After a (hopefully) restful and safe holiday season, today our students and teachers return to St. John’s after that well-deserved break. The energy in the hallways is palpable. Students and teachers have been bustling busily, and there is no sign … Continue reading Welcome back to school!

Our Grade 11 and 12 students participated in a half-day life skills workshop today. External presentations. featuring experts from the corporate and sports world, came in to present on specific topics. After the exams last week, it was time for … Continue reading Students enjoy life skills workshop with Justine Henin

On Wednesday, grade 8 students had a successful artistic collaboration that received great reviews. An inter-disciplinary assessment was organized for these students as a trial to fulfill the Middle Years Programme (MYP) assessment criteria. As some may be aware, St. John’s will … Continue reading Inter-disciplinary assessment in Middle School

Grade 1 students recently went on a fun and educational field trip that focused on depicting where we are in time and place. The students were shown how children’s lifestyles had changed. Years ago, toys did not look the way … Continue reading Grade 1 have a playful time at the toy museum

The 7th grade has been having a very cultural couple of weeks. The art and social studies classes are collaborating for an interesting project. The students have been focusing on the Renaissance period and learning a lot about it in … Continue reading Grade 7 makes its own museum

As part of our Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS) program, ten students have come together to begin a new service learning initiative. The group works directly with the Maitland Cottage Hospital (MCH) in Cape Town, South Africa. The hospital lends its service … Continue reading Students help orthopedic hospital in Cape Town

The students of St. John’s Middle School sure have the right spirit of Christmas! In the hope of giving back to our community, they managed collecting toys and other items for a local Waterloo charity. The students put up posters … Continue reading Middle School students bring joy to others this holiday season

Over the last week, our Elementary students have been receiving crucial information on health education, focusing primarily on a healthy nutrition. While exercise and movement are essential, the students were told about the various benefits of a healthy diet, and … Continue reading What is in your lunch box?

We recently conducted a survey with our alumni. More than 100 respondents provided feedback and the results were impressive: 97% of respondents reported to be happy to go to school every day; 98% felt safe at school, 93% became more self confident … Continue reading Survey shows alumni cherish their time at St. John’s

On Tuesday December 20, CAS students will be exhibiting their projects in the MHS Library between 14:00 to 15:15. The event is expected to be attended by interested peers, parents and faculty. We spoke with a CAS student leader named Barnaba … Continue reading CAS Students Exhibit their Projects

On Friday, December 9th the IB visual arts winter show will take place in the Greene Gallery and Art Studios from 16:00-18:00. Those interested are invited to enjoy the music, food and refreshments, along with the projects that students in … Continue reading Come see the IB Art Winter Show on December 9!

Yesterday, our Pre-Kindergarten students had quite the treat! To continue our inquiry Miam, Miam, Yum, Yum, the Pre-K students made their way to Lonbois, the local bakery close to their Timbertops campus. The mini field trip was an extremely exciting and … Continue reading Pre-K goes to the bakery

‘Tis the season and the students of St. John’s have already begun their celebrations!  The hallways are fluttering with colorful flyers with snowflakes and reindeers printed on them, announcing various events to celebrate the upcoming festivities. They feature food drives … Continue reading Elementary School students visit Santa’s Workshop

As a former pro-basketball player, Coach Davis immediately noticed the lack of a basketball program when he joined St. John’s in 1985. Within about a year, he helped establish a program for the Middle School. The students took to the sport, … Continue reading The impressive history of the St. John’s basketball program

Every year, St. John’s students produce a play/musical in November that is attended not only by fellow students, families and faculty, but also by interested community members. Last year, these talented students reenacted Les Misérables. This year they will be … Continue reading Students get ready to perform “Chicago”

During their art class this week, third grade students took a trip to visit the home of painter and sculptor, Mr. Yves Bosquet. Mr. Bosquet took the students through his beautiful home that blooms with his own personal work as … Continue reading Third graders visit artist’s residence

