Community Update - 14 June

DIRECTOR’S UPDATE

ers,

e end of another school year, I would use e to thank a number of individuals and ur graduates, and give you a sneak peek ing things we are planning for the next

f 2024 officially graduated from ISB, and umni had the opportunity to already meet ts during Summerfest 2024, our all-alumni saw 250+ students (including a former ver graduating class of 1962!) return to to reconnect with old classmates and new connections within the ISB Alumni atory weekend continued on Sunday with Festival, where students, teachers, and many of the nationalities represented at al traditions and food with everyone in our

I would like to sincerely thank all those involved in the organisation of these extraordinary events: our wonderful Family Association and all parent volunteers, and my colleagues, especially those dedicated CST Team members.

Looking ahead, we are very excited for the new school year We have a range of initiatives planned, including adding new course electives across the school For example, in the Elementary School there will be a Junior Model United Nations elective, and we are also expanding our bilingual French options. In the Upper School, we have created new courses blending creativity and technology, designed to get students involved with emerging technologies and artificial intelligence, coding and digital design, and real-life applications of STEM concepts, and are increasing the number of AP courses – now offering Chemistry and Calculus – which will strengthen an already great pathway for our students.

We are also investing significantly in our home language programme, beginning in the Lower School, where we will be offering five additional taught languages within the school day: Swedish, Japanese, Korean, Hebrew, and Spanish. This is a great step forward for the school’s approach to languages

We are also very excited to share with you our “Strategy for the Future”, which we have been developing over the course of this year. It will come as no surprise that personalisation is at the centre of our strategy, and we are looking forward to sharing our plans with you when we get back after the summer break. We are certainly not standing still!

As this is the final Community Update of the year, I would like to thank all our engaged readers. I will be sending a final end-of-year message next week, but in the meantime, I thank you for your ongoing support of ISB!

James MacDonald ISB Director

LOOKING BACK KEY MOMENTS

The 2023-24 school year was full of exci community!

On Friday, 6 October 2023 the entire Homecoming community celebration! Al roaring cheers, inspiring music, and gre unique, as it was the first Homecomin forever-home We look forward to next come!

On 17 and 18 January we had proper snow days in Brussels and we had to close the campus and switch to online learning for all of our school sections. After two days of home learning and working, our students and staff came back to some wonderful winter scenes

In February, the Fox, the Wolf, and the Badger raced to become the Raiders’ new mascot All students casted their votes, either online for Upper School students, or with marbles at physical voting booths organised throughout the Lower School Emerging as an early favourite and a clear winner across all school sections, the Wolf – a highly intelligent creature who is always loyal to the pack – received 66% of the total votes and was elected to represent the Raiders going forward, starting from the next school year

On 8 May, all of our students, faculty, coaches, and staff gathered together at our Upper Field, to celebrate our Special O’s Team ahead of the National Summer Games We all wore red to show our Raiders pride and to cheer on our Special Olympians, who represented ISB in the Softball Throw, the 1500m Unified Race, the 50m Race, the 400m Race, and the Standi L Ju t

Over the last weeks, we’ve seen many heartwarming celebrations for our Class of 2024:

Friday, 29 March was our seniors’ last day together on campus, which was celebrated with music and colour, before focusing on exams revision for the remainder of the school year.

Last Wednesday, our graduates showcased their gowns and caps for the first time in a seniors’ parade going through all the sections of our school, while being cheered on by students from ECC to High School and by faculty and staff.

On Thursday, an awards ceremony recognised international awards recipients, scholarship winners, and many other Class of 2024 graduates for their exceptional achievements in fields such as Languages, History and Social Sciences, Sciences and Technology, Mathematics, Arts, and Community Engagement, to name a few

The seniors’ celebration culminated on Friday, when Class of 2024 officially graduated from ISB

On Sunday, 9 June, ISB hosted the 46th International Festival at ISB, celebrating our diverse and inclusive one-school ISB Community, home to families from countries from all over the world!

The festival featured amazing international cultural performances by ISB students and parents, and 26 Country Booths selling extraordinary culinary delicacies from many of our families’ home countries There was singing, dancing, an international parade celebrating our ISB nations, and a raffle draw with fun prizes to engage and excite all participants

We thank all organisers for enabling such a culturally immersive and joyful experience on our campus and we look forward to many more International Festival editions in the future!

ISB will always be a place for our alumni to return to!

Our ISB Alumni team kicked off the school year with the US Alumni Reunions that took place in Los Angeles, Austin, and Chicago in October 2023 Furthermore, for our Homecoming celebrations in October, many alumni returned to campus to celebrate that special ISB community spirit and to reconnect with their former teachers, classmates, and friends

In March 2024, alumni reunions were organised in the UK, in London, and Edinburgh James MacDonald - ISB Director, Mike Crowley - MS Head & Assistant Director, and Fanny Chan - Director of Advancement attended the UK ISB Alumni Tour and reminisced with our attending participants.

For Summerfest 2024, we invited all our former alumni and faculty members back on campus to celebrate their cherished friendships and post-graduation accomplishments together Over 250 alumni attended on Saturday, 8 June, including many former students celebrating their 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50-year reunions and even a former student from the first ever graduating class of 1962! They all brought their best ISB memories with them, reconnected with old classmates, and made new connections.

We thank our alumni for joining us for our 2023-2024 events and for remaining an integral part of our community! We look forward to further reunions and celebrations next year!

ES PASSION LEARNING SHOWCASE

On Thursday, 13 June our ES students showcased their Passion Learning topics to their parents, teachers, and all ISB staff in a very interactive exhibition hosted in the Elementary School.

From digital art to baking, and from environment conservation to football, our students presented their diverse passions and described their process of engaging with and practising their hobby.

