Dear Parents,
This Year of Achievement has given us many opportunities to celebrate who we are. As the first international school in Saigon, we are pioneers of adaptive education and have intentionally created space for our children to thrive. For over thirty years, ISHCMC has been an established leader in internationally-minded holistic education. Over these years, ISHCMC has created a legacy and set the foundations for our community to continue thriving into the future.
As a community, we have travelled through time together. We have witnessed, been connected to, and been a part of significant personal, local, national, and global events in which we, as a community, have been able to celebrate together and share joy on many occasions. At other times, we have cried and leaned on each other for support and courage. Through all these years and experiences that have touched humankind and our families, we continue to stand together in unity, valuing each other's identities, gifts, and talents and drawing on these to continuously create the most magical space for our children and adults to learn and grow so that we can all make our world a better place. Ultimately, to make a world filled with peace, joy, and happiness, and where we all thrive.
Throughout the year, we have celebrated our very special school community—a community with a strong collaborative spirit and innovative mindset, a community with a shared commitment to inspiring well-being and learning so that each person who is part of our diverse, internationally-minded ISHCMC flourishes as an energised, engaged, and empowered learner. We have celebrated our ISHCMC superpower—our people and their achievements. It has been a joy to see all of these achievements showcased in our newsletters and in the Rhino Hub.
Our flourishing community is a testament to our collective commitment to energise, engage, and empower our learners, creating an environment where curiosity thrives, achievement is celebrated, empathy is fostered, and resilience is instilled—a commitment to creating a strong culture of CARE. Everything we do at ISHCMC is done with intention. As we look forward to the next year and the 30 years beyond, we intend to enhance intercultural understandings and teaching and learning in our Vietnam context, offer memorable experiences, and champion inclusion, diversity, and justice. Ultimately, we will co-create a journey in our rapidly evolving world where everyone thrives. How do we do that, you ask?
We do this by purposefully designing and celebrating our culture of CARE, promoting systems of growth, and nurturing leadership. We will apply intercultural competencies to take meaningful action that positively changes our community and the world. We will stand against inequity, exclusivity, discrimination, and rigid education that limits self-expression and growth.
Through our intentional actions, we:
Honour our own and others' identities
Live the learner profile attributes
Are interculturally competent and multilingual
Ethically serve our local and global communities
Engage in environmental sustainability
Create space for self-expression and belonging
Stand for equity, inclusion, and social justice
Thank you for joining this incredible community and celebrating with us throughout the school year. Our people are the heart and soul of our school. Our people make us ISHCMC.
We look forward to seeing all of our returning families and students in August. We wish our departing families and students the best in your next adventures and know that once a Rhino, always a Rhino.
We are proud to be The International School of Ho Chi Minh City. I am proud and privileged to be your Head of School.
In kindness and gratitude,
Kim
