High School Student Council Elections

/in ,

On 25 August, ISA welcomed over 1300 students and their families to campus for the first day of school. The halls of ISA came alive again as friends shared hugs and told stories from their exciting summer vacations. There is no doubt that this year will be filled with new memories, friendships, and accomplishments.

At the end of the last school year, the high school student body elected three new Student Council leaders. These students will serve as role models and advocates for their fellow students as they plan and implement a variety of projects over the next year. We look forward to seeing what they have in store.

The newly elected members are:

President: Ari Economon
Vice-President: Ryan Collins
Secretary/Treasurer: Blanca Carmont-Zaragoza

DP Results Exam Year 2016 – Congratulations to the Class of 2016!

/in ,

Dear Members of the ISA Community,

I would like to take the time to celebrate with you this year’s final IB diploma results. In early July, we received the first IB exam results for the Class of 2016. After a few remarks over the summer, these results are now final. Once again they are something to be very proud of.

ISA students performed exceptionally well on these externally assessed exams and assignments. In fact, ISA’s average grade in each course was 5.25 points; to put that in context, the worldwide average was 4.95.

The graduating class of 2016 included the highest number of IB Diplomas earned in the history of ISA: 59 candidates earned the full ID Diploma with a total average score of 34 points! Out of these, 7 of the 59 received a total of 40 or more points! And if this was not enough, 96.7% of this year’s diploma candidates received one or more bonus points for their work in Theory of Knowledge and the Extended Essay.  Finally, 44 % of our diploma candidates received a bi-lingual diploma.

Whilst these statistics are impressive, they do not tell a complete story. Indeed, not all IB grades are equal as some grades achieved by this year’s DP candidates, whilst perhaps statistically not as impressive, are nevertheless genuine accomplishments and thus worthy of praise. For example, we had a few candidates this year who arrived at ISA in grade 10 with intermediate-level English and nevertheless received their IB diplomas with flying colors.

Such results are contingent on a number of factors. For sure the resilience, hard work, and perseverance of this year’s IB Diploma and IB Course candidates contributed greatly to their success but they could never have achieved it without the support and care of their parents and guardians. A great thank you thus goes out to parents and guardians of this year’s graduating class.

Finally however it is important to acknowledge in particular the hard work of ISA’s faculty, both the Lower School as well as the Upper School faculties as some of our students have been at ISA most of their educational careers. Indeed, our DP candidates would not have been able to achieve such results without their continued commitment and profound sense of professionalism.

Congratulations to the class of 2016!

Kind regards,

Matt Lynch

DP Coordinator

International School of Amsterdam 

 

“Education is the most powerful weapon that you can use to change the world” 

Nelson Mandela

Visit the ISA School Store for Back to School Supplies

/in

The ISA School Store – the Bear Necessities – stocks many of the school supplies ISA students need for the academic year.

Be sure to check the supplies lists below to make sure you have everything for the first day.
Nursery, Pre-School, Pre-K, Kindergarten, Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3, Grade 4, Grade 5 and Upper School.

The store also sells maps of Amsterdam and surrounding areas and a variety of books and dictionaries to help you settle in the Netherlands.

The profits generated by the store go to the PTA and are used to cover costs of various PTA-sponsored events and as matching donations for SHARE charities.

Store Hours:

Monday: 15:00 – 16:00
Tuesday to Thursday: 8:10 – 9:00 and 15:00 – 16:00
Friday: 9:10 – 10:00

Bear Necessities has extended shop hours during the first ten days of school in August/September, as well as at the beginning of January.

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR ISMTF MIDDLE SCHOOL MATH COMPETITORS

/in ,

Several of our Middle School students competed in the recent International Schools Mathematics Teachers Foundation (ISMTF) Middle School Math Competition at the International School of Zug and Lucerne. Out of a total of 41 teams, ISA Team A (Anna Economon, Mamie Wilson, and Sylvia Liu) placed 4th and Team B (Daniel Duncanson, Pranjal Ray, and Vivienne Shi) placed 30th. Congratulations to everyone who competed!

