students are ready to have those meaningful conversations, and they’re open to discovering new ideas and ways of thinking. So, as a literature teacher, I felt I was able to get to know all facets of my students because so often our discussions centered around interpretations, insights, and feelings. Learning never feels like a chore when you get to bring parts of yourself to it! I remember well what it felt like to be a middle schooler. As a teacher, I always try to ensure kids know that I see them and value their input as we navigate the learning process together. It’s a give and take, and I enjoyed thinking deeply
about what I wanted my students to get out of an assignment or unit, and also inviting them into the process by “pulling back the curtain” whenever I could.
Elliot: Knowing you as our English teacher, it’s wild for me to see you in this new role of Director of Middle School. How has the transition felt for you? Do you love it? Do you miss the classroom?
Katie: It’s been an interesting turn of events! I went into teaching to teach, and I was never someone who had ambitions to move into a leadership or administrative role — even though my mom was a school principal! The fact that I am the Director of Middle School today speaks to ISB’s investment in peoples’ growth, which is why I’ve been able to lean into this transition. That’s something that I have always appreciated about Joe as a leader: his vision and belief in people. He invests in his staff, and he encourages us to challenge ourselves. When I was offered this position, I even told Joe that I would be hesitant to leave the classroom at any other school, but at ISB, this place I love so much, I was willing to push myself out of my comfort zone. I thought about our mission, how we encourage our students to be risk takers, and I
took another leap! It’s so cool to see how I can grow and push myself, even when it’s difficult. If someone had told me that at this point in my career I’d be done teaching, I wouldn’t have believed it. With time, though, I was able to consider where my impact could be most felt; sometimes you have to decide how to influence the sphere you have in the best possible way, and I’ve been really proud of the work we are doing in Middle School these past few years. I hope to continue recruiting and retaining a solid group of faculty who loves the classroom just as much as I do.
Elliot: What are some of the ways the school has grown since my time in Middle School?
Katie: Of course we’re bigger, but I think we have really held onto that tight-knit, it-takes-avillage kind of culture! The beauty of working in schools is that every year is slightly different, and every year is a fresh start. There are always new perspectives, as we’re always going to be welcoming a new set of families. With our IB curriculum and our unique language model, we can go on and on about all we have to offer families, but what’s really special is how much inspiration we take from each individual student and each new group of families. Our school
was founded on that energy, and that’s still an energy I want to keep and honor.
Elliot: Maybe this is too broad, but is there something you want to accomplish in the next five years? Is there a vision, or anything you want to fine tune?
Katie: As you know, I have a young daughter who is growing so quickly, so I’m really trying to work on savoring the moment and staying present in my life! With that said, I like to stay busy, and my team and I have quite a few plans in the works for the Middle School! One goal I have for our program is trying to build out even more leadership opportunities. The Student Council largely looks the same as when you were a student, but we’re looking to make that a more robust experience around school initiatives and event planning. Introducing peer mediation and restorative justice, and having students be involved in that process is something I’m also really interested in. Our new elective and club period has been really successful, and I want to continue to add more options. We’ve also really tried to build out Athletics and Performing Arts opportunities. We’re still small, so we try to work creatively within those constraints, but we have a passionate faculty and really active parent body that always wants to chip in and help. Our performances have also come a long way since you were a student; thanks to our Middle School parents and volunteers, we have gone from risers in a classroom to fully decorated shows with elaborate props and costumes. Sometimes I have to
remind myself of how far we have come and all the amazing growth we have experienced. Similarly, in Athletics, the Dragons Girls Basketball team won the MSAL Championship this year, which was amazing! We’re ready to start building even more opportunities for our student athletes, and even though I never thought I’d be interested in athletics programming, here we are! ISB is at a point now when we’re no longer brand new, and so every year we are thinking about how we can keep offering more and more opportunities for students while protecting the warmth and familial culture we hold dear.
Elliot: Have you ever been humbled in your work?
Katie: No other age group will humble you like 13-year-olds do! They just don’t always think teachers are cool, and they will let you know. I love that, though. It keeps me feeling young and connected! As an educator, there are always going to be moments when something you planned just doesn’t work, so students will ask a question you don’t know the answer to. But this gives you the chance to switch it up, be honest and candid, stay flexible in your practice, and commit to making it work. The whole job is somewhat humbling because, for example, if I get a set of quizzes back and my students don’t do well, that’s my fault, not theirs. So I have to think about what didn’t work, what isn’t landing, and how to fix it. This is something I enjoy about being a teacher – reflecting, analyzing, and fine tuning for next time. It’s exactly what we ask our students to do. And there are also
those shining moments of clarity when your lesson lands exactly how you hoped and you see students grasping the deeper meaning you intended and that is the best feeling. It replaces those humbling moments in a heartbeat.
Elliot: Has your perspective as an educator changed since becoming a parent?
Katie: In some ways, but I think I had a motherly approach to being a teacher even before becoming a mom! Having my daughter has given me a different perspective on parents. When I look at each of our students now, I think about how they were once just a little two-year-old, and how every parent loves their kid just as much as I love mine, and that’s really powerful. In my current role, that perspective has been important to me. In terms of the way I care for our students, I’m not sure that it’s changed. Kids are funny and cute and curious, and I am always rooting for their success, and now I guess it’s even easier to do that!
Elliot: Well, I always felt that from you, how much you cared about all of your students. You were the best English teacher I ever had. These kids are really lucky to have you!
Katie: It might seem cheesy, but the feeling is truly mutual. I would not be the educator I am today if it weren’t for ISB. The school has become a powerful and remarkable part of my journey, both professionally and personally. I hope I can keep learning from the members of our community and sharing my ideas and expertise in return. Ten years have flown by, but I’m still in love with the profession and grateful I get to keep doing what I love at ISB.
In Conversation:
Itzel
Mendoza reconecta con Miguel Davis Sanchez ‘18
Director of Preschool Itzel Mendoza is celebrating her 15th anniversary at ISB this year. Itzel began her tenure in our Preschool as a teacher in the Spanish Kindergarten classroom, and she catches up here with ISB alum Miguel Davis Sanchez ‘18, who was a student in that very first class Itzel taught in her first year! Miguel, who is Mexican American, remembers fondly how important it was to see in his Kindergarten teachers (Itzel and Preschool Teacher Leticia Gonzalez, who was also his teacher at the time, are both Mexican American), someone who looked like him and his family, and shared his cultural background. In a break from his degree in Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Miguel worked at ISB this past fall as an After School Instructor. He was a great asset to our community, and he was happy to mentor and connect with our young students. Miguel was excited to sit down with his former teacher to help Itzel reflect on her 15-year journey at ISB. This is their conversation, edited for space and in Spanish, of course!
Years
Director of Preschool
Itzel Mendoza
Miguel: Well, thank you for this opportunity. It’s interesting because, of course I remember well when I had you as a teacher my second year here, in Kindergarten, but what I didn’t know, and I just found out, is that that was your first class at ISB!
Itzel: Yes, that’s true, that was my first class!
Miguel: That was my second year at ISB, and the impact of those early years on a kid’s life is really meaningful, and, for me in particular, to have a teacher who was Mexican was really important. I had you and Leticia, and that made me feel really comfortable. I grew up in a Mexican household and when I would come to school I’d feel like I was at home. There were a lot of things in the classroom that reminded me of things we had at home. For me, that was something that was super important for my development as a student and it definitely made me feel that ISB was a place where I could feel comfortable, where I could express myself and see my identity represented in teachers and other students as well.
Itzel: Do you want to hear something funny?
Miguel: Of course.
Itzel: When I met your mother, of course I already knew you and I knew you were Mexican, but when I met her, she reminded me so much of family. Talking to her was
Miguel: Pues gracias por darme la oportunidad para hacer esto. Es interesante porque, obviamente, yo me acuerdo bien de cuando te tuve como maestra durante mi segundo año acá, en kínder, pero lo que yo no sabía, apenas me enteré, ¡es que fue tu primera clase en ISB!
Itzel: ¡Sí, así es, esa fue mi primera clase!
Itzel: Cuando conocí a tu mamá, claro ya te conocía y sabía que eras méxicano, pero al conocerla, ella me recordó muchísimo a un ser querido. El hablar con ella, era como hablar con alguien de mi familia. Y también me resalto en mí el hecho de que yo estaba haciendo lo que yo siempre había English Spanish
Miguel: Aquel, fue mi segundo año en ISB y durante esos años de la niñez el impacto es significativo y, para mí, en particular, tener una maestra mexicana fue muy importante. Yo te tenía a ti y a Leticia, y por eso me sentía súper cómodo. Yo crecí en una casa mexicana y cuando iba a la escuela me sentía como en casa. Había muchas cosas en la clase que reflejaban cosas que teníamos en casa. Eso, para mí, era algo bien importante para mi formación como estudiante y, definitivamente, me hizo sentir que ISB era un lugar donde yo me podía sentir cómodo, donde yo podía expresarme y ver mi identidad representada en maestros y en otros alumnos también.
