Progress Reports

Yesterday afternoon during dismissal, I witnessed a range of emotions from the middle and high school students.  Some were happy, others were hopeful, and a few were sad.  They had just received their progress reports with the grades and teacher comments for each of their classes.  While they have had access to their grades online, this is the first time it was real.

A number of students were happy and proud of the grades they had earned through their hard work and effort. Some students were pleased with most of their grades, but felt they could do better.   When asked how they could improve, they talked about studying more or getting extra help from their teacher.  A few students were sad and frustrated.  Their grades were lower than they had earned at their last schools.  The students I talked to said they have been working as hard, but not seeing the same results. 

I explained to them that schools are different all around the world. ISD teachers have high expectations for the students and the course work is meant to be challenging. While some students will need to put in more time than others, all the students at ISD have the ability to do well at our school.   I encouraged students, who were unhappy with their grades, to talk with their teachers or Ms. Bishop, the Secondary School Guidance Counselor, to get advice on what they can do to improve their grades. The students still have plenty of time. There is still five weeks left before the end of trimester.

Ebola Update

I have not sent out a parent email regarding Ebola for a while largely because there has not been anything new to report.  I did want to let the community know that we continue to monitor the situation and we communicate regularly with our contacts.

I would like to remind parents that children should be kept home if they have a fever, diarrhea or have vomited in the last 24 hours.

We will communicate with you by email if there is a change in the situation.

Dr. Alan Knobloch

Director