Dear Parents,
Yesterday it was my pleasure to host 30 high school students from across our district at the first Superintendent's Student Advisory Committee meeting of this year. The group will be looking at how students learn best, the best study techniques our schools provide and how we can make positive changes to program delivery in our classrooms. It was wonderful to be able to spend some time with our future thinking leaders, who provided me with some fantastic insights into how they enjoy learning at ISG.
At ISG, we care about the social and emotional wellbeing of our students. We believe that along with academics, it is important for students to feel safe and welcome at school, balance their academics with physical activity, and have access to support from their counselors. Should your child ever need some additional support, please communicate with his/her teacher to arrange a meeting with the counselor. We also have safety at the forefront of every child’s learning experience at ISG. Each campus is vigilant with security and routinely practices checks, drills and training. If you ever notice anything unusual while on our campuses, please do not hesitate to contact our security team (isgsecurity@isg.edu.sa).
District Updates:
I am pleased to announce that the ISG Dammam cafeteria will open in early 2024. The opening will happen in two phases. Starting October 29, students will be able to purchase a boxed lunch that includes an entree, side dish and milk. By January 2024, our updated facilities will be serving lunch on a daily basis.
ASD, BSD, ISG Dammam and ISG Jubail have shared information with parents regarding the upcoming Week without Walls and the local and international trips happening in February 2024. While our students are away learning about new countries and cultures they will also be participating in a number of social and environmental responsibility activities. Some of these activities include but are not limited to: volunteering to paint and renovate local schools, spending time and donating supplies at orphanages, helping at an elephant sanctuary, working with a turtle conservation team, conducting beach cleanups, providing English lessons to non-speaking village communities, learning about coral reefs and mangroves and their role in preserving the ocean’s ecosystem, learning about sustainable farming and how communities harvest their resources to support their livelihood, conducting a forest walk and clean up, learning about sustainability projects and the effects of global warming on the mountain environment, participating in sustainable design projects, and much more. We are looking forward to our students participating in volunteer tourism and the opportunities to make contributions to the communities they visit.
ASD, BSD, ISG Dammam and ISG Jubail conduct a Compassion Club in their After School Activities. Students participating in Compassion Club will have the opportunity to participate in the Compassion Summit this spring. The Compassion Summit is an opportunity for students to learn about real life work to spread compassion happening around the world. Students attend workshops and collaborate with students from other schools to create action plans. Connections and friendships are formed with schools from around the world and students form a community outside the summit. Our students will come back to ISG with recommendations and action plans, and spend the rest of the academic year putting them into action.
I would like to remind you of the upcoming fall break. All ISG schools will be closed from October 20-28. Classes will resume on Sunday, October 29.
The ISG Alumni Association is holding two events in 2023-24: the Alumni Sports Meet in Khobar and the Alumni Reunion in Houston. Please share this information with your children who have attended or graduated from any of our ISG schools. To gauge interest, please ask them to fill out the below interest forms:
Separate registration forms will be circulated in the coming weeks.
Best wishes,
Michael P. Mack