Upgrades

By: Marc de Vries, Deputy Head of School/CFO

As a not-for profit organization, ISB is in the fortunate position to be able to re-invest all its funds back into the school. This allows us to continue keeping our facilities up-to-date and current with best learning practices. We are now in year five of a seven-year facility masterplan which has seen substantial renovations of our classrooms, cafeteria’s, playgrounds and sports facilities, as well as improvements in safety and security.

You may have seen that this summer we enclosed and renovated the ES Auxi Gym and added a Mezzanine floor in the Breezeway to accommodate the new Athletics office. ISB was designed by renowned architect, Sumet Jumsai, as an outdoor campus with lots of green space. Our safety precautions in relation to the heat index, air quality and lightning warnings, have required us to build more indoor spaces so our PE classes and afternoon activities can continue when

Preliminary piling work for newly constructed storage spaces will start in December and after Songkran, construction will start on the MS/HS Auxi gym itself. At this time the gym will no longer be available. The reason we plan to start construction earlier than usual is for the gym to be completed by the start of next school year, when during the rainy season, we will need the space most.

Included in the project is a complete renovation of the Fitness Center. The Fitness Center has become an important resource in supporting our PE classes and athletics programs, and together with Cory Campopiano, our athletic development trainer, make ISB’s expertise in this area unrivalled in Asia. Upgrading the center into a modern gym accessible for both our students and parent community, will be another step towards maintaining the excellence of our PE and athletics programs.

Additional projects to look out for in the next two years include the enclosing of the grade 5 quad and other grade level quads to create adaptable learning spaces, closing of the NSC tennis courts, renovation of the Chevron theater, and expansion of our robotics classrooms, to name a few.