St. John’s is hosting the Genazzano FCJ College from Melbourne, Australia this week. Genazzano is a Catholic Day and Boarding College, which was founded in 1889 by the Faithful Companions of Jesus (FCJ) – the same founders who founded St. John’s. The girls and their accompanying teachers arrived in Belgium yesterday for a two night stay. During their time at St. John’s, the girls participate in classes, play games with our high school girls volleyball and soccer teams, and lead a netball demonstration. We are very grateful for the high school girls volleyball and soccer teams and their families for … Continue reading Genazzano College students from Australia visit St. John’s

The annual Alistair Thorpe Memorial meet was held last Saturday at the Chateau de la Hulpe in memory of alumnus Alistair Thorpe (class of 2002) who died tragically in 2003. Eight schools participated in this edition of the annual cross country meet (Brussels American, Lakenhealth, England, Alcornbury, England, BSB, ISB, Shape, AF north and St. John’s), hosted by St. John’s. The St. John’s runners dominated 3 of the 4 divisions: Kayla finished 1st in Varsity, Sidney 1st in JV (2nd overall), Sofia 2nd Varsity (3rd overall), Hidde came 3rd in Varsity, Isaiah 1st in JV. Well done Lions! Continue reading St. John’s dominates annual Alistair Thorpe Memorial cross country meet

The start of the school year is a meaningful time for students and teachers. In the grade two classes, our students got to know each other better by sharing treasure boxes. What is a treasure box? The students were asked to bring in 5 items that tell us something about who they are and their interests. These items included photographs, a special cuddly toy, a certificate of excellence, and other meaningful treasures. The students then presented their treasure boxes to their classmates who got to ask questions and have a closer look at each item. This is a memorable experience … Continue reading Grade 2 students get to know their classmates better through treasure boxes

Students in our elementary school recently had the opportunity to experience some live classical music in our Performing Arts Center.  Pianist and educator Stephen Baron (UK) accompanied by violinist Hartmut Richter (Germany) performed for two sessions on Friday, 18th of September.  The first session, organized for students from Timbertots to Grade 2, was entitled ‘Beethoven is Cool’ and focused on this German composer, while the second session for the older children had a broader musical range with selections by Bach, Chopin and Debussy. Music by Belgian composer César Franck was also included. ‘400 years in 40 minutes: a potted history … Continue reading Making classical music accessible to Elementary School students

The High School Art trip to Brussels Royal Museum of Fine Art was planned for all students in IB visual art classes and students in 10th grade studio art class – in all 30 students came. The aim of this trip and others is to encourage students to discover and access the rich artistic and cultural resources from around the world which they can encounter in Belgium and further afield and to assist them to develop an understanding of Art through direct investigation of primary sources. By engaging them in a critical dialogue about artistic expression in different historical and contemporary … Continue reading High School Art trip to Brussels Royal Museum of Fine Art

Class of 2015 graduate Samuel entered the prestigious Julia Wood Essay competition, run annually by St. Hugh’s College, Oxford University, this year. The competition judges exclusively History essays. Whilst narrowly missing out on first place, the quality of Samuel’s work has been recognized by St Hugh’s College and they have invited him to the prize giving dinner at St Hugh’s in October. This is a further example of the high quality of work that students at St John’s produce. In addition, Samuel’s IB Extended Essay, along with that of fellow class of 2015 graduate Anna-Livia, both scored the maximum 36 out of 36 in … Continue reading High quality writing by St. John’s students recognized

Ilana Taub, young entrepreneur and owner of “Snact.” came to St. John’s today to speak to our senior IB Business Management students. Snact. makes fruit snacts from fruit surplus to act on food waste. Fruit becomes surplus if it is the wrong shape, size or ripeness and as a result, is not consumed. During this presentation, students learned about the practicalities of entrepreneurship, and it allowed students to relate business theories taught in class to a real-world social enterprise. By Danielle Franzén Daoudy, IB Business Management teacher Continue reading Entrepreneur speaks to IB students about snacks from surplus fruit

Every year, in the first month of the new school year, our High School has its traditional “Day Away” and this year is no different. The Day Away is designed to be a fun day of activities and team building for students and teachers within the grades. Tomorrow, Grade 9 and 10 students will be doing rope courses at Aventure Parc in Wavre to enjoy the outdoors, and to get to know one another and their teachers better. Grade 11 will go hiking in Foret de Soignes where they will set off in groups from 4 different points with the aim to … Continue reading Tomorrow is High School’s Day Away

For one week we are asking every student, parent, teacher and staff member who can, to get on their bikes to come to school. Biking is fun, it’s easy, it’s good for you and it helps to reduce the number of cars around St. John’s at drop-off and pick-up times. Can’t bike? Get together with friends and neighbours and walk to school together. Live too far away? Look for friends and new families to car-share with or park the car a short distance away from the school and enjoy walking in the fresh air and sunshine – or rain. Take … Continue reading Join “Bike to School Week” at St. John’s – September 21 to 25

“Wow! It’s different. “ “You’ve moved the books!”  “What was here? … oh yes, it was a wall….there is so much light.”  “It is great!” These were a few of the exclamations to be heard last week in the Middle/High School (MHS) Library as students arrived to choose a book and find a quiet space to read.  The MHS Library was transformed during the summer holiday, opening up the back of the library to provide a much needed space for reading, individual study and reflection.  This marks an important phase in the development of the MHS Library and Learning Commons … Continue reading Introducing the MHS Library and Learning Commons

Josh Davis, a St. John’s alumnus and Yale University graduate, visited campus today to share his experiences of university, charity and career with the Grade 12 Business & Economics students. Josh, a very accomplished basketball player and leader of the most successful boys basketball team in ISST history which claimed 3 consecutive ISST championships (2003-2005) as part of an 87-0 run. He is now Senior Academic Mentor and College Coach at ESM Colleges in London, an educational services firm that provides personalized strategic college counseling, academic mentorship, and SAT/ACT test preparation. He is currently the Varsity Boys basketball coach for the American … Continue reading Yale graduate returns to speak to Grade 12 students at St. John’s

To link with the grade 6 Trip to France from September 6 – 12, the students of core class 6C in Religious Studies looked, read, talked about and analysed images of some events of the religious history of France. But the images had no labels and dates. Based on their initial descriptions and analysis of the images, they attempted to put the images in a timeline order. A central character of the timeline history of France is the figure of Jeanne d’Arc, also known as Joan of Arc. A secondary character in the timeline is Marie Madeleine, the founder of the … Continue reading Linking the Grade 6 trip with class work on the religious history of France

The annual Scratch Conference was an opportunity to share ideas about Scratch as a programming language. This year’s theme was Creative Communities that inspire people to create and share ideas, skills and discoveries. Scratch is a visual programming language that is designed especially for ages 8 to 16. The birthplace of Scratch was the MIT Media Lab. Scratch helps young people learn to think creatively, reason systematically and work collaboratively – essential skills for life in the 21st century. The ability to code computer programs is an important part of literacy in today’s society. Ryan in Grade 2 and Julien, … Continue reading Students attend computer programming conference