ISF - News Archive 2006-7

On Friday, June 27, 2008, ISF proudly conducted a graduation ceremony to acknowledge the success of its Class of 2008. School Director Angus Slesser served as Master of Ceremonies and the program included an inspirational Parent Greeting by Mr. Eric Schuck, class speeches by Sarah Hamid and Theodore Potgieter, a lovely ballad performed by staff musicians and Music Teacher Ms. Ormerod, a Commencement Address by Mr. Holger Kimmes, and finally the presentation of diplomas to graduates.

It is noteworthy that 9 of the 35 ISF graduates earned honors diplomas, and altogether the cohort received 108 university/college acceptances. We view these positive outcomes indicative of several things: parental support and participation, student dedication and focus, and effectual staff and programs at ISF. Congratulations to all graduates!

While ISF is often recognized for our focus on ‘core’ academic subjects, it would be a mistake to underestimate our art programs. Our art department strives to develop the artistic talents of our students, and does so quite effectively as evidenced by the many works on display in the lobby of the LHB Internationale Handelsbank AG through 13 June. Each weekday from 09:00 to 18:00, the public is invited to view a wide variety of quality art created by ISF students.

At the official opening of the exhibit, ISF Director Angus Slesser thanked LHB bank for providing us such a professional setting—and also thanked the students for their hard and creative work! In a brief address to the many people in attendance at the opening, Mrs. Polona Bevc, LHB Chief Executive Officer, spoke of the need for business to support the arts, and expressed her pleasure at being able to help in this manner. If you have not already visited this fine art exhibit, please plan to do so before it closes on 13 June; it offers an impressive display of ISF’s students’ artistic ability! The location is: Grosse Gallusstrasse 16, 60311 Frankfurt am Main.

“The sea at night has always frightened me, but now I find it soothing”… is the opening of Alexander Bruski’s winning First Prize Short Story. Alexander is an 11th grader with journalistic ambitions, who hopes to study Politics, Economics and International Relations at university in the UK or the U.S. The Second Prize in the Inkwell Short Story contest goes to Amna Durrani, who has been busy this year writing poems and stories as well as editing submissions and preparing advertising for the Inkwell. When you read “…everything became silent and all she could hear was the horrible screeching of tyres as she uselessly struggled against the crowd of people barring her from him…”, you will want to read to the end of “Blue Rose”. You Sung Do’s Third Prize Short Story, “Fallen Angel”, takes a completely different turn: “The 19th of October, 1929, Black Thursday, came to America with no mercy.” You Sung is an 11th Grader and is interested in studying Mathematics in the UK.

This year, ISF is pleased to have a Primary School Winner, Isabel Zapata, Grade 5, with her story “The Big Secret”. Her preview sentence “I looked up and saw a tunnel. We decided to follow the tunnel and see what surprises were in store for us...” will surely encourage Inkwell readers to follow her adventure.

Congratulations to top short story writers and thank you to all students who submitted their work. Next year there will be a new opportunity to enter original work and even join the Inkwell team to work on the magazine directly. And if you want to find out what happens in these four stories, buy the Inkwell for only 8€ at Sommerfest or at Reception.

Two girls and four boys represented ISF at the GISST Tennis Tour 2008 in Berlin. Instead of having 4 girls, Anna Grünwald and Natalie Pecoraro fought for the 3rd place overall. Natalie got 2nd place in her single match and both got 4th place in the double. The girls did very well! The boys (Roby Aharon, Jonte Boysen, Jonathan Chien and Steffen Grünwald) learned a lot from the experience. All of them had a wonderful time being housed for two nights from the Berlin Brandenburg International School.

Inkwell goes on sale at Sommerfest 2008!

This year’s Inkwell contains a number of new features including submissions from members of the ISF Photo Club and an art feature showing works of our 12th Grade Architecture student Sergej Maier. Poems, Haiku, Short Stories, Essays on Richard III and Artwork complete this year’s literary magazine in a slick, new, modern look. The Editor Fraser Bowers with Yeina Chi as Assistant Editor praise and thank the dedicated team of 9th Grade students who helped put this year’s magazine together and contributed their own creative writing. Winners of this year’s Short Story Contest will be announced shortly before the Sommerfest.

The magazine will go on sale at the Sommerfest and at Reception for 8€ to cover printing costs. We would very much appreciate your support again this year so that we may combine creative talents in our school to publish the Inkwell Literary Magazine with the same energy and enthusiasm again next year.

Some of the all-student cast from ISF’s musical production of ‘Grease’ gave a spectacular preview performance the most recent (5 May) meeting of the Newcomers Network International Stammtisch. The cast sang several songs, danced amongst and with the crowd, and was so well received that they performed an encore!

