Aug 20, 20213 min read

School Newsletter - Issue 1, 21/22

Dear Parents, Over the last few weeks, we have enjoyed virtually meeting our new families, welcoming over 200 new students into classes, along with welcoming back our returning families and students. We have also enjoyed reconnecting with our returning colleagues and welcoming our new faculty and staff into the ISHCMC community. We start the year fully staffed with all of our new faculty connected and working with our students. I extend my appreciation to our incoming teachers for their flexibility and adaptability as they navigated through multiple quarantines and self-isolation periods to be here with us in Vietnam. The beginning of the school year is always a special time. It is the beginning of new experiences, new friends, new teachers, and new growth. As our students courageously enter into new learning spaces, new class communities, and begin to build new friendships it can also be a time that brings anxiety and worry. These mixed emotions are to be expected as we start a school year. I trust that when you and your children met with our Homeroom teachers and Advisors you were provided with assurance and confidence that you and your children will be well guided and supported as they embark on this year's learning journey. The relationships and partnerships that you have started to build with our Homeroom teachers and Advisors will continue to be critical as we move forward. I encourage you to stay connected, ask for help or share with us your worries or concerns so that we can meet your needs and provide you with support. It has been a pleasure to hear our faculty share the many highlights from the first week of classes, to know that our Rhinos are energized to be back in a learning routine and that they are engaged in the exploration of new ideas. We continue to be committed to every child every day ensuring that as we embark on this school year. Our students' academic progress data over time shows us that our students continue to grow every day whilst on-campus or in home-based learning. This has been evidenced through our internal assessment and our IB Diploma results. An assessment tool that we use to measure individual longitudinal growth at ISHCMC is the Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) assessment. This assessment measures achievement and growth in mathematics, reading, language usage. Over the summer break our leadership teams have been working with NEWA to prepare to deploy this assessment remotely. Over the next month we will be training our team to deliver this assessment in a remote context engaging and running mock assessments. The formal testing window will open on 28 September 2021 for our students. Please note that this testing window is an adjustment to our published testing dates. We look forward to being able to share this data with you once the testing is completed. In this newsletter we are proud to share with you our refreshed vision, mission, and our newly framed strategic plan. I invite you to join me at the Parent Forum that I will facilitate on the Monday 20 Sept. 2021 at 8:30 - 10:00 am (and repeated at 6:00 - 7:30 pm). In this session we will undertake a deep dive into the strategic plan and invite you to help shape our success criteria for our strategic goals, For now, stay safe and let us know if you or your children need help or have questions.