Celebrating our Strategic Themes

Facilities & ISY Nay Pyi Taw

Theme Statement:
ISY will explore and develop facilities options, including the creation of a satellite campus in Naypyitaw, to support our host country in its growth and development, and to assist our international community to engage with the Myanmar government.

Setting the Foundations

Following this theme being established, a London based firm, Alan Higgs Architects worked with ISY to develop a facilities option plan and a master plan. They then came to Yangon to look at ways the Yangon campus could be developed. The Board worked with the school administration in reviewing proposed development plans, and this has been ongoing throughout the period. In keeping with our mission and vision, goals for Technology Integration and Environmental Consciousness, the focus has been on ways to make the campus both greener and more efficient.

Campus improvements – Yangon

  • Our soccer pitch was resurfaced and spot lighting for the evening events were added.
  • Students of the Yangon campus were treated to a new playground installed over the summer of 2019.
  • Trampolines were added in December of that year and have been a huge hit with students.
  • A second library facility was added called the ‘Learning commons’ including high powered computers for video editing and housing the Secondary School non-fiction collection.
  • Covered walkways have been added so that no one needs to get wet while walking around the campus during the rainy season.
  • A new bike rack area was added encouraging more students to bike to school.
  • New Air Conditioning units were added throughout the school with built in air purifiers to improve air quality while in the classroom.
  • The gymnasium along with our SAS building labs have both had soundproofing installed. The soundproofing in the gymnasium has been very effective and allows ISY to host more events in the gym going forward.
  • Acoustic tiling was also added to the pool to make managing events much easier.
  • A state of the art climbing wall was installed in our gymnasium in 2021 and is now seeing good use as we return to in-person school.
  • In line with the Environmental Consciousness theme, solar panels were added allowing the school to generate in excess of 90% of our electricity during daylight hours.
  • Ramps were added in a number of places to make the campus more wheelchair accessible including a ramp to link the A Building with the SAS Building.

Covid19 Health and Safety

The highest priority for ISY facilities in the 2020-21 school year was the enhancements needed to make ISY a safe environment during the global pandemic caused by COVID-19. The facilities team made a host of COVID-19 prevention upgrades that included the following:

  • Replaced all bathroom fixtures with contactless fixtures and soap dispensers.
  • Installed hand sanitizers adjacent to every classroom door.
  • Installed hand-washing stations throughout the campus (one in front of each classroom).
  • Modified all classrooms to ensure proper social distancing.
  • Upgraded/renovated the front step area to include hand washing stations and an automated temperature check system for people entering the campus.

 

ISY Nay Pyi Taw

Following the 2017-18 Board decision to explore the opening of a satellite campus in Nay Pyi Taw, ISY obtained government approval in early 2019. The Board then approved the Shwe Taung Group’s Junction Hotel as the site of the new campus and set the opening date for September 2, 2019. With campuses in both centers of government and commerce, ISY further cemented its position as the leading provider of primary and secondary education for the international community in Myanmar as well as the local communities in both places.

Alan Higgs architects also worked with ISY to develop a long term development plan for this campus. Renovation work began in earnest in April 2019 with the school fully operational in time for its launch in September of 2019. An experienced teaching couple from our Yangon campus with some support staff were the first members of staff at the new campus. Despite some differences in the ages of the students, the first year was a great success with many of the local sites in Nay Pyi Taw visited as part of school trips.

ISY Nay Pyi Taw continued to expand in its second year with 13 students involved in the program and more families looking to enroll in the future. However, the ISY Board decided to close the school at the end of that year to focus on the main campus in Yangon. Despite this decision the objective of exploring and developing a second campus in Nay Pyi Taw had been fully realized.