The first full-length show will be Thursday, 15 May, with additional performances on Friday, 16 May, and Saturday, 17 May. All shows begin at 7pm, and tickets are available for 10€ per adult or 5€ per student through the ISF Reception and Music departments (or call

069-9543190 to reserve). If you prefer email, we also offer reserve tickets via email at wadken@hotmail.com. Please remember that ticket payment is cash only at pickup, and they are going fast. We look forward to seeing you at the show!

Summer Concert Season Schedule:
Kindergarten Monday 9th June 2.30pm
Grade 1 and 2 Tuesday 10th June 2.15pm
Grade 3 and 4 Wednesday 11th June 2.15pm
Grade 5 and 6 Thursday 12th June 2.15pm
Whole School Evening Concert Friday 13th June 7.00pm

All Deputy Head and Senior prefect currently in grades 8 to 12 had the opportunity to apply to attend the first Worldwide Student Life Training Camp in Cairo this summer. We have received 6 applications and 3 were accepted.

CONGRATULATIONS to the following students:
• Meike Schieb 10B
• Marjanne van der Ark 11B
• Vincent Klaas 10B

They will be accompanied by Ms. Levesque. This camp will take place from 25 July to 4 August, 2008 and will be a great opportunity to learn about leadership, communication, self-confidence and to meet other students from the entire SABIS® Network.

On April 12-13, 2008 ISF hosted the Inter School and GISST Swim Gala 2008. Around 190 swimmers from 7 participating schools in the GISST league had a wonderful time at ISF. All guest swimmers were housed by the ISF community. Without the hospitality of ISF families, this event would not have been affordable for these teams and might not have taken places.

Overall, ISF came in 1st place. This means ISF still goes undeafeated since 2002/03 or 5 years in a row! The other schools showed very nice individual results and improvements especially in the U14 boys league.

Team results Inter School Girls (grade 2-5):
1. ISF 172 points
2. BerIS 130 points
3. BBS 122 points

Team results Inter School Boys (grade 2-5):
1. ISF 160 points
2. BerIS 150 points
3. BBS 100 points

Team results GISST U14 Girls :
1. ISF 81 points
2. BBIS 72 points
3. BBS 64 points
4. BIS 61 points
5. DIS 47 points
6. BerIS 38 points
6. BONN 38 points

Team results GISST U14 Boys:
1. DIS 92 points
2. BBS 87 points
3. BerIS 82 points
4. BBIS 76 points
5. ISF 63 points
6. BONN 42 points
7. BIS 4 points

Team results GISST Varsity Girls:
1. ISF 94 points
2. BBIS 67 points
3. BerIS 57 points
4. BBS 39 points
5. DIS 33 points
6. BONN 27 points
7. BIS 13 points

Team results GISST Varsity Boys:
1. ISF 106 points
2. DIS 80 points
3. BBIS 75 points
4. BBS 52 points
5. BerIS 40 points
6. BIS 28 points
7. BONN 10 points

Congratulations to all swimmers - particularly to those who have been committed o the GISST team since 2001/02!

Sommerfest 2008 is Coming!

On Saturday, May 31st 2008 the ISF is celebrating its annual ISF Sommerfest. With food, entertainment, and activities scheduled from 12:00-17:00, the annual ISF Sommerfest will feature something for everyone in the family.

• Sports Day:
o 12:00-13:30 Basketball “Street Ball” Tournament, Grade 7-12
o 12:00-14:30 Soccer Tournament, Grade 1-6
o 12:00-13:30 Obstacle Course, Kindergarten-Grade 4
o 14:00-15:00 Basketball shoot-out (EUR 1.00 donation for Kenya Project)
o 14:00-15:00 Soccer shoot-out (EUR 1.00 donation for Kenya Project)

• Talent Show:
o 13:30-14:30 Students of all grades will demonstrate their special talent in our theatre

• Kenya Project Day:
o 16:00-17:00 Attractive prize will be drawn in the theatre, such as airline tickets, soccer tickets, basketball tickets, ice hockey tickets and much, much more………

• Taste of the World:
o 12:00-16:00 Come and enjoy food specialties from 20 different countries in our cafeteria!

• And much more!

Too Many Doctors is about a father who is obsessed with being ill who tries to surround himself with as many doctors as possible. Throughout the play, one sees how loyal his family members are to him, and whether he is loved for his role as a father or for the money he possesses.

The performance dates are:
Thursday, April 17th, 5:00pm
Friday, April 18th, 5:00pm
Location: ISF Theatre
Admission is Free

The Just So Stories is about a young girl named Elsie Kipling. She visits her aunt and receives a new book in the mail from her father called The Just So Stories. Elsie shares two animal adventure stories with her new friends she has met while visiting her aunt: How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin and How the Elephant Got His Trunk.

