Community Update - 17 May 2024

COMMUNITY UPDATE

DIRECTOR’S UPDATE

Dear Community Members,

At ISB, we live up to our mission that our students are included, challenged, and successful, by making sure that every day brings exciting opportunities for our students to excel at what they found to be their calling. Looking back to the last half of this school year, it is great to see these values implemented across a range of inclusive initiatives and fun and ambitious challenges.

In the last few months, we focused on further developing our STEM programme and on ensuring that all our students have access to meaningful STEM experiences as part of their curriculum Some of our students have really challenged themselves, and have had remarkable success. In February, our ISB MS and ES teams won first place in their respective categories at Destination Imagination, by solving open-ended STEM challenges and presenting their creative and innovative solutions to a live panel of appraisers. Furthermore, our ES and HS Robotics teams reached the finals of the Belgium National Robotics Competition, which on their first-ever tournament is all the more impressive!

More recently, during a Hand-a-Thon Workshop that took place on 30 April, our Middle School Science Club 3D printed and assembled 15 prosthetic hands for a children’s hospital in Paris. Nurturing interest and ambition in the field of STEM through such initiatives shows how personalised education opens doors for students to build skills and dispositions that are central to our mission

Another great example of us combining inclusion and challenge is through our Athletics programme On 8 May, I had the great pleasure to join all of our students, faculty, coaches, and staff at our Upper Field, to celebrate our Special O’s Team, ahead of the National Summer Games hosted in La Louvière over the last weekend 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 Standing Long Jump events.

Thank you to everyone in our community for helping us create a learning environment that is both challenging and inclusive, as we know that our students are benefiting greatly from your contributions!

James MacDonald ISB Director

WELCOMING NEW MEMBERS IN THE ISB LEADERSHIPTEAM

I would also like to take the opportunity to welcome two new members in our Leadership Team, who will be joining us in August

Dr Christopher Schuster will be our new Head of High School, and Mr Samuel Hureau will join as the Director of Finance and Operations

As you can see from their backgrounds, both have impressive expertise, and we are confident that both will be excellent additions to the ISB team

Please join me in welcoming them both to our ISB community!

CHRISTOPHER SCHUSTER, ED. D.

Dr. Schuster has worked for over 20 years in international schools around the world He most recently served as the Deputy Director and Secondary Principal of the AngloAmerican School of Moscow

Prior to living in Russia, he worked as the High School Principal of Concordia International School Shanghai, China Before moving into leadership, he was an IB English teacher at Shanghai American School, China

Originally from the New York region, Dr Schuster earned his Bachelor's degree in English from the University of Montana, and both a Master's and Doctorate degree from Lehigh University. Beside his roles in international schools, Dr Schuster has also taught at the university level as an Educational Leadership professor. He will be joined by his wife, Carla Molloy, who is a science teacher

SAMUELHUREAU

Mr Hureau is currently the Business Manager of RenaissanceCollegeinHongKong Hehasheld this position for 11 years, and prior to joining Renaissance College was the Administrator of French International School of Hong Kong (FIS) for five years In addition, Mr Hureau spent five years working as a Business Manager in the publiceducationsysteminFrance,andworkedat the Lycée Rochambeau in Washington, DC A French citizen, Mr Hureau was born in Le Mans and attended university in Nantes He will be joinedbyhiswifeanddaughterwhenhemovesto Brusselsthissummer.

INSPIRED BY MS SCIENCE MS SCIENCE HAND-A-THON WORKSHOP

During a Hand-a-thon Workshop organised on 30 April, our Middle School Science Club printed and assembled prosthetic hands for the Necker Paediatric Hospital in Paris. Using relatively inexpensive 3D-printed materials that are sufficiently durable for the needs of children, and under the guidance of experienced builders, this year’s Grade 9 eNABLE students assembled 15 small and colourful prosthetic hands This is the fifth year ISB works with e-NABLE France to provide 3D-printed prosthetic hands and arms to children

We wholeheartedly congratulate our Middle School Science Club students for their work and dedication to give back to the community, and look forward to many more years of collaboration with e-NABLE France ��

All strings concert

All students across ISB who are part of the Strings programme will be performing in the upcoming Strings concert on Wednesday, 22 May The concert will be split into two parts, G5 and Intermediate will perform at 18:30, followed by G6 and Advanced at 19:30

Please join us for this wonderful end-of-the-year event to support our performers and to appreciate their dedication, talent, and everything they have been learning this year. Get your G5 and Intermediate tickets here, and for G6 and Advanced here. We hope to see you there!

ATHLETICS

Raiders at home and on the road!

Check out all the details in the athletics weekly schedule!

Between 23-25 May, ISB will be hosting the Varsity Girls Softball ISST’s! Come out and support your Raiders as they compete for a Championship title See the schedule here

Summer@ISB is back!

