Dear ISD Community,

Please mark your calendars for the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the ISD Association on Thursday, April 23. Once a year, the ISD Board of Trustees reports on its annual goals and its work at the AGM. New trustees are also elected. The AGM is your chance to learn more and ask questions about the strategic issues that impact the present and future quality of the education your child receives at ISD. Each year, the Board shares with the ISD community information on the school’s finances, facilities and campus improvements, the results of the Parent-Student Satisfaction Survey, and activities of the Board.

Below are some highlights of the Board of Trustees’ February monthly meeting:
Educational Program Update
The Board was pleased to welcome Ms Pam Pelliccia, Elementary School Counselor and Ms Kayla Bishop, Secondary School Counselor, who gave presentations on social and emotional learning at ISD. This was followed by school director Dr. Alan Knobloch’s recap of the 2015 teacher recruitment process and overview of the newly hired teachers who will be joining ISD next August. The Board expressed its appreciation to Alan Knobloch, as well as to Principals Brad Bell and Ian Clark, for their hard work and success in securing 21 excellent new hires for ISD.

Financial Policy Amendment – 1st reading
The Board had its first reading of proposed policy revisions and additions to ISD financial policy. Discussion on the policy amendments was preceded by recognition of the substantial time and effort put into the policy revision by the Policy committee.* Clarification questions were addressed and board members agreed that a few points on the procedural parts of the policy would be attended to by school administration. A motion was made and passed to accept the first reading, and to approve public posting of the proposed amendments for ISD community review.

ISD community members may review the proposed amendments either in hard copy (please see Ms Suzanne Wardini, Director’s Office, Admin building) or by clicking HERE. Please send any comments or questions on the financial policy to Board of Trustees’ Secretary Jennifer Grant at boardbox@isd.sn.

In the coming weeks, as we do every year, the Board will be sending out a Parent Satisfaction Survey for parents to fill out online. The purpose of the survey, in brief, is to ask:

• what ISD parents think of ISD at this point in time 
• what ISD parents believe is important in our children’s education 
• what ISD parents would like the school to provide for our children in the future 

The survey should take no longer than 10 to 15 minutes of your time. Students will complete a Student Satisfaction Survey in school.
lSD parents’ input is vital to improving performance and goal-setting at ISD. Your feedback is greatly appreciated. Watch out for the survey in your inboxes in the next few weeks.

Have an excellent weekend,

Vesna de la Borde, Chair, ISD Board of Trustees

*Policy Committee: Allyson Gardner (Trustee, Chair), Jennifer Grant (Trustee), Linda Percy (Trustee), David Peterson (Trustee), Barbara Fultz (Curriculum Coordinator), Marc Guillaume (MS Science teacher) and Alan Knobloch (Director).