THANK YOU TO OUR CST TEAM

Our CST Team is an invaluable part of our ISB Community, without whom none of our great events, day to day schedules and itineraries for all our staff and students, and amazing break-time culinary delights would not be possible. Especially in the past few weeks, with many of the end-of-year celebrations taking place on campus, the CST Team worked tirelessly to ensure that everything works according to plan

On behalf of all faculty and staff, parents, and students, we would like to thank the CST team for all their hard work and dedication throughout this school year!

This year, the ISB Performing Arts Department produced over 40 exciting performances, and participated in 12 educational trips all over Europe The goal was to engage our students in a variety of opportunities and to challenge them creatively, emotionally, and intellectually.

The Performing Arts Department would like to thank all of our ISB Student Artists for their outstanding work this year. They’ve created intriguing films, built a variety of sets for productions, played challenging pieces of music, performed plays, and composed music. They’ve entertained audiences in the Theatre, High School Atrium, the Blackbox, in the forest, and all around campus. We would also like to thank the Parents and Guardians of our ISB Artists for their continued support of ISB’s Performing Arts Programme

A final thought for the upcoming 2024-25 Academic Year.

“The Arts are what makes life worth living. You’ve got food, you’ve got shelter, yeah. But the things that make you laugh, make you cry, make you connect - make you love, are communicated through the Arts ”

Barack Obama

Volunteering with the Brussels Sports Association

BSA is an organisation that aims at developing the skills of young individuals across different sports. They accept players regardless of talent or experience. Being a student coach for their Basketball programme for two years has taught me a lot I was able to have a lot of fun playing around with the team, by joining scrimmages, or by sharing drills that I have learned through my experiences

Seeing the sport from the eyes of a coach changes your view on the sport entirely. The way someone is coached has an immense impact on how they play, how they act, or even how they think Having such a responsibility was fulfilling, even though it may seem a little overwhelming That is why there is always a more experienced coach with you, just in case. Overall, it has been a lot of fun and was worth the time commitment

We ended the Spring season with open classes last week. Children were able to proudly show what they have learnt throughout the season: their best poses in kidding around yoga, beautiful pliés in ballet, dynamic cheer acrobatics, some belts earned in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu…just to name a few.

ISB Plus will be back on 16 September for the FALL season. Registration will take place from 4-8 September. Watch out for the schedule at the end of August.

Have a great summer!

What a wonderful school year we have had! As a community, we have come together for clubs, sports, wellness, events, cooking and creative endeavours, learning opportunities, and so much more. Throughout the year, we have made lasting friendships as we shared what makes ISB so special – our diverse and international community

We would like to take this moment to thank all of our amazing volunteers who have made this year’s success possible. Indeed, there are so many that have played an important role this year that we can not list them all here – from those helping run the FA itself to managing the Raiders Cafe, to our Arts Programme volunteers, to those organising and managing our huge variety of events and classes, those welcoming our new families and representing the different school divisions and the service programme, and, of course, to all of our amazing international festival volunteers

To all the parents who have dedicated their time and talents this year, you were all extraordinary!

While this time of year can be difficult as we must say farewell to some of our families – we must also remember that our connection to ISB and our time here will remain strong No matter where you are in the world, our families will always remain a part of ISB.

So with this, we say farewell, but never goodbye. We hope you will stay in touch, come back to visit the school often and remember that ISB will always be your home

MIDDLE SCHOOL PROGRAMME UPDATE 2024-25

As of next year, four new courses will be added to the Middle School’s Arts, Technology & Design Programme.

Actor’s Studio – An ideal course for young aspiring actors who are passionate about performing arts and want to focus on essential acting techniques. Future Tech – A course focused on digital exploration, diving into the exciting combination of technology and creativity

Design.Code.Create – A dynamic course designed to introduce students to the world of coding and the basics of artificial intelligence.

STEM Discovery – An immersive and hands-on class, designed to ignite curiosity and foster a deep understanding of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)

A full description of these courses and the complete MS Programme for 2024-25 can be consulted here.

Students who have already requested a course in the Arts or a STEM course are already eligible for these new courses and can look at their schedule choices again in August

HEALTHOFFICE

This July, ISB collaborates with PPI Recruits to offer top athletes an outstanding Elite Camp The camp will take place on the ISB campus and will run everyday between 8 to 12 of July, from 8:30 until 17:00.

This is a unique opportunity for elite student athletes to be exposed to NCAA coaching and to be provided with training in strength and conditioning, fitness, nutrition, and sports psychology.

We are looking for the best student athletes from across Europe, who are between 15 and 17 years old, and who practise Volleyball, Soccer, Basketball, or American Football This camp is intended exclusively for elite student athletes in each of the four chosen sports, who are serious about taking the next step in their athletics career This camp is not suitable for beginners or for those looking to improve their game in a general way.

Selected student athletes will receive an invitation link to register for Elite Week via our website (See “How can I register?” and click on the applicable registration link) Interested athletes who did not receive an invitation should fill out this interest form Our partners from PPI Recruits will evaluate all registrations of interest and will get in touch with the athletes who meet the appropriate level for this camp

THANK YOU FROM THE COMMUNICATIONS TEAM

This school year, the Communications Team launched the Community Update in its current format, a biweekly publication that provides updates, announcements, stories, spotlights, or reminders from across our school sections and departments, and shares them with our current ISB Community.

We have loved reading your stories and helping you reach as many readers as possible for your exciting art exhibitions, music performances, and important matches, amongst many other topics!

We would like to thank everyone for their contributions to the Community Update for the school year 2023-24, and we look forward to sending out your updates at the beginning of next year!

Have a lovely summer!

Communications Team (Fanny, Livia, Melisa, Malika)