Last assembly’s reflection on Armistice and the imbalance that drove Europe into the Great War led me back to a favourite poet of mine, Rudyard Kipling, who lost his son in France and wrote many powerful pieces about the trauma … Continue reading Finding balance in your life

Yesterday I made a breakthrough. For over a year, one of my most important personal goals was to run under eighteen minutes in the 5 kilometers. Last year I got close but never made it. I built myself up before … Continue reading Yesterday I made a breakthrough…

The Elementary School Student Council is made up of 20 enthusiastic pupils from various grades. The students meet as often as needed (and possible) to be able to complete the tasks they take on. And they do a fantastic job! … Continue reading ES Student Council prepares future leaders

St. John’s has a very warm and welcoming community where people feel at home from the moment they arrive. We also have groups in place to help families when they first arrive at St. John’s, most notably the Welcome Committee. … Continue reading St. John’s Family Support group helps families in need

As adults, we understand the importance of a life-long hobby. It is unique to your own taste and talent and something that you can truly call your own. It provides entertainment and relaxation- both of which are much needed in … Continue reading Encouraging Your Child to Take Up a Hobby

Some of the more observant among us will notice that many people’s lapels will carry a crimson poppy over the coming days. Others will note that the public holiday we are given this weekend falls on the numerically synchronized 11th … Continue reading MS Dean’s Address: Armistice and an age of Imbalance

The International Schools Sports Tournaments (ISSTs) took place this past weekend. The tournaments took our athletes all over Europe: Cross Country went to Frankfurt, Girls Volleyball to Athens, Boys Volleyball to Paris, Girls Soccer to The Hague and Boys Soccer to London. We congratulate … Continue reading St. John’s fall sports team perform at ISSTs

On one of the final weekends before the Fall Break, our newly appointed team of Middle School Student Council Representatives returned to school to participate in the inaugural Middle School Leadership Conference. The morning was arranged by Ms. Annafe Malinab … Continue reading Students participate in Middle School Leadership Conference

Once a year, Grade 5 takes a trip far back in time, all the way to the Renaissance period! This was when the famous artist Bruegel created his master pieces. The children are taught a little bit more about this … Continue reading Going back in time – Bruegel games!

Once a year, the 10th Grade IB Theatre students partake in a 24-hour long workshop. For an entire day, they eat, breathe and sleep theater. This year, this event took place after school on October 25-26, ending with the students … Continue reading Grade 10 enjoys 24-hour long theatre workshop

At St. John’s, we do everything we can to recognize the unique potential of each of our students and to encourage them to pursue their various capabilities. One of our star athletes accredits St. John’s in helping him build his … Continue reading Commitment key to student’s swimming success

Grade 6 had a very interesting and entertaining Skype call from students across the globe! St. John’s set up a small encounter for our students to have a chat with their peers in the U.S. Neither knew which city, or even … Continue reading Location guessing with an overseas school

“The International Baccalaureate aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.”  Taken from the IB mission statement. St. John’s has been an IB world school for many years, since 1978 to … Continue reading St. John’s adds IB Middle Years Programme

As you may already know, St. John’s has a Dual Language Program (DLP) from Pre-Kindergarten up to Grade 4. The students are taught material in both French and English, to help strengthen their foundation of both languages. Next school year, the DLP will extend to Grade 5 as well. To promote the interaction in different languages, we “buddy up” children from different grades. On Thursday, we arranged a small ceremony for the buddies to meet and get to know one another. The ceremony started with a multilingual sing-a-long. The children were excited and all participated in singing “Good Afternoon Everybody” … Continue reading Getting to know your multilingual buddy

We, at St. John’s, take very seriously our responsibility to help our students grow into well rounded global citizens – prepared to embrace the opportunities they have been given and make their contribution to the world. Central to the St. … Continue reading MS students help local service organisation