The performance dates are:
Thursday, April 24th, 5:00pm
Friday, April 25th, 5:00pm
Location: ISF Theatre
Admission is Free

"I would like to extend my thanks to all of the parents who attended our annual Open Meeting on Wednesday evening last week," said School Director Angus Slesser. "The presentations from Mr Carl Bistany, the President of SABIS®, myself and two students – Elisa van der Ark and Meike Schieb – from our SLO™ Department were received very well." Mr. Ayche, Regional Director, was also present and the Question and Answer session at the end of the meeting was most informative and useful. After the meeting, the new cafeteria was opened officially by Mr. Carl Bistany and Dr. Stoll-Steffan.

Mr. Krishna Tismilna from Nepal visited ISF the week of 25 February. The purpose of his trip is to see how ISF is organized and to learn new teaching strategies to help teachers and children in his community.

Mr. Tismilna presented the Nepal Project to the students in Grade 11 and 12 and informed them about different projects they can do as part of their CAS (Creativity Action Service as part of the IB) program. The project started on the right foot this year with two ISF students, Marlon Nogueira Miranda and Kim Strauch leaving for Nepal in three weeks. They will stay two weeks in the village of Sarangkot in the Annapurna Region with a host family and volunteer in an orphanage.

Other students, Hae-In Kim, An-Bin Cho and Kinza Islam have been indirectly involved in the project working on promoting the project and raising funds and school supplies to send to Nepal.

On 21 February, the ISF Varsity Basketball Girls team went to Munich for an 8-school tournament with four U14 players and four Varsity players. Considering the team was not completely varsity, they played very well. Lost games had very close scores (15-17, 16-15).

Elisa van der Ark, Grade 13, got injured and could not play the second day. This was her last GISST tournament and on behalf of her constant support as a player and co-coach, ISF says, "Thank you!"

The ISF Varsity Team placed 7th in the tournament and will definitely have a better chance next year. The four U14 girls and three other Varsity girls became a real team during the tournament. Another 'thank you' goes to Coaches Tracey Webb and Diane Spindel. Great job!

The ISF Varsity Boys Basketball Team got off to a slow start but then played extremely well in the first rounds on Friday (40-42, 56-29 and 42-24). On Saturday, 23 February, they lost some of their momentum but still managed to place 4th.

The week of 03 February, ISF University Counsellor Pam Adams finished a first round of counselling for Grades 11, 10 and 9 students, focusing on the important planning steps for each grade level. Grade 11 received their University Handbooks, in which procedures for applying to the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany are outlined in detail. Applications to universities in other countries are handled on an individual basis.

Grade 12 students Yeina Chi and Maximilian Oremek explained to future applicants what it is they need to be doing now to avoid “Grade 12 Application Stress.” Grade 11 students have been asked to do some detailed research to come up with a first list of universities to which they wish to apply. As a next step Grade 11 students will begin writing personal statements and U.S. college essays.

In Grade 10, we reviewed the different university application requirements in different countries and discussed the important steps for Grade 10 students at this time in order to have successful applications. Verena Heil and Julie Bayle, current Grade 12 university applicants, spoke about the importance of good course choices and good grades. SLO activities and interesting summer courses and internships already in the summer between Grade 10 and 11 can increase students’ chances for acceptance to their desired course of study.

In Grade 9, Grade 12 and 13 students, Kathryn Schuck and Christopher Chapman, encouraged students to select Grade 10 courses in which they are interested and in which they think they will be successful as well as challenged. Kathryn and Christopher both encouraged Grade 9 students to become active in their school, use their summer breaks constructively and work for excellent grades in their courses.

Course selection for Grades 9 – 13 will take place after the February break with all Course Selection forms due March 20th. Please note: The Collegeboard PSAT Diagnostic exam for all Grade 10 and 11 students will take place Saturday, October 18, 2008 in the Exam Hall. Registration for this important exam will take place in June 2008.

Upper Primary Lock-In Was Great Success

The Upper Primary lock-in on February 1st was a great success with 120 Grade 5 - 6 students enjoying the opportunity to spend the night in the school with their friends. They were provided with an 8-hour disco, 2 hours access to the pool, a 12-hour movie marathon, 12-hour access to the gymnasium, midnight pizza and breakfast to help pass the time. The whole evening went very smoothly due to the fantastic organization of the SLO™ special events department. Also, a big thank you to those teachers who spent the night with the students, without their support events like these would not be possible.

On Saturday, January 26-27, 42 swimmers from ISF took part in a training camp in Laubach. The focus was to video-analyze all strokes, special workouts in the water and on deck. Cross country running, stretching and stabilization exercises completed this special event to make ISF swimmers fit for the 6th SV ISF Swim Cup February 2-3 and the upcoming GISST Swim Gala April 12-13.

