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| 10 May 08 (03:14 EAT) |
| 10 March 2008 Dear Parents: I am pleased to tell you that the Armon children will be returning to ISM for Term 3 after the Easter Break. Leebeth’s passing has affected many people in our community and the return of the Armon family, I think, will help with the healing process. This weekend the Soccer 7s were played on Moshi Campus. ISM fielded a mix of A and B teams from both campuses and several local schools also participated. The semi-finals and finals for the girls were all ISM. The boy’s side of the draw was a different story, but our boys played really well all day in some pretty intense heat. Thanks to all those parents who came out and supported the players. I want to thank the many parents who joined the Kilimanjaro fun run and the half marathon last weekend in Moshi. Several ISM parents and students took part to help raise funds for the ISM Scholarship programme. Thanks for the big effort! I also want to highlight our ISM staff who ran the ½ marathon -- teachers, Fatima Tukhtaeva and Chris Dawson, IT assistant, Grace Mushy, Accounts clerk Omega Valentine and painter Michael Kimea. Well done you crazy people. We have had a very active term 2. The annual Variety Night in Moshi was well attended and showed off the many talents of our students. In Arusha, the performance of Macbeth on the Loose in Arusha was also a great success. Trips Recently we have also had several interesting class trips. The P5/6 trip to Magara was a lot of learning and fun for the children. We learned a little about group size, transport and planning on this four-day adventure trip that will help us improve our logistics for trips in the future. I also want to thank parents George Mavroudis and Trude Peterson for their support on this trip. The M4s just returned from their exploration of the Kolo cave paintings near Babati last week. Despite setting up tents in the rain, this arts-focused trip came off very well. If you can access Mary Leakey’s book on the Kolo cave paintings in this area or find them online, I think you will agree it is a fascinating place to visit. The annual MUN trip to Nairobi had our senior students quite engaged in the politics of modern day and where better to do that than in Kenya at this time in its history. This week the M1 classes head to Lake Eyasi to learn about the Hadzabe men and women living there. I am very proud of the class trips ISM offers its students and the big efforts of the teachers and parents who make these great learning activities possible. D2 Art Exhibit Please mark the D2 Art exhibit on Moshi Campus on your calendars: March 12 at 6:30 p.m. is the opening and March 17&18 for general viewing. The students have been working for several months on their creations and would love to share their work with you. Board Meeting The ISM Board of Directors met for the final time under the old structure last Friday in Arusha. Going forward, the Board has decided on a more efficient structure that will see a Governing Board that meets twice a year and an Operating Board that meets four times per year. The shareholders of ISM fully endorse this change and I am looking forward to working with Board members to make the governance of the school even stronger. CIS and MSA have both commended the school for this overdue restructuring, so I am confident we are on the right path. The Board also set an average 7% tuition fee increase for the next school year responding to a variety of factors including US and Tanzanian inflation rates, increased cost of living and servicing the school’s operational deficit. Although expense lines have been cut dramatically in several areas of the school, the Board feels the increase is appropriate and still makes an ISM education more affordable than the majority of our competitors. Campus Improvements I want to thank Adrian for spearheading some very nice improvements on the Arusha Campus this term. Adrian and a group of parents have adopted a series of garden plots all over the campus and the changes have been dramatic, especially with the recent rains. In addition, Adrian has arranged to have a salt water chlorinator installed for the swimming pool and has coordinated an upgrade to the changing rooms (a change long overdue), with Sandra Kusserow volunteering her design expertise. Another new addition is a new (to us) Land Cruiser that will replace the old Land Rover on campus. After considering a wide variety of parental views on the subject, SMT has decided to extend the simple Primary uniform across the whole school. Details about where and when the uniform polo shirts may be purchased on Arusha Campus will be forthcoming in the Head of Campus newsletter. In Moshi, I also want to thank Fons Nijenhuis for donating a large consignment of geraniums to help us further beautify Moshi Campus. Keeping the grass cut is a huge task on our large campuses and when one of our new Kudu lawnmowers broke recently, I was envisioning purchasing a herd of goats to ensure we could keep pace with the rainy season growth. I want to thank TPC for helping us fix the problem with the machines and for teaching our staff how to maintain them properly. New Staff Our hiring process is almost complete and the following teachers have been hired for 2008/09. You will soon be able to access their photos and brief biographies on the ISM website and these will also be printed and posted on the campuses. They will join our ISM community in August.
Please mark Saturday, April 19th on your calendar for next term. The Parents Association will organize an afternoon of activities for ISM parents and children on Arusha Campus that will include a BBQ, parent-student games including a touch rugby game, art exhibits, student musical performances and much more. I hope that ISM parents who would like to have a fun afternoon with their children take this opportunity to join and meet other ISM parents from both Moshi and Arusha. I want to thank the Parent Association for organizing this afternoon - I know it is a lot of work and a big effort. Marketing Anne and our marketing interns, Sarah and Caroline, have been very active this term. In addition to running events like the ISM fun run alongside the Kilimanjaro marathon, they have been writing grant proposals to big businesses abroad in the hopes of some corporate sponsorship for the ISM Scholarship Programme. Our marketing campaign continues to produce inquiries and we are cautiously optimistic about enrolment on both campuses. Obviously, word of mouth is the greatest marketing we can have and I hope parents are speaking positively about the school in our community. The teachers are certainly putting in a big effort with the children and getting great results. We are also planning some open days on both campuses next term to highlight the MYP programme and try to explain how it works to families who may not be familiar with this comprehensive IB programme. We are entering the last week and a half of Term 2 and I believe the teachers and students have certainly earned a good break. I hope you will have a great rest with your families this Easter and that everyone will return to ISM refreshed for the final term. Our D2 and S5 students will be facing their big exams and I hope they will set aside some time during the break to study and prepare. Parents please enjoy the last 10 days of freedom and then have a safe and relaxing holiday with the children. Best Regards, Barry Sutherland Chief Executive Officer | |
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