Itzel: ¿Quieres escuchar algo chistoso?
Miguel: Claro.
like talking to one of my loved ones. And it hit me at that moment the fact that I was doing what I always wanted to do, teaching — and I was doing it in my native language. I felt like I was the teacher I always wished I had, a Mexican teacher like me! That was the most beautiful thing about that encounter.
Miguel: Right. Exactly, and for me it was a really unique experience, because I never had that opportunity again.
Itzel: Since then?
querido hacer, enseñar — pero en mi idioma natal. Sentí que yo era la maestra que a mí me hubiese gustado tener, ¡una maestra mexicana como yo! Eso para mí fue lo más lindo en ese momento.
Miguel: Sí. Exacto, y para mí fue una experiencia bien única porque, nunca volví a tener oportunidad de nuevo.
Miguel: No. I’ve had teachers from other Spanish speaking countries, but it’s not the same. That’s why I have a great relationship with Leticia too. It’s a cultural thing that you feel in your heart. Thank you to both of you for having been there! That’s why I decided to pursue a career in education. By the way, what got you interested in teaching?
Itzel: I always had the yearning to know more, and I always wanted to know why and how things function the way they do. I have a passion for patterns. I love those “aha” moments, and I think it’s because of that, that at a certain point, I thought I would do something in the field of forensic
Itzel: ¿Desde entonces?
Miguel: No. He tenido profesores que eran
hispanohablantes, pero no es lo mismo. Por eso, también, tengo una buena relación con Leticia. Es algo cultural que sientes en el corazón. ¡Gracias a las dos por haber estado allí! Es por eso, que he decido empezar a seguir una carrera en educación. Por cierto, ¿Qué fue lo que te interesó sobre la enseñanza?
Itzel: Siempre me ha gustado el querer saber más, siempre me ha gustado saber el por qué, y cómo funcionan las cosas. Me encanta ver patrones. Me encantan los momentos de “¡Ajá!,” Creo que por eso tenía, en algún momento, pensado que iba a hacer algo dentro de la ciencia forense — ¡que
science — which doesn’t have anything to do with education! Or, maybe, I like this area of study just for that reason of wanting to know, to figure things out, to understand things better. At the same time, the love of education has always been with me, since I was a little girl. I always had my stuffed animals lined up and, when I would get home from school, I would read to them just like my teacher would read to us. I think that since I was little, I had this dream of more of myself, to be able to explain things, to help people to solve problems, and to figure out patterns in order to better understand the world around me. When it was time for me to go to college, in the end, I realized that my heart was really in teaching. And, let me tell you, that even when I was initiating the process – just as you are now, in college studying education, learning a lot about theory and educational practices – it wasn’t until I got to ISB that I really said to myself, “Yes, this is what I definitely want to do with my life.” Because there is nothing like putting what you learned to practice in the real world.
Miguel: Speaking of college and theory, is there a theory or methodology that you learned about in college that continues to inspire you?
Itzel: I remember having heard about inquiry and inquiry-based education, briefly, in college. And, right away, I said,
“That’s what I want, this is what makes sense to me.” Because, I didn’t want to teach in the same way that I was taught as a child.
no tiene nada que ver con la educación! Ó, quizás, me gustaba esa rama por eso del querer saber, de querer resolver y entender mejor. Pero el amor a la educación estuvo siempre dentro de mí, desde chiquita. Siempre tenía en fila a mis peluchitos, y llegaba a casa y les leía como veía que mi maestra nos leía en la escuela. Creo que desde chiquita tenía ese sueño de querer dar más de mí, poder explicar más, poder ayudar a otros a resolver problemas, a entender las cosas y a ver los patrones que yo veía para entender mejor. Ya que era hora de entrar a la universidad, al fin y al cabo, recordé que mi gran alegría era enseñar. Y déjame decirte que aún empezando lo que es el proceso, como tú ahorita que estás en la universidad estudiando para ser educador, escuchando mucho sobre teoría y las prácticas educativas, que no fue hasta que llegué a ISB que en verdad me dije, “Sí, esto es lo que verdaderamente quiero hacer con mi vida.” Porque no hay nada como poner en práctica lo que has aprendido.
Miguel: Hablando de la universidad y teoría, ¿hay una teoría o metodología que descubriste en la uni que te inspira todavía?
Itzel: Yo recuerdo haber escuchado sobre lo que es la indagación, o la enseñanza por medio de la indignación brevemente en la uni. Y de una vez dije, “Eso es lo que yo quiero, eso es lo que me hace sentido.” Porque yo no quería enseñar como me enseñaron a mí. Yo sentí que aprendí de una manera muy desconectada. Yo no quería hacer eso. Al contrario, quería involucrar
I felt like I learned in a way that lacked connection. I didn’t want to be a part of that. On the contrary, I wanted to involve students in their own discovery. And, when I started at ISB, aside from the culture and the fact that I felt very connected to the community, what really made me feel at home was this feeling that, yes, I can be the kind of teacher who guides her students here, not the type of who says “that’s the way it is,” but the one who says “I will help you understand how and why.” And, I can tell you that, since then, I have grown a lot as an educator, because we are that school: we are a school where learning is happening all around us.
Miguel: Yes, and, definitely, I think this school has created a community of learners with a ton of opportunities to learn and to grow. Look at me, for example, back again, working at ISB, a place that is helping me with my own evolution as an educator, and one that in the last several weeks has confirmed for me that this is what I really want to do with my life. That’s why, listening now to the reasons why you became a teacher is a really beautiful thing.
a los estudiantes en el descubrimiento. Y cuando llegué a ISB, aparte de la cultura y de sentirme sumamente conectada a la comunidad, lo que me hizo sentir cómoda fue esa parte de sentir que sí podía ser esa maestra que facilita, que no sólo dice “es esto,” sino la que dice “Te ayudaré ver cómo y por qué.” Y puedo decir que desde entonces he crecido muchísimo como educadora, porque somos esa escuela: somos una escuela donde el aprendizaje está por todas partes.
Miguel: Sí, y, definitivamente, yo creo que esta escuela ha creado una comunidad de aprendices con muchísimas oportunidades para aprender y crecer. Mírame a mí, por ejemplo, aquí de nuevo, trabajando en ISB que me está ayudando con mi evolución como educador y que en las últimas semanas me ha confirmado que eso es realmente lo que quiero hacer. Por eso, escuchar ahora las razones por las cuales tú entraste en esa profesión es un detalle muy bonito.
Itzel: Well then, let me tell you that having
Itzel: Pues dejame decir que el haber sido tu maestra y saber que tú vas a seguir esta carrera, también me alegra mi corazón
been your teacher and knowing that you are going to pursue this career, touches my heart as an educator and fills with joy the little heart of the young teacher I was when I met you. If only 2009 Itzel could see us both here today, it would be so beautiful!
Miguel: That would be amazing. Was ISB the first school you worked at?
Itzel: No, it wasn’t the first school I worked at. Before coming to ISB, I had worked as a TA in college, I had taught classes and workshops on different educational themes for adults, and I had worked in various preschools. I had also done the internship for my master’s program in another preschool. And, I remember that in that school where I worked as an intern, we talked about the possibility of me working there full time. But, I asked myself, “Does this school speak to me? Do I feel the same passion here for education that I feel inside of me?” And the truth was, no, I didn’t feel it. That’s why, after finishing my master’s, I returned to ISB without reservations, because I had worked
de educadora y el corazoncito interior de maestra joven que aún llevo dentro se enriquece. ¡Si la Itzel del 2009 pudiera ver que estamos aquí hoy, sería tan hermoso!
Miguel: Eso sería estupendo. ¿ISB fue el primer lugar donde trabajaste?
Itzel: No, no fue el primer lugar donde trabajé. Antes de llegar a ISB, había estado de “TA” en la universidad, había trabajado dando clases y talleres en áreas educativas para adultos, y estuve trabajando en varios programas de preescolar. También, hice mis prácticas para la maestría en una escuela preescolar. Y, me acuerdo que en esa misma escuela donde hice mi práctica hablamos de la posibilidad de que yo trabajara allí de tiempo completo. Pero, yo me pregunté “¿Es ésta la escuela que me atrae, que siento que tiene la misma pasión que yo siento por lo que es la educación?” Y la verdad que no, no lo era. Por eso, después de terminar la maestría, volví a ISB enteramente, donde ya había trabajado y donde sentía esa misma pasión.
here and I had felt that same passion I had myself.
Miguel: You have been here at ISB for a decade and a half. I remember that the school was really, really small back then. When we met, we were in the building with only three classrooms and our recess took place in what was basically an alleyway! For you to have recognized the potential in the school is remarkable. Is there a reason in particular that helped you believe so much in the future of ISB?
