Embedded Files
ISG Community Update
ISG Community Update
Dr. Mack, ISG Superintendent
February 11, 2021
Dear Parents,
As we begin to bring select groups of students back on campus for assessment, we look forward to seeing and supporting our students.
As mentioned before, we are starting with the younger years and depending on support from the MOE, we hope to expand this. Should you have any specific questions regarding the process, please contact your child’s principal.
We have been in touch with the Ministry of Health regarding COVID vaccinations for our staff and are working on a plan for them. I am hoping that all of you will be able to get the vaccine as well, should you choose.
Enjoy your weekend.
Sincerely,
Dr. Michael P. Mack
ISG Community Update
ISG Community Update
Dr. Mack, ISG Superintendent
February 4, 2021
Dear Parents,
With the new strains of COVID, the Saudi government has increased its precautionary measures, including proof of health status prior to entering the workplace as of this coming Sunday. All staff and parent visitors, therefore, who come to any ISG campus will be screened prior to entry.
As you may be aware from today’s official announcement, all recreational events will be closed in the Kingdom for the next 10 days. I would like to reassure parents that we will continue to move forward with our plans to offer on-campus assessment sessions to small groups of students at ISG campuses. We will therefore proceed as planned until we hear otherwise from the authorities.
In these challenging times, I would like to encourage all of our families to practice preventive steps, including wearing masks when outside of your homes, avoiding crowds and observing social distancing.
Enjoy the weekend and stay safe.
Sincerely,
Dr. Michael P. Mack
ISG Community Update
ISG Community Update
Dr. Mack, ISG Superintendent
January 28, 2021
Dear Parents,
Last week the principals sent you information on an exciting new digital Arabic language platform to complement our existing Arabic program. I hope that you will find it helpful in supporting your child’s language learning.
As you know, I’ve had a number of conversations with the Ministry of Education with respect to bringing our students back on campus. At the Dhahran campus, we are in a unique position with three schools situated in one location. We are allowed a maximum of 10% of our student population on campus. Therefore, we have recrafted our original plans and will begin with our youngest learners. Within the next two weeks, we plan to bring select groups of our Grade 1 DEMS students on campus for additional support and/or assessment. Additional lower school grades will follow in the coming weeks. For detailed information on our reopening plans, please click here.
I have made several visits to the new Dhahran campus and am excited by what I see. The buildings look wonderful. Once finished, the beautiful learning environment and facilities will nicely complement the strong instructional programs we already provide. As construction continues, we are working hard to stay on schedule, but as you know in all construction projects, timing is everything. I will keep you posted as we continue to move forward.
As we look ahead to next year, re-enrollment contracts are now being sent out. You’ll notice that we are unable to provide fees at this time since we are awaiting approval from the MOE. As a result, for the 2021-2022 year, we have made the seat deposit refundable. This will allow you to change your plans if necessary. I appreciate your attention to this, as in terms of planning, scheduling and staffing, enrollment numbers are essential in helping us successfully prepare for our students next year.
Enjoy the weekend.
Sincerely,
Dr. Michael P. Mack
ISG Community Update
ISG Community Update
Dr. Mack, ISG Superintendent
January 21, 2021
Dear Parents,
We have posted the December progress report on construction at the new Dhahran campus, which you can find here.
I meet regularly with all the heads of school in the Khobar region and internationally to discuss how we are handling the COVID situation and to share best practices. Recently, the conversation centered on our plans for bringing students back on campus.
Some schools have already brought students back whereas others have yet to have any students return. ISG sits somewhere in the middle. In any event, we all share the same excitement for bringing children back to school.
To that end, you will be receiving a brief school survey in the next week or two regarding your willingness to have your child on-campus. I urge you all to complete the survey, as it helps in our planning to bring your children back and communicating our desired plans to the ministries. Additionally, it helps us to understand how many families would like to continue in our virtual school program.
I appreciate your patience and thank you for your support.
Enjoy the weekend!
Sincerely,
Dr. Michael P. Mack
ISG Community Update
ISG Community Update
Dr. Mack, ISG Superintendent
January 14, 2021
Dear Parents,
I’d like to extend my best wishes to you and your family for a very happy and healthy new year.
