campus news

For their summative project in their Individuals and Societies class, Grade 9 students participated in a debate on immigration while role playing as different members of the House of Representatives and Senate. The summative, done while students are studying the United States government, gives students hands-on experience learning how our government operates.

We are so thankful for the ISI community and the ways we continue to grow as #OneISI. We wish you all a happy and healthy holiday season, and we look forward to seeing you again in 2022.

On December 2, over 200 ISI community members came together for the annual Night at the Indianapolis Zoo. The Night at the Zoo is a part of the ISI Year of Giving, allowing current families, alumni families, faculty, staff, board of directors, grandparents, friends, community partners, and businesses to join together to invest in our students, our facilities, our faculty, and our future

Within the IB Curriculum, topics and ideas have the opportunity to change, develop, and even evolve to best fit the learning needs of students. The Creativity, Activity, and Service learning model (CAS) is an example of just that. Globally, the CAS Program started out as an arts course offered to students, but now it has taken shape as one of the compulsory elements of the IB Diploma Programme. 

To celebrate a successful end to the second unit, families were invited to join their students in a variety of activities, including song recitals, presentations, and other hand-on activities to support and celebrate their student’s learning. To learn more about the PYP in the classroom, view Pre-Elementary and Lower School at ISI. 

The International Baccalaureate, or IB, is a worldwide education program designed to provide students with an education fit for a globalizing world. The IB stresses the importance not only of academic achievement but also personal development in the classroom. With immersion and dual language programs in French, Mandarin, Spanish, and English, the IB develops worldly thinkers. Here are the top five reasons ISI recommends pursuing an IB diploma.

On November 1, ISI grade 1 students traveled to Jennifer’s Forest and Joyful Learning Nature Center to spend a day outdoors, exploring nature and completing activities for their second Unit of Inquiry: “Sharing the Planet”. The central idea of the "Sharing the Planet" unit focuses on using natural resources in a useful way and teaches students what natural resources are and how we can use them responsibly.

With a large portion of the team graduating during the pandemic and half of the team having never played before, the High School Volleyball team had a season of rebuilding. The athletes worked together, acquiring many match wins and experiencing small victories as a group

The Timmy Club supports Timmy Global Health, a non-profit organization that provides health and education outreach services to economically developing countries. This past week, club members led the Upper School in the fall Timmy Spirit Week which included themed dress-up days and student vs. staff volleyball and soccer games, raising $1,905!

After sitting on the sidelines because of the canceled 2020 season, the High School Cross Country team returned for the 2021 season with a new Head Coach, and motivated athletes, ready to come back stronger

The High School Girls Soccer team started the season with goals not only related to wins and losses, but also growing as people and as a team. Coach Ken McDaniel has focused the past three seasons on building a tight-knit culture and continuing to grow the program able to sustain the success it achieves.

With a team comprised of new runners, the Co-Ed Middle School Cross Country team spent their season building skills, endurance, and the basics of competing. Their hard work paid off, with each runner improving on their individual times by the conclusion of the season.

The students presented their projects in a mock Nobel Prize for Biology before a team of judges. Students pulled together their ideas and decided how they would share the information with the panel. The result was a highly effective and knowledgeable series of presentations.

The ISI Middle School Athletic Program serves as a great opportunity for students to try a new sport. With the cancelation of the Fall 2020 season, the Middle School Co-Ed Tennis team welcomed many new athletes who had never played a match before.

Starting the season off with a team of players who were almost all new to the sport, the Middle School Volleyball team showed huge leaps as the season progressed. After a slow start to the season, the team became more and more comfortable on the court. This led to exciting wins the team worked hard for.

The Boys Varsity Soccer Team had an exciting first season back after a year without competing. The team was able to use the experience of the upperclassmen to help lead the newer players and teach them the basics of the sport. The hard work of each player, paired with the strong team mentality, led ISI to their best record in the past five years, which is 7-4-1. 

This fall, the Middle School Soccer team competed for the first time in two years - and for many players, the first time. Students focused on building up new skills and working together as a team, balancing the needs of new and experienced players. The Middle School Soccer team finished the season with a record of 3-6-1, with close losses they look forward to making up next year.