World Water Day

/in ,

WORLD WATER DAY
Every year the ISA Lower School Student Council organises a fundraising campaign to support East African Care in Kenya to improve access to clean water in their own communities. This can range from providing new wells to building latrines for schools and village communities.

ISA Lower School students collect Euro coins in a reusable bottles over a week. They place a coin in the bottle each time water is used in their home,  helping to raise awareness within their family regarding how lucky they are to have easy access to clean water in the Netherlands.

Last year the students raised over 2700 euros to support access to clean water in Kenya and hope to collect more this year.

 

ISA Basketball Teams Compete in NECIS Tournaments in Rotterdam and Antwerp

/in , ,

The ISA U12, U14, Junior Varsity and Varsity Basketball teams recently competed in NECIS tournaments in Rotterdam and Antwerp rounding out a great season of training and international competitions. The results of the four tournaments are below.

U12 and U14 – Rotterdam
The U12 and U14 girls and boys teams competed March 4-6 in Rotterdam with exciting games featuring everything you expect to see in a tournament; joy, disappointments, determination, teamwork and sportsmanship. With support from friends and families, the ISA teams achieved the following results:
U12 Girls: 6th place
U12 Boys: 2nd place
U14 Girls: 2nd place
U14 Boys: 7th place
JV and Varsity – Antwerp 
The Junior Varsity and Varsity teams competed March 11-12 in Rotterdam. The tournament, which was also live streamed, had a great crowd turnout with families from all competing schools in attendance. The ISA teams fought hard and were successful in achieving the following results:
JV Girls: 3rd place
JV Boys: 1st place
Varsity Girls: 4th place
Varsity Boys: 2nd place

ISA Hosts the 2016 European Conference on iPads in the Classroom Conference

/in

 

This two-day event held at the ISA Centre for Development, Learning & Technology connected K-5 educators from across Europe and the Middle East with inspirational and innovative strategies and approaches for using iPads to enhance learning within the classroom. Over 50 attendees came together to attend sessions that challenged, motivated and provoked new ways of thinking about the capacity for iPads for instruction, assessment and documentation of student thinking and learning.

Conference highlights included

  • Plenary sessions with Warren Apel and Joe Moretti on coding, game design and programming in primary classrooms
  • In-class visits to see the ISA 1:1 iPad programme in action with K-5 students and teachers
  • Workshops on digital portfolios, use of iPads with thinking routines, iBeacons in schools libraries, self-assessment with iPads, apps for documenting and tracking student learning and more…
  •  Informal sessions in the iPad café, the iPad App Slam and Speed Geeking sessions!

Take a peek and see how great it was…

Record-setting Trash Audit Results from Green Team

/in ,

Be sure to check out this great video from the ISA Green Team highlighting the results of their recent trash audit of the school. More than 80 volunteers attended – a new record! See which trash has increased and where we, as a school, have improved on eliminating waste.

Go Green Team!

Board of Governors Hosts First Parent Meeting for 2015-2016 School Year

/in

On Wednesday, 30 September the ISA Board of Governors hosted a morning parent information session for the ISA parent community. The agenda for the meeting covered the new board composition including an introduction to new board members David Rosenberg and Eric Robles, as well as financials, enrolment updates, the board goals for 2015-2016 and a review of new programme initiatives for the school year.

ISA Hosts Ivy Circle’s USA University Fair 

/in ,

Members of the ISA community attended the recent Ivy Circle USA University fair on October 1, where they met with representatives from over 25 universities.  The following information sessions were offered during the fair to assist students with coordinating their post-secondary academic efforts: Standardised Testing, Scholarships for International Students, 2+2 Transfers (Associate/Bachelor) and Innovation in Higher Education. ISA hosted the event in collaboration with the Fulbright Center USA, the United States Consulate and alumni representing Ivy League colleges and other esteemed institutions of higher learning.

 

Read more about ISA University Counselling – https://issuu.com/isacommunications/docs/isa_connections_issue_04_issuu