The MOE has just announced that we will remain in virtual school for another ten weeks.
We know from our recent survey that over 80% of ISG parents would like their children to physically return to school.
I also want to bring our students back. I believe it is in their best interest to be with their classmates and teachers, provided this can be done safely. I informed you in late November that we submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Education (MOE) with a detailed plan for students’ return to school and of our safety protocols. We are awaiting a response.
We will continue to have selected small groups of students back on campus, for example to write exams. This is acceptable with the MOE as long as parents give permission for their child to come for exams or attend additional support sessions and, of course, that all safety protocols are closely followed. We will be sending a survey shortly to see how many parents would be interested in support sessions.
As you know, there is a new strain of COVID that has forced lockdowns and restrictions in other countries where rates have escalated. So far, this is not the case in Saudi. However, we will continue to be vigilant in our safety precautions.
It remains my hope to have students return to school this academic year. Many teachers prepared their classrooms before the winter break, in eager anticipation of seeing their students in person very soon.
I will keep you updated and, as always, thank you for your support.
ISG Community Update
ISG Community Update
Dr. Mack, ISG Superintendent
December 10, 2020
Dear Parents,
Thank you to all who participated in the Parents as Partners webinar series. We received very positive feedback and a high level of participation from our parent community. This week's webinar on 'Raising Children to Thrive Amidst Change and Uncertainty,' concluded the eight-part webinar series.
If you'd like to share any feedback on the webinars, please email the Learning Office. For recordings of all past sessions, please visit ISG Learns Parent Resource Page.
During this period of increased time spent online, it is important to remind ourselves to keep our children “digitally” safe. The ISG Learning Office recommends the short videos on the links below from Internetmatters.org, a not-for-profit organization that has a simple purpose – to empower parents to keep children safe in the digital world. The videos are age specific and can be accessed directly from the links below:
Parents of children ages 0-5
Parents of children ages 6-10
Parents of children ages 11-13
Parents of children aged 14+
We advise you to give some thought to setting controls on devices your child may have access to, such as mobile phones, tablets, laptops, gaming consoles, etc. Advice on how to do this can be found on the Parental Controls section of the website. You might also want to check out the Online Issues section, which outlines some of the potential safety issues children may face online such as cyberbullying and inappropriate content. For further resources, please visit ISG Learns Parent Resource Page.
Have a great weekend.
ISG Community Update
ISG Community Update
Dr. Mack, ISG Superintendent
December 3, 2020
Dear Parents,
It is my pleasure to announce the appointment of Hans Ott as the new Director of Teaching and Learning, effective August 1, 2021. Hans is currently the Assistant Superintendent and Director of Teaching and Learning for St. Paul Public Schools in Minnesota. He began his teaching career as a math teacher in the San Francisco Bay area. In 2005, he and his family moved to South Korea for a few years where he was co-director for English academies.
Over the course of his career, Hans has worked as an instructional coach, data coach, assistant principal and director. He has also served as an adjunct professor with Saint Mary’s University, Minneapolis, teaching courses for aspiring school administrators. We are looking forward to Hans joining us next year and I am sure you will join me in welcoming him then to ISG.
We are still awaiting a response from the Ministry of Education with respect to our proposed plan to gradually bring students safely back on campus. In the meantime, we are continuing to allow older students back if they require support with specialist subjects, have examinations, need to do lab work or require any other additional support.
We expect more clarity soon and will continue to work towards the safe return of our students.
Sincerely,
Dr. Michael P. Mack
ISG Community Update
ISG Community Update
Dr. Mack, ISG Superintendent
November 26, 2020
Dear Parents,
I would like to wish those that celebrate a very happy Thanksgiving. I hope that you are able to enjoy time with your families and loved ones this weekend.
I am pleased to inform you that we have submitted our proposal to the Ministry of Education (MOE) with respect to gradually bringing students back on campus. Plans have been carefully thought through and detailed beginning with our younger students and, if successful, strategically adding additional grades. We have given the utmost attention to student and staff safety. I will let you know as soon as I receive a response from the MOE.