"We really appreciated that our coaches gave us all the chance to go to Laubach for the weekend. It was indeed a wonderful and fun experience! We had enough time to work on our technical problems in the various strokes, which of course has helped us a lot. We also had time during the day to bond with our team members, which in my opinion has helped us become more of a team and to get to know each other better. Finally, we would all three like to thank Uli, Katrin, Tim and Judith for making this trip a successful and fun trip! We hope to have more in the near future," ISF students Letizia (Grade 9), Camilla (Grade 7), and Sophie (Grade 2).

Grade 11 and Grade 12 IB Students Begin University Application Planning

In 2009, ISF will have 57 candidates for university entrance. Preparations for selection of university choices are underway with two training sessions during the past weeks, during which candidates have received the ISF University Handbook.

Current university applicants from Grade 12 are participating in these training sessions, giving valuable tips on applying to universities around the world and on writing those difficult personal statements and college essays. Grade 12 students emphasize to their younger colleagues how important it is to do this research and preparation NOW as the final year at high school is a busy time!

ISF's F2 Soccer team came in 1st Place in the indoor soccer tournament held in Eschborn. Congratulations to Coach Matthew Roberts and all players especially ISF strikers, Leopold Bohnert and Jette Ohlert.

On Saturday, January 26th SV ISF held an F1 Soccer indoor tournament. Prizes were sponsored by ISF and Rhein-Main-Therme. The team from the 1. FC Oberursel came in 1st, SV ISF 2nd, SV Kriftel 3rd and BSC Schwalbach 4th. Thank you to all parents for their contribution to make this event successful.

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Visits ISF

The prestigious Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) visited ISF on January 22. The university ranked 23rd worldwide for technology studies. Dr. Charles Ng, Professor of Civil Engineering and Associate Dean of Engineering, Ms. Patricia Lai, Executive Officer, School of Engineering, and Florian Metzler, a German student at HKUST, presented video clips of the beautiful campus, perched on the hills above the ocean, approximately one hour outside of the city of Hong Kong.

The university offers outstanding programs in the field of Engineering and Business and Management, taught in English with the opportunity to study Chinese language and culture. Florian, the German student who formerly studied Engineering at TU Berlin, spoke with such enthusiasm about his studies at HKUST. He praised the close professor-to-student relationship, the flexibility of the courses, the spectacular campus and the proximity to the city of Hong Kong.

Please encourage your daughters and sons in ISF Grades 9 through 11 to attend these events to get accustomed to talking to university representatives about their programs and about the application process. These personal contacts make such a difference and can eventually lead to a university acceptance. Please see the university visit schedule at the bottom of this page for upcoming visits.

News on UK/UCAS University Application Procedures from the Madrid ECIS International Admission and Guidance Conference

A number of interesting improvements to UK admissions procedures were announced at the November University conference:

All of these new developments with the exception of unistats were announced without a timeline, but are definitely under discussion and should benefit our students as they apply during the next years to the UK.

ISF Basketball Hosts Friendly with Bonn International School

Five basketball teams from Bonn International School visited ISF for a friendly tournament on January 18-19. The housing and meal support of these ISF families is highly appreciated.

The purpose of this tournament was to find out whether or not ISF players need more training in order to be ready for the upcoming GISST tournaments in February/March. The U14 team boys and girls did really well and the Varsity teams could use some more focus during upcoming practice in order to become a solid team. The Varsity Boys tournament will be held on February 22-23 at ISF. Bavarian International School will host the Varsity Girls tournament as well as housing.

Lower Secondary Holds Dance Marathon at This Year's Lock-In

The Lower Secondary Lock-in was held on Friday, January 11th from 8pm to 8am. The night was a great success with over 100 students from Grades 7-9 taking the opportunity to spend the night in the school with all their friends. The 12 hours were spent swimming, playing sports, watching movies, playing video games, eating pizza and most importantly the dance marathon that went until 4am. There were prizes won for dance talent and stamina, and all the students had a great time without a wink of sleep.

This fantastic event was organized by the SLO™ Special Events department that consists of Meike Schieb (Deputy Head), Flora Hochrein, Nane Thomas, Sarah Hamid, Yusra Nasir, Erika Beyeler and Letizia Dondi. Events like this would not be possible without this wonderful group of young people working to their full capacity.

French and Spanish to Be Added to Grade 6 in 2008-09

ISF will add the choice of French and Spanish to its Grade 6 curriculum next year. This will give all of ISF students a headstart in this important element of the SABIS® curriculum and will be in line with changes that are being made in the German school system.

