13 October 2023
COMMUNITY UPDATE DIRECTOR’S UPDATE Dear Parents, For those of you able to join us last Friday, I hope that you all had a wonderful time at our Homecoming celebrations. This is always such a unique event and this year was extra special since we confirmed our campus, our home, in perpetuity. A special thank you to all our Homecoming event organisers! As mentioned in the Community Update of 15 September, I will soon be hosting two Community Sessions for parents with our ISB Board Chair, George Nazi. Among other things, we will be sharing some of the information from the upcoming ISB Annual Report, including different initiatives and successes, as well as some of the exciting ways we are working to continuously improve ISB in pursuit of our mission. Should you wish to attend, please help us estimate numbers and RSVP via this form. This helps our planning in order to select the most suitable venue to welcome you. Last week there were a range of alumni events, including the 50th anniversary of the class of 1973, with over 60 attendees in Scottsdale, Arizona. It was touching to see how many individuals are still so appreciative of the impact of an ISB education, even five decades later. These events highlight just some of the ways in which our ISB community connects people together. As we all grapple to make sense of the conflicts in different parts of the world, I am reminded that international education was originally founded as a force for peace. Everyday on the ISB campus, children from different nationalities and backgrounds come together to learn and grow. Our students embrace their differences, they develop friendships and they learn to naturally appreciate our shared humanity. Our community connections matter, and the relationships we develop foster a type of learning that goes to the heart of an ISB education. Kind regards,
James MacDonald
VISUAL ARTS The K-12 Visual Arts Department invites you to explore their year-long rotating Arts Exhibition in the Chateau Marble Gallery, up now! This is a collaborative program showcasing the works of Visual Arts students across all grade levels at ISB. The curated pieces on display will be changed each month, so be sure to stop by often and enjoy the wonderful work being done by our young artists.
PERFORMING ARTS The Performing Arts Department looks forward to welcoming Mark Worth from the UK’s leading physical theatre company, ‘Highly Sprung’. He will lead the ISB in-house ISTA Festival taking place from Monday, 16 to Friday, 20 October 2023. Participating Middle School (MS) theatre students will have the opportunity to collaborate and create a piece of original theatre on the themes of Doomsday Clock: 'Who makes the decisions at the end of the world?', and 'What do we leave behind us if we disappear?’ This intensive, creative week will culminate in a performance in the ISB Studio Theatre on Friday, 20 October.
ATHLETICS Raiders Athletics is known for having the best game day experience and concessions for international schools in Europe. This reputation is built off of the hard work of ISB parents who contribute their time and energy as volunteers, team parents and Sports Council members. Please see the 2023-2024 Raiders Sports Council. Please see the complete Raiders Weekly Schedule. Remember, you can find the Spring Season practice schedule and other relevant documents in the Athletics Resources.
From Bulbs to Breakthroughs: Selling Tulip Bulbs to Make an impact in Parkinson's Research By Daniel Nazi Grade 11 In their nature, tulips exemplify vibrant resilience, as well as growth and renewal as perennial flowers – representing traits of people with Parkinson's. However, their symbolism also carries important historical significance. In 1980, the Dutch horticulturist, JWS Van der Wereld, who had Parkinson’s, developed a unique variant of the tulip. He named this tulip the Dr James Parkinson tulip, in honour of Dr. James Parkinson, who was the first person to write about this condition in 1817. The tulip now serves as the international symbol for Parkinson’s through its historical significance and embodiment of resilience.
A group of students from ISB came together to package tulip bulbs to sell in order to raise money for Parkinson’s research. The money will go towards the Demoucelle Parkinson Charity, helping to bolster scientific research in attempts to accelerate the discovery of a cure for Parkinson's. You can make a difference and support Parkinson's research by purchasing some tulip bulbs to grow! In doing so, you are also carrying the renowned floral symbol forward and continuing to spread awareness. Above all, tulips represent hope - hope for a cure, and for the safety of those who have the disease. So please, help make a difference and support Parkinson’s research today. Order your Tulip Bulbs here.
Did You Know? 1. There Are Thousands of Varieties of Tulips There are more than 3,000 varieties of tulips worldwide (this includes naturally occurring and genetically cultivated varieties). Of those 3,000 varieties, tulips can be divided into approximately 150 species. 2. Tulips Have an Expensive History Tulips caused quite the pandemonium in the 1600s. During this time in the Netherlands, tulips were highly valuable and are considered by some historians to be the cause of the economic crash of 1637. During this time, tulips were as expensive as homes.
What an Amazing Event! Last Friday we celebrated one of our most loved ISB events, Homecoming. From music and theatre performances - to cheering on our players on the fields and courts - to enjoying food, drinks and great conversation, this really was a chance for us to celebrate the ISB Community. We want to thank everyone for coming out and showing your school spirit, and we especially would like to thank all the amazing volunteers that made this day not only a great success, but also so much fun! We hope to see you at one of our upcoming events, at one of the amazing classes, and be sure to mark your calendar for upcoming FA meetings.
FA Classes Language Classes - Wednesday and Thursday mornings FA Yoga Classes are Back on Campus - Tuesday at 09:00 Italian Cooking Class - 19 October Lebanese Cooking Class - 9 November What’s On 24 October - Solvay Museum 15 November - Museum Folon 24 November - FA Lunch @ Mitto in Ixelles 5 December - Magritte Museum 14 November, 09:30-11:00 - FA Monthly Meeting 12 December, 09:30-11:00 - FA Monthly Meeting Clubs Photography Club - Every other Friday at lunch time. For event details and registration, please see the FA Update.
Connect with the FA
HEALTH SERVICES With the colder months ahead of us, we would like to remind our community about the general health related absence guidelines. As a general rule, if your child is displaying symptoms and is unwell, they should remain at home. If symptoms worsen or do not improve after 48-72 hours, we encourage you to seek a Doctor’s opinion. they are coughing frequently; they have a severe cold with a continually runny nose; they have vomited within the past 24 hours; they have had a fever within the past 24 hours; they have any condition which could be communicable. Please find here a communication from our head nurse to ensure a healthy environment for our children, faculty and staff.
OTHER UPDATES Are you and your family leaving us before the end of the school year? If so, we are very sorry to see you go. We kindly ask you to inform us as soon as you have confirmation of your plans by filling out this form or scanning the QR code below.
UPCOMING EVENTS DATE
TIME
DETAILS
Oct 12-13
Whole day
Learning Conferences
Oct 20
5:30 - 8:00 PM
Lower School Harvest Fest
Oct 30 - 3 Nov
Whole day
Fall Break
Kattenberg 19, B-1170 Brussels, Belgium +32 2 661 42 11 reception@isb.be www.isb.be