In September, we sent you information on your new ISG email address. It has since come to my attention that there are limitations within Google that have resulted in parents not being able to open some linked documents, videos or calendars. Please note that our IT team is working toward finding a solution as quickly as possible. In the interim, we will be sending emails to both your ISG account and the personal email address we have on record. I apologize for the duplication of information, but I want to ensure that you receive any and all communication sent from us.
As a not-for-profit organization, ISG is governed by a Board of Trustees. The Board anticipates that there will be upcoming vacancies and invites interested parties to apply. Please see this letter from Christopher Boyett, Chair of the Board, for further details.
Sincerely,
Dr. Michael P. Mack
ISG Community Update
ISG Community Update
Dr. Mack, ISG Superintendent
November 19, 2020
Dear Parents,
As is common in any international school, faculty and staff come and go, and changes are inevitable. At the end of this year, we will bid a fond farewell to the Head of School at ISG Jubail, Dr. Andrew Crouse. Andrew’s career at ISG included roles in the District Office as well as at ISG Jubail. We wish Andrew and his family the very best in their future, both professionally and personally.
Shan Ahmed, the Head of the Elementary School, and his family will also be departing ISG Jubail at the end of this school year. I am pleased to share that Shan has been appointed as Elementary School Principal at the American International School of Lagos, Nigeria. We wish Shan and his family all the best in their new adventures.
Sylvia Hayles, our Director of Little Learners in Dhahran, will be stepping down at the end of this school year. Sylvia has been with ISG since 2016 and has worked tirelessly to develop and enrich the Little Learners program in Dhahran and provide training for our Dammam and Jubail sites.
Finally, Susan Markle, Director of Admissions, Marketing and Communications will also be leaving ISG at the end of the school year. Susan joined ISG in 2018 and has been instrumental in introducing a number of systems and procedures in admissions, as well as providing strategic leadership in marketing and communications across the District.
In terms of new appointments, it is with pleasure that I announce that Jana Barnhouse, Principal of DEMS, will be moving into the position of Director of Human Resources, effective August 2021. Jana has been with ISG since 1991 and has been leading DEMS for the past 14 years. She is known for her dedication to improving student learning outcomes and supporting excellent staff development. ISG is fortunate to be able to capitalize on her wealth of knowledge, skills and experience which, I’m sure, will be a tremendous asset to HR. I am also pleased to announce that Brent Wingers, currently the Head of the Middle and High School in Jubail, will be taking over the position of Principal at ISG Jubail, effective August 2021. Brent has been with ISG for five years and has been part of the international educational community for 13 years, teaching in Honduras, Myanmar and Indonesia prior to joining ISG. Brent will continue to bring our ISG mission and guiding principles to life through active leadership, innovation and compassionate action.
I am sure you will join me in celebrating the accomplishments of those who are leaving and congratulating those who are changing positions within the ISG leadership team.
Sincerely,
Dr. Michael P. Mack
ISG Community Update
ISG Community Update
Dr. Mack, ISG Superintendent
November 5, 2020
Dear Parents,
Thank you to all parents who completed our recent survey. We had over 1,700 responses. I am pleased to report that 81% are in favor of their children returning safely to our campuses. We look forward to making this happen as soon as we can.
We are conducting preliminary work with the Ministry of Education to enable us to open in a hybrid model in mid-January 2021. The details are still being ironed out, but we envision starting with our younger students, followed by the rest of the elementary grades. Our more senior students are already attending campus on an as-needed basis and for specialist subjects, labs, etc. There is still much to review in terms of planning and gaining approval, but we are moving forward.
I will keep you updated on our progress as we continue our conversation with the Ministry of Education.
Sincerely,
Dr. Michael P. Mack
ISG Community Update
ISG Community Update
Dr. Mack, ISG Superintendent
October 22, 2020
Dear Parents,
Due to restricted access to campus, November 12 and 15, originally scheduled as staff development days, will now be regular school days for all students. As we move forward through virtual school, I will be in touch with any further adjustments to the school calendar.