Grade 9-to-10 Transition Meeting Soon

All Grade 9 families are invited to the Grade 9-to-10 transition meeting that will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 5, at 19:00. The course-selection process for Grade 9 students will be explained, and the university counseling process will be re-visited. Presenters will be Mrs. Papafakli-Strouza (Upper Secondary Coordinator), Mrs. Adams (University Counselor), and Mr. Tobias (Lower Secondary Coordinator).

ISF Will Hold Science Fair in April

ISF is very happy to announce that it will be conducting a Science Fair this school year for all interested Grade 7-9 students. This event is being organized by ISF science teacher Ms. Romy Friedman. Introductory information materials have been distributed to the students, and an Information Meeting took place on January 23. Ms. Friedman will guide the Grade 7-9 students through all the stages of developing their projects. The Science Fair will take place on Saturday, April 12.

ISF's SLO Outreach Department Supports Local Community

This past December, the SABIS Student Life Organization®‘s Outreach Department organized a collection of school items for children in need. The response from the ISF community was very positive having collected over 400 various school supplies such as pencils, books, pencils cases, etc. and having raised 140€.

On 16 January, students Linda Prüss and Elisa van der Ark, accompanied by Mr. Michaud (SLO Coordinator), delivered the goods to the Caritas Frankfurt Centre in Höchst. They also had the opportunity to meet and talk with the recipient children who were present during the visit. They were all very grateful for all that was given and wanted to thank the entire ISF community for their support.

Caritas is running various projects and programs for these children, and help from ISF students would be greatly appreciated. ISF IB students could surely benefit from such programs. More information will be shared with those students in the days to come.

Idea Share: ISF SLO Pays a Visit to ISR SLO

On Monday, January 7, nine members of the ISF SABIS Student Life Organization® joined Mr. Michaud, Ms. Flaherty and Mrs. Groh to visit its sister school in Neuss, the Internationale Schule am Rhein (ISR). The purpose of this visit was get to know one another, create some friendships, share SLO™ experiences and look at possible common projects that would involve both schools. ISF students were welcomed by the director, Mrs. Lyons, given a tour of the school and attended various meetings during the day.

This meeting was only the beginning of a strong partnership between the schools as a few inter-school project ideas were developed. ISF hopes to get ISR students to come down to ISF in the next month to continue planning of these projects.

Members of the ISF Class of 2007 stopped in before Winter Break to tell us about their first experiences at universities around the world. “It is the happiest year of my life.” “Mathematics is easy.” “I worked all night on my lab report.” “I’m working on the university literary magazine.” “It’s only been two months, but it feels like two years. I love it.”

Two ISF students even manage to meet for lunch each day at their university in the UK. From Cambridge to Bath to Emory, Warwick, Surrey, Queen Margaret, Nottingham, Oxford Brookes, Erasmus Rotterdam, Manchester to USC, students gathered in our offices to tell hilarious tales of first days at university. “The professor walked into class and sent us immediately to the computer lab for 15 minutes to prepare a 20-minute presentation on an assigned topic!”

“I didn’t register for my courses on time so I ended up in a class on Chinese Literature this semester!” In general, students reported feeling happy with their university choices and their ability to handle the course workload. Initial homesickness and adjustment difficulties seem in the most part mastered. And their message to the Class of 2008, “Do your work now and get your scores on external exams and in your courses. It’s your passport to a new world!”

Wednesday, Jan. 16, 19:00: This yearly presentation will be especially useful for Grade 9 families who are considering the International Baccalaureate Diploma (IB) as the exit qualification for their children. A general overview of the IB program will be given. Mrs. Papafakli-Strouza (IB Coordinator) will be the presenter.

ISF will again be delivering handmade valentines to an old folk’s home in Dreieich. If there are any children who are interested in helping distribute the valentines on the 14th, please go to Reception for the contact information. (Keep in mind that February 14th is during the February break).

When winter weather approaches and the chances increase for unsafe road conditions, please note the following school closure procedures:

Parents should tune into either HR 3 89.3, FFH 105.9, or AFN 98.7 (English-speaking radio). An announcement will be made on all three stations between 06:30 and 08:00 hrs. It can be assumed that ISF will open on the following day, unless there is another new announcement made the next morning.

Parents may also check WebParent. An announcement will be placed there as well.

ISF has changed the domain name for almost all school e-mail addresses to allow faster and more efficient e-mail communication.

E-mail addresses ending in @isfrm.de and @isr-sabis.de now end in @isf-sabis.net. Old e-mail addresses will forward to the new domain until the end of the calendar year (DECEMBER 2007) and then cease to exist.

E-mail addresses ending in @sabis.net have not been affected. Should you still be uncertain of the changes, a new ISF Contact List can be downloaded from WebParent. Please try to make the changeover to the new addresses over the coming weeks.