Organised on campus by valued partners, our Summer Camps will see children participate and engage in fun and dynamic language-learning activities. In addition, there will be several Sports Camps and a Theatre Camp! Most activities are run in English and are open to both English and non-English speakers. Summer Camps welcome both ISB and non-ISB families.

Check out all the different options here

As we bid farewell this summer to our wonderful Vice President and Advancement Director, Jennifer Medeiros, we are currently seeking to fill her current Board position with the BSA

For a complete role description, please click here. For more details, please email office@bsasports.org.

We hope you will consider becoming a part of our leadership team!

The Community Kitchen

Each weekend, at least 20 students volunteer at the Community Kitchen in Brussels The Community Kitchen is a non-governmental organisation, funded by the Red Cross, that prepares thousands of nourishing meals each week for the homeless and the vulnerable in our city. The meals are distributed across the city by other non-governmental organisations The Community Kitchen provides a safe and welcoming space for volunteers and visitors Some volunteers are in precarious situations themselves, but want to be involved in useful activities, to make friends, and to learn cooking skills Regardless of their situation, everyone is included!

On Tuesday, 30 April, a group of Grade 11 students had a day trip to the Community Kitchen to help prepare and cook food for people in need and to make a valuable contribution through volunteering During the day, the students were tasked with helping to prepare rice, vegetables, and sauce They made enough food to serve about 500 people, and they loaded the car of the Red Cross so that the food could be delivered and distributed around Brussels

“For me, this experience was very interesting because I witnessed first-hand how people are helping those who are in need in Brussels I was surprised to learn that they make 5,000 meals a week and all of those are for people in desperate need.”

By Ori Chizi, Grade 11

HEALTH OFFICE

As the warmer weather arrives, so do the different bugs that are found in nature The ones that we would like to point out are the ticks as they can spread disease. Even though not all ticks carry disease, we are not able to identify which ones do and which ones don’t

The best way to prevent any risk of disease is by removing any tick within 24 hours Ticks prefer warm areas but can bite anywhere on the body Check your child, especially if they have been out in the forest or in tall grass. If you find a tick, remove it with a tweezer, or a special tweezer for removing ticks, which can be found at the local pharmacy of your area At first there might be a rash but this should disappear

If your child presents with an increasing amount of redness around the point of entry, fever/chills, or aches and pains, please consult with your doctor

Global Citizenship Initiative: Our Focus on Charitable Work

At our April FA Parent meeting, High School PL/SL/CAS Coordinator Michelle Brown shared an overview of the ISB CAS Programme, including the Community Engagement and Service Learning component The programme asks students to consider: What are you doing to take care of yourself? and What are you doing to take care of others?

Opportunities for our students to volunteer at ISB include roles within the FA (Raiders Cafe, Homecoming, etc). The programme also helps students find organisations in the greater community whose mission is meaningful to them, including helping the elderly, refugees, children, and the homeless, and projects focused on environment conservation.

In addition to working directly with non-profit organisations in alignment with the school, the FA has recently created the Global Citizenship Initiative, where a percentage of funds raised by FA courses, services and events goes to ISB Community Engagement charities

There are countless ways to get involved with Community Service at ISB If you would like to learn more, contact service@isbfa be

Helpful HINT

Michelle shared this terrific resource with the FA – a way for parents to find volunteer opportunities in Brussels (either on their own or alongside their child) – the ServeNow website and App: https://www.servethecity.brussels/.

OTHER INFO

Is your family leaving ISB?

We have resources and support in place that can help Here are some articles and presentations from the Counselling Team to guide your family through Moving, Transitions, and Dealing with Change.

GENERAL IT REMINDER

ISB CENTRAL LEARNING PLATFORM

Set up your ISB Parent Account

In order to access ISB’s digital resources, you will need to set up your unique ISB Parent Account. To do so, please follow the instructions below.

Go to isb.be/portal and enter the credentials that were sent to you in the email 1 When prompted for your email, re-enter your username, NOT your personal email. 2 When prompted for your password, enter your temporary password. 3.

Log in to the ISB Learning Platform

Once you have set up your account, you can access the ISB Learning Platform (PowerSchool) This is a centralised space for all ISB digital resources.

Access all ISB Digital Resources

In the left-hand menu of the ISB Learning Platform (PowerSchool), you will find links to the digital resources below. Please use your ISB Parent Account to log in.

ISB Information Hub (ISB Community Portal) : For all relevant resources such as the ISB Calendar, the ISB Directory, and our New Families Page ISB Digital Learning (Schoology) : For information on your child’s classes, learning materials, upcoming assignments, and more.

ISB After-School Activities (SchoolsBuddy) : To register your child for the ISB after-school activities To log in, please click on the button ‘Azuread’

Should you need help to reset your login credentials, our IT team is available via email at IThelpdesk@isb.be and will happily help you.