Thank you to all those who have completed the survey regarding the return to campus. If you have not already completed it, we would appreciate receiving your feedback by the end of today. The survey is very short and should take less than two minutes to complete. You can find it here. I will be sending out the results once we return from the break and discussing them at our next Town Hall meeting.
For those of you making travel plans for the winter break, Emirates is offering a special discount to students. Please note that ISG in no way endorses one airline over another, but is simply passing on information that you might find useful.
As we head into the October break, I would like to wish you all a very relaxing and enjoyable week.
Best wishes,
Dr. Michael P. Mack
ISG Community Update
ISG Community Update
Dr. Mack, ISG Superintendent
October 15, 2020
Dear Parents,
With the move to the new Dhahran campus next year and the merging of DEMS and DHS into one school, we will be renaming the schools for 2021. Please view our announcement here.
For the latest time lapse video of construction at the new campus, please click here.
As a reminder, we are very much looking forward to the eventual return of ISG students to our campuses in some format, once we are permitted to do so by the authorities. In preparation for this, we would like all parents to complete this brief survey. This information will help us to plan for the future and I would like to thank you in advance for your participation. Thank you to those who have completed this already.
Sincerely,
Dr. Michael P. Mack
ISG Campus Return - Parent Survey
ISG Campus Return - Parent Survey
Dr. Mack, ISG Superintendent
October 12, 2020
Dear Parents,
We are very much looking forward to the eventual return of ISG students to our campuses in some format, once we are permitted to do so by the authorities.
In preparation for this, we would like all parents to complete this brief survey.
This information will help us to plan for the future and I would like to thank you in advance for your participation.
Sincerely,
Dr. Michael P. Mack
ISG Reopening
ISG Reopening
Dr. Mack, ISG Superintendent
October 9, 2020
Dear Parents,
We received confirmation from the Ministry of Education (MOE) yesterday that we will now continue in virtual school until December 17, 2020, at which time the situation will be reviewed.
We have already circulated our ISG Reopening Roadmap and we will continue to plan for the return of our students to our campuses. Our Government Relations Office is working closely with the authorities to allow ISG students to return in some format as soon as possible. We will keep you informed of any updates we receive concerning this possibility as they become available.
Best wishes,
Dr. Michael P. Mack
ISG Community Update
ISG Community Update
Dr. Mack, ISG Superintendent
October 8, 2020
Dear Parents,
Thank you to all who have activated your ISG parent email accounts. If you require any assistance with this, please contact admissions@isg.edu.sa. We would be very happy to help you.
A friendly reminder that NESA's next webinar in the Parents as Partner series is scheduled for Tuesday, October 13. The workshop is on 'Mental Health Risk and Living as an Expat' by Sean Truman. For more information and to register, click here. For recordings of past sessions, please visit ISG Learns Parent Resource page.
We are very much looking forward to the eventual return of students to our campuses and will be sending a brief survey to you next week for your views.
Have a lovely weekend.
Sincerely,
Dr. Michael P. Mack
ISG Community Update
ISG Community Update
Dr. Mack, ISG Superintendent
October 1, 2020
Dear Parents,
Please join me in congratulating DBGS as it has just been approved as a Common Sense School, an honor that recognizes its efforts in teaching digital citizenship to young people and engaging the entire school community in this important discussion.
The Learning Office has compiled a list of several valuable resources and short videos to assist parents in supporting your child(ren) with virtual school. Learning materials include guides on Google Classroom and other online platforms used at ISG, subject specific material and recordings from NESA's Parents as Partners webinar series. Please visit our ISG Parent Resource Page for a complete list.
I am pleased to report that construction remains on target for the new Dhahran campus and the schools are shaping up very nicely. For the latest photos and details, please see our September progress report.
Best wishes,
Dr. Michael P. Mack
ISG Community Update
ISG Community Update
Dr. Mack, ISG Superintendent
September 17, 2020
Dear Parents,
As a small token of appreciation for the resilience and hard work our students are showing this term in virtual school, over 70 ISG staff members contributed to a quote collage addressed to our students.
Please share this ISG Quote Collage with your child(ren).