Launching Ceremony of the Carl Benz School of Engineering,
University of Karlsruhe

On Monday. December 3rd, Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of DaimlerChrysler and Head of Mercedes Car Group, made it official. In the presence of Ms. Jutta Benz, the granddaughter of Carl Benz, Dr. Zetsche gave the international mechanical engineering program at the University of Karlsruhe its new name. As part of the German government’s new excellence in education initiative, the University of Karlsruhe has been named one of the three elite universities in Germany. The Carl Benz School of Engineering offers the first complete Bachelor of Science degree taught in English to encourage students from countries around the world to study Mechanical Engineering in Germany. The school opened in 1999 and has graduated four classes of top flight engineers.

The first ISF student to be accepted into this prestigious program, Keita Fujimoto from Japan, is already halfway through his first semester and reports courses are challenging. He likes the engineering program for its focus not only on engineering but also on management and language skills. Keita (pictured above) was honoured to have his photo taken with Dr. Zetsche and with Ms. Jutta Benz as she drove her grandfather’s first automobile around the university campus.

Hang Zhou and Keun Young Kim currently in ISF's Grade 12 also attended the ceremony as they intend to apply in 2008.

In his keynote address Dr. Zetsche emphasized the importance of flexibility, interdisciplinary skills and language abilities for today’s engineers. He closed his address, “The University of Karlsruhe has joined the Champions League of international research universities.”

The ceremony ended with graduates from China, South Africa, Japan, France, USA and Korea describing their studies at the Carl Benz School of Engineering and the engineering positions they now have in their home countries, working for their German company sponsors. ISF students with excellent grades in Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry, who wish to study mechanical engineering, can find out more information about this interesting program in the University Counselling office.

ISF was founded in 1995. Today, it has three members of staff who were there on that very first day. Another seven staff members have completed 10 years or more in ISF.

This group was honored on Monday, November 26 at a staff-wide meeting. Each was presented with a bound certificate and a token of ISF's gratitude and appreciation for this long and loyal service.

Those so honored were (in order of service): Usha Srivastava, Theo Kreuz, Martha Pfromm, Gilmour Lothian, Jane Müßig, Gerda Buetow, Susanne Maigatter, Susanne Crocker and Gunther Ludwig.

Please join ISF in congratulating and thanking these members of staff for their sterling efforts over so many years.

On Saturday, November 10, 2007, ISF celebrated its annual ISF International Day from 13:00-17:00h. The purpose of ISF International Day is to bring countries to the forefront in order to gain better understanding of the inner-workings of their cultures, such as history, language, sport, and the performing arts. This year, the following countries were named as the 2007 Focus Countries – Bangladesh, India, Netherlands, South Africa and the USA.

The day’s events included traditional sports from the focus countries—Sports Spaß—organized by parents and Sportverein ISF Sindlingen. ISF students learned how to play sports such as Bangladeshi Ha du du, South African Boeresport, Dutch Hockey. Theatre performances included traditional Indian and Bangladeshi dancing, as well as performance from American students called, “The Nifty Fifty States.”

Diwali celebrations also took place at International Day next to the India Focus Country room. Diwali is a festival of lights and started with the traditional lighting of the candles. The ISF Indian community worked diligently on the intricate sand design that decorated the floor. Indian mothers and daughters also did a reprise of their dance performance in the theatre.

Families were also able to get some early Christmas shopping done at the International Marketplace, where more than 15 regional boutiques and companies will have items for sale.

A special addition to this year's International Day was having hip-hop dancer, Kelechi Onyele from PLATTFORM Dance Company in Frankfurt on hand to give students an hour-long dance lesson. Onyele was last seen as a juror on the SAT1 show, You Can Dance.

Over 200 prizes were drawn in the Tombola at the end of the day thanks to the generosity of the vendors of the International Marketplace and international companies (Lufthansa, Dresdner Bank, Tauna Tours, Rhein-Main Therme, Legoland Deutschland and Fraport) in the Rhein-Main region.

A conference on choosing professions, “Berufe Ganz Nah – Schüler fragen, Profis antworten,” will take place on Tuesday, November 13th at 19.00h at the Main Taunus Gymnasium in Hofheim. This meeting, sponsored by Radio FFH, Planet Radio and the Rotary Club, will give students an opportunity to speak with representatives of different professions and talk about their future plans. It is highly recommended particularly for Grades 10 and 11 as they will begin their university planning sessions in the spring.

The annual CIS University Fair, previously announced for November 13th 9:00-12:00, has been cancelled and will take place in the future every two years. The next fair will be held in November 2008 at FIS. Grade 11 and 12 students do have the opportunity to attend the British University Fair on November 27th from 13:00-15:00 this year at Frankfurt University. Students may attend only if they have signed up on the University Visits bulletin board.