Itzel: I remember that tiny recess yard too! I think yes, I had to have that faith that there was something happening here at ISB, something I could get behind. And, definitely, yes, there was something special and I decided that I was going to grow with this school. I also knew at the time that we were going to move to our new space, this building, which was the most literal way that I could see that ISB was growing, because, yeah, it was growing physically! But, among the things that you can’t see, the intangibles, the things that sometimes are even difficult to put into words, was simply the atmosphere. As a professional, you can feel the engagement, the commitment that every teacher feels to our students, to the school, and to the way in which we teach. You can feel that you are in an institution that wants to help and as a school that does what it says, and one that doesn’t just go through the motions but seeks to evolve. Working in education will never be a job where you clock in and clock out, a
Miguel: Has estado aquí en ISB por una década y media. Yo recuerdo que la escuela era bien, bien pequeña en ese entonces. Cuando nosotros nos conocimos, estábamos en el edificio donde sólo había tres clases y nuestro recreo tomaba lugar en lo que era, básicamente, ¡un callejón! Para que tú pudieras reconocer ese potencial en la escuela es notable. ¿Hay una razón en particular por la cual pudiste creer tanto en el futuro de ISB?
Itzel: ¡Yo también recuerdo ese pequeño espacio de recreo! Creo que sí que tuve que tener esa fé para pensar que algo había aquí en ISB, a lo que yo podía unirme. Y, efectivamente, sí, noté que había algo muy especial y decidí que yo iba a crecer con esta escuela. Quizás, también, como justo ese año sabía que íbamos a mudarnos a un espacio nuevo, a este edificio, pues como que era la forma más literal de ver el crecimiento de ISB, porque claro, ¡crecía físicamente! Pero, dentro de las cosas que no se pueden tocar, lo que no es tangible, lo que hasta, a veces, no se puede poner en palabras, era simplemente el ambiente. Como profesional, puedes sentir el interés, el compromiso, que todos los profesores de esta escuela sienten por los niños, por la escuela, por la forma en la que enseñamos. Tú sientes que estás en un lugar que quiere ayudar y una escuela que hace lo que dice, y que no lo hace solamente por hacer, lo hace para crecer. La educación nunca va a ser el tipo de trabajo donde llegas y te vas, de 9 a 5. Tienes que tener ese deseo de crecer y de ayudar a tus alumnos a
nine to five. You have to have that desire to grow and to help your students to grow. I felt that in this school, in my colleagues. I felt it not only in the IB curriculum but in the way we put in place a structure that makes it so our students develop in their abilities to communicate and how we teach them to love their languages, or, if they have the language already, they feel proud of continuing to get better and better and understand deeply the power of bilingualism. I remember a while ago I was asked a similar question from one of our families that came to visit the school, and I told them that what keeps me here is the spirit of reflection that permeates our space. The feeling that our school is not stagnant, that we’re always exploring, always looking to evolve. I think that is what I appreciate most about who we are.
Miguel: It’s awesome how you have been able to grow alongside ISB, a school you love so much. In what ways do you think the school has evolved since the time when I was a student?
Itzel: I think there has been different types of evolution, among them all, our work and commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, which I feel, when we think about it, is something that we have been doing for a while and is not just something recent. However, we have someone now in Sakai (Director of Community, Culture, and Belonging, Sakai Troxell) who helps us, as she would say, to codify our work, our commitment; to have it and put it at
crecer. Yo sentí eso en la escuela, en mis colegas. Sentí eso no sólo en el currículo del Bachillerato Internacional, pero también en la forma en la cual desarrollamos una estructura que hace que los niños crezcan en sus habilidades de comunicación y cómo hacemos que los niños se enamoren del idioma, ó, si ya tienen el idioma, que se sientan orgullosos de seguir desarrollandolo y también que vean claramente el poder en ese bilingüismo. Recuerdo que hace tiempo, tuve una pregunta similar de una familia que vino a visitar la escuela y yo les comentaba que es el espíritu de reflexión que invade nuestro espacio que me mantiene aquí. El sentimiento de no estar estancada como escuela, de siempre estar buscando y de querer desarrollar más. Creo que es lo que más aprecio de quienes somos.
Miguel: Qué bonito que has podido crecer con ISB, una escuela que amas tanto. ¿Cómo crees que la escuela ha evolucionado desde el tiempo en que yo era estudiante?
Itzel: Siento que han habido distintos tipos de desarrollo, dentro de muchos, nuestro trabajo y el compromiso al trabajo de diversidad, equidad e inclusión que, siento que cuando reflexionamos sobre esto, es algo de lo cual venimos hablando hace tiempo, no es algo que es reciente. Pero, tenemos a alguien ahora en Sakai (Director of Community, Culture, and Belonging, Sakai Troxell) que nos ayuda, como dice ella, a codificar ese trabajo, ese compromiso; ponerlo y tenerlo mejor asentado para que todos tengamos claridad en quienes somos.
the forefront of our mission so that who we are is clearly defined. In this way, I think we’ve worked hard and we’ve made a lot of progress. I also think that the support we have from our students has really helped in this area. Their commitment is incredible; they demand a more inclusive and just future. Now, we know that we haven’t finished our work in this area. As in everything we do, we are always going to try to stay up to date on new ideas and best practices.
Miguel: ISB is a very young school. I think it’s a day older than me! In this really short time, do you feel that ISB has been able to make a reputation for itself? Do you feel like people know who we are? Have we been able to make our program known? Our mission?
Itzel: I think so. More and more, I run into people who tell me, “I heard about your school.” And, being a small school, it’s an honor to know that they know about us and that they know who we are, and not just our educational model. We continue to plant seeds when it comes to our reputation about what we hold dear to us, our mission and
En ese sentido creo que hemos trabajado muchísimo, hemos hecho muchos avances. También, creo que el apoyo también de nuestros estudiantes ha ayudado mucho en esto. Su compromiso es increíble; ellos exigen un futuro más inclusivo, más justo. Ahora bien, sabemos que no hemos terminado nuestro trabajo en esa área. Como en todo, siempre estamos intentando mantenernos al tanto de las mejores prácticas y nuevos avances.
Miguel: ISB es una escuela muy jóven.
¡Creo que me gana por un día! En ese tiempo tan corto, ¿Sientes que ISB ha podido solidificar una reputación?
¿Sientes que somos bastantes reconocidos? ¿Hemos podido lograr comunicar nuestro propósito? ¿Nuestra misión?
Itzel: Yo creo que sí. Cada vez más, me topo con gente que me dice, “He oído hablar de tu escuela.” Y, siendo una escuela pequeña, es un honor saber que se sabe de nosotros y que se sabe quienes somos, y no sólo en cuanto al modelo de aprendizaje. Vamos sembrando raíces en cuanto a construir esa reputación de lo que llevamos al centro,
values. I think that even though we’re young — like you! — we’re getting there.
Miguel: For me, whenever I describe ISB, I talk about how being bilingual or trilingual doesn’t just create opportunities for verbal communication, but, in a cultural sense, it gives you the tools to navigate the world more gracefully. It gives you a passport to other avenues, different possibilities. What do you think about that?
Itzel: You hit the nail on the head! That is what we have dedicated ourselves to providing for our students. It’s true, bilingualism, and learning a language in and of itself, expands your worldview and makes it so that you don’t get stuck in one way of seeing things, of thinking. You also learn how to really understand other people. To appreciate, or to be part of two or more cultures, puts you in a position of open mindedness towards other people. It’s what we try to instill in our students, that we are not alone and that there are other ideas out there, other perspectives that we can learn and grow from as citizens of the world. We know we can connect with the things we have in common with people from all over, but we also have our differences, which we have to recognize, appreciate, and understand. That prepares you to be more open and puts you in the space where you’ll always be able to learn something new.
Miguel: You already answered this question in a way, but what is it that you most appreciate about working at ISB?
de cuales son nuestros valores y nuestros compromisos. Creo que, aunque somos todavía jóvenes — ¡cómo tú! — ahí vamos.
Miguel: Yo siempre cuando describo ISB, hablo de cómo ser bilingüe o trilingüe no sólo ha creado oportunidades de comunicarse de manera verbal sino, también, culturalmente, te da la habilidad de navegar el mundo con más facilidad. Te da un pasaporte a otros caminos, a otros futuros. ¿Qué opinas de eso?
Itzel: ¡Es muy acertado! Eso es lo que nos comprometemos a hacer para nuestros estudiantes. Es cierto, el bilingüismo, y el aprendizaje de una lengua en sí, amplía tu visión del mundo y hace que no te atasques en una sola manera de ver, de pensar. También, sabes cómo llegar a entender a otras personas. Apreciar, o tener dos o más culturas diferentes, te llega a poner en una posición de mentalidad abierta hacia las demás. Es lo que inculcamos acá, que no estamos solos y que existen otras ideas, otras perspectivas de las cuales podemos aprender y crecer como ciudadanos del mundo. Sabemos que podemos conectar en las cosas que tenemos en común con gente de todo el mundo, pero que también tenemos diferencias que tenemos que reconocer, apreciar y entender. Y eso, sí, eso te prepara para abrirte más y te pone en una posición de siempre poder aprender algo nuevo.