This week, our 11th graders are taking Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Tests (PSATs). As you may know, the Scholastic Aptitude Tests (SATs) are standardized tests taken by High School students, the scores of which are most widely used for admissions to … Continue reading Preparing for SATs with PSATs

First Grade has just began a new Unit of Inquiry. The Central Idea of this Unit is that communities depend on everyone cooperating to reach the same goal. To explore the concept of cooperation and working together the children were … Continue reading Working together to reach a goal

Yesterday evening, a large group of St. John’s parents attended an expert presentation on “Supporting your Child at Home”. Topics addressed included: Is homework always a battle? Do you wonder how to motivate your child to work independently? Do you know … Continue reading How to best support your child at home

The Sports Arena and Hall were filled to capacity on Friday during the St. John’s International Festival. A record 47 countries participated in the parade, while some 30 countries also hosted a stand, where students could collect stamps for their … Continue reading International Festival celebrates diversity

On the 7th of October 2016, the Greene Gallery held an opening exhibition for Frederick Bell’s series of artwork called “Looking at Looking”. Frederick Bell made his first appearance at St. John’s in 1998 with the exhibition of ‘Some Corner … Continue reading Student interview with visiting artist

Our students are always encouraged to get a thorough perspective of the world. Through many different subjects that are taught by experts at St. John’s, we give them the information and skills they need to form a more wholesome approach … Continue reading Religion and its Impact

We all know the importance of being environmentally aware. It is something that is now instilled in us, and most of us do our best to separate our garbage and recycle the right manner. In every small way that we … Continue reading Environmentally conscious 7th graders

Our MS Assembly last week found us reflecting on what it is to be principled leaders and citizens within the context of the school community and beyond. The alignment of this theme with the delivery of 12 outstanding addresses by members … Continue reading Principled Leadership and Principled Citizenship

  Rehaan (grade 11) performed in the prestigious Association for Music in International Schools (AMIS) Honor Jazz Festival at The American School of the Hague (ASH) in the Netherlands last weekend. Auditioning in spring of this year, Rehaan was one of … Continue reading St. John’s student selected for prestigious music festival

It’s never too early to teach our students about safety. Knowing about road safety could protect them from a potentially dangerous situation. So we got in touch with our friends over at Volvo, and asked them to come over and … Continue reading Safety in Grade 2: Stop. Look. Wave.

In Kindergarten we have been learning about ‘How We Take Care of Ourselves’ and ‘How We Take Care of Others’. After various “tuning in” activities, the teachers asked the students what they wanted to learn more about and grouped the … Continue reading Kindergarten students present on healthy habits

The Middle School Student Leadership Council is composed of 15 class representatives from grades 6 through 8. Most of the representatives nominated themselves to run for executive positions, which are Chairperson, Co-Chairperson, Secretary, Events Director, Research and Publications Director and … Continue reading Electing the MS Student Leadership Council

A song by the band Journey, called “Don’t Stop Believing”, tells the story about a small town girl living in a lonely world, and a city boy, both deciding to take a train going ‘anywhere’. Students that walk the halls … Continue reading The importance of teacher encouragement

Did you know a chicken’s egg shell is made up of stones? Or that the hen warms the egg to 31 degrees centigrade before the egg can hatch? If you did not know some of this information, then our curious … Continue reading Farmer Steve cracks the mystery of the egg

On a previous blog, we discussed our Student Leadership Workshop and how we aim to equip our students with various skills for their brighter future. A few days after the Leadership workshop concluded, we spoke to one of the students … Continue reading Student account of the Leadership Weekend

One of the many activities in Pre-Kindergarten which our parents enjoy, is coming into school and cooking/baking with the children. It is with great excitement that we look forward each week to see which Mom, Dad, grandparent, aunt, uncle or … Continue reading Cooking with parents in Pre-Kindergarten

