Dear Returning ISO Families and New ISO Families:

Welcome to the 2024-2025 academic year!

Our Admin team has been at work since August 1st; newly hired teachers joined us last week for orientation; and the entire ISO Faculty has returned to work today. Next week, it will all come together when the students join us!

The First Day:

We are excited to kick off the new year with our first day of school starting one week from today, on Monday, August 19th. All students will be directed to gather in the School Auditorium before the teachers escort them to their relevant classes. We hope all families will return this week and be here from day one — every day your child is present will make a difference to his/her learning!

The Other 179 Days:

To be sure your child doesn’t miss a single day, please consult the ISO Monthly Calendar shared here. This calendar also denotes events that you should plan to attend with small purple stars.

School Drop Off:

Classes begin every day at 7:45 sharp, including on the first day of school. All students are required to be on campus before 7:45 am. I recommend that you plan your family transport carefully so that students are dropped at the school by 7:30 am.

ISO security measures require that all cars are checked before entry inside the wall. For a faster drop off experience each morning, we encourage all families to drop students at the external pedestrian gate rather than driving inside. You will find me outside to welcome students and to monitor traffic for safe driving.

What to Send to School?

All Students:

• A reusable water bottle labelled with your child’s name.
• A healthy snack each day – especially fruits, vegetables, and dairy snacks.
• If you do not plan to order the new hot lunch from P’Tit Paris, a healthy packed lunch.

Pre-K: All classroom supplies will be provided but please send:

• An extra set of clothes to keep at school in case of any accidents or spills, in a bag labelled with the child’s name;

Lower School (LS) Pre-K to Grade 5: All classroom supplies will be provided.
Upper School (US) Grades 6-12: The supplies listed on the US School Supply list attached to this email.

How to Stay in Touch

Though the physical walls around ISO are very tall, it is the objective of all Faculty and Staff to ensure that no barriers prevent communication among us. We maintain active WhatsApp groups for ease of communication, and we hope that parents and teachers will maintain positive, supportive and frequent communication. The contact information for all professional staff will be shared with families once we have the list up-to-date.

At ISO, we encourage parents to directly contact the person involved whenever a concern or question might arise — no matter the issue: small or large; mundane or maddening. The best way to solve problems is openly and with the person involved.

You are welcome to contact me as well by email (director@iso.bf) or WhatsApp (+226 03 52 39 53). You can share ideas, connect me to other prospective parents, or help me learn how your business, your personal expertise, and/or your professional connections might be used to support ISO and student learning.

What’s New This Year?

New Director: I am new to ISO this year, like many of you, and I am thrilled to lead the school into the next chapter in its long history. My husband and I have worked in excellent international schools, all over the world, since 1992. We are both from the USA, and we moved here from our most recent post in Banjul, The Gambia

New Faculty: Five new teachers have joined ISO this year:

1. Ms. Elizabeth Zans – Art
2. Mr. Franklin Nkwelle – Social Studies
3. Mr. John Anderson – Sciences
4. Ms. Lydie Dimithe – K/1 Homeroom (maternity cover)
5. Mr. Patrick Holmes – English

New families: 22 students from around 15 families have been enrolled to join ISO this year (with the largest group entering in PK3!) The whole ISO Community extends a warm and heartfelt welcome to the new families. We are all delighted to have you join our vibrant community and everyone looks forward to getting to know each of you. We hope your time with us will be filled with enriching experiences and meaningful connections.

New parents and students kindly plan to attend the: New Family Orientation
Friday, August 16th, 2024
at 10 a.m.

At this orientation session you will meet me, other key school staff, and your child’s teachers. Each teacher will take you to see their homeroom class and to learn everything you need to be ready for a confident start on the first day of school. Please RSVP to ISO CRO, Johnnathan Benduoane at CRO@ISO.bf to confirm your attendance.

New Facilities

When you come into the ISO campus this year, you will see a beautiful new balcony facade and marble entry to the Admin Building, and newly paved walkways into campus. The materials and labor were provided by newly elected Board Member, Dr. Beli Biyen, President of Yelhy Technology. Many thanks to Dr. Biyen for his generosity and expertise in making ISO more beautiful!

After walking down the paved entries into campus, students will find five new water fountains as well as three refurbished fountains around campus. The project to install these is still underway, and all fountains have individual filters and extensions so that students and faculty can fill their personal water bottles with fresh, chilled water. Thanks to the ISO PTA for supporting part of this project. We look forward to doing all we can to ensure ISO structures look fresh and attractive and are well maintained for the safety and health of our students.

New Lunch Systems

ISO has its own branch of P’Tit Paris on campus, and Chef Charbel and Manager Elias met with ISO staff to plan new ways to ensure hungry students — big and small — have a nutritious, tasty hot lunch each day. A new plated, hot lunch buffet option will be offered every day, by advance order. Chef Charbel will work regularly with Student Council members to ensure popular buffet options.

Another change will see K-G5 students have their own LS lunch hour, separate from G6-12, to provide them space to all sit down and enjoy lunch together in the cafeteria (rather than in classrooms).

The ISO P’Tit Paris has also committed to reducing their impact on the planet by reducing the use of disposable items. Bravo! Have no fear though, Mr. Elias is still committed to offering a la carte items at special prices at the ISO P’Tit Paris. This includes his standard offer of discounts on P’Tit Paris birthday cakes and use of the facility for birthday parties with advance ISO approval/booking.

To those families who are departing, we bid you a fond farewell. Your contributions and presence will be missed, and we wish you all the best in your future endeavors.

What is Not New at ISO?

Fun fact: ISO was inaugurated exactly 50 years ago, in 1974! It was established as a not-for-profit educational institution, designed to foster cultural relations between the Burkinabe people and the people of the USA and of other countries represented in the school community. After two years, classes began, with the first students joining in September 1976.

ISO now and always has seen itself as a family; we are a group of parents, teachers, and staff committed to working together to create a place where each student is a unique individual and a place where all students are included and can ‘Learn to Excel’. At ISO the Mission is one of a holistic education.

Our first job is to keep our students safe and well. The second task is to make ISO students good people: respectful, empathetic humans who are responsible global citizens. The third responsibility is to provide each child with the individualized instruction, support, and personal nurturing and guidance they need to become critical thinkers with the academic skills, habits, and work ethic needed for success wherever they go after ISO.

So our commitment to supporting every unique individual towards growth will continue in 2024-25. I know that we can count on ISO parents’ continued support of our teachers and admin team as we work together this year.
Here’s to a fantastic year filled with growth, learning, collaboration, hard work, and fun!

All the best,

Ms. Anderson
Myna Anderson, ISO Director