Community Update for January 5
Dear ISA Families,
Happy New Year!
We hope this break has provided time to rest, reflect, leave the experiences of 2024, and take the learning forward as we grow in 2025!
We are excited to share that early this morning, 25 students and two teachers from our sister school, Takayama Nishi in Takayama, Japan, arrived in San Antonio! ISA and STEM host families met their guests at 11:00 a.m., and we are so excited to continue our longest-running international exchange partnership. Our sincerest thanks go out to all of our ISA and STEM host families for opening their homes to our guests. We want to encourage all of our students to welcome the students from Takayama, be curious about their home, and generously share all that our special community has to offer!
2024-2025 marks the 30th academic year of ISA. A celebration of this milestone is planned for this spring semester, and we invite all ISA families, friends, students and alumni to mark their calendars and save the date. On Friday, March 21, 2025, at 7:00 p.m., a ceremony and reception will be held on campus and will be an event to bring together past, present and even future Globies to celebrate the connections that make our unique school what it is. Special guests from ISA’s earliest days will join us to share memories of how this place came to be and to help us imagine the possibilities of ISA in the next 30 years. Please add March 21, 2025, to your calendars now and spread the word to anyone you know who is connected to ISA. All are invited and all are welcome!
On Monday, January 6, 2025, we will officially kick off the first day of the second semester! Students should plan to report to their regular 1st period class. Students who have a change in their schedule for this new semester should check their Skyward: Student Access account for new classes and classroom locations!
As we begin the second semester, Model United Nations San Antonio XXIX: Evolve will open session Thursday, January 9th, at 10:00 a.m.! The conference will begin with a traditional opening ceremony in Laurie Auditorium at Trinity University! We invite the whole ISA community to join us and guests interested in attending the opening ceremony are welcome to park in the Laurie Auditorium parking garage. This year MUNSA welcomes nearly 1,400 high school delegates and staff. Our two-day Model United Nations conference will conclude on Friday, January 10th, with the closing ceremony at 7:00 p.m. also in the Laurie Auditorium!
The ISA Amigos will continue their support of MUNSA this year by hosting the hospitality room for school sponsors attending MUNSA! We are looking for volunteers to host the hospitality room and to chaperone some student committee rooms. If you are interested in volunteering, click HERE! There are still plenty of opportunities available, and we can really use your help!
Nearly every ISA student will participate in MUNSA XXIX. ISA ninth-graders will attend MUNSA on Thursday, January 9th, to cover the conference as part of the ISA Press Corps. MUNSA Press Secretaries have prepared our 9th graders in journalistic writing techniques through their Digital Media class, and our 9th graders will write press releases about what they see and hear at MUNSA. ISA sophomores participate as delegates during the conference and attend both days of MUNSA XXIX. Sophomores will live the experience by representing the perspective of various countries that participate in the United Nations. They will debate global topics and seek diplomatic solutions using skills they learned in their English II class. Additionally, a large portion of ISA juniors and seniors run the conference serving as co-chairs, peace-keepers, press secretaries, secretaries, and technology support staff. Finally, there are thirteen senior members of the MUNSA XXIX Secretariat who lead the event. The Secretariat have spent countless hours over the last six months preparing to host the conference. The MUNSA experience is the kind of learning that helps ISA students connect and apply classroom instruction with the real-world. The entire ISA community celebrates this work and the efforts of every student, teacher, sponsor, and parent involved!
Looking ahead, the ISA Senior Team will host a final Washington D.C. Travel Open House on Wednesday, January 15th, at 5:30 p.m. We encourage senior families to attend this meeting to learn more about travel logistics, itinerary, and student expectations. Families will also be able to submit/finalize travel payments at this meeting. Families who wish to submit payment online can access School Cash Online HERE or by pasting this URL into the browser of your choice: https://rb.gy/8dlfoa.
The ISA Amigos have begun preparing for their annual Silent Auction! If you are interested in joining the effort, scan the QR code on the linked flier or email your interest to silentauction@isaamigos.org.
Students interested in applying for a CIEE summer exchange program should remember that the deadline for CIEE’s High School Summer Abroad is approaching on January 15, 2025.
The ISA Lottery Application for prospective members for the ISA Class of 2029 is still open! ISA will host one more on-campus Shadowing experience Friday, January 17, 2025!
Friday, December 20, 2024, marked the end of the second grading quarter and the first semester. Report cards will be available in Skyward this week!
Before the winter break, the NEISD Board of Trustees heard a presentation about how campus administrators may respond to students who run away from an administrator or avoid complying with a lawful search when the suspicion of possessing prohibited items exists. Beginning Monday, January 6, 2025, at NEISD middle and high school campuses, students who demonstrate the above behavior(s), could be sent to the North East Alternative Center.
For more information from the NEISD Board Meeting on December 9, 2024, click HERE forward to timestamp (1:19:26). Information about lawful searches can also be found within NEISD Board Policy FNF (Local).
Finally, we would also like to remind students and families that the school cafeteria begins FREE breakfast service at 8:00 a.m. and school begins at 8:50 a.m. and dismisses at 4:15 p.m. HERE is a link to the campus expectations for daily operations at school.
Welcome back, and we look forward to MUNSA XXVIII, and the start of the second semester!
Sincerely,
Steve Magadance and the ISA Faculty