Just a reminder that on Wednesday, September 23 and Thursday, September 24 there will be no school in honor of Saudi National Day.
Wishing you all a good weekend.
Dr. Michael P. Mack
Saudi National Day - Sep 23 & 24 Days Off
Saudi National Day - Sep 23 & 24 Days Off
Dr. Mack, ISG Superintendent
September 14, 2020
Dear Parents,
As you know, September 23 is Saudi National Day and a holiday for everyone in KSA.I am pleased to confirm Thursday, September 24 as an additional holiday for all ISG students and staff.
I hope that you enjoy the long weekend!
Best wishes,
Dr. Michael P. Mack
ISG Community Update
ISG Community Update
Dr. Mack, ISG Superintendent
September 10, 2020
Dear Parents,
As I had mentioned in June, we will be providing all families with their own ISG Gmail address in order to ensure we have a clear channel of communication with you. You will be receiving your email account and further details next week.
Over 350 parents registered for the NESA ‘Parents as Partners’ eight-part webinar series. For more information and to register, click here. If you are unable to attend live sessions, recordings of the webinars will be emailed to all registrants.
I am excited to let you know that in partnership with the KSA authorities we have been able to secure travel permissions back into KSA for all teaching staff currently overseas. We expect all teaching staff to be back in KSA within the next few weeks.
Enjoy your weekend!
Sincerely,
Dr. Michael P. Mack
ISG Community Update
ISG Community Update
Dr. Mack, ISG Superintendent
September 3, 2020
Dear Parents,
We have just completed our second week of virtual school and, while most of the comments received have been positive, I would like to hear from each of you about your child’s experience. We will be sending you a survey in a few weeks to gather more specific feedback from you.
I have also received very positive feedback about the first NESA online webinar that was held for parents. The next session, on September 15, addresses how parents can support learning and well-being at home. For further information and to register, click here.
As you’ll notice in our calendar, September 20 was set as our annual virtual school day. Given that our students and staff are fully experienced in virtual school now (to a degree we never imagined), this will be school as usual.
Sincerely,
Dr. Michael P. Mack
ISG Community Update
ISG Community Update
Dr. Mack, ISG Superintendent
August 27, 2020
Dear Parents,
I hope your child(ren) enjoyed a good first week back at school. This is the first time schools have started virtually, so it is a new experience for us all - teachers getting to know new students, and students getting to know new teachers, classes and classmates. Despite a bit of nervousness all around, our teachers reported a very positive first day experience as you can see from their comments.
Earlier this week, you received an email from our Learning Office. ISG, in partnership with NESA, is pleased to offer our parent community an exciting learning opportunity: Parents as Partners. This eight part webinar series is delivered by distinguished specialists and is designed to support you with your child's learning and development. For full details and to register, please click here.
For your information, you can find an updated version of our ISG District Health Manual on our website. Among other things, there is information that you might find helpful on our medication policy and immunization records.
Have a good weekend!
Sincerely,
Dr. Michael P. Mack
SY 2020-2021 First Week and Virtual School
SY 2020-2021 First Week and Virtual School
Mr. Jonathan Acker, Head of School
August 23, 2020
Dear ISG Dammam parents and families,
Whether you are new or returning, We are glad you have chosen ISG Dammam. We all know this year will be unlike any other. Please join us in keeping a positive attitude, flexible mindset, and awareness that safety is our number one priority.
As announced by Dr. Mack, following MOE guidelines for all schools in Saudi Arabia, we know we will be having school in a 100% virtual environment until at least October 18. At some point there will be transitions to have people back on campus and we are continually working on measures to have that happen with everyone’s safety and security in mind.
Safety is not only physical. The social-emotional wellbeing of everyone at ISG Dammam is also important. We are intentionally starting the school year on a slower pace with academics in order to have focused time to build learning communities in our classrooms. Teachers are taking time in the first two weeks to really focus on getting to know students as people. This looks different at different ages. While teachers begin the year having conferences with families and then working with smaller groups of students they have also prepared learning opportunities for students to prepare for this year’s academic work. We are calling this “Ready, Set, Go!” The expectation is that students will do this work at home, as independently as possible, on a schedule that works for your family.