Is homework always a battle? Do you wonder how to motivate your child to work independently? Do you know how to help motivate your child? If you are looking for answers to these questions, then this talk is for you: “Support your child … Continue reading Expert Presentation “Support Your Child at Home”on October 17

As our inquiry ‘Ar-kid-tecture’ is well underway, the children in Pre-Kindergarten went on a field trip into Bruxelles to look at the many styles of design, decoration, materials we can see on the houses around ‘The Fondation pour l’Architecture in Ixelles’. … Continue reading Pre-Kindergarten studies architecture in Brussels

At St. John’s, we are constantly thinking of our students’ futures. Our goal is to equip them not only with the information and knowledge needed, but also with the skills to bring them progress and accomplishments in the years to … Continue reading Turning students into leaders

It has been a little over a month since our students came back to school with a sense of awareness of the adventure that they would be going on. On the other hand, our new students and families were, understandably, … Continue reading We appreciate your appreciation!

There is something special about St. John’s. Hopefully this is a claim which resonates with all of us – whether you have taught here for 20 years, studied here for 8, or have only just arrived. There is something special … Continue reading What makes St. John’s a unique school

We adore our students and the hustle and bustle they bring with them. Being a teacher or a non-teaching staff member in our school means that sometimes you just need to unwind in a little bit of silence. St. John’s … Continue reading Teacher wellness a priority at St. John’s

The benefits of audiobooks are looking more and more attractive. To meet the growing demand, St. John’s MHS Library offers a wide selection of audiobooks that students, parents and staff can pick from. Audiobooks are gaining popularity mainly because of … Continue reading “Listen to Me” – Audiobooks from our Library

I arrived at the Collegio Saint Guiseppe with mixed feelings of excitement and trepidation. A whole week devoted to exploring Japanese and Western calligraphy? And yet I had so little practical experience! My ostensible reason for coming was academic: to … Continue reading A deeper understanding of calligraphy for IB teaching

We are so proud of our 11th grade Higher Level chemistry students! Nine of our students participated in the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Chemistry Challenge. St. John’s students won a staggering 5 of the 9 prizes available! Three prizes … Continue reading St. John’s students excel in RSC Chemistry competition

28 high school students from the IB visual art and elective arts classes were joined by Mrs. Hope, Mr. Jones and Mr. Mitchell on the HS art trip to the Musee d’ Ixelles this week to see the exhibition “PHOTOREALISM. 50 Years … Continue reading IB Visual Art students visit photorealism exhibition

We will regularly bring you the Middle School Dean’s address to the MS Assembly. Here is the first edition: To many of you it is welcome back after an exciting trip to France, to some of you it is ‘business … Continue reading Reflecting on courage

Our 7th graders had a week full of adventure, team building and fun in the Ardèche last week. They went canoeing, cliff jumping, swimming, rock climbing, and did many other team building activities. They also went on the “Grand Descent” – … Continue reading Grade 7 students experience adventure in Ardèche

Grade 1 is well under way with their first Unit of Inquiry -Who We Are.  Our Central Idea is: getting to know ourselves and others helps us to form friendships.  One of the Lines of Inquiry is: Who I Am … Continue reading Mystery bags help students form friendships

“Several adjectives came to mind while reviewing the submitted documentation: comprehensive, collaborative, dynamic, meaningful, relevant and impressive. The submitted documentation demonstrates that the CAS programme at St. John’s International School epitomizes IB philosophy, the learner profile and the CAS programme … Continue reading Our CAS Programme has Fans

In art, students have been learning about the Mexican celebration Dia de Muertos, Day of the Dead. They have been very interested in how traditions and cultures are expressed through various art forms. St. John’s Mexican mums Alejandra Arceo, Alicia … Continue reading Learning about Cultures Through Art

During their trip to London last spring, our students participated in a 3-day residential art workshop at Ingestre Hall. Ingestre Hall offers unique artistic experiences within a beautiful and inspirational historic setting. By completing the workshop, hey accomplished achievement to … Continue reading St. John’s students awarded Trinity College Arts Awards