Last week, the High School Boys Tennis team wrapped up their Fall 2021 Season. With a mixture of brand new players and experienced players who had not competed in two years, the 2021 season was full of challenges. The Boys Tennis team finished their season with a record of 5-5. 

Over the past week, Primary Years Programme (PYP) students at the Lower School have been finishing up their first Unit of Inquiry of the school year. The units are supported by knowledge, concepts, and skills from traditional subject areas such as math, social studies, science, and language arts, but utilize them in a transdisciplinary model. 

This week, the ISI community celebrates a very exciting anniversary: Two years since the public launch of the ONE ISI campaign! While the past two years have been full of unexpected hurdles, our community came together to support the campaign to unify our campus with the construction of a new lower school building. To celebrate this anniversary, take a look back at all the ISI community has accomplished!

With less than two months of the school year completed, ISI students have already participated in multiple college representative visits, application and essay workshops, and parent information nights. College preparation begins early at ISI with grade-specific programming, group tours, and individual meetings. On average, ISI hosts representatives from 60-100 universities each year. 

The International School of Indiana (ISI) community greeted this school year with great anticipation because of the return of many activities suspended for health and safety reasons since March of 2020. With COVID-19 safety protocols in place, greatly missed opportunities that enhance the experience in the classroom have resumed. Recently, grade 3 students traveled to Flat Rock Camp in St Paul, Indiana, for a field trip to wrap up the “Who We Are” Primary Years Programme unit of inquiry. 

On August 25, International School of Indiana (ISI) seniors completed their Biology Internal Assessment. The Internal Assessment is an independent, student-designed lab which lasts an entire school day. The first month of the school year is spent preparing for this assessment, which builds on concepts and skills learned throughout the high school experience at ISI. The Internal Assessment is designed to challenge students to plan, carry out, and evaluate an investigation. 

Last week, the International School of Indiana (ISI) community kicked off the first day of the 2021-2022 school year with an annual tradition, the Bell Ringing Ceremony. The start of a new school year brings a bittersweet feeling to many in our community - the end of summer but the beginning of an exciting, promising new school year. On August 10, those bittersweet feelings affected many in our community as students began their last first day at the 49th Street Building, the longtime home of our Lower School. 

With one week left until the first day of the 2021-2022 school year, we at ISI are excited to welcome families back to the 49th Street and the Michigan Road campuses. This year, not only is the ISI community celebrating a return to in-person learning for all students, we are also celebrating our final year on two campuses. Click to view updates on the progress of the new Chen Family Lower School, opening fall 2022!
 

Nia and the other Central Indiana students are among 300 young people from across the country who were selected as Student Leaders for an eight-week, paid internship, working closely with local nonprofits. This year, the four local rising seniors and soon-to-be college freshmen will work with nonprofit Christamore House to implement social media and other marketing strategies to engage with and better serve the Haughville community and Christamore House clients.

Among the 2,274 students who submitted videos to World of 7 Billion were grade 10 students Karina Peate and Grace Kaneshiro. Both students submitted videos in the category of Strengthening Global Health and were chosen as finalists. In being chosen as a finalist, these videos went on to be judged by a panel of experts, which led to the students being formally acknowledged by the organization.

On April 16, the International School of Indiana Class of 2021 completed their last day of formal classes. To conclude their ISI careers, the graduating class participated in Senior Send-Off Day, a celebration of their achievements.

For the second-consecutive year, ISI is proud to claim a National Merit Finalist among its students. Claire Kaneshiro of Indianapolis -- 4.66 GPA, a near-perfect SAT score, and fluency in Chinese, Spanish and English -- is among 15,000 students nationwide chosen for the prestigious honor. Claire now is eligible for one of 7,500 one-time scholarships awarded by the National Merit Scholarship Program. Those awards are expected to be announced in mid-May.

Looking for a unique summer activity for the kids? ISI is partnering with the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies at Indiana University to launch a new language immersion-focused summer camp June 14-25 in Indianapolis. The new ISI Language Summer Camp will offer main programming in two languages — Mandarin and Arabic — to students Pre-K through grade 12. No previous language experience is required. Registration is now open.

