Community Update

DIRECTOR’S UPDATE

DearCommunityMembers,

Ithasbeenwonderfultobeginthenewschoolyearwithalltheexcitementthat a new school year brings. It is especially nice to see our new students being welcomed by their peers, and our new teachers (representing 10 different nationalities)beginningtheirfirstyearatISBsostrongly.Ialsowanttotakethis opportunity to thank our faculty and staff for their work over the summer months A lot of work goes into preparing for a new school year, and we have manyunsungheroesbehindthescenesmakingISBrunsmoothly.

As this is my first message of the year, I want to share some of the things we are excited about this school year. You can expect to hear more about these projectsinduecourse.

Next week, we will share with you our StrategyforOurFuture. This new future vision for the school is the result of wide-ranging consultations and feedback that took place last year. Our strategy centres around the development of Personalised Learning – as we aspire to be global leaders in this domain –and this is supported through the strategic pillars of ExceptionalEducation, a Connected International Community, and Future Focus. We look forward to sharingmoredetailswithyouinaseparateemail

Ifyouareanewfamily,youmaynotrealisethatthisyearwehavesignificantly expanded our Home Language Programme in the Lower School. During the school day and within students’ timetables, we are now offering classes in Swedish, Japanese, Korean, Hebrew, and Spanish (as well as French and Dutch).WewillalsoexpandtheseofferingstotheUpperSchool,nextyear.

This school year we are also launching a new pathway for Upper School students called Pathways to Excellence, a programme enabling bespoke pathwaysforstudentstoreceivesupport,mentoring,andresourcestoachieve their goals and potential. We are focusing on further developing our STEM programmethroughouttheschool,aswell,byensuringthatallofourstudents have a range of meaningful opportunities to engage with STEM topics as part oftheircurriculum.

The beginning of the year is a great opportunity to remind parents of the importantpoliciesandframeworkswehaveinplaceatISBtoensurethatevery member of our community, from students, to parents, and faculty & staff, feel safe, respected, and appreciated. In our work as educators, employers, and colleagues we actively demonstrate the principles of our Equal Opportunity and Inclusion Policy, and we also recently updated our Safeguarding Handbookaheadofthestartofthenewschoolyear.

In two weeks time, we will be conducting an in-depth Parent Perception Study andwe’llneedyourhelp,astherewillbea15-minutesurveyandopportunities to participate in focus groups. Please do not think this type of study is performative–wehaveconductedaParentPerceptionStudyeverytwoyears, andIcanassurethatyourinputiscarefullyconsideredandhighly-valued.Also, as another very important mechanism for using feedback to drive continuous improvement, in October, we will be welcoming a visiting team on campus for ourfiveyearaccreditationvisit.

I am looking forward to seeing many of you at various back to school nights (theMiddleSchoollastnightwasexcellent!).Thankyouagainforplacingyour trust in us to care for and educate your children! It is a true honour to do the workwedo.

James MacDonald ISB Director

ATHLETICS

FallSeasonRaiders101infosessionwillbeonWednesday,4September,startingafter school for student athletes and at 18:30 for parents, in the High School This is a mandatorypreseasonorientationforstudent-athletesandtheirparents Thismeeting providesvitalinformationpertainingtotheAthleticsDepartment,theirteam,andtheir season

Please see practice details in the Fall Season Tryout and Practice Schedule. Games areonFridaysandSaturdaysduringtheseason Thegameschedulewillbesharedat Raiders 101 (see above). You can see the plan for all three seasons on the Raiders Overview.

Remember, you can find the practice schedule and other relevant documents in the AthleticsResources.

TheISBPlusFallschedulesareavailableontheportalfromThursday,29August.You will find lots of activities for your children – so many cool ways to learn a new skill, connect with friends, and have fun Registration takes place between 4 and 8 September and all the information on how to sign up is also on the portal. Fall activities start on Monday, 16 September. For any questions, please email: isbplus@isb.be

A great volunteering opportunity is now available to join our leadership team as DirectorofCommunications.

Ifyouareadynamic,enthusiastic,naturalleaderwithapassionforyouthsportsand possess a strong understanding of digital communication strategies and tools, then pleasereachouttousformoredetails!Clickhereforthecompleteroledescription

Questions?PleasecontactourManagingDirector,LizetteSubach,at office@bsasports.org

ThePerformingArtsDepartmentwouldliketo welcome back all of our student Artists and encourage them to participate in our cocurricular activities. A list of ISB’s Performing Arts after-school activities and trips can be found here This year we are offering a wide rangeofPerformingArtsopportunitiesforour Student Artists to perform, explore, collaborate,andimprovetheirartisticskills

Ifyouwouldliketosupportourstudentartists please refer to our 2024-2025 Season of Events. Coming up we have auditions on 2 and 3 September for our HS Musical Production of Urinetown. All HS students are welcome to participate. We look forward to seeing parents and friends at our concerts andperformancesthisyear!

