FISO Elementary School Information

Monday, 18 August - 8:35-15:05

Grades 2 - 5 - First day

Parent/Child Classroom Visits (Open House): Friday, 15 August - 9:00-10:00 -  ES Classrooms

New Parent Presentation and Welcome Fair: Monday, 18 August - 8:40–11:00

ES Junior Lounge, followed by the Primary School Assembly Room.

All new families are invited to a special welcome event on the first day of school. After student drop-off, there will be a presentation/tour of the FIS Elementary School in our Junior Lounge from 8:40 to 9:30. Afterwards, families will be escorted to the Welcome and Information Fair at the Primary School. Parents will be able to ask questions and get information at various booths, including transportation, food services, technology, REAL (after-school activities), our PTG (Parent Teacher Group), and more. There will also be an opportunity to have photos taken for FIS Parent ID cards. 

Save the Date 

Back to School Night: Thursday, 21 August 18:00–19:00

All ES parents are invited to attend a Back to School Night event on Thursday, 21 August 2025, from 18:00-19:00. This is a great opportunity to learn about your child’s classroom and build relationships with teachers and other ES Families.

PTG Welcome Coffee Morning: Friday, 22 August  08:45 - 10:00

All new and current community members are invited for a coffee morning in the FIS Cafeteria / Coffee House.

School Hours

Arrival time     08:15 – 08:30

School begins 08:35

School ends 15:05

Parent pick up at 

ES Commons/Parent Parking 15:05

Bus departure 15:17

Homeroom Lists

Final homeroom lists will be available to new families by 13 August in Veracross. 

ID Cards

New students have several opportunities at the start of the school year to get their photos taken at school for their FIS ID cards. Stations are set up in the ES Commons, and members of the ICT Department are on hand to assist. A photo station will also be set up at the Open House on August 15 from 9:00-10:00. Students and parents who have a current photo uploaded to Veracross will have their ID cards pre-printed and ready for pickup on the first day of school or at the Open House.

School Bus Transportation

If your child(ren) will be using school transportation, a bus schedule will be sent to you to determine the bus stop nearest you, as well as the morning departure and afternoon return times. Please refer to the School Bus - Arranging Transport, which will provide you with more information about our Flexible Bus Ticket and Late Bus services, which are available for all grades.

Parents bringing their children to the school: please follow the Traffic and Parking Procedure. If you have any questions, please contact the transportation office at transportation@fis.edu, or telephone: 06171 2024-466.

Food Services

Please send a healthy snack, a drink, and lunch. Children may also use their FIS ID card to purchase lunch in the cafeteria. Details of the school lunch prices can be found on the Food Services page on the FIS website. 

For new families: the Food Services page detailing the cashless payment system, and how to register, can also be found here on the FIS website.

School Supplies

In the ES, all daily supplies such as paper and pencils are provided by FIS. When school begins, children need a PE bag containing PE shoes. Please ensure PE shoes/bag are clearly marked with the student's name.  

Students will need weather-appropriate clothing. Our ES students play outdoors in all weather conditions with the exception of dangerous weather such as lightning. For the winter months, we recommend bringing indoor shoes that can be left at school, and highly recommend rain gear and boots. In warm weather, please send a sunhat and sunblock for your child to use if necessary.

Parents are asked to provide a personal set of headphones for their child. This is for hygiene and health purposes. Please label the headphones with your child’s name, as they will stay in the classroom and will be used for multiple years. Headphone specifications: over the ear, a chord (not Bluetooth) with 3.5mm audio jack compatible with iPad including a microphone, and have volume regulating of 85dBA for children. The FIS Campus Shop offers these headphones for purchase at the beginning of school. Please refer to the FIS Campus Shop for more details.  

1 to 1 Learning Program

Our 1-1 Learning Program is an integral part of your child’s education at FIS. All students entering Grades 5–9 will need to bring an Apple MacBook laptop with OS Ventura or more recent OS with them on the first day of school. There are no specific requirements for the MacBook; we support all MacBook models and keyboard layouts. FIS has no specifications for the configuration of your laptop, but here are our guidelines to help you choose the right laptop for you: 

• For Grades 5-9 (inclusive), students must have a MacBook as their laptop

• For Grades 10 -12 students have the option to either use a MacBook or a Windows laptop

A few notes regarding how students use their devices during school:

• Most schoolwork will be cloud-based (GSuite, Canvas, etc.)

• Most makes of laptop will provide a 12-month warranty that will cover any 'known issues', operating system issues, and some offer some help with hardware. Warranties do not cover drops, liquid spills, cracked screens, etc. Consider taking an extended warranty but check to see what this will cover.

• Apple offers AppleCare+ as an optional extra purchase to cover accidental damages

When choosing a MacBook:

• The Mac you choose must support all the security updates for the academic year. This means that for the academic year 25/26 it must support a minimum version of macOS Sonoma (macOS 15) or newer.

• A list of compatible devices can be found in this Apple article. Please note that recently released devices may not appear on the list but are still valid to purchase.

• For most students, the base model MacBook Air would be able to support their learning for multiple years.

• If Design Technology is a chosen subject, it is recommended that the device has at least 16GB of Unified Memory

Some optional accessories you may want to consider include:

• Headphones

• Protective carrying sleeve

• A silicone keyboard cover adds an extra security layer to guard against accidental liquid spills.

• External SSD for backup and archiving

• Port adapter (USBC to VGA, USBC to HDMi, etc.) – Depending on your model, you might need to hook it up to a projector or an interactive whiteboard to present.

FIS has a relationship with a local vendor, ergo sum Mainz,  should you wish to take advantage of their competitive pricing.

If you need help making the right choice for your child, please contact support@fis.edu.

Software

FIS will install all software titles your child will need for school and configure their laptop for printing and network access. Please note that Grade 5 students' laptops will remain in school for the first six weeks of the term to enable us to introduce them to technology and to teach them about digital citizenship. After this, students will be allowed to take their laptops home. Please contact support@fis.edu for further details or questions.

ES Principal

Jean-Marie Kahn 06171 2024-101

ES Assistant Principal

Kristi Jacobs 06171 2024-103

PYP Coordinator

Christine Ishii 06171 2024-233 / 545

ES Administrative Assistant

Debbie Charter 06171 2024-102

Jocelyn Powell 06171 2024-487

ES Fax No. 06171 2024-410

ES Counselor

Shirley Manntz 06171 2024-104

Counselor and Inclusion Coordinator

Kelsey Snyder 06171 2024-213

ES Librarian

Lara Ingham 06171 2024-237

Newcomers to FIS – Important for our Database!

New Parents: please contact Reception info@fis.edu to confirm your personal data (address, phone numbers).