Miguel: Has respondido a esta siguiente pregunta de alguna manera ya, pero ¿Qué es
Itzel: It’s probably the way we put our students at the center of everything we do, the way students are truly always on our minds when we are talking about curriculum, transitions, for example, in Preschool, from Pre-K 3 to Pre-K 4. We are always evaluating what they need in each moment, in each semester, or in each week so that they can grow, so that they can flourish. I also really appreciate the way we teach and the emphasis we place on getting to know each student, what they are like, where their interests lie, the wanting and searching for ways to meet them in each moment in order to guide them in their learning.
lo que más aprecias de trabajar en ISB?
Itzel: Quizá es la manera en que ponemos a los niños al centro de todo lo que hacemos, la manera en que los estudiantes en verdad siempre están en nuestra mente cuando estamos hablando del currículo, de las transiciones por ejemplo, en Preschool, ya sea de Pre-K
3 a Pre-K
Miguel: Okay, one last question. Since I’m starting a career in education, do you have any advice for me?
Itzel: Remember what we taught you here. Keep your mind open. Question everything, even yourself, reevaluating your own ways of thinking. There will be things that you might not agree with and it will be good for you to speak your mind about them, and, of course, it will always be good to
4. Siempre reflexionamos en qué necesitan en cada momento, qué necesitan este semestre ó esta semana para poder crecer, para poder florecer. También, aprecio mucho la forma en que enseñamos y la importancia que damos al conocimiento de cada estudiante, cómo son y dónde están sus intereses, y del querer y buscar cómo llegar hasta ellos en cada momento para poder guiarlos en su aprendizaje.
Miguel: Y una última pregunta. Como yo estoy empezando una carrera en educación, ¿Tienes algunos consejos para mí?
Itzel: Recuerda lo que te hemos enseñado acá. Mantén esa mente abierta. Cuestiona todo, aun a tí mismo, reflexionando siempre en tus propios pensamientos. Van a haber
take another look at your own ideas about how things are. It will be in those moments of conflict that you’ll be able to arrive at a positive change… Miguel, before you finish, I have to tell you, I am so happy that you are going down this road! I’m positive that you are going to make a big difference in the lives of your future students.
Miguel: Thank you so much, and I want you to know that, after coming back here to ISB and having worked with you as part of the team, I’m going to be heading back to my school with more motivation than ever and with a super clear idea of what I want to achieve.
“Somos una escuela donde el aprendizaje está por todas partes.”
cosas con las que quizá tú no estás de acuerdo y es bueno llevar esas preguntas a los demás y claro, reflexionar sobre tus ideas de cómo son las cosas. Será en esos momentos de conflicto que vas a poder lograr un cambio positivo… Miguel, antes de que acabemos, quiero decirte que, ¡soy tan feliz de ver que vas a seguir este camino! Estoy segura que vas a marcar una gran diferencia en las vidas de tus futuros estudiantes.
Miguel: Muchas gracias, y quiero que sepas que, después de haber regresado a ISB y haber trabajado contigo como parte del equipo, ahora voy a volver a mi universidad con aún más motivación y una idea bien clara de lo que quiero lograr.
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Experiential service learning opportunities are a natural extension of our program’s focus on compassionate global mindedness and positive real world action. That’s why, at the start of the 2023-2024 school year, ISB created the new role of Service Learning Coordinator, which was filled by Lower School English Teacher Jayne Sugg. Jayne is passionate about connecting with our local community and has a personal investment in making a positive impact on the lives of our neighbors. Before joining ISB in 2020, she held roles at the International Rescue Committee and Henry Street Settlement, where she worked directly with immigrant and refugee communities. Taking inspiration from these experiences, Jayne was especially excited to take on this new position, noting the “ amazing potential that our school has to connect with our diverse New York City communities through our languages and emphasis on intercultural understanding and communication.”
Since September, Jayne has been working with faculty, staff, and parents to explore new avenues for our students to use their passions and perspectives to benefit the school, neighborhood, and local communities. Across our entire program, students have been connecting with their communities through service learning projects that complement and enhance their unit studies. These service learning projects are designed as real world initiatives and collaborative efforts between students and teachers to further investigate subjects and issues studied in class, and to research solutions through hands-on study, including field trips, experiments, outreaches, community exchanges, and more. Jayne’s goal has been to encourage teachers to follow the lead of student interest to find opportunities for service learning experiences within the unit curriculum. “I think service learning is most powerful when the students themselves find a need. For example, if a student discovers an injustice as they are having a class discussion, teachers can follow that thread, ask more questions, investigate answers through research, and, finally, take action, and that’s how we would connect to their learning throughout the year. Taking action is really a core tenet of both the PYP and MYP curricula, and service learning is so much more meaningful for students when it’s connected to the classroom. These experiences stick with them when they are driven by their own curiosity and values.” Whether it’s our Preschoolers practicing stewardship of our school spaces, our Lower Schoolers adopting a nearby park, or our Middle Schoolers’ Community Project, students of all grade levels are demonstrating that, here at ISB, our mission and values are at the forefront of our educational experience.
The Service Learning Experience
In Lower School, 1st Grade students learned how to make tawashi, Japanese scrubbing brushes, from used socks, and they helped us reimagine how we can better use old materials. Our 2nd Graders planned a monthslong campaign to help all Lower School classes collect reusable materials
Lower Schoolers joined together for a yearlong experiment on lunchtime food waste. Students worked in teams with class representatives and weekly volunteers to weigh solid and liquid food waste. Then, they worked with Jayne to graph the data over time. At the halfway
for Preschool student art projects, as well as for our recyclables closet. In 3rd Grade, students adopted the nearby Admiral Triangle Park and joined with NYC Parks and Recreation to pull weeds, lay soil, and pick up trash to care for this oftforgotten, little-park-thatcould!
point of the project, Student Council class representatives got together and decided to deepen their study to find which foods were being wasted most, in order to clearly inform ISB’s Senior Leadership Team and to advocate for revised menu options in the lunch service.
The culmination of our MYP program is the 8th Grade Community Project, in which students form meaningful connections with their communities by utilizing and sharing skills they have developed in their time at ISB. For their individual Community Projects, each student was asked to determine the community they would like to serve, investigate the needs of this community, then propose and enact
a plan that would make a lasting impact. This year’s Community Projects showcased our students’ thoughtful engagement with a variety of causes close to their hearts. Projects included, “Supporting the Un-housed in NYC,” “Art for Mental Health,” “Preparing Medically-tailored Meals,” “The Need to Read,” “Raising Awareness about Food Insecurity,” “Tech Help for the Elderly,” and more.
The 4th Grade students employed the natural abilities of worms to compost food waste, and also incubated chicken eggs, highlighting how caring for nature aids our ecosystem and our planet. The 5th Graders researched and explained the cause and effect webs of how our actions impact the world around us, and shared some NYC pride for our urban biodiversity.
For the second year running, our Middle School students engaged with Powerplay, a three-day intensive conference that allows students to consider and grapple with questions around power and privilege. Designed by the Middle School Faculty, DEI Office, and Library, this year’s Powerplay had “Disabled Communities, Disability Justice, and Accessibility” as its theme. Following three days of keynote speakers, elective workshops, and interactive discussions and activities, the conference culminated in group advocacy projects, for which students were
Another key to strengthening ISB’s Service Learning Program this school year was our collaboration with the Parents Association’s Community Exchange Committee (CEC) and the Green Dragons environmental team. An important area of focus for the Committee’s work was connecting school-wide initiatives to classroom units and letting students’ interest drive various projects throughout the school, in addition to supporting our 8th Grade Community Projects. The Green Dragons worked with our Facilities team to
tasked with applying their newly acquired knowledge and examining ways in which ISB could become more inclusive and accessible. With service and advocacy in mind, our students set forth in groups to research, prepare presentations, and pitch ideas to ISB’s Senior Leadership Team. Students courageously communicated their ideas for change, with such examples as visual and book disability representation, student workshops on antibullying and peer upstander training, and faculty and staff training on inclusive practices and accessible materials.
have a large recycle station built at the reception entrance of our school, which students and class representatives visited often to organize and distribute classroom materials instead of throwing them away. The Community Exchange Committee and the Green Dragons worked to deepen ISB’s relationship with the Red Hook Community through family pick-and-plants and neighborhood cleanups, as well as a partnership with our neighbor school PS 15 with backpacks, clothing, and food drives throughout the year.
Seeking to amplify our Middle School field trip program, Director of Middle School Katie Rogers decided it was time to add an overnight trip that complemented service learning and action. This spring semester, our 7th Grade went on the inaugural Service Learning trip to Washington, D.C., which brought to life their studies in demographics and human movements, settlement and urban morphology, significant individuals, peacekeeping, and rights and social protest. On an eventful first day, after a morning of sightseeing, they dined at Busboys and Poets, a restaurant, bookstore, and community gathering place founded by artist and activist Andy Shallal.
