We made this book for you, for new kids who will go to the International School of Prague (ISP). Welcome to ISP!
We are Kindergarteners and this guide was our idea. This book is for kids who are three years old all the way to the highest grade in the Elementary School, 5th Grade. You will have a lot of fun and learn a lot of things at ISP like we have.
There are a lot of things you need to know about our school. There are many important places that you will be going and every room has a number.
You can keep this book with you because it is also a map and you can learn where you are and where you need to go. We’ve drawn pictures for you and told you some of the things that we think are important.
As you look through our book, you’ll find information on what you need to bring with you, things you need to know, people who help us and the stories behind our experiences here at ISP.
Kindergarten The Library The Music Room Small Gym The Theaters Cafeteria Recess Cubbies Inside Shoes The Bathrooms Healthy snack 6-day schedule Pre-K rooms Grades 1,2,3,4,5 Main Reception Security Guards ID Badges The Nurses The Elementary Offices Maps
132
You can check out books to take home and read. You can go to the Library and you can research in books to find out new things.
I like books about butterflies. I ask Ms. Sandra to help me find some books about butterflies and I checked them out to take home to read. I learned a lot about butterflies!
132 – the library
102
You need to know where the Music room is because you learn how to play instruments and you learn how to perform on stage.
My favorite thing about music is when I was standing on stage and singing the grizzly bear song in front in the gathering.
102 – the music room
127
You need to know where the Small Gym is because we go to P.E. (Physical Education) there.
My favorite games to play in P.E. are “What’s the Time, Mr. Wolf?” and Tornado Tag. We run a lot there and we get a lot of exercise too.
127 – the small gym
121
If you are in Pre-K, Kindergarten, or Grade 1, you eat lunch in your classroom. Kids in Grades 2, 3, 4 and 5 eat lunch in the Cafeteria. The Cafeteria is important because they have a lot of food for kids to eat. You can go there before school or after school to get food to eat and you can eat it in the Cafeteria or take it away.
One day I went to the Cafeteria after school with my Mom and my brother and we bought popcorn for a snack, it was yummy!
121 – the cafeteria
178 76
We have gatherings every two weeks on Fridays. We either go to the Elementary Theater – you can also call it the small theater – or we go to the Landau Theater – you can also call it the big theater. In the gathering the whole ISP Elementary goes so we can all be together. We watch people perform and kids read books at the gatherings. The big kids talk about a new country every time too.
76 – small theater
You need to know where the theaters are because we have lots of important gatherings there during the year. You get to see your brother or sister at the gatherings too and I always wave to my sister.Â
178 – big theater
We have recess two times a day. We have recess with all of the classes in our grade level at the same time. There are two playgrounds and another area and some kids go to the playground by Kindergarten and other kids go to the big playground by the tennis courts. Some kids also play on the grass near their classroom too.
I play with Liam to find a treasure on the playground. We found a crystal! But then we lost it! We have to find it again. I also like to play hide and seek. I like to hide behind the trees. We also have a cool spider web to climb on! (recess has no room number)
91
You need cubbies because you need to have a special place for your stuff so it won’t get lost. You keep your backpack, your inside shoes, your snack, jackets and scarf, and extra clothes.
I use my cubby to put my jacket in and shoes and my bag for the whole day. It stays there while I’m at school. Then after school I put my jacket on and change my shoes and pack up my backpack and I go home.
91 – beside our kindergarten room
91
When you come to our school you need to bring inside shoes so if there is mud, rain, snow, or dirt you would make the class dirty so you need to change your shoes for inside shoes and put your outside shoes in your cubby. When you go outside for recess you change your shoes again to your outside shoes so you can play outside.
One day when it was snowy when I came to school and if you step with snowy shoes inside the classroom then if the snow melts then people can slip and it makes our class dirty. So you need inside shoes.
91 – beside our kindergarten room
91
Pre-K and Kindergarten classes have toilets and sinks inside their classrooms. The kids in Grades 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 need to walk down the hallway to the toilet.
When I need to go to wash my hands I just go wash my hands in the class when they are dirty before I eat snack and lunch.
91 - kindergarten room
91
You need to bring a healthy snack because it turns your brain on so you can think really well. You need to bring a snack to school every day.
I like to bring applesauce, kiwi, watermelon, raisins, cucumbers, carrots, cheese, a little sandwich with ham, crackers, apples and peppers. I bring my snack in a box and I keep it in my cubby inside my backpack.
91 - kindergarten room
91
You have to know which day it is on the six day schedule because you need to know which special you have so you can get ready. If you have Library you have to bring your books back in your bag so you can check out more books.
I have a six day schedule at home. I look at it and see which specials I have in the morning. It helps me to know what is going to happen during the day.
78
79
82
You can come to ISP when you are three years old. We also have Pre-K 4 and you need to be four years old.
