Thank you!

Dear BIS Community,

Thank you all for a lovely celebration of our 30th anniversary yesterday.  It was a wonderful day which highlighted one of the strengths of our community – being internationally-minded.  This was very clear in the pride each person showed in their own culture and in the pride that was expressed at being part of our unique BIS culture.

Yesterday was a fantastic example of our meeting our vision of being ‘the school of choice for internationally-minded families’!

As I said in my speech, I would like to acknowledge that the entire event is solely due to the energy and enthusiasm of our whole community – students, parents, and all the BIS staff.

I would like to particularly thank Mr. Lorenzini for sharing his passion for community engagement and taking early proactive steps to ensure that we were all going to be ready to celebrate this event so soon after the start of school.

I would like to thank the parents for all their work on the international booths – both those that are here and those that helped, but couldn’t attend.

I would like to particularly thank our PTFA co-chairs, Allison and Briged for all their enthusiasm, logistical expertise and support.  Their work with the PTFA parents was responsible for the success of the international stalls.

I would also like to thank all the parents who took on the role of country leaders and helped bring all the fantastic creative ideas for games, food and the sharing of culture to fruition.

I would like to thank all the BIS staff who collaborated so well together to organize all of the logistics of the event.  The BIS admin staff are never really seen, but their work is clearly visible. There was a lot of oganization needed for this event from everyone – security, ground staff, purchasing, government liaison to name a few.  As usual, everyone took up the challenge with a smile!

I would like to thank senior StuCo for their willingness to take on the photo competition and keep the spirit of the anniversary going all year.  I am very much looking forward to the photo collage that we will create at the end of the school year highlighting our 30th year!

I would like to thank all of you for choosing to participate by dressing in national costume, parading with pride and representing our community so well.

I has always been clear that one of the things that is so special about our school is our community and the value that we all place on each other.  This lead to the phrase ‘an active, creative and respectful learning community’ being part of our Mission and it also makes it clear to see that we achieve this on an ongoing basis.

The only suggestions that I received yesterday were: 1.  Can we do this regularly? and 2.  Can we do this longer next time? This is another clear indication of the success of the day and the spirit of the school.  When we create next year’s events calendar, I will discuss the possibility of making this a yearly event with the PTFA chairs.

I hope that you all have a well deserved, relaxing weekend.

Best regards,

Denise Walsh

Head of School