In the spring, our Lower Schoolers held their first-ever Service Learning Showcase, an event that marked their growing pride in service projects and their deepened connection with their communities. At the event, Jayne spoke about how our
Throughout the day, they examined age-old questions, such as how one takes a stand or makes their voice heard, as well as the contemporary question of how to locate reliable news online. The trip also included hands-on service, as 7th Graders spent a full day preparing and packing food at D.C. Central Kitchen, a nonprofit social enterprise that combats hunger and poverty. 7th Graders also had a lesson in advocacy during a visit to Capitol Hill, where they met with New York State representatives and talked about gun control and solutions to gun violence. This was an amazing learning experience, with DC acting as our students’ classroom!
PYP unit lessons evolved into projects intended to serve our school, neighborhood, and planet, taking shape through months of inquiry, field trips, and research.
We are proud of our students’ mission-oriented work and excited about the bright future of service learning at ISB. During the 2024-2025 school year, we plan to engage in more initiatives that make the most out of our students’ bilingualism and communication skills. At ISB, we have always felt that we can make a difference in our communities, and it is our students who are showing us all the different ways we can change the world for the better.
Alumni Class of 2020 Colleges and Universities
ISB’s Class of 2020 graduated high school this year, and we could not be more excited to watch as their paths unfold both near and far from our doors. This group of alumni will be diving into a wide-variety of academic fields, including architecture, pre-law, pre-med, applied mathematics and statistics, business and management, electrical engineering, history and anthropology, animal behavior, physics, forensic psychology, and politics, policy, and economics.
American University of Paris (France)
Babson College
Bard College
Binghamton University
Boston College
Brooklyn College
Cornell University
Georgetown University
Hampshire College
John Jay College for Criminal Justice
McGill University* (Canada)
Middlebury College
Ohio State University
Pomona College
School of Art and Design
Stony Brook University*
SUNY New Paltz
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (Switzerland)
University of Warwick (UK)
Vassar College
Williams College
* Multiple ISB alumni attending
The Limits of My Languages Mean the Limits of My World
ISB is about to celebrate its 20th anniversary, and our former students are now studying at high school and college levels and beginning their professional careers. As we approach this milestone, it is so exciting to hear about how our alumni are using the language skills they developed at ISB in their academic, professional, and personal lives today. As Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittengstein said, “the limits of my language mean the limits of my world,” and our students continue to show us that as long as they use their languages, there are no limits to what they can accomplish. Whether it’s in the classroom, the workplace, their daily lives, or even on the tennis court, our alumni adventurers, advocates, and changemakers are out there making their voices heard, experiencing new places, and connecting with more people.
Artwork by: Arthur, 7th Grade
Language is a Key to the Past, Present, and Future
Leila Narisetti
‘16
For Leila Narisetti ‘16, ever since she can remember, French has been a big part of her life. Before joining the francophone community that is ISB, she attended preschool in Brussels, then a Lycée Français International in India. When her family moved to Brooklyn, Leila and her sister Zola ‘19 enrolled at ISB. Upon graduation, Leila went to high school at The Packer Collegiate Institute, where she placed right away into senior level French classes, which allowed her to finish her French requirement by sophomore year. When there were no more classes to take, Leila sought out opportunities outside the classroom to further immerse herself in the language. She led tours for French-speaking prospective families and made meaningful connections with the French language faculty, who became valuable resources for her various independent research projects.
Speaking to Leila about her relationship to the French language after ISB, Lingua Franca learned how enduring her commitment proved to be. “During high school, the bulk of my French learning took place outside of school. I wanted to make sure my sister Zola was maintaining her love of the language after ISB too. So, we began to speak in French with each other more, in person and on the phone. At home, it was a way to talk about our parents, who don’t speak French, right in front of them!” Through Packer, Leila was also able to go on a genocide research trip to Cambodia. For a few weeks, she worked with students learning Khmer and helped translate archival documents related to the Cambodian genocide.
When Leila was applying to colleges, maintaining her French was an important part of her decision process. “I wanted to get the same level of a challenge that I had at ISB, learning about various subjects in French from native speakers. Also, I wanted to respect all the intention and work my parents had put into my language education, and the language program was a big reason for me choosing Northwestern University.”
Following a gap year, during which she worked on a flower farm in Wisconsin through WWOOF (Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms), Leila entered Northwestern in the Fall of 2021. With her high level of
French, she was able to take graduate level courses as early as her freshman year, and she has since studied a wide range of subjects including French Colonialism, French and Francophone Literature, Short Fiction Writing, and Postcolonial and Decolonial Thought. Now in her senior year, Leila is currently writing her thesis on the Rif War, which she was inspired to research following a semester abroad experience in Morocco. Merging both her French and history studies, Leila’s senior thesis aims to “bring together French literary thought and Moroccan poetry to paint a broader picture of what life was like after the war, and to show how the Moroccan identity has been constructed because of French colonial power.” Leila is more than happy with her decision to continue her French studies at Northwestern, as she
will be graduating with a BA in History, French, and Legal Studies!
Over the past few years, Leila has found that she loves translation work, particularly for “the magic in revealing meaning.” She says, “I find it very fulfilling to share something that is technically a secret to a lot of people.” Her first translation assignment was for the Genocide Research Foundation in Cambodia, and today she assists Northwestern professors in various departments with archival translation work for their research. Two summers ago, she translated World War II era letters written between a young French woman and a soldier in the first Japanese-American military troop. These letters were discovered by The Asian Studies Department, and, as they were written in French,
Leila’s professor recommended her for the job. “Translating letters is fascinating,” she says, “I was in the archives the whole summer translating 150 correspondences between two people living opposite lives. The Japanese-American soldier learned French because of the war, and it was interesting reading his letters alongside those of the native-speaking French citizen.” For Leila, even the subtle differences in their syntax and word choice was interesting. “The soldier who learned French as an adult might say, for example, simply ‘Je suis très fatigué,’ or ‘Je suis triste,’ whereas the native speaker would say ‘J’ai le cafard !’”
Outside of classes, Leila is very active with the French Department and shares a rich student life with the francophone population
at Northwestern. As the undergraduate representative for the French program, she supports all the open houses, student events, undergraduate fairs, and club fairs. She has also been a mentor for Northwestern’s aspiring and beginning French students, encouraging their use of the language and putting on events where they can practice, like wine and charcuterie nights, movie screenings, or charades and other games in French!
Leila’s involvement with the French department has led to opportunities to give back to the local community as well, and she has been working with French-speaking immigrants in Evanston, IL.
She told us, “The goal of this work is to help these migrant communities get access to jobs, which is difficult when they don’t have a computer and don’t speak English. So the French department has been connecting with migrants who predominantly speak French and setting them up at the Evanston Public Library, which is just a block or two away from Northwestern, and helping them fill out job applications.”
Leila’s overall goal is to become an attorney, and this summer she has had the opportunity to professionally assist French-speaking communities with a Chicago Legal Aid Office, which focuses on the relationship betweens schools,
families and the carceral state. “The firm provides family services and youth programs focused on breaking up the school to prison pipeline among other things.” Leila explains the opportunity came about because “the firm really wanted someone who is fluent in French to be able to speak with these communities so they aren’t cut off from receiving services just because they don’t speak English. Their goal is to come to these smaller neighborhoods that people don’t pay much attention to, to address the systemic issues that are holding them back.” Leila takes pride in how her French has helped her be of service to her communities, and her service work is an inspiring
example of ISB’s mission in action.
Of course, Leila has no plans to stop her language learning at French. “My goal is to become a polyglot, because I realize how powerful it is to have access to whole other cultures and whole other worlds of literature. Your entire intellectual world expands because of these different languages, which leads you to different cultures, perspectives, and ideas.” Leila started learning Spanish at ISB, and now that she is learning Arabic, she can tell you, “One of the best things I’ve learned at ISB is that learning a language is not as difficult as everyone makes it out to be. It’s a shame that people have that misconception, and that so many people think they just aren’t good at languages or that someone can only truly learn a language at a certain age. ISB taught me that if in three years I can get a grasp of a new language as a Middle School student, then I can definitely still do that as an adult, having access to way more resources and tools.”
Leila remembers a lot about ISB, and she credits her time there with guiding her toward her current path. “At ISB, I appreciated that you get the language in many different forms. It wasn’t simply just a Spanish or French class. It was amazing, we were doing math problems in French and science experiments in Spanish! We learned about different fields in that language, which gave us a larger scope of understanding the language.” Leila has tried to emulate ISB’s multidisciplinary immersion model with her Arabic and Spanish studies by finding different ways of learning the language. Whether participating in a Spanish book club or going to see an Arabic documentary screening, she’s always on the lookout for different avenues to learn a language that go beyond studying grammar in a book. She is grateful for having learned a second language early on in her life, because “I think a lot of people don’t even know where to start.” She advises all of our students, “Whatever you do, stick with it! You never know where life is going to bring you, in what unexpected situations you might be able to use it. ISB has given you all the tools, take full advantage!”