The Rio Paralympic Games 2016, are starting on Wednesday 7 September and last until 18 September. Around 4350 athletes from 165 countries will compete in 528 medal events in 22 different sports. These para-athletes show us courage through performance and determination by … Continue reading St. John’s MHS Library supports Paralympic athletes

After school activities can have unprecedented benefits to your child’s development. They stimulate creativity and build confidence. They are also a great technique to release stress in a healthy manner. These activities coerce the child to give importance to an … Continue reading After School Activities for your Child’s Development

What if we told you that we use potatoes to demonstrate algebraic expansion? Would you be concerned? Don’t be! Our students feel that these practical examples help solidify the theories they are learning in class. Our ingenious teachers use their … Continue reading Using potatoes to teach Algebra

Coaches Ruth, Marc, Simon and Susan train students from grades 2, 3 and 4 in St. John’s distinguished Swim Program. The students meet at least three times a month, where they are taught the rules and methods, abiding with the Canadian … Continue reading St. John’s students swim their way to fitness!

The students of the class of 2016 have started or are about to start their university career. The graduates will attend prestigious universities around the globe and we wish them good luck as they embark on this new and exciting phase! … Continue reading Class of 2016 students start university careers

Today, St. John’s ushered in the newest members of our diverse family. Like in the past, these families, too, are joining us from all over the world. There’s a thrill in being introduced to something new. It comes with its … Continue reading New families orientation day at St. John’s

It has only been a couple of days since I began working at St. John’s, but I have already determined a few critical attributes regarding affairs ranging from the people, to the smell, and the technology. What I have observed is that you will never find a solemn, ‘strictly business’ face here at St. John’s. During the new staff orientation, when we were introduced to the school and its processes, most importance was given to getting to know one another and striking a rapport. Every person you walk by on this striking campus will greet you! While this might be … Continue reading First impressions

We are excited to welcome and introduce to you our new teachers and staff members who started today: From left to right: Christine, Haley, Pascale, Kathleen, Julia, Betsy, Molly, Christiane, Sarah, Allie, Linus. Not pictured: Indira, Kinga and Karen. Kathleen van Crombrugge –  EAL in the Middle and High School: I am a Belgian national (Flemish) who is also proudly South African. I have over 25 years of teaching experience, and a number of years as a TEFL facilitator in the corporate world and privately. Indira Khara – Community Engagement Coordinator: I was born in Antwerp and moved to India a few years … Continue reading Welcome to our new teachers and staff!

For her PYP Exhibition project, 5th grade student Jyotika studied ‘healthy lifestyles’. After a very engaging Exhibition where she shared a lot of interesting information, she was asked to contribute to Relay Recess and work alongside nurse Caroline to talk about food choices with younger students. With help from her mentor, Mrs. Jo Taylor, Jyotika contacted the Red Cross which suggested ways of supporting people who are not always able eat healthy. Jyotika initiated a food drive. Her collection of non-perishable, healthy food was collected by the Red Cross this week. The Red Cross explained to Jyotika how they will distribute … Continue reading Grade 5 student completes Red Cross food drive

Parents and staff were invited for breakfast this morning to the Grade 2 Poetry Café where the students were proud to publish their individual poetry books. Each student has written and illustrated 4 or 5 poems in different styles, in … Continue reading Grade 2 hosts “Poetry Cafe”

It was party time in Grade 4 as the whole grade celebrated the 14 birthdays that will happen over the summer holidays (15 if you count Mr. Morris). The birthday boys and girls had their own individual cake and everyone else enjoyed a delicious birthday tea organised by the class parents. Happy birthday to all 14 (and Mr. Morris!) Continue reading Celebrating the summer birthdays in Grade 4

