Dear High School Community,

We look forward to the month of May with great anticipation. We have the crucible of AP exams before Week Without Walls to finish out the month. I’m very grateful for all the faculty working hard to support students with their exams in addition to working on their WWW trips. At the end of the school year everyone is making the final push while being tired and sometimes agitated. I want us to finish well as we look forward to the next academic year. 

Next month we will send out the end of year registrations for next academic year with updated information to reflect the changes for next year. A summary of changes include centering our school culture on wisdom and virtue as found uniquely in the person and work of Christ, the new timetable and scheduling, the use of signal blocking phone pouches on campus, additional clarity around tardies accruing into absences and/or detentions, absences accruing into social or co-curricular probations or possible credit recovery, and added clarity to our behavioral discipline structure and escalation process. As part of this effort Mr. Schroeder and I are working across departments to more carefully align the secondary handbook with the Curriculum & Instruction Office, the Athletics Office, and the Elementary School where needed and useful because of our close proximity and shared space. Some updates are related to relevant or new government regulation, such as specific guidance on safeguarding, national security, smoking/vaping laws, and the need to report to the EDB after a student has seven consecutive absences of any kind. 

As I shared with High School faculty this week, despite challenges, I feel pleased with this year and see it as a success, and hope for a smooth finish. While I feel overwhelmed by challenges frequently, I’m more overwhelmed by the successes. We have very talented, driven, and often quite thoughtful students. Our faculty have engaged in more professional development than at any time in the school’s history. This includes a recent global spotlight from our accreditor (ACSI) which featured our department chair for science, Mrs. Daniel. They were so impressed they wanted her to do more and inquired about our other faculty who could help sister schools improve their practice. As of this week we have also filled all of our faculty vacancies for next year, and I hope you will join me in praying for transitions, and thanking God for Christian educators all over the world who want to leave their homes and come and serve in Hong Kong at ICS.