BASIS International School Bangkok eNewsletter

Message from Head of School & Head of Operations:

Dear TUSKERS families,

We completed this week with meaningful memories full of accomplishments and inspiration from the Trimester 2 Award Ceremony. Congratulations to our TUSKERS on their completion and those remarkable academic achievements and the character development. Your unwavering support undoubtably inspires our students to strive for excellence and to reach their fullest potential. Today, we have distributed all the report cards for Trimester 2 to be taken home. We hope this will be an important opportunity for parents to acknowledge your child's hard work and to provide them with the encouragement to strive for even greater achievements. We encourage parents to engage in constructive conversations with your children, highlighting their strengths and areas for improvement. Please do not hesitate to reach out to your teachers if there are any clarifications required.

In addition to this, we would like to congratulate all our talented TUSKERS for their achievement in ATOD International Dance Competition 2024. Join us in congratulating our grade 6 student, Fhan, who has won the 1st place winner of hip-hop junior category and received the prestigious award from the Ambassador of Peru, as well as a BIG congratulation to the other 2 students, Goya (Grade 3) and Fifi (Grade 6), who competed the competition confidentially and showed their passion for dance. All performances were shined and been recognized in the world’s sights, we are proud of their accomplishments and look forward to witnessing their continued success in the future.

Lastly, we look forward to seeing you on campus next week for the special sessions as follows.

Grade 8 and 9 parents’ luncheon with parents of BASIS’s alumni from the US, on Monday, March 25th, starting at 11:50 A.M. – 12:50 P.M.
BASIS BASICS with Academic team and Ms. Kate Irving on the curriculum, assessments and future, starting from 08:30 -10:00 A.M. at Blackbox. (For all grade parents)

Have a great weekend and see you soon!

Best regards,
Dr. W and Ms. Kwan
Head of School and Head of Operations

Save the date for School Events and Academic Calendar:

Primary School BASIS Got Talent

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Audition Sign-ups for the Primary School BASIS Got Talent competition are now open! Please see the schedule below:

Sign up period: From now until Monday, 1 April at 4:00 P.M.
Audition Date: Tuesday, April 2^nd, 3:30-4:30 P.M.
Rehearsal Date: Tuesday, April 23^rd, 3:30-5:00 P.M.
Primary School Got Talent Date: Friday, April 26^th at 4:00 P.M. (Parents will be invited)

Audition guidelines and sign-up link:

Audition date: April 2^nd
Time: 3:30-4:30 P.M. (youngest students audition first, and students can leave after their audition is complete)
Location: Music and Drama rooms (2201, 2202, 2203)
Audition Guidelines:
- Any entertainment act welcome!
- You can collaborate with anyone from grades 1-5
- 8 people maximum group size
- One audition per student only (one person can't be in two groups)
- 5 minutes maximum length, 3 minutes recommended
- All acts must use school-appropriate language and costumes

Sign-up form link: https://forms.gle/ZwDpkeEobcHQt6fd9
Sign-up deadline: Monday, April 1^st, at 4:00 P.M.

We look forward to seeing all the awesome auditions, and to seeing all of you at the show on April 26^th! Please email Ms. Olivia (o.drouillard@basis.ac.th) with any questions about the BASIS Got Talent audition process and performance.

Additionally, congratulations to all the successful auditioners for the Upper School BASIS Got Talent. We'll see you on Friday, March 29^th for the competition!

Sincerely,

Ms. Olivia Drouillard
Fine and Performing Arts Subject Lead
Subject Expert Teacher, Music

BASIS Explorer Camp 2024

Our BASIS Explorer Camp 2024 is now available for registration. There are varieties of summer camps made available for all age from 3-12 years. Join us for a fun variety of sets of activities for camp and make this summer one to remember for your child/ren. Please stay tuned for more Summer Camps next week!

