International School Manila For ATTENDANCE concerns,

please contact the HS Office

(Sam Ramos or Laurie Atilano)
Tel: 840 8650 / 840 8653

HS FRIDAY BULLETIN
or email HSOffice@ismanila.org

For GUIDANCE concerns, please

contact Gigi Azarcon and Jasmin
August 7 , 2009 Andres Tel:840-8655 / 840-8660

Dear Parents,

I would like to extend a warm welcome to all our High School parents, with a special welcome to all our new parents.
ISM is a very friendly school and I am confident that your son or daughter will find that their educational experience here
at ISM will be very challenging and rewarding.

We have had another excellent start to the year. Students were very excited to be back at school and judging by some
classroom visits quickly engaged in their lessons. The ISSBA run student assembly on Thursday afternoon displayed
tremendous energy, passion and support for their High School. Well done ISSBA!

ISSBA invited me to provide some opening remarks to the first assembly and I would like to share those with you in our
first Friday Bulletin.

Opening Assembly - School Year 2009-10

Good afternoon, welcome to ISM and to SY 2009-2010. I feel very privileged to be the principal of such a great school. I
took a tour of my old high school over the summer break and I can tell you now, we are very, very fortunate here at ISM!

I would like to add my welcome to that of ISSBA’s to all those returning students, but of course a special welcome to all
our new students. I am extremely confident that new students will settle quickly into such a warm, caring and
welcoming environment.

I would like to thank the ISSBA team for organizing today’s assembly and to everyone for all the work that has gone in to
getting school up and running. It was a very efficient start to the year given that it was public holiday yesterday,
persistent rain and a broken internet connection this morning. I want to publicly thank all those people who have
assisted in getting the high school ready for its first day, especially those who worked tirelessly over the summer. Here I
mean all the carpenters, cleaners, technicians, and office and support staff. At ISM we are incredibly well served by
these people and if the support levels over the last few days are anything to go by then we are going to have a fabulous
year.

It is customary for me to introduce a few high school VIPs and this year I would like them to come up on stage as I read
their names so we can thank them for the work they do.
Mr. Michael Dickinson – Assistant High School Principal
Ms van Nooten - IB Coordinator
Mr. Dave Birchenall – Director of Media Services
Mr. Pekin – ATAC Director
Mr. Woods – CAS and Activities Coordinator
Ms Close – Performing Arts Director
Mr. Nichols – Program Leader for HS Guidance
Mr. Biggar – IT Curriculum Director

SY 2009-2010 wow! It seems to me like just a few years ago I was celebrating the new millennium and now we will move
at the end of this semester into the second decade of this millennium. Last year at this time I introduced a theme of
change and commented that in any new school year you will be faced with many changes. I realized through last year
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that change in itself was not enough. You must enact personal change to make a difference. You must make a goal, have
a desire to change and then take a conscious decision to improve from one state to the next. At ISM we have embedded
these “change agents” in our school wide goals: You are required to be:

Self – directed and Balanced Individuals

Responsible, Caring and Ethical Contributors
Effective communicators
Inquiring and Reflective Problem Solvers and
Knowledgeable and Skilled Learners.

I mention these every year as these goals are the very cornerstone that your teachers are using to write and modify the
HS curriculum.

Once again the HS has witnessed considerable improvement over the summer.
We have a fabulous new set up in the Performing Arts area, more space for drama, new technology and space for Film,
Ms Close and Ochie even have windows, with daylight and real trees! We have two new laptop carts for HS and new
laptops for the Science Dept. We have a new technology integration specialist to work with HS and MS teachers and
students. We have a fabulous extension to the canteen and the much of the campus has been spruced up and painted.

In attempting to make a difference, to enact a positive change there will be challenges along the way. You may find it
difficult to stay the course, you may find obstacles in the way, the journey might seem endless, but as the proverb goes
the journey begins with the first step. I have another favorite proverb which translates from New Zealand Maori to
English as something like; “should you stumble, let it be to the loftiest of mountains “.
So in keeping with my mountain theme over the last two years, I would like to lay out a challenge this year; aim high, try
hard, complete your journey and should you struggle let it be at the tallest or last mountain, then you will be able to
turn and say to everyone, I did my best, I tried to make a difference this year! I shall finish with a short video of a girl
who has made a difference. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wuSaNCIde4
This same message is printed in your new student planners, which you will get on Monday during homeroom.

Enjoy and let’s have an excellent year!

Kind regards,

William R.S. Brown Mr. Michael Dickinson

High School Principal Assistant Principal

Events to Remember:

Tuesday, Aug 11: HS Parent Coffee 8:30-10:30 (Little Theater)

Friday Aug 14- Saturday Aug 16: HS Leadership Retreat (Caliraya)
Aug 21: Holiday – Ninoy Aquino Day
Aug 31: Holiday – National Heroes Day

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