Mr. Keith Light, the Associate Director of Admission at Brown University, delighted students last week with his humorous, highly informative talk on applying to Ivy League colleges and student life at Brown. He enjoyed the questions from Grade 10, 11 and 12 students on everything from financial aid, to the weather in Providence, Rhode Island, to writing an application essay. Brown is a small university with 5,700 students and a relatively large proportion of 6 % international students. Mr. Light compares Brown’s international flair to the cosmopolitan atmosphere in the city of Montreal.

On the all important question of how to be successful in applying, he encouraged U.S. university applicants to express their “energy for learning, energy for action” in their applications. Admissions officers want to be sure that candidates will take full advantage of the many academic and student life resources the university has to offer. Brown received 18,316 applications in 2006-2007 of which 2,531 were admitted. To be accepted, the application has to be unique, it has to “sparkle”!

ISF School Director Angus Slesser announced at an assembly on Wednesday, October 10, 2007, that Elizabeth Deane, a 12th grader, has been named a ‘Commended Student’ in the 2008 National Merit® Scholarship Program. A letter of commendation from the school and National Merit® Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), which conducts the program, was presented to this scholastically-talented senior.

‘Commended Students’ are recognized for their exceptional academic promise and for their placement among the top 5% of more than 1.4 million students who entered the 2008 competition by taking the 2006 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSGT®), a pre-college entrance test.

Sixty-five candidates sat the Preliminary SAT at ISF. Deane scored in the top 3.5% in Critical Reading, Mathematics and Writing Skills of those worldwide test takers.

The Advanced Placement Program®, run by the College Board in the United States, is a cooperative educational endeavor between secondary schools and colleges and universities that allows students to earn college credit before they get to college.

Seven ISF graduates and students have earned the designation of AP Scholar by the College Board in recognition of their exceptional achievement on these college-level AP exams. They are: Marie Baratta, Chris Chapman, Anika Hartig, Sang Hee Lee, Raquel Peres, Carmen Rademacher and Elisa van der Ark.

Five other graduates achieved the AP Scholar with Honor, which means they achieved Grades 3 or higher on four or more AP exams: Magdalena Ilkow, Katharina Lather, Ayasa Shimokawa, Mutsumi Sugiyama and Aaron Tschoerner. Fifteen further graduates earned Scholar with Distinction awards by earning 3 or higher on five or more exams: Nicolas Bleuel, Philipp Eversfield, Mouni Feddag, Keita Fujimoto, Rainer Groh, Matthias Hirsch, Chris Jison, Hans Krause, Philipp Löhrhoff, Bastian Manz, Sebastian Reichmann, Max Richly, Antuan Shakin, Robert Smith and Ronnie Wein.

Three students achieved the AP International Diploma by taking AP exams in required subject areas and scoring 3 or higher on five or more AP exams within three of the five given content areas. These students are Mouni Feddag, Bastian Manz and Robert Smith.

ISF congratulates its students and graduates on these excellent results!

Among the 2006-07 graduates, there were three students who completed their entire school careers at ISF, starting as 1st Graders when ISF first opened its doors in September 1995 and remaining at the school through the 12th Grade. ISF is particularly proud of the academic achievements made by this class and attributes their success to the fact that the majority of the graduating class spent more than half of their academic career at ISF.

Good Show at 2007 GISST Cross Country Meet in Berlin

Early in the morning on Friday, October 5, 35 ISF students, Coaches Dietmar Stenzel, Uli Groh, Eve Flaherty and Chaperones Mrs. Dette and Mrs. Kuhlmann piled into a bus and arrived at Berlin British School by 15:30 in order to compete at the 2007 GISST Cross Country Meet.

The teams enjoyed a small a sports session to stretch the legs after the long drive when the varsity teams were picked up by their guest families, and Junior and U14 teams went to a local youth hostel. On Saturday, the teams met at BBS to watch the running course. The U14 team had to run the same course (nearly 5 km) as the Varsity. A steep start over the first 150 m was not easy for most athletes who came from different disciplines such as Basketball, Volleyball, Soccer and Swimming.

Because there were not teams in every Junior year section, ISF came in 3rd overall.

"Next year, we would really like to go with all junior teams that means a team (at least 5 runners) in each grade 2, 3, 4 and 5. I would like to congratulate ALL runners for their success and strong commitment and especially Linus Kuhlmann (grade 2) and Lucas Boden (grade 3) who ran individually against many Berlin runners. Both came in 4th in a close finish. Excellent places were achieved by Christian Pszyk who came in 3rd, Natalie Groh 2nd and Nico Prokop 1st," said a proud Coach Uli Groh.