“My goal is to become a polyglot, because I realize how powerful it is to have access to whole other cultures and whole other worlds of literature. Your entire intellectual world expands because of these different languages, which leads you to different cultures, perspectives, and ideas.”
Abroad and Beyond: All the Different Places a Language Education Can Take You
Elliot Thomas-Gregory
Elliot ThomasGregory ‘18, is about to begin the third year of her undergraduate program in Middle Eastern and European Languages and Cultures at Trinity College, Dublin. Her program combines the study of the Arabic and Spanish languages with the history, politics, cultures, and religions of Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. Elliot, who was born and raised in Brooklyn, decided she wanted to study in Europe rather than the US so that she could deepen her course of studies from the get-go while also finding adventures and new experiences. The city of Dublin and an academic program that emphasizes languages, culture, history, and intercultural communication have given her just that opportunity.
Elliot, who was a student on the Spanish track from Pre-K 3 through 8th Grade (formerly Nursery), credits ISB with having shown her the power of immersing oneself in both cultures and languages. In fact, she has been studying languages since she was three years old!
‘18
“I grew up speaking Spanish at ISB and connecting with my teachers who came from all over the Spanishspeaking world.” Elliot began her French studies in ISB’s Middle School Language Acquisition class and continued French at the AP level throughout her time at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and Performing Arts. “I knew that I loved languages and that this was something I wanted to keep in my life because it is just a superpower to be able to connect in more than one language!” In college, she wanted to expand her language skills and also broaden her perspective of the world. As she explains, “Instead of continuing with Romance languages, I wanted to learn Arabic to open more doors and connect with even more people around the world. Eighty percent of the world’s population speaks either French, Spanish, Arabic, and English, so if I were eventually to become fluent in Arabic, I would be able to communicate with 80% of the world’s population, which I think is really exciting.”
Elliot is on the Advanced
Spanish track in her program, where, much like her time at ISB, she takes history and literature courses in Spanish. The faculty at Trinity have taken notice of her progress and have even applauded her on the accent and language skills she took from ISB! And, although French isn’t part of her core studies, Elliot is always on the lookout for ways to keep up her French outside of the classroom. She has traveled to France and has joined Trinity’s French Society, a club with cultural events and fun social opportunities to practice, like pub quizzes or simply language specific get-togethers. She began studying Arabic in her second year at Trinity, which has been a new and exciting linguistic challenge. Now in her third year, Elliot is looking forward to deepening her experience by spending a semester in Cairo, Egypt and a semester in Granada, Spain, where she will immerse herself in the unique cultures and languages. This is an essential next step for Elliot, who says, “My time at ISB has taught me that full immersion is the only way to truly learn a language.”
In addition to her Spanish and Arabic studies, Elliot’s coursework explores topics such as Cultural Encounters Between Middle East and Europe, the Modern Middle East and Modern Spain, and Crowds, Celebration and Protests in North Africa. “As I’ve learned from my program, there is so much
overlap between Europe and the Middle East and other Western countries. Part of what attracted me to the program, I think, is the ability to understand and navigate these cultures, and the fact that languages open doors. It’s a really fascinating zone— history and its importance in our current times.”
As for what’s next, Elliot is considering diplomacy, academia, foreign relations, or education development as possible careers. “There is so much work that goes into developing education programs in the West and not in the Middle East, and I would be interested in working with those communities and helping to expand education opportunities.”
With Elliot’s degree and language skills, her potential career paths are vast, but for now, she is excited about continuing to try new things and immerse herself in different cultures, and feels very grateful for her academic experiences and the opportunities that continue to open up before her. “I went to the most amazing language school, and then studied drama at an amazing arts school, and now I’m across the Atlantic studying languages, and I just couldn’t be happier. I feel like I’ve had the greatest education in the world.”
“My time at ISB has taught me that full immersion is the only way to truly learn a language.”
Photo: Elliot and her sister, Emerson ‘15 in Dublin
Communicating and Connecting on a Deeper Level
Max Drobnyk ‘21
Like many ISB families, Max Drobnyk’s (‘21) parents were not native speakers of their childrens’ language of study, but they believed in the importance of knowing Spanish in today’s world and the power of bilingualism. Talking with Max, it was easy to see how learning a second language has enhanced his experience of the world and, namely, his ability to connect with people, places, and works of art.
Max is a rising senior at The Packer Collegiate Institute, and he spoke with us about studying Spanish at ISB and his recent experiences using the language in academic and personal contexts. Max told us, “I do actually remember starting Kindergarten and not understanding anything the teacher was saying when she first read us a book, but other than that, I can’t really think of the initial time when I was learning Spanish, or remember a time when I didn’t know Spanish.” From early on, Spanish had become simply a part of who he was, an aspect of his personality that began to be a source of pride for him. “When I was 8 or 9, my family and I went on a vacation to Spain, and I remember using my Spanish for the first time when I had to order dinner and immediately realizing that this was a way to connect with people that other people didn’t have at their disposal. Really, from the moment I started using Spanish outside of school, I noticed how powerful and what a big advantage it was to know another language.” Throughout his language studies and experiences using Spanish in and out of the classroom, he has had several realizations along those same lines!
Last summer, Max returned to Spain to study and immerse himself in Spanish language and culture. He spent weeks in Zaragoza, where he lived with a host family and took Spanish classes. Max told us about what made his experience so unique and enriching: “I was in the program with other Americans, and so I had friends in the program who didn’t speak Spanish that well and who didn’t have the ability to speak Spanish. This made it harder for them to connect on a deeper level with the host families.” Max also spent this spring break studying in Argentina, where he says “I had the most incredible time. I had never been there before. It’s amazing. I loved it. Because of my language skills, I was able
to get to know people and immerse myself in the culture.”
Max has recently added to his list of hispanophone destinations; through his high school’s “international symposium” program he spent two weeks with his classmates in Costa Rica to learn about sustainable agriculture while participating in service work on an ecological farm. In the fall, for two weeks, Max’s family hosted students from Argentina, an experience he “got a lot out of, because one of my best friends is from Spain and speaks Spanish as well, so we were all able to really connect as we helped them get to know New York City.”
Back in the classroom, Max’s Spanish has proven useful in a different way. Last semester, he took an English elective course in Latin American Literature. The class was centered around the Latin American literary “Boom” and, specifically, Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, which the class read in translation. Max described it as “an incredible and incredibly dense book to read and to understand and comprehend. We spent the whole semester on this one
book!” For their final project, which was a creative assignment, he decided to use his Spanish “to find five times in the book where he felt the translation went wrong and didn’t do justice to Márquez’s ‘magical realism.’” Max presented to his class specific points in the book where he felt something was lost in translation and where the Spanish text added more analytical elements to the story. For example, he told us “the original title, Cien años de soledad, you could argue should be different. Soledad in Spanish describes sadness and has a more emotional connotation. Loneliness instead of solitude, would be my choice in order to give a more accurate feel for what the book is about. Solitude is more of a physical state, whereas loneliness is emotional. The townspeople are actually always together, but that doesn’t stop them from feeling lonely.” He says, “It was cool because I was able to provide my class with a window into the original version of the text.”
Max’s favorite teacher at his current school is from Argentina, and he had him for an “advanced topics” course on Human Rights in Spanish. He found the class so interesting because of the profound ideas his teacher has
Photo: Max and his host family in Argentina
about the United States and Latin America, and adds that “him coming from Argentina and having lived through the Argentine dictatorship in the 70s and 80s offered such a unique and nuanced perspective on human rights and justice.” Next semester, Max is taking another advanced topic seminar class where he will get to use his Spanish. Excited, Max describes it as “a class where we’re working with organizations around the local school neighborhood to use Spanish in real life to support various communities.”
For Max, “Spanish has been a part of me for so long, I barely remember a time in my life when it wasn’t there. Over time, I have just become more and more appreciative of it; I’ve learned to love the language, and the experiences I’ve had with it have made me love it even more.” Whether it is studying abroad in college or just making new Spanish speaking friends, he says he wants “to continue to find ways to connect even more with the language.” Max also attributes his experience of language learning to his overall confidence and the boldness he brings to his academic and personal life. He explains, “if I want to use my Spanish in the real world, I need to actually speak Spanish, which means I have to go out and talk to strangers, so there is an aspect there that has translated to my ability to speak to strangers in English. I’m not afraid to go up to people I don’t know, introduce myself, ask questions.” With his contagious enthusiasm for Spanish, we are lucky to have Max interning at ISB Summer, helping our young language learners onto a road he hopes is filled with as much discovery and as many surprises as his journey has offered him.
“Really, from the moment I started using Spanish outside of school, I noticed how powerful and what a big advantage it was to know another language.”
