ISY Elementary Blog

Compassionate Global Citizens

Mike Simpson, Elementary School Principal

May 27, 2022

This week, I have been working with another international school in support of their accreditation and school improvement process. The school uses the same school improvement process as we use at ISY. This process focuses on the development of the following global competencies:

the use of concepts, knowledge, skills and languages of various disciplines to research current global issues;
the understanding of economic, political, technological, environmental, and social systems worldwide;
the understanding of multiple perspectives; the valuing of diversity;
the ability to communicate with multilingual skills, through fluency in reading, writing, speaking, and listening and through the use of technologies;
engaging in responsible action and service to improve conditions both locally and globally; and
the ability to function effectively in an interdependent world.

Every school must create their own framework to develop these global competencies to meet the needs of their students and the expectations of their community.

Our Mission and Vision, Strategic Themes, ISY Learner Outcomes and Attributes, and our interdisciplinary approach to learning connect to form the framework we use to develop these global competencies in our students.

As I helped another school create their framework, I was reminded just how powerful our framework is. A lot of that power comes from our community’s support of our compassionate Mission and Vision. Our Mission and Vision was created by our whole community and it allows teachers and students to focus simultaneously on what our students need and what the world needs.

Our students need the skills and knowledge to live successful and fulfilling lives. And the world needs compassionate people who are able to think beyond themselves to solve problems that affect us all. These needs are complementary and ISY is striving to meet them both.

You do not need to be compassionate to be a successful lawyer, scientist, engineer, economist, artist, politician, architect, doctor, teacher or any other profession we are preparing our students for. But without compassion, our students’ professional skills and knowledge will not make any meaningful contribution to the world in which they will be living. Being reminded of this near the end of the year is energizing and has me looking forward to us strengthening our framework next year to produce as many successful and compassionate global citizens as we can!

COUNSELOR’S CORNER with Ms. Patty:

Creating Holiday Structure

As we look to the coming summer holiday, it is important to think about how to manage the hours without school. Generally, most families will benefit from developing some amount of structure or schedule. How much structure will depend on your family. While many children are able to take unstructured time and turn it into useful engaging activities, many are not and providing a structure is helpful. Important issues to consider when creating holiday structure include:

Be consistent: Write your plan down and post it. Regularly monitor that the plan is being followed.
Use the schedule as a tool: When the written schedule is relied on, it can avoid power struggles and help your child manage their time, develop organization skills and help them to transition back into school in August.
Keep the Family Schedule: Often the holiday lends itself to sleeping in late and losing time. Keep family scheduled events, such as family dinner and bedtime routines consistent.
Find a balance: The holiday is specifically that, a time for rest and relaxation. Don’t overschedule and manage every minute. It’s important to build in moments of down time around meaningful scheduled activities.
Be flexible: Although consistency is important, allow for flexibility. If you find the schedule is too rigid or too laxed after a specific week, alter it to find a balance that works for your family that week.

Creating a balanced holiday schedule that reflects your family values can help make the holiday more pleasurable for everyone. Take time as a family to build a structure that meets the needs of everyone.

Ms. Patty wishes you a safe and happy holiday. She looks forward to returning to ISY in August for the 2022-23 school year and can be reached at escounselor@isyedu.org.

Patty Amundson-Geisel

Pre-K to Grade 6 Counselor

Please Return ISY iPads and Chromebooks

Many of our students borrowed ISY iPads or Chromebooks to help with online learning at home. Now that we have returned to in-person learning, we have collected these devices to be used in classes next year.

If you still have an ISY iPad or Chromebook at home, please return it to the Elementary School Office as soon as you are able to.

Return Library Books by Monday, June 6

If you have any overdue books you will be emailed a reminder from the library. Books can be brought to the library or put in the return basket on the front steps.

All library books are to be returned to the library by June 6.

After School Sport

Now that ASAs are finished for the year, we would like to offer a few drop-in activities for students. Boys and girls can just show up on the following days/times with a water bottle and athletic clothing/shoes. If you have questions, please contact the coaches listed below:

All-Ages Touch Rugby – Begins Thursday, May 5

In cooperation with the Centaurs Rugby Club, ISY is offering non-contact rugby as a drop-in after school activity. Our aim is to build the skills and player numbers to play other schools around Yangon. There is currently a high school girls SEASAC touch rugby team at ISY!

Thursdays 2:20-3:30pm

Sports Field/Covered Court

All ISY students are welcome to participate!

Contact: Mr. O’Sullivan at josullivan@isyedu.org

All-Ages Soccer – Begins Monday, May 9

Coach Albert will work with students of all ages on soccer skills and drills!

Mondays 2:20-3:30pm

Contact: Coach Albert at akamara@isyedu.org

Middle School Transition Parent Meeting

All parents of current Grade 5 students are invited to join us on Monday, May 30th at 5:30 PM for an informative online meeting regarding their child’s transition to middle school. The meeting will seek to answer your questions as your child enters secondary school. The meeting’s Zoom link has been emailed to Grade 5 parents.

If you have any questions or did not receive the email with the meeting’s Zoom link, please reach out to Ms. Patty at escounselor@isuedu.org

Departing Families – Withdrawal Form

If you are withdrawing your children from ISY please be sure to complete the withdrawal form which can be found on PowerSchool.

Online Learning

Now that we are into the last few weeks of the year and we have settled into in-person learning, we will not be accepting any more students into our online learning program.

Moving forward, we are also setting a goal to eliminate the hybrid /online program for the 2022-23 school year. The only exception to this would be interruptions due to directives from the Myanmar authorities, or short term COVID spikes causing class, grade level, or full school return to virtual learning for short periods.

Elementary School Bracelets – Please return

Before the pandemic, Elementary School students used bracelets (see picture) to enter the campus. If you have a bracelet at home, could you please return it to school by putting it in the box on the Front Steps.