Dear SSIS Parents –
For several weeks our teachers, staff, and students have all been anticipating these past two days and I’m thrilled to report we have had a wonderful opening of the new school year. While it may not be easy adjusting our alarm clocks to a much early time of the day, it’s a joy to have the students back in classes. Our returning students have quickly connected with friends and our new students are finding their places in classes and activities.
Once again, we open with the largest student body in the history of the school: 1050 students across all three divisions. SSIS students are also staying longer, and we had our lowest departure rate of students in the history of the school. We are further thrilled that 93% of our teaching staff has returned this year. We spend a great deal of time recruiting the best teachers we can find around the world and our mission is to keep each of them as long as possible.
As many of you noticed, we did a great deal of work this summer on the entrance to campus. The new gate and traffic patterns are meant to make pick up and drop off
times safer for those in cars and on foot. We take the safety of your children very seriously and we ask for your cooperation in making the system work. Please remind al
l drivers that students may be dropped off and picked up only if the vehicle is directly next to the curbside. We will not allow students to walk between cars to enter or exit vehicles. Pulling your car all the way forward in line before stopping will also help to speed things along.
The new café and bookstore have also proven a hit with the community, even as some have yet to discover the new garden area behind with extra seating. I’ve been surprised to see how popular the Oxford shirt and school tie have been with our girls in high school.
There have been many other changes this year to our facilities and curriculum, as well, and we look forward to sharing them with you over the next few weeks, all part of the SSIS Strategic Plan which was adopted last spring with input from parents, teachers, and students.
Sincerely yours,
Mark Sylte, Head of School
