ISHavana: International School of Havana

Happy Founder's Day Celebration! 💙

October 25 2022 marked the 57th Anniversary of the opening of by Ms. Phyllis Powers, with about 10 students.

With lots of emotions, we celebrated it this October 31 after the Mid Term break.

Every year since 2001 (except during Covid) students have planted a tree to honour Ms. Phyllis' "planting" of a small tree in 1965 that has become the major tree that is ISHavana today.

We are glad to share some pictures of the at Calle 18 Campus.

WELCOME BACK TO SCHOOL!

ISH is extremely excited to welcome students back on campus for face-to-face learning on Monday, November 2, 2020.

In addition to on-campus classes, ISH will also offer the DLP for those families who have not been able to return to Havana, have returned but are in quarantine, or do not feel it is the right time to send their child back to campus.

All updated on-campus safety protocols have been shared with the community, outlining procedures that are to be followed by students, faculty, staff and visitors.

Visitors and parents/guardians will not have access to Calle 18 or Calle 22 until further notice. Access to Calle 22 will be granted for tuition and other fee payments. Please contact the office prior to arriving to pay fees.

It is also essential that your health information card that was sent via the ISH Health Office, is completed prior to arriving on campus.

All ISH protocols implemented for our return to campus on November 2nd are under constant review and could be changed at any time by the school or the authorities.

We look forward to welcoming you back to campus.

ISH Admin Team

ISH welcomes PreK students on campus today! Lets have some fun!

PreK Students Returning to Campus!

Great news! Our PreK students are returning to campus. We look forward to reopening our Pre K department for our youngest learners (3-4 year olds) on Monday, September 14th. We have been busy enhancing our facilities in preparation for the students' return. We have also compiled comprehensive protocols to ensure the health and safety of all community members. A new health and safety protocol video has been created and sent to all PreK families. We are currently preparing for the return of all students, however we have no fixed date for this phase of reopening as yet. We will of course, update you as soon as we have any news.

Week 2 is in the books!

SeeSaw, Moodle, BigBlueButton, WhatsApp and Zoom! Our Primary School program continues to use the SeeSaw and other platforms productively to support student learning at all ages, including our PreK children. The Secondary School is using Moodle to full advantage, along with other apps, to fully support all of our Middle School, IGCSE and IB classes. Full steam ahead!

Week 1 of 2020-2021 is complete!

Thanks to our administration and faculty for their hard work resulting in a very successful first week of distance learning. Also a big thank you to our students and parents for their flexibility, patience, and enthusiasm as we rolled out our new DLP. Have a great weekend!

Welcome Back to School!

We are excited to welcome all of our ISH students, returning and new, to school for the 2020-2021 academic year!

While our campus is closed, we will introduce our new Distance Learning Program (DLP) for all ISH students tomorrow to start the year. The administration, faculty, and staff have been planning for this possibility throughout the summer, and we feel we have created an excellent program that will allow our students to meet their full learning potential.

Our goal during this campus closure, is to ensure a continuity of learning while maintaining flexibility for our parents and students. We understand that distant learning poses a variety of challenges for both students and families as they adjust to a new normal in a challenging environment. ISH Faculty and Principals are here to support our community by providing consistent, engaging learning opportunities that ensure our students are active participants in their education.

While we are excited to introduce the DLP, we are fully prepared to re-open campus and offer face-to-face learning when able to do so safely. In the meantime, we look forward to welcoming our students back to school digitally on September 1st.

I also want to welcome all of our new students and families to ISH and I personally look forward to meeting everyone in the ISH community soon.

R.Neen
ISH Director

Teachers are back! Orientation has begun.

Day 1 of Teacher Orientation is in the books. With the majority of our teachers in Havana, we were able to plan our faculty orientation on campus.

Our focus on a safe, on-campus, orientation will allow ISH teachers to prepare for September 1st, our first day of school, and specifically for our new Distance Learning Program (DLP).

R.Neen
ISH Director

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¡Maestros de regreso a la Escuela! La orientación ha comenzado.

El primer día de Orientación al Maestro ya es historia. Con la mayoría de nuestros maestros en la Habana, pudimos planificar que el claustro de profesores tuviera su primera orientación de desarrollo profesional en nuestras instalaciones.

Enfocados en la seguridad de nuestras sedes, la orientación permitirá a los maestros prepararse para el 1ro de septiembre, nuestro primer día de clases y también el primer día del nuevo Programa de Aprendizaje en Línea (DLP).

R.Neen
ISH Director

Welcome back to ISH!

This is to announce our first day of school for the 2020-2021 academic year will be September 1st . Due to government mandates, ISH will begin the new school year online using a new Distance Learning Program (DLP) which will be shared with families in the coming days.

The Government of Cuba has worked extremely hard to safeguard the general population and we appreciate their continued efforts to ensure that the spread of the COVID-19 throughout the country is mitigated. While we endorse the cautious approach that they are taking with regards to the opening of the schools and reopening of airports, these factors have made it impossible for us to open the ISH school campus for students as originally planned.

More information will be shared in the coming days regarding the DLP and student orientation.

This year ISH will communicate with the community via email, WhatsApp, and Facebook. Additional methods of communication will be introduced once school has started. When possible, communication will be sent in both English and Spanish. If you are having trouble accessing any of these communication tools, please reach out to the ISH IT Office for support.

Please do not hesitate to contact your division principals if you have academic program questions.

We look forward to having a fantastic year!

Randal Neen
ISH Director

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¡Bienvenidos de regreso a la ISH!

La presente es para anunciar que el primer día de clases de nuestro año académico 2020-2021, será el 1ro de septiembre. Por regulaciones gubernamentales, ISH comenzará el nuevo año escolar en línea, utilizando un nuevo Programa de Aprendizaje a Distancia (DLP), el cual será compartido con las familias en los próximos días.

El gobierno de Cuba ha trabajado arduamente para salvaguardar a toda la población y agradecemos sus continuos esfuerzos para mitigar la propagación de la COVID-19 por todo el país. Si bien nosotros apoyamos el enfoque cauteloso que han tomado respecto a la reapertura de escuelas y aeropuertos, estos factores han impedido la apertura de ambas sedes de ISH para los estudiantes, como se planificó inicialmente.

Más información concerniente al DLP (por sus siglas en inglés) y la Orientación para Estudiantes será compartida en los próximos días.

Este año ISH se comunicará con la comunidad mediante email, WhatsApp y Facebook. Métodos adicionales de comunicación serán anunciados una vez que la escuela se haya iniciado. Siempre que sea posible, las comunicaciones serán enviadas en Inglés y Español. Si usted está presentando problemas para acceder a alguna de estas herramientas de comunicación, acérquese a la oficina de IT de la ISH en busca de apoyo.

Por favor, no dude en contactar a los Directores de Primaria y Secundaria si tiene preguntas acerca del programa académico.

¡Esperamos tener un año fantástico!

Randal Neen
ISH Director

It's officially been summer vacation for a week! What have you been reading to celebrate? What's your favourite place to read?