School Bulletin 28 – 17th September 2021

School Bulletin

UPDATES AND NOTIFICATIONS:

Learning Schedule for the week of the 20th to the 24th of  September:

DATE IN-PERSON LEARNING VIRTUAL LEARNING
Monday 20th September EY, Y1, Y2, Y3, Y4, Y5C, Y6, Y7, Y9, Y11 and Y12 Y5A, Y5B, Y8 and Y10
Tuesday 21st September EY, Y1, Y2, Y3, Y4, Y5A, Y6, Y7, Y9, Y11 and Y12 Y5B, Y5C, Y8 and Y10
Wednesday 22nd September EY, Y1, Y2, Y3, Y4, Y5B, Y6, Y7, Y9, Y11 and Y12 Y5A, Y5C, Y8 and Y10
Thursday 23rd September EY, Y1, Y2, Y3, Y4, Y5C, Y, Y7, Y9, Y11 and Y12 Y5A, Y5B, Y8 and Y10
Friday 24th September EY, Y1, Y2, Y3, Y4, Y6, Y7, Y9, Y11 and Y12 Y5A, Y5B, Y5C, Y8 and Y10

 

WEEK IN REVIEW: Week 28 has seen the whole School Community celebrate 200 years of Costa Rican independence. Highlights of this week included the lantern parade by our Early Years students on Tuesday, the wonderful array of traditional costumes that students and staff wore on Wednesday and two fabulous Acto Cívico presentations that included beautiful dances, inspiring speeches, impressive musical performances and engaging dramatizations. We would like to thank all staff members and students who worked so hard to make this important celebration such a success. Please see our Facebook page for pictures of the various activities this week.

NEASC ACCREDITATION VISIT: For the final week of the semester, we will be welcoming a team of five international education experts as part of our NEASC accreditation process.  The visitors, who are joining us virtually from New York, Honduras, Brazil, The Dominican Republic and The United States Minor Outlying Islands, will be observing lessons in all year levels as well as having meetings with various members of our Community.  Their visit will conclude with a detailed report on areas of strength as well as potential areas for improvement, as well as a decision on our accreditation status (this report is typically received approximately six weeks after the visit). We would like to thank all members of our community in advance for making our visitors feel welcome during this week.  

PRIMARY-PARENT TEACHER MEETINGS: We would like to remind all Early Years and Primary parents that we have virtual parent-teacher meetings next week.  To ensure that teachers have enough time to have individual meetings with all parents, classes on Wednesday the 22nd of September will end at 12 midday for all Early Years and Primary classes.

EATING DISORDERS PRESENTATION: We would like to thank Francela Jaikel for providing our Year 10 and Year 11 students with an engaging and informative learning activity about eating disorders. Francela, a psychologist who is certified in behavioural dialectic therapy, is a specialist on the topic of eating disorders and provided our students with both guidance and an opportunity to reflect on this important topic. We would like to thank both the Student Council and our SDS Department for organising this valuable initiative.

PAYMENT OF SCHOOL FEES BY BANK TRANSFER: The school has always been reluctant to accept payments by means of transfers into our bank account.  Obviously, with the restrictions imposed by Health and Safety considerations, the number of parents paying by this means has increased.  The problem is that many payments arrive in our account without the corresponding notification of transfer and without any details within the record of the transfer and, because so many payments are of exactly the same amount, we cannot identify who is paying.

Unfortunately, as a result of not being able to prove that the family has indeed paid (when they have), it is extremely likely that some students will be suspended for non-payment at the end of this month.

PSAT/NMSQT PAYMENT (YEAR 10 AND YEAR 11 STUDENTS: The PSAT exam, which serves to prepare students for the SAT test (a very important exam for admissions to universities in the United States), will take place on Saturday, October 16th at the school for year 10 and year 11 students who expressed an interest in taking the exam in the past days.  The cost of the test is $40 or the equivalent in Colones. Please contact Sandra Madriz at the Caja (smadriz@bscr.ed.cr) indicating that you wish to proceed with test payment for your Year 10 or Year 11 student and include the student’s name and grade level in the message.  Let Sandra know if you are paying via a credit card charge or a bank transfer. If the payment is a bank transfer include the legend PSAT payment and the name of the student who is taking the test in the reference for the transaction.  Please contact Ana Lourdes Baumgartner, University Counsellor (abaumgartner@bscr.ed.cr) if you have questions.

HEALTH AND SAFETY: Thank you to all Secondary Parents and Staff Members who completed our voluntary vaccination survey.  The results, as of Friday the 10th of September, are as follows:

Staff Survey Data
Responses received from staff members – 140/140 = 100%
Total number of respondents who indicated that they have received at least one vaccination – 132/140 = 94%
Total number of respondents who indicated that they have received both vaccinations – 128/140 = 91%

Secondary Student Survey Data
Responses received from Secondary Parents – 270/376 = 72%
Total number of respondents who indicated that their child has received at least one vaccination – 242/270 = 90%
Total number of respondents who indicated that their child has received both vaccinations – 159/270 = 59%

Tranosys Survey Data
Responses received from Tranosys employees – 36/36 = 100%
Total number of respondents who indicated that they have received at least one vaccination – 34/36 = 94%
Total number of respondents who indicated that they have received both vaccinations – 15/36 = 42%

To answer two frequently asked questions:
We cannot force our employees to be vaccinated.  Neither can we suspend or fire them for not getting vaccinated.
The drivers and assistants who work for the school bus service (Tranosys) are not our employees.

 

 

Design by Luigi Mata @Addict2Design