**Open to both BASIS and non-BASIS students.

**Space is limited, and to register, please scan QR code in the poster.

For more detail, please contact school line @bisb or email at communication@basis.ac.th

Message from College Counselor:

Greetings BISB Community,

My family and I will land in Bangkok in a few short hours! My sons, Henry (11) and Miles (6) are thrilled to experience the area, visit the school, and shadow their new classmates. My husband, Josh, will begin plotting our June move and outlining how our new lives will take shape. I will spend time with my family and with my BISB community. Throughout next week I will meet with all Grade 8 and 9 students as a group and individually to review their year, map out their academic plans for next year, and plan out summer opportunities. On Monday I get the rare pleasure to introduce one of my current Grade 12 students to Grade 9 BISB students. Chelsea '24 and her family are ending their Thailand vacation with a tour of BISB, a conversation with current parents and students, and lunch on campus. Chelsea has many exciting college acceptances and is busy at work on her Senior Project. You can read her blog posts on our school's website here to learn more about how she, and other BASIS seniors, are spending senior spring. I will also present at Wednesday's Parent Coffee and meet individually with interested parents. Have a wonderful weekend and I will see you all next week.

Best,
Ms. Kate Irving
College Counselor

Early Years Newsletter

Message from Director of Early Years:

Dear Parents of Early Years,

It has been a joyfully busy week of learning. Without any key announcements, I gift you a poem.

In the early years, whispers of Earth Day rise,
With hands eager, and hearts full of green ties.
We plant the seeds, with tender care we sow,
In gardens of hope, where dreams gently flow.

Tiny fingers paint bird feeders bright,
Inviting melodies to dance in flight.
Caterpillars crawl, in patient disguise,
Transforming to butterflies before our eyes.

So let us hum with joy as we prepare,
For Earth Day's embrace, let's all declare,
Together we will nurture and protect our Mother Earth,
Preserving her beauty, celebrating her worth.

With love for our planet,

Ms. Annie Fletcher
Director of Early Years

Primary, Middle & High School Newsletter

Dear Primary and Upper School Parents,

Please remind your child that there are no snacks or outside beverages besides water allowed on campus per school safety protocol. We have many students with food allergies and cannot ensure their safety if food is being brought into school by other students.

The school provides snacks in the morning and for students participating in afterschool programs, so providing more snacks is unnecessary. If outside snacks are found on students, we will confiscate the items and keep them for return to parents after school hours.

Thank you for helping support school safety protocol and for helping us keep students safe!

Much thanks,
Dean Selby and Dean Drew
Dean of Primary and Dean of Upper School

Message from Dean of Upper School:

Dear Upper School parents,

This week in upper school, several exciting events took place.

On Wednesday we had our third business guest speaker on campus to meet with our grade 8/9 students. Pattrawoot ‘Boy’ Suesatayasilp is CTO or LINEMAN and Co-founder of Wongnai corporation.

Khun Boy talked at length with our young scholars about the ins and outs of computer engineering for business, the differences between education at Chulalongkorn University and George Washington University in the US, and about growing a business from small start up to a large multi-national company. Students prepared excellent questions for our speaker based on their unique curiosities.

Our guest speaker series provides our students with valuable insight into the wider world of business and technology, helping them form a clearer picture of the opportunities and challenges which await them in further education and beyond.

Also on Wednesday, Grade 6-9 students competed in the Upper-School Swim Gala. Our brave swimmers took part in three different events including boys, girls, and mixed events – a sprint, a relay and a game to finish off with. Well done to all the contestants and thank you so much for accepting the challenge and representing your house color! The overall winners of the Swim Gala will be announced at the next Upper School assembly on the 29^th March.

Finally, on Thursday we had our T2 TUSKERS awards ceremony. Thank you to the parents who attended and huge congratulations to all our award winners! And thank you to the teachers who continue to support our TUSKERS day in and day out to ensure their continued success and progress.

Best wishes,
Dean Drew
Dean of Upper School

Library Corner:

Hello from the library!

I have an important update to share with parents relating to our middle grade/upper school library. A few parents have expressed concern regarding books with mature topics/themes falling into the hands of young learners.

I want our parents to know that as a Librarian and literacy advocate, my goal is to make a variety of books accessible to students of all ages and reading levels. All of the books in BISB’s library are chosen with care and consideration for content, the BASIS curriculum, for the enjoyment of students, and to build empathy and understanding of the world around them. To support this, I am currently working on our school’s official collection development policy, and will make this policy available to you soon.

That being said, under the support of Dr. W and Ms. Kwan, we have now implemented a stickering system to assist students, teachers, and parents with book content and appropriateness for certain aged learners.

To keep it simple, the system involves 3 colors, like a traffic light:

Green: GO Evolving Readers – This book is suitable for everyone.
Yellow: WAIT Experienced Readers – This book may have mature content (horror, action, some violence).
Red: STOP! Mature Readers Only – This book contains mature content, Grades 8 and Up only.