During the week of September 10, Grade 10 and 11 ISF students received the CollegeBoard Study Guide to prepare for the PSAT exam to be given in ISF Saturday, October 20th from 9-12 during Fall Break. Students are asked to bring two #2 pencils to the exam as well as a scientific or graphic calculator. The exam will begin promptly at 9 a.m. so students are asked to arrive at ISF by 8:50 a.m.

The 7th Annual Newcomers Festival took place on Sunday, September 9th from 13:00-18:00 at the Frankfurt Römer (City Hall). Because of its central location, the turnout this year was quite big. Frankfurt Mayor Petra Roth also found time to visit ISF's booth.

As part of the festival, entertainment is provided. Talent from ISF’s parent, student and teacher communities was represented. This year, Mrs. Tandrima Roy performed a traditional Indian dance, Soo-Bin Chang played Vivaldi on the violin, and Teacher/Supervisor Wolfram Schröder played guitar and sang a Welsh song.

The festival was established for expatriates living in the region to become familiar with their new surroundings. Exhibitors included local clubs, organizations and services. Food and drink reflecting the local gastronomy was also provided. For staying connected with your new surroundings, please visit: www.newcomers-network.de.

On Friday, August 31, 54 students and 6 teachers left for the 2nd Annual Student Life OrganizationTM Training Weekend which took place in Oberreifenberg, Taunus at a local youth hostel.

The event gave Senior Prefects and Deputy Head Prefects an opportunity to get to know each other and make new friendships. Various sessions, prepared by each department's Deputy Head, were offered on leadership, teambuilding, communication and more.

Students were also encouraged to take part in various challenge stations' exercises from the Tauna Tours GmbH. These included high and low rope circuits. It was a great way for students to go beyond their limits and set new goals for themselves.

Overall, it was a memorable weekend, and SLOTM is now in the process of planning other events for later in the year. A special thank you to Mr. Ames, Ms. Blaché, Ms. Flaherty, Ms. Friedman, and Mr. Olivier for coming along and making it such a special weekend.

Thursday, August 23, 2007
15:00 – 17:00hrs
Open House gives parents and students a chance, if they wish, to drop by at their convenience between 15:00 and 17:00 hrs to check their homeroom assignments and to look around the building.

Upon arrival, please locate the student's name and homeroom on the notice board in the Mall just inside the main entrance. Please be aware that when forming homeroom sections at the start of each new school year, first and foremost is the goal to form groups that are equally balanced by the academic achievement level of its members based on the previous year’s performances.

Of secondary consideration is the mixture of boys and girls, new and returning, as well as English, German and Korean language levels. Social factors are seldom a factor in forming sections as there are opportunities throughout the day for friends to meet within and between grade/section levels.

Students, upon arrival, should wait for the bell in their designated areas (grades 5 and 6 on the Primary Playground, grades 7 to 12 on the Secondary Playground). This first day will be a full day for everyone – ending at 16:10h.

Grade 2 to 4 students, upon arrival, should wait for the bell in their designated area (on the Primary Playground). This first day will be a full day for everyone – ending at 15:25h.

The Grade 1 students and their families will start their first day of Primary School at 9:00h with a brief, traditional German welcome ceremony ending no later than 10:00h.

During this ceremony, Grade 1 students will receive a traditional "Schultüte" which the Parent Network will kindly supply. This is a large conical bag of sweets and school supplies given to children on their "Erster Schultag" (first day) of Primary School. Families are invited to join their children for this special occasion. The Grade 1 students will have a "normal" school day after the welcome ceremony – ending at 15:25h.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007
08:15h, Kindergarten
Students and parents, upon arrival, should wait on the KG playground until called to the classrooms at 08:15. This first day will be a full day for everyone – ending at 15:25h (15:05h for KG1).

This is an opportunity for parents to meet teachers and hear a brief presentation about the curriculum their child(ren) will study this school year.

Visits from universities to ISF will in most cases take place after school this year at 4:00 p.m. due to ISF students’ busy timetables. This will allow students from lower grades to participate as well. First visits are planned as follows:

*Presentation is at Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität, Westend Campus (IG Farben Building, Room 311), Grüneburgplatz 1.

**Presentation/Fair is at Frankfurt International School, An der Waldlust 15, 61440 Oberursel.
***Presentation is at Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität, Campus Bockenheim, in Neue Mensa Foyer.

Next ISF Open House: Saturday, April 19, 2008

ISF's doors will be open on Saturday, April 19 from 13:00-16:00 for those interested in enrolling their children. If you are interested in learning more about what ISF has to offer, please be in attendance at either 13:30 or 14:30 for a presentation given by School Director Angus Slesser. Presentations are followed by student-led school tours. Staff from Marketing & Admissions will also be on hand for questions.

If you cannot attend on this day, your needs are more immediate or would already like an individual consultation, please call +49 69 348297-0 for an appointment. The April Open House is the last of three during School Year 2007-08.