Serving for the Match in Spanish and French
Leena Friedman ‘21
Learning a new language is the gift that keeps on giving, and its continual journey never fails to surprise us with moments of wonder and connection. For Leena Friedman ‘21, learning Spanish and French has proven to be an asset and a source of inspiration even on the tennis court, where she has been making a name for herself on the International Tennis Federation Junior Tennis Circuit. On the ITF tour, Leena has spent long periods of time training and playing in both France and Spain and has also competed in tournaments across the globe. Wherever she travels, she can always find someone who speaks one of her languages, and that comes in handy not only with her French-speaking double partners, but with her francophone and hispanophone trainers as well. More than allowing her to compete, her language skills have given her the chance to make friends around the world.
Leena’s language journey started at ISB early in her elementary education. She tells Lingua Franca, “I joined ISB at the beginning of Lower School. My previous school was just beginning to incorporate Spanish, with only 45 minutes a week. Nevertheless, I was picking it up pretty quickly! My mom noticed this, found ISB and thought it was an amazing school that I needed to join. Best decision ever!” At ISB, Leena became more and more fluent in Spanish, and in the 6th Grade she started French Language Acquisition classes. As Leena explains it, “I was on the Spanish track because that was what I was introduced to prior. I thought I was going to use Spanish a lot more than French, but it turns out I’ve used them both the same amount, maybe even French a little more than Spanish. Every day!” Her story highlights the extraordinary power of an ISB education and the efficacy of our language program, which starts in the classroom and extends to include all the daily interactions within our international community.
For Leena, the fruits of her ISB education can be enjoyed on a daily basis. “No one else in my family speaks another language, so it’s cool to be the translator.” On the ITF Junior Circuit, she travels all over the world. “I’ve visited Columbia, Bulgaria, Costa Rica, France, Canada, and Egypt – we just got back from Mexico. There are so many different places you can go depending on the level of your tournament. I even purposefully choose to compete in places where I can use the language!”
Although a great deal of her success can be attributed to her athletic talent, Leena is quick to point out just how much French and Spanish fluency has impacted her career. “I wouldn’t be able to really communicate in all the places we traveled to and with all the people I’ve come to work with if I didn’t have my own language. My coach is from Venezuela, I do all my lessons in Spanish, and I’ve trained with other coaches in the past who are French and Spanish speakers. The other juniors on tour are from all over as well, so a girl I just played doubles with was from Benin and she spoke French. That was our common language on the court. I’ve also had a doubles partner from Mexico. It would have been hard to communicate if I didn’t know French or Spanish. Other players do it, of course, but it was so much easier to play together as a team in my partners’ native languages — and much more enriching!”
Language fluency does more than allow Leena to communicate strategy or court coverage with coaches and teammates; it also shapes her overall
tour experience. As she explains, “It definitely helps with pattern communication, but also I’ve found that it brings me confidence. You go to all these places abroad — we’re not playing in the touristy part of Costa Rica, we’re in the more remote areas, where no English is spoken, and yet I’m able to communicate. I think it gives me a competitive edge in that I feel really confident in my language skills, and I’m able to carry that with me onto the court.”
In the Fall of 2025, Leena will begin studying at Yale University, and she credits her language immersion experience at ISB for inspiring such a decision. “Of all the Ivies, Yale has a really strong language program, and great foreign affairs, language and cultural studies programs. Aside from tennis, my dream would be to become a diplomat or ambassador. We’ll see, but I definitely want to do something using languages.” During her visit at Yale, Leena attended an upper level French class and had lunch with the Dean of the Language Department. “We were able to connect right off the
bat; because of my tennis travels, I was actually familiar with her hometown in France! I feel very lucky that I’ve been able to travel so much and form all of these interesting connections.”
Language learning makes for an exciting, lifelong adventure, and as Leena says, “You never know where your languages will take you!” She advises current and future students on their own language journeys to “speak as much as possible, do everything you can in that language, even if you don’t speak it at home. I seek out music, TV. If you’re in the taxi and a person speaks that language, just talk to them! Meet people, do anything to speak the language. Don’t be afraid to make errors, because people appreciate the effort you put into trying to speak their native language. You’ll pick it up if you keep using it everyday, and more and more!”
Leena’s bold spirit and talent have led her to remarkable victories on the court and in the classroom. Needless to say, she’s got the future on her racket!
“It gives me a competitive edge that I feel really confident in my language skills, and I’m able to carry that with me onto the court.”
Alumni Reunion 2024
This past June, ISB held an Alumni Reunion, with over 100 alumni and alumni parents in attendance. The ISB family grows every year, and we love when former students come back and share all the great work they are now doing in high school, college, and beyond!
Our next Alumni Reunion on campus is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, January 15, 2025. This gathering will be open to all ISB alumni and their families. Be sure to update your contact information with ISB to receive all the details about this event and other future events for alumni!
News from our Alumni
Louis Schoeppach ‘15
Louis Schoeppach ‘15 is an Electrical Engineering major at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). Through his university’s Cooperative Education program, Louis has been able to add an experiential component to his studies, gaining real world experience by working at local businesses like JCS Controls, which specializes in system designs for the food and beverage industries. More recently, Louis has been working at Renesas Electronics, an international company that designs products for various technological industries. He is committed to pursuing a career in engineering, and his passion for figuring out how things work and making them better started right here at ISB. As he says, “The rewarding part of this work is going after your own curiosities. ISB made me more curious. I think in a lot of schools, it’s not exactly encouraged to play, to investigate. At ISB, you never get the feeling that teachers think of you as ‘just a kid.’ They encourage you to explore and you get the feeling that they are behind your investigations one hundred percent. Teachers did not just stick to one-size-fitsall lessons; they really got to know each of us students, and it was almost like our own
ideas became part of the curriculum. When that happens, you gain a certain confidence and you feel free to try to apply classroom knowledge to your own ideas and projects outside of school. I feel like that’s definitely not something I would have gotten to if I had gone to another school.” Throughout his years at ISB, from Preschool through Middle School, he remembers that “if you spoke up, you were listened to, and this speaks more to the quality of the teachers, who definitely played a big role in shaping who I am.”
For Louis, his experience at ISB was a crucial first step to where he is now in his academic life. He says, “If I didn’t have the type of intuitive and empathetic teachers that I had at ISB, I’m not sure I would have developed such a love of learning. Studies in engineering take a lot of discipline, and you have to be comfortable in an academic environment, and everything that goes with it. Having had teachers who genuinely cared and gave detailed feedback helped me build a clearer picture of who I am as a learner, and as a person.” Relationships that he made at ISB remain important to Louis, as he is still in touch with several of his classmates and teachers, and even made new connections
during the pandemic when he tutored French to ISB families. He says, “My ISB teachers are still part of my life and continue to be a source of guidance and encouragement for me.” Louis also retains a close connection with the French language, which he learned from his mother, a native speaker, and developed through the French track at ISB. He is currently a member of the
French Club at RIT, and the relationships he’s formed in the language have contributed to him wanting to eventually pursue an engineering career in France. Louis told us that “this would allow me to pursue two of my interests at the same time, and it would be a sort of dream to spend some of my working life in France.”
Franka Matthes Thompson ‘18
Franka Matthes Thompson ‘18 is going into her sophomore year at Norwich University of the Arts in England. She is studying Fine Art, and she works in the media of sculpture, video, and performance. After graduating high school with an IB diploma, she took a gap year, during which she interned for artist and activist Gregg Bordowitz. Franka helped with editing, transcription, and translation for his video projects. Working with Mr. Bordowitz, who is also a university professor of art and a social justice activist, was a formative experience for her. For Franka, “Gregg’s work combining AIDS activism with documentary filmmaking and art has been a great inspiration to me. During this internship, I was also able to gain an understanding of the inner workings of the art world and what it takes to be a working and teaching artist.”
Now at Norwich University, in Franka’s own artwork, she is “interested in impermanent methods of making sculpture that I documented through a variety of media like drawing, text, photo, and video.” In her program, much of the
learning is self-directed, and, besides weekly lectures, critiques and elective workshops, she spends her time in the studio independently researching and working on her art. “I have really enjoyed this style of study, and by the end of my first year I have developed a great interest in blurring the lines between sculpture and architecture, particularly with the concept of ‘axiomatic structure’ introduced by Rosalind Krauss in the seminal essay, ‘Sculpture in the Expanded Field.’” Franka has also shown her work in a gallery in her first group show at Bluey Bluey Gallery in Norwich. “I am very excited to keep working on new concepts going into my second year and beyond.”
Recently, Franka worked with young language learners at ISB Summer. “I have really loved coming back to spend some time at ISB this summer and quickly feeling at home at ISB again!” Franka speaks English, French, Spanish, and German, and her own language journey continues as she is currently learning Yiddish — and “enjoying getting to know a whole new alphabet!”
