Lower School EAL Parent Sessions

On August 31, ISA hosted parent sessions covering the ISA English as an Additional Language programme.

The programme, while open for all parents, was geared towards parents of children who are still acquiring English as an additional language. The sessions were also provided in English, Hebrew, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin and Russian.

A sincere thank you to all parent volunteers who helped to bring this programme to our community

Early Childhood School Start Date Information

School starts for all ISA students on 20 August 2015.  We would like to remind parents of returning ISA students in Early Childhood and Kindergarten that their children will only attend half-days for the first five days of the new school year. Full-time attendance for these returning students will begin on 27 August.

New children starting in the Nursery programme will have a differently scheduled school starting date.  Nursery families should check their email for more information on the starting date schedule.

ISA Raises €13,600 to Aid Nepal Earthquake Victims

In response to the massive earthquake that struck Nepal in April which killed over 8,500 and injured scores more, the ISA community mobilised to raise funds to benefit the victims of the tragedy.

“As the major international relief organisations are already benefiting from large-scale donations, we have chosen to support a local charity, which works specifically with children” noted Dr. Ed Greene, ISA Director.

“The DOCS Foundation Nepal (The Destitute and Orphan Children Safeguarding Foundation Nepal) is a non-governmental, non-political and non-profit organisation established in 2002. This organisation, which is known to a member of our community with strong ties to Nepal, is already bringing relief to victims: providing shelter, food and healthcare in extremely harsh conditions. ISA would like to support their work directly, so that all the money raised at ISA for this appeal will benefit children whose lives have been devastated by not only losing their families but also their homes and all means of support.”

The ISA student and parent communities hosted a variety of events including bake and rummage sales, as well as  food sales from the Japanese Relief and Philippines Relief clubs. The parent fundraising group, SHARE,  also donated a portion of the profits from their Gala fundraising event to generate funds for the campaign.

In total so far, ISA raised more than 13,600 euros, which will directly benefit the orphans of the DOCS Foundation Nepal.

To donate to help the ISA Nepali Relief for DOCS Foundation Nepal, send your donation to “ISA NEPALI RELIEF”

International School of Amsterdam in Amstelveen
IBAN: NL40ABNA0467218382
BIC code: ABNANL2A
Reference: ISA Nepali Relief


ISA & JAI Host Discussion On Ivy League Admissions Policies

In May, ISA in cooperation with the John Adams Institute, The Ivy Circle and the Harvard NL Club, hosted a speaker session to discuss the timely topic of exclusiveness in American college and university admissions policies.

The session, Who Gets In, What Comes Out: Accessibility and Responsibility of Top Education, featured Jerome Karabel, renowned author of Chosen: The Hidden History of Admission and Exclusion at Harvard, Yale and Princeton  and Alexander Rinnooy Kan, Professor of Economics at the Universiteit van Amsterdam and was moderated by ISA parent and Chair of the Ivy Circle Netherlands, Hollis Kurman.

Comparison of the highly selective admissions policies of Ivy League and other elite universities was made to the more standardised and transparent policies of Dutch universities and arguments for both were presented. The role of grants, financial aid and the reality of the economic opportunities post-graduation were also explored with a view to finding answers to the growing challenge of equal opportunity for all in the pursuit of higher education.

ISA Debate Team Closes Season at Roosevelt World Schools Academy

Members of the ISA Debate team rounded out the 2014-15 season by attended the prestigious Roosevelt World Schools Academy at University College Roosevelt in historic Middelburg. The programme, offers debaters three days of master classes, coaching and feedback from debate experts.

ISA debaters, Nicolas Carmont, Hugo Debaig, Frederique Joosten and Sofia Romansky took part in the event, which was organised by the Netherlands Debate Institute, Cogency and the Dutch Schools Debating Foundation. Special congratulations to Frederique and Hugo who were invited to try out for the national debate team.

PTA Announces New Executive Committee for 2015-16

The PTA is happy to announce their new Executive Committee for the 2015-16 school year. Congratulations to new President, Devyani Sen, Vice President, Giovanna Manto and Treasurer, Arti Rungta.  The secretary appointment will be announced shortly.

For more information on the PTA visit our webpage or login to MyISA.