Despite schedules and practices disrupted by COVID-19, the ISI boys closed out the 2020-21 winter sports season on a high note. The basketball team finished third overall in the 10-team Pioneer Conference, the best final conference standing in ISI history, and the swim team finished eighth out of 11 schools in the ISHAA state sectionals, a season finale that included a school record in the 100-yard backstroke.

What makes Indiana a great place to live? That’s the focus of a new video campaign sponsored by the Indiana Destination Development Corp. highlighting people from all walks of life who chose to make Indiana their home. And among those recently featured: Head of School Elizabeth Head, who was lured to Indianapolis more than two years ago from her school leadership role and longtime home in Costa Rica.

She only had one shot, two hours and a proctor watching over her as she crafted her essay, the topic a secret until she opened a sealed instructions envelope from the Daughters of the American Revolution. But in the end, senior Juliette Albert walked away with the $500 top prize for her 550-word entry in the Indianapolis chapter’s annual Good Citizen Award contest, the International School of Indiana’s first local winner in in the national contest in nearly a decade.

The ISI girls swim team finished the 2020-21 season with a school record in the 200-yard medley relay during the ISHAA sectionals earlier this month in Brownsburg. The new mark comes on the heels of two other school records this season -- the 200-yard individual medley in December and the 50-yard freestyle in January.

Just three months after our fall groundbreaking, the Chen Family Lower School is showing its first structural signs of progress and is slightly ahead of schedule, project officials say. The bulk of the foundation is done, and work has begun on the 26-foot-tall elevator shaft.

"What a great way to end our first week of school in 2021,” said Kristen Kaiser, vice president of development and external affairs. “It’s so heartwarming to see the support of our ISI community, and we deeply appreciate the partnership of businesses like Matteo’s in our fundraising efforts.”

As we close the chapter on this unpredictable and oftentimes challenging year, Head of School Elizabeth Head shares some inspirational parting words.

Being recognized and rewarded in this way is a true testament to how the ISI faculty and staff team continues to positively impact our community with their ability to lead and teach during this extended crisis.

"Besides the practical knowledge I learned at ISI such as statistics and French, my friends and teachers at ISI was absolutely amazing. They helped me go through the hardest times, and because of them, I have the motivation and the confidence to pursue my future goals."

The project is the culmination of the ONE ISI Capital Campaign to unify our school on the North Michigan Road Campus.

"Swadesh would stop in a classroom enjoying the interaction, offering encouraging words for the students and faculty. He was a profoundly kind man."

"We had incredible success once again," Timmy Club Staff Coordinator Lanie Sinitsky said. "Even during the pandemic, an incredible $1,306.18 was raised in the Money Wars, which is the second-highest total ever raised." 

This academic year, we have welcomed more than a dozen new educators, all who brought new energy and ideas to the institution and working seamlessly to adjust to the new normal of a COVID-ready campus. We are thrilled to introduce our new ISI teammates and hope you enjoy learning a bit about their impressive backgrounds!

“During this period, we were committing more than 60 hours a week of student screen time and another 20 hours a week of parent and teacher screen time in consultation.” 

"I'm glad that we were able to share in traditions that we've come accustomed to celebrating on the first day of school while also incorporating some of the new realities of operating school in a pandemic."

When we inquire about the experiences of others, communicate with each other, and seek out balanced solutions to our mutual problems, we can and will build a better world. We hold these values dear at ISI and hope for their wider acceptance in the wake of the events of the past week.

Go Gryphons is a newsletter that highlights the achievements of ISI students, faculty, staff, and alumni!

“We really liked the format of the Model UN Conference because delegates can put themselves in a position and stand up for their country’s beliefs. It’s learning by immersion,” said Schnabel. “No matter how much you try to highlight that in your classroom, you do need the hands-on experience.”

“As I met members of the ISI community, students, staff, parents, and board members, I understood their affection for the school and for lifelong learning, and together we will channel that passion to generate great success for our students.”