Re-connect with ISB
We encourage all of our former students to contact us at alumni@ isbrooklyn.org to send us news, plan a visit to the campus, or update your contact information so we can keep you updated about alumni opportunities and events – and so you never miss an issue of The Lingua Franca!
Manu Larson ‘22
Manu Larson ‘22 loves the theater, and she wanted more of it in her life. Manu remembered how much fun she was having in 7th Grade at ISB while working on A Midsummer Night’s Dream, until the production was canceled due to the pandemic. So, in December 2022, after missing the theater for some time, she decided to take things into her own hands, and, with the help of likeminded friends, including ISB alumni Marion Walker ‘22 and Henry Santos Hendricks ‘22, she founded Brooklyn Youth Shakespeare Club. “I was talking to my mom about it and she said, on a whim, ‘Why don’t you put on a Shakespeare play with your friends?’ And I was like, yes, I’m going to do that, and I got a few of my friends together. Miraculously, six months later, we had a big performance of Macbeth.”
Brooklyn Youth Shakespeare Club meets weekly on Sundays in Prospect Park, where they “do all the normal things required to put on a production without the same
pressure and time commitment of a school production.” The dedication of the group has paid off, too; in June of this year, they performed their second annual production, a barebones interpretation of Romeo and Juliet. The theater troupe that began as a group of five has grown to include eleven members, including both middle and high schoolers, many of whom are current or former ISB students. The group is starting to make a real name for itself, and we hope everyone can catch their next performance in Prospect Park!
“This year, we launched our newsletter and website, which we hope will be a big step forward in getting a larger audience at our shows.”
All the world’s a stage, and we could not be more proud to see the creativity, inventiveness, and strength of character our students and alumni such as Manu possess, in what we can only call their first act!
ISB Summer runs internships every summer for rising ninth through twelfth grade students. We were thrilled to have had more than 10 high school-aged alumni participate in this year’s internship program.
Opportunities with ISB Summer are excellent occasions for alumni to reconnect with the ISB community and use their language skills in a professional setting. Next year’s ISB Summer Program will run from June 30 through July 25, 2025. Counselor positions and high school internship opportunities will be posted in March. All alumni are encouraged to apply; contact our Summer Team at summer@isbrooklyn.org or visit our website to learn more.
High School Internships and Counselor Positions for ISB Alumni
“I’m thinking about working with kids in the future, and my experience at ISB Summer the last two years has made me more motivated than ever! After a gap year this year, I am going to SUNY New Paltz to study Child Psychology. Last year, I was part of the French team here. This year, I’m part of the Spanish team. I was on the French track during my time at ISB and started taking Spanish in the 6th Grade. Being here with the Spanish group is helping me improve my own fluency in the language. Since I didn’t start learning Spanish until later, it’s great to come in contact with all this Spanish vocabulary that has to do with little kid stuff!” - Leo Amieva-Unger ‘20
“It’s so fun interacting with the kids. They’re so young, and they look up to you and ask a million questions. It’s nice to come back to the community and help other kids learn French in the same place I did. They learn so quickly!” - Coleman O’Sullivan ‘23
ISB’s French and Spanish Language
Immersion Program captures the best of language learning and summer fun! ISB’s warm and welcoming atmosphere makes the Summer Program a great experience for children of all language levels. Beginners grasp the rhythm of the language, learn songs, and build daily vocabulary. More advanced speakers enhance their skills by learning new vocabulary and using the language with their peers. Children engage in daily activities related to each weekly theme for language immersion and fun, including games, cooking, arts and crafts, music, drama, storytime, and plenty of outdoor play!
Class of 2024
Congratulations to the International School of Brooklyn Class of 2024!
Academy for Careers in Television and Film
Avenues: The World School
Beacon High School
The Berkeley Carroll School
Brooklyn Friends School
Brooklyn Technical High School
Dwight School
Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School
Frank Sinatra School of the Arts
Friends Seminary
Grace Church School
Léman Manhattan Preparatory School
Midwood High School
Miss Hall’s School
Notre Dame School
The Packer Collegiate Institute
Poly Prep Country Day School
The Bishop Strachan School
Xaverian High School
New Horizons
Our graduates are attending the listed high schools this fall.
2024 Commencement Ceremony
“Clase de dos mil veinticuatro, nunca olvides quien eres: nunca pierdas de vista todos esos recuerdos, todos esos puntos en la pintura que te hacen quien eres, con todas tus únicas cualidades y pasiones. No tengas miedo de ser original y de ser el “yo auténtico” que ISB nos ha enseñado a ser, y recuerda que siempre tendrás esta comunidad aquí que cree en ti y te apoya en cada paso del camino.” -Dylan Warner Ruf
“Throughout my 11 years here, I have become fluent in French, learned a little Spanish, and learned lessons that I could never forget. Over the years, our school has grown a lot in many different ways. Yet, one thing has managed to stay the same that really stands out to me: how our teachers and administrators find fun and interactive ways to teach us. Whether it be our teachers finding projects that challenge our brains but also let us have fun, Culture Fest, or our amazing field trips every year, ISB tries to make it so that students aren’t just memorizing facts but actually learning new things. ” -Sasha Arkin
2024 Commencement Ceremony
“Je voudrais remercier chaleureusement mes professeurs pour leur attention, leur soutien et leurs conseils ainsi que l’administration qui a si bien veillé sur nous. Je voudrais également remercier les parents — les miens et ceux de mes amis – qui nous ont collectivement regardé grandir et nous ont soutenus tout au long de ces années. Enfin, je voudrais remercier mes camarades de classe et mes amis, sans qui je ne serais jamais devenue la personne que je suis aujourd’hui. J’espère de tout cœur rester en contact avec vous pendant les années à venir et voir où nos chemins nous mèneront. Je pense que nous sommes déjà sur la bonne voie !”
-Violette Eugenio
“Although this change is very big, a little sad, and a bit scary, I know that we are ready for it.” - Penny Hess
2024 Commencement Ceremony
“Our ISB experience has equipped us with valuable skills, both for learning and for life. Looking towards the future, may we all remember to keep the sense of purpose we’ve been endowed with at ISB, and to fight for what we believe in.” - Zach Myrin
Congratulations Class of 2024
8th Grade Book Gifting
We honor our 2024 graduates for their talents, skills, passions, and personalities, and recognize the significant milestone of moving on to high school. ISB’s faculty and staff have chosen to mark this transition to high school with a special gift: a book. Each book was carefully selected by a faculty or staff member for one student to reflect the student’s unique interests and passions, serving as a reminder of the memorable interactions and stand-out moments we have shared during their time at ISB.
Landscape Painting Now: From Pop Abstraction to New Romanticism by Barry Schwabsky
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Soutif, Mon Amour by Sophie Carquain
Women in Sports: 50 Fearless Athletes Who Played to Win by Rachel Ignotofsky
How to Slay: Inspiration from the Queens and Kings of Black Style by Constance C.R. White
Cien años de soledad por Gabriel García Márquez
Cuentos para entender el mundo by Eloy Moreno
Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares
Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chobosky
The Dungeonmeister Cookbook by Jef Aldrich and Jon
Taylor
Anthologie de la poésie française by Jean Orizet
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
The Mamba Mentality: How I Play by Kobe Bryant
Georgia O’Keeffe: To See Takes Time by Georgia O’Keeffe
Fashion Designers A-Z: The Collection of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology by Valerie Steele
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
Walk-on Warrior by John Willkom
Small Gods: A Discworld Graphic Novel by Terry Pratchett
The Fiddler in the Subway by Gene Weingarten
Sapiens - A Graphic History by Yuval Noah Harari
Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan
Paris vs New-York by Vahram Muratyan
Everything You’ll Ever Need You Can Find Within Yourself by Charlotte Freeman
The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
The Two-Pencil Method by Mark Crilley
Don Quijote de la Mancha by Miguel De Cervantes
Street Art New York by Jaime Rojo
Dead Poets Society by N.H. Kleinbaum
Les Strates by Pénélope Bagieu
La Vie Devant Soi by Romain Gary
Becoming Kareem: Growing Up On and Off The Court by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Raymond Obstfeld
The Man Who Listens to Horses: The Story of a Real-Life
Horse Whisperer by Monty Roberts
Tierra by Eloy Moreno
Stay connected with your ISB community!
Support the Fund for Excellence.
Every contribution to the Fund for Excellence directly enhances the learning experience of our students, empowering them on their path to becoming advocates, changemakers, and leaders. Make a gift online at isbrooklyn.org!
Join the fun!
ISB events are great for catching up, learning from inspired experts, making new connections, and celebrating our vibrant community. Please check our calendar for a diverse array of lectures, movies, gatherings, and celebrations including our inspiring Pecha Kucha Night and joyful Alumni Reunions.
Lend your time and talents.
Volunteering is a tangible way to advance the ISB mission and contribute to the success of our students. For information on how to get involved, email our Advancement Office at advancement@isbrooklyn.org.
Lingua Franca
The Summer 2024
