Dear ISA Families,

Our ISA seniors arrived home safely on Friday evening after their week-long travel experience to Washington, D.C. During a week of professional visits that included briefings with congressional representatives, international embassies, and other governmental and non-governmental organizations, our seniors gathered data relevant to their research topics for their Future of San Antonio project. Our seniors prepared for their experience by collecting local information and developing questions focused on making connections between their professional meetings, group debriefs, and policy initiatives that will inform their ultimate policy recommendation presentations on February 29, 2024!

ISA seniors also planned their group itineraries that included visiting monuments and museums in our nation’s capital. The seniors represented ISA extremely well. We are proud of them and appreciate their professionalism during the week! Thank you to the Senior Team made up of Jannesa Prado, Khoa Tran, Betsy Gorski, and Katherine Fitzgerald for coordinating and facilitating the learning and logistics of this travel experience. Thank you also to our additional teacher chaperones including Betsy Landry, Gretchen Wickes, Charles Castillo, Carin Schramm, Romelle Carraway, Willa Rubin, Jennifer Aranda--and parent chaperones: Robert Briones, Claudia Sierra, Victor Quiroga, Jennifer Barzona, Karen Thompson, Shannon West, Durquia Guillen, Dawn Handlin, Elizabeth Glazier, Zeke Crowley, and Sonia Torres--who traveled with our seniors this year! All of your efforts supporting ISA’s seniors during their final travel experience of high school made this trip an incredible success! Welcome back, seniors!

Last week on Tuesday, February 6th, the window to submit AP Exam payments for second semester AP courses (AP Comp. Govt. and AP Psychology) opened! This window closes on March 5th and credit card payment can be submitted through Skyward:  Student Access--not Family Access. HERE are instructions about how to submit payment. Cash payments can be submitted to Ms. Schramm in the LEE Counseling Office.

ISA still has space available for our travel experience to Takayama, Japan this summer! We plan to travel from June 11 - 26, 2024. This international travel experience will include a homestay with families from our sister campus Takayama Nishi High School and a visit to Tokyo! Students learning Japanese or who are interested in Japanese culture will love this immersive cultural experience. The trip cost of $4,000 per student and includes flights, in-country transportation, lodging, and cultural experiences. Committed families can submit THIS interest form and send a $500 cash or check deposit to the ISA Main Office to reserve your student’s spot on this once in a lifetime experience. If you have any questions, please reach out to Grayson Bull at gbull@neisd.net.

ISA also plans to host students from our sister school in Frankfurt, Germany! As we prepare for this two-way exchange in March, we want to thank ISA families who have committed to hosting an exchange student in their homes! We are also looking for one more host family for a female student. The ideal family also has no pets and is an ISA junior or senior family. If your family fits the need and is interested in hosting a student from March 20-30, 2024, please submit your information on THIS Google Form!

Yearbooks are on sale NOW! Students won’t want to miss the hard work and dedication of effort documenting 2023-2024. Reserve your copy of this year’s Legacy by viewing THIS flier!

Looking ahead, LEE Dance will be hosting a virtual tryout meeting on February 21, 2024, at 6:30 p.m. Drill and Dance tryouts will be on March 19-22. Students may click HERE for a flier with more information and a QR for the virtual  meeting. Please contact Christina Alanis at calani@neisd.net with any questions.

ISA junior and senior families are invited to mark your calendar for student exhibitions on Thursday, February 29, 2024! These presentations will share student learning outcomes from our class travel experiences to Alabama and Washington, D.C.! Follow this update for more information about locations and times. 

Friday, February 9th, marked the end of the 6th week of the 3rd quarter grading period. Student progress reports will be available this week in Skyward.

Finally, next Monday, February 19, 2024, is a student and teacher holiday! We look forward to seeing students back in the hallways on Tuesday, February 20th!

Have a fantastic week!

Sincerely,

Steve Magadance and the ISA Faculty