Savethedate:Sunday,20Octoberfrom14:00to16:00 CommunityFunRun/Walk

On Sunday, 20 October some of our High School students will organise a Community Fun Run/Walk to raise funds for our community engagement projects This is open to allfamiliesacrosscampus!

Participants will pay a participation donation which will support a community project oftheirchoice,thentheywillwalkorrunthetrackinsupportoftheirchosenproject. Therewillbemusic,inflatables,andafoodtruck.Moreinformationtocome!

The FA would like to welcome back all fa me BackBBQlastSunday–whatajoytomee

Lookingaheadtothenewschoolyear,weencourageallparentstovolunteerwithour manyprogrammesaroundcampus:

Performing Arts – Support our student actors and musicians during our many performances. Athletics – Help coaches and athletes by being a Team Coordinator and/or RaidersCafevolunteer

Are you a fellow book lover? Our library sciences team would love your organisationalsupportintheECCandESlibrary

Enjoy party planning and gift giving? Home-room parents are needed for your LowerSchoolstudent’sclass.

CoordinateaboothforyourcountryatISB’sannualInternationalFestival. Be “in the know” at the FA Monthly Meetings on Campus starting Tuesday, 10 September,2024intheAnnexLounge

MOBILITY

ISB LATE BUS 202425 INFORMATION

The ISB Late Bus service is a free service available to MS & HS students (and younger students under certain circumstances), whether ornotregisteredfortheISBBusService

Allinformationregardinglatebusroutesand stopscanbeaccessedinthefollowingflyer.

Foranyinquiries,pleasecontactbuses@isb.be.

SECURITY

Wewantedtoinformyouthatthe newredplasticbadge holders are now ready for pick-up These will be distributed by the security guards during pick-up and drop-off times at the main ISB entrance and at the Métairie,orcanbepickedupattheISBReception Parents will be able to also pick up their new parking stickers for 2024-25atthesametime.

Lastly,wewanttoremindreturningparentsthattheydonothavetochangetheirISB parent badge. As mentioned in the start of the year communication, only the plastic badge holder and the parking sticker change every school year, while the actual ID badgestaysthesame.

HEALTHOFFICE

To ensure everyone’s safety and health on our campus, we ask parents to contact the Health Office if your child(ren) carry and/or are in need of any emergency medication

Please note that, as per the ISB Health Protocol, all emergency medication will be name tagged and kept in the cabinet of the Health Office. Emergency medication willonlybeusedaccordingtotheISBprotocol,andparentswillalwaysbeinformed incaseofuse

Lastly, it is very important that parents complete and maintain up-to-date health information in their child(ren)'s Health and Consent Form. If you haven’t had the chance to do so already, we kindly ask all parents to complete the form via PowerSchoolassoonaspossible

ITNEWS

ISBTECHNOLOGYHANDBOOK

We invite parents and students to familiarise themselves with ISB’s Technology Handbook for the school year 2024-2025. Covering a wide range of topics on responsible technology use and maintaining a safe digital environment for everyone,theTechnologyHandbookisagreattech guideforallstudentsandparents.

Consult the handbook to find out everything you needtoknowaboutsmartphoneuseatschooland keeping safe on social networks, amongst many otherimportanttopics

ISBCENTRALLEARNINGPLATFORM

SetupyourISBParentAccount

InordertoaccessISB’sdigitalresources,youwillneedtosetupyouruniqueISB ParentAccountTodoso,pleasefollowtheinstructionsbelow

Gotoisb.be/portalandenterthecredentialsthatweresenttoyouinthe email.

Whenpromptedforyouremail,re-enteryourusername,NOTyourpersonal email.

3Whenpromptedforyourpassword,enteryourtemporarypassword

LogintotheISBLearningPlatform

Onceyouhavesetupyouraccount,youcanaccesstheISBLearningPlatform (PowerSchool).ThisisacentralisedspaceforallISBdigitalresources.

AccessallISBDigitalResources

Intheleft-handmenuoftheISBLearningPlatform(PowerSchool),youwillfind linkstothedigitalresourcesbelow.PleaseuseyourISBParentAccounttologin.

ISBInformationHub(ISBCommunityPortal):Forallrelevantresourcessuch astheISBCalendar,theISBDirectory,andourNewFamiliesPage.

ISBDigitalLearning(Schoology):Forinformationonyourchild’sclasses, learningmaterials,upcomingassignments,andmore

ISBAfter-SchoolActivities(SchoolsBuddy):ToregisteryourchildfortheISB after-schoolactivitiesTologin,pleaseclickonthebutton‘Azuread’

Shouldyouneedhelptoresetyourlogincredentials,ourITteamis availableviaemailatIThelpdesk@isb.beandwillhappilyhelpyou.