School resource collection:
We are busy with preparations for the new school year, and need to take care of textbooks/library books that were not collected at the end of the 2020 school year.
We will arrange for our drivers to come to your home location to pick up school books that your child/ren have with them.
Please arrange for your child (or each child, if there is more than one) to add a note with their:
Name
Grade
List of books returned with their accompanying ISG barcodes
Please utilize this form to provide a link to your home location, as well as your mobile number in order for our driver to locate you.
You will also have the option of including your child’s locker number, should there be school resources in the lockers. For this, our ISG Dammam staff will need to break and remove the locks.
Best regards,
Jonathan Acker,
ISG Community Update
ISG Community Update
Dr. Mack, ISG Superintendent
August 20, 2020
Dear Parents,
We are very excited to welcome students virtually on August 24, 2020!
Teachers and administrators have been busy planning and preparing for our students. As I mentioned before, there will be changes in our delivery of virtual school, with an emphasis on blending synchronous and asynchronous learning.
As you know, the Ministry of Education (MOE) announced earlier this week that virtual school will continue for a further seven weeks from August 30, 2020, at which time the situation will be reviewed. This will officially extend our virtual school period until at least October 18, 2020.
Despite the challenges of virtual school, I couldn’t be prouder of the work of our staff and community. I particularly appreciate our many families who are supervising their children’s work at home, often with job responsibilities of their own. Thank you for making the best of a difficult situation and for your support and patience during these unforeseen circumstances.
For our Dhahran families, the building of the new campus remains on schedule, despite interruptions due to the pandemic and the summer heat. If you would like a glimpse at how construction is coming along, please see our most recent timelapse video.
As I indicated earlier in June, we will be providing all our families with their own ISG email account. This is to ensure we have a clear and reliable online channel of communication. We will be unrolling this in the next few weeks, once school has started and the busyness of the first few weeks subsides.
Enjoy your weekend and best wishes for a happy start to the new school year!
EOY Message and School Reopening Plan
EOY Message and School Reopening Plan
Dr. Mack, ISG Superintendent
August 17, 2020
Dear Parents,
As you will know, we have already planned to start our school year virtually on August 24, 2020. We received confirmation from the Ministry of Education (MOE) yesterday that we will now continue virtually for a further seven weeks from August 30, 2020, at which time the situation will be reviewed. This will officially extend our virtual school period until at least October 18, 2020.
We have already circulated our ISG Reopening Roadmap and will continue to plan for a number of scenarios following this date.
We will also continue to lobby the MOE for our teaching staff and specialist subject instructional classes to be officially permitted access to campus.
Our Government Relations Office is working closely with the authorities on options for ISG and we will keep you informed of any official communications we receive.
Best wishes,
Dr. Michael P. Mack
ISG Community Update
ISG Community Update
Dr. Mack, ISG Superintendent
August 15, 2020
Dear Parents,
As our staff return to work this Sunday - virtually for now - they will be preparing for a school year which, at the time of this writing, remains somewhat unknown. We know we will be starting virtually on August 24, but we do not know for how long or when students might be allowed back on campus. This means we will all need to be flexible, adapt quickly to change and, of course, keep a positive attitude.
For details about protocols and procedures that may be put in place following our initial virtual opening, please see our Reopening Roadmap. Each school will provide you with daily schedules, timetables and further details, specific to them, by early next week.
In addition, please see my recorded video message for further clarification on synchronous and asynchronous learning and how we are committed to building community in a virtual world.
Many of you may have seen articles circulating yesterday concerning the replacement of school heads and principals with KSA nationals. We have had our GRO team investigate this and I am pleased to confirm that all ISG schools are unaffected by this.
You may also be interested to know that Richard Charlesworth, the Coordinator for School Improvement, had an article published on the NESA website concerning the development and impact of our mission statement. At times like these, it can be encouraging to remember what underpins our work at ISG and how teaching and learning has benefitted from our commitment to our mission statement.
Sincerely,
Dr. Michael P. Mack
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