Please note that Early Years students are only allowed in the primary library space and may not check out any books in the middle grade space, without parent/teacher permission. The stickering system therefore does not apply to them or the primary/EY library books, as they are suitable for all readers.

Additionally, any green or yellow stickered books may be checked out by students in Grades 1 – 7. If you do not want your student to checkout yellow stickered books, please discuss this privately with your student at home.

For red-stickered books, all students in Grades 1 – 7 will not be allowed check them out of the library, unless their parent submits the necessary form granting them permission. This permission form is available through Google Forms here: https://forms.gle/g3R9EPMJqVz34FZJ6

Thank you for your support of BISB Library and please don’t hesitate to email me directly at e.wigren@basis.ac.th if you have any questions or concerns regarding this library change.

It is my hope that this system will allow all of our readers to find the books that are right for them, and that it will give parents comfort knowing we have a system in place to help guide their young readers on their reading journey.

Happy reading,
Ms. Erika
Librarian

ECA Corner:

Dear Parents of BISB Gymnasts,

We are writing to inform you that the Moose Game is around the corner. The competition is scheduled for two days on Saturday, April 6th, and Sunday, April 7th, 2024, at Thai Canadian Community Sports. Please kindly note that if your child(ren) hasn't had the school gymnastics leotard yet, you can find a suitable size at the school merchandise shop.

If you registered for the special training sessions with Thai Canadian earlier last month, please note that the training sessions are on Sunday 24th this week. Do not hesitate to contact the Thai Canadian for more information.

Best,

ECA Team

HSK & YCT Test Center

Dear families,

We are pleased to share a potentially significant development regarding our Mandarin program at BISB. We have been exploring the possibility of hosting YCT exam on our BISB campus on May 12th while the HSK exam will take place at Chulalongkorn University on May 19th.

To realize this opportunity, we require a minimum number of participants. This is an exciting endeavor that could open doors for our Mandarin program in the future. The success of this initiative could lead to further opportunities that benefit our students and the wider community.

The registration period is from today until March 31st, students can register both YCT and HSK exam at the same time.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us through the email: mandarin@basis.ac.th.

Thank you for your ongoing support and understanding.

Tuition Fees for 2024-25 Announcement:

Dear BASIS families,

We are pleased to share the Tuition Fees for the 2024-2025 academic year as enclosed. In addition to this, we would like to inform you that we are making some adjustments in an effort to improve this annual process.

From this year forward, instead of sending two invoices we will now combine the re-enrollment and first semester tuition fee into one tuition fee invoice. This invoice will be distributed on April 1st, 2024 with a payment period extended until the last day of the academic year, June 21st, 2024. In support of our families, we will waive the credit card fee for invoices paid within May 15th, 2024.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

Payments must be made within this timeline in order to secure your place in the school.
Invoices paid after June 21st, 2024 will incur interest fees of 1.5% per month for late payment.

At BASIS we are continually seeking ways to improve our education and campus experience. Over the last 2-years, we have faced high inflation but still brought many new facilities and services in order to offer the best value for our families.

To ensure that we continue to be able to offer education at the highest international levels, we must have small increases in tuition costs to help offset some of the additional expenses incurred. Some of these additional improvements are well known to you, such as those listed below. However, others like increased cost of personnel & recruiting, supplies, utilities, repair & maintenance, and many others may not be as visible but are necessary to ensure we continue to provide quality education.

Some things that we have added over the last 2-years include:

New facilities – Early Years canteen, Early Years reading room, Early Years playground, Gymnastics Room, Multi-Purpose Room, Additional science labs, expanded Library, Upper School Lounge, and more.
Academic and Activities Support - Additional intervention specialists, Academic Coach for Grade 5, Dean for Middle School, Director for Early Years, additional music and blackbox equipment, additional Art, Music, and Drama Teachers, and College and Wellbeing Counselors.
Technology - MacBooks for Grade 9+, Additional and replacement Laptops and Tablets for other grades, Additional Science Equipment, College Counselling Platform, Reading Platform, additional security improvements, and many more.
Extracurricular and Activities - Free Teacher and Student Led Clubs, Bands, Sports Teams, Academic Competitions, and expanded school-wide Events and Activities.

We thank you for your continued support of BASIS and our mission. Please feel free to reach out to our team if you have any questions.

Most sincerely,
Dr. W and Ms. Kwan
Head of School and Head of Operations