Did you know you can build a bridge out of cocktail sticks and mini marshmallows? We’ve been building bridges to test out the forces, and the strengths and weaknesses of different designs. It was a very sticky experience! By Manuela, Grade 5 student Continue reading Grade 5 builds marshmallow bridges

Grade 6 students are stepping back in time this week as they celebrate and share their learning of life and happenings in the Middle Ages in Europe. It will be an enjoyable week of color, costumes, events and activities, culminating in the grand banquet in the ‘Great Hall’. It started with a visit on Monday to St. Bavo’s Cathedral and Gravensteen Castle in Ghent. The students have now begun a series of activities leading up to the final banquet. Each student has chosen a character based on their research and what they have learned of life and society in Medieval … Continue reading Grade 6 students become medieval characters

The students in Grade 1 are each growing a pumpkin seed or a bean and have been keeping an observation diary on their plant’s progress. Today they got to cut a bean in half and see what is inside and find out the names of all the parts. By Mrs. Vandamme’s Class Continue reading Grade 1 growers

Grade 5 have already had the chance to visit Middle School with the shadowing program and experience a little of what grade 6 will be like. Now it is the chance for the other grades to have a taste of … Continue reading Today is “Jump-Up Day in Elementary School!

The Elementary Choir and Elementary Orchestra students from grades 1 through 4 attended Choir Day at the British School of Brussels last Thursday. Students from international schools in Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg attended as well. Each choir sang two songs and St. John’s students performed “Hitori” and “Sea Shanties” with instruments. Our student did a fantastic job singing and learning 2 group songs with the other choirs. Students enjoyed spending the day with other international musicians.  We are very proud of our Elementary Students! By Mrs. Knauf and Mrs. Rytel Continue reading Students join “Choir Day” at BSB

The Grade 5 students have been shadowing Middle School classes this week in preparation for their move up to MS next year.  The students have had a pre-meeting with the MS guidance counselor, which gave them a chance to get answers to their questions about Middle School and how it differs from Elementary.  They are understandably nervous about the transition from being the most senior group in ES to becoming the youngest group in MS. A lot of the questions center around the day to day routine, with queries about how lunch works and excitement about having their own locker. … Continue reading “Shadowing” day for fifth graders

The end of the school year is fast approaching with the promise of new summer adventures. Now is the perfect time to come along to the MHS Library and check out the ‘ultimate summer reading list’ display. Whether you are a fan of romance or science fiction, mysteries or the classics, we have books to suit your reading tastes. Drop by and pick up a summer reading checklist bookmark, and choose the books to take with you on your adventure. Remember: You don’t need to go far, you just need a good book. “Books are the train, the plane and … Continue reading The Ultimate Summer Reading List

The three Pre-Kindergarten classes will be spending time in the theater with their teachers and Lavinia Glaser, our dance teacher. They are working on something for their parents, who will find out all about what they have been doing at the … Continue reading Our Pre-Kindergarten students are preparing something special

Nurse Caroline is busy all this week with the grade 5 students. “I’ll be visiting the 3 classrooms each on 3 separate occasions, prior to them moving up to Middle School with all that entails. We are learning all about growing up, with all the excitement and changes that brings. This is also an opportunity to have a two-way conversation with me, and teachers are definitely not allowed! By Nurse Caroline p.s. The buzz word for the week is “Drink plenty of water in this heat!” Continue reading Preparing for the transition into Middle School

Grade 6 are busy in the M/HS library researching for Medieval week which will take place from the 13th June. They are finding information to create a medieval character with a life story, family, profession or station, their style of clothes, etc. and will dress as their character during the week. Activities will include shield making, designing for the great hall and creating food for the banquet, medieval games and much more. The library team have been assisting the students with finding resources and have created displays to illustrate fashion of the times, and also  used the illuminated letters created … Continue reading Grade 6 prepares for Medieval Week