We have our own playground outside and when I was in Pre-K 3 and Pre-K 4 I liked to draw and build with my friends. I also painted a spider when I saw a spider in a jar.
78, 79, 82 - pre-K rooms
grade 3
grade 1 and 2
grade 1 and 2 and grade 3 hallways
My brothers moved up every year from Kindergarten to Grade 1 and then to Grade 2 and then to Grade 3. I even had a brother in Grade 5!
You need to know where the next Grade is so you know where you will be the next school year.
grade 4 and 5 rooms (upstairs)
199
The Security Guard and the Receptionist work at the Main Reception desk. They can tell you where everything is in school. The Security Guards can help you find something you lost or if your Mom or Dad is late picking you up they can call your Mom or Dad.
The new people need to know where the Main Reception is because the people there can help you find the classroom you are supposed to be in. There is also a green sofa you can sit on when you are tired and want to relax.
199 – main reception
199
The Security Guards are people who help us to stay safe. They know where every place in the school is and they can help you find it.
The Security Guards are really nice and they smile at you in the morning when you go into the school.
199 – main reception
199
If you come to our school, your parents or babysitter will need to have an I.D. card around their neck so you know the person can be in the school.
When my babysitter was new, she had to go to the Security Guards because they make the I.D. cards so she can pick me up from school.
199 – main reception
119
The Nurses can help you when you are hurt. I think people need to know where the Nurses are because when they don’t feel well, the Nurses will help you.
One day I bumped my head outside on the playground and Ms. Jana took me to the Nurse. The Nurse checked if I am okay and gave me an ice pack.
119 – the nurses
66,67,68,69
I think people need to know about the Elementary offices because they can help us with everything. The Principals and the Secretaries are in the Elementary offices. They can help you finding your class, solving problems, to read a book in a gathering or to go on a field trip.
When I first came to ISP, I went to the Principal's office because I had to know where my classroom was. Dr. Vega showed me and my Dad and my Mom and my sister so they would know where to pick me up.
66,67,68,69 – the elementary offices
85, 87, 91
95, 97, 99
132
94, 96, 98
102
105, 107, 109
127 179, 76 121
(upstairs) (upstairs) 199 119
78,79,82 66, 67, 68, 69
127
132
121
109
102
98
96
107
179 199
119
105
99
94 91
97
95
87 85
76 82 66,67,68,69
79 78
About this project… At the beginning of the school year we have a fascinating job to do. With the children in front of us, in a landscape of materials and spaces, from our values, hopes and practical actions, we build a community that has never existed before.
This year in KB Kindergarten we began by asking the five-year-old children about their lives beyond the classroom. Where did they live? Who else lived there? What was important in their neighbourhood? How did they travel to school? As the children talked about and drew answers to these questions, a multiperspective map began to appear, of homes and significant locations, points of departure and a shared place of arrival.
We arranged the children’s drawings side by side on a large wall so they could be seen by everyone. The children asked each other precise questions and often added to their own drawings in response. A twenty-minute discussion in our morning meeting about driveways and garage door mechanisms told us clearly that the smallest detail in one child’s life could be deeply fascinating to others.
We planned to extend this collaborative map to include locations around the school, but something more urgent happened first. A child was late arriving on the day the class went to the forest. How would they know which way to come and where to meet? What if you were a new person starting Kindergarten who had never been to the forest before?
Every Room Has a Number and its fold-out map to the forest, began from this genuine need. The children organised themselves into working groups to survey, photograph, record and illustrate important places and details. They encountered tricky problems along the way.
How do you get everything onto a map in the right order and size? What happens when your map is getting too big to hold? What do you include in a guide? What would someone else need to know? Other maps are visible around the school buildings, drawn up by architects and planners; they are all adult-made and often, as the children noticed, placed higher than a five-year-old’s head. They are included here but joined with the children’s voices and perspectives. Our buildings only come alive after all when children are there.
Families come to ISP from all over the world and time taken to discover our connections and differences is time well spent. This year our initial explorations flourished into an ever-widening map of journeys and places of significance. We would love you to use this guide to find your way around but it is also a message of welcome from children already here to those newly arriving. We hope you will soon feel very much at home.
Deb Wilenski - Pedagogical Advisor
Allison Bryan - Kindergarten Teacher
International School of Prague, 2019
This book was created in 2019 by members of the KB Kindergarten class at the International School of Prague: Sophia, [6:6]
Vlad, [6:0]
Gijs, [6:6]
Orla, [6:0]
Nicki, [6:5]
Emmy, [5:9]
Tess, [6:5]
Dayun, [6:5]
Mohamed, [6:5]
Zhenya, [5:6]
Peter, [6:4]
Nangyal, [5.6]
Artemii, [6:3] Felix, [6:1] Luv, [6:1] Liam, [6:0]
With help from: Allison Bryan - Kindergarten Teacher Jana Chládková - Kindergarten Aide
Elizabeth Perry - Design Support Deb Wilenski - Pedagogical Support