Our second grade classes enjoyed a day of learning at the PASS science museum. Here are some of the highlights as written by the children: “We saw a movie about miners. This job is really dangerous and hard.” Alexandre “I found out that long ago, the museum was a coal mine…Sometimes the mines would collapse and sometimes there was gas that could explode or suffocate the miner.” Ryan S. “The adventure park was really fun. You had to trust your friends.” Victoria “In the park, we climbed…we helped each other.” Estelle “The acro-bat park was so fun. I even went … Continue reading Grade 2 visits PASS-Scientific Adventure Park

Kindergarten have been finishing their yearlong Unit of Inquiry in which they investigated how Earth’s natural cycles affect our lives. As part of the summative assessment, they have made some beautiful gifts for Father’s Day in clay that show how the trees in the garden changed throughout the seasons. They also presented their learning in posters and booklets and could explain their ideas. Yuna and Viktoria explain their poster and booklet: Continue reading Kindergarten investigates Earth’s natural cycles

The St. John’s Grade 10 Business students presented their business plans to a panel of experts yesterday, in a “Dragon’s Den” style setting, appropriately called “The Lion’s Den”. The students have been working on their business plans, in teams, since … Continue reading Grade 10 students impress experts with their business plans

The students have been learning to classify rocks by the main types of igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic. They have to look at the composition and texture of the rocks very carefully to decide the sub-types within each of these groups and then to identify those rocks by name. We have rock guides to help them do that, but they need to apply all of the vocabulary that they are learning about the texture and composition as each type of rock has a different vocabulary for those concepts. They have to break the rocks with hammers in order to see an … Continue reading Middle School Science’s “Rock Collection”

For her PYP Exhibition project, grade 5 student Maddie chose to support children’s literacy by collecting books to send to children in Monrovia, Liberia.  “Did you know that over 750 million people in the world can’t read? Having books at home can bring that number down” Maddie. As part of the research for her PYP project, Maddie interviewed Aletha Wallace who works with the “Give a book for Liberia” scheme, which collects books and sends them to the National Library, and to primary, middle and high schools within and around Monrovia. When Aletha explained to Maddie that the education system … Continue reading Grade 5 student Maddie collects books for children in Liberia

The Middle High School hosted its first-ever ‘Multilingual  Middle School Spelling Bee’ during MS Assembly today. Representatives from Grades 6-8 competed in English, French, Spanish, German and Dutch for the winning titles. All students involved demonstrated a high-level of linguistic competence, and engaged in a very friendly, and fun, competition. The words were read by Grade 10 student-volunteers, who were able to share their language as a part of the competition. The winners were John (Grade 6), Jonathan (Grade 7) and Luis (Grade 8). Continue reading “Multilingual Middle School Spelling Bee” a big success

A group of grade 4 – 6 students attended the ISTA Primary Schools Festival at Wiesbaden on 19-22 May. They were welcomed by host families and followed a full program of drama and music workshops, as well as visits to local cultural and educational sites. The theme for the week was “Castles, Knights, and Magical Tales”, exploring the legends of long ago and what they can tell us about ourselves today. By exploring the past, the students were encouraged to bring the stories to life and make dramatic theatre. The workshops led up to presentations in small ensembles and a … Continue reading Students participate in Theater Festival in Germany

The seventh grade class has been reading the young adult book The Other Side of Truth by Beverly Naidoo in order to study realistic fiction. While studying this genre, we were fortunate to have an author of historical fiction to come to our school to explain the importance and relevance of realistic and historical fiction in today’s world. Paula de Fougerolles has written two historical fiction novels, The Chronicles of Iona: Prophet  and Exile, both of which are in our school library for advanced and high school readers. She took the time to explain to the students the ways in which writers, such as herself and … Continue reading Author shares importance of historical fiction

Grade 4 student Tommy, who is aged 9,  has competed in the “Merci Maestro” International Competition for Young Pianists in Brussels. It was a competition for over 100 young pianists from all over Europe and it was quite an achievement … Continue reading Grade 4 student competes in International Piano Competition