ISF Newsletter June 2023

THE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF FLORENCE NEWSLETTER , June 2023

Editor-in-Chief

Tanya Bruckner

Editor

Nicola Pender

Design and layout

Tess Hitchcock

Printer

Tipografia Color Print

ISF alumni, families, faculty, and friends are welcomed and encouraged to submit ideas and articles for consideration.

Inquiries may be addressed to: communications@isfitaly.org

www.isfitaly.org

FROM THE BOARD

CATHLEEN COMPTON CHAIR OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The 2022-23 school year got off to a good start last summer as we welcomed our new Head of School, Sharyn Baddeley, to ISF. Sharyn has worked tirelessly to bring a spirit of gratitude and positivity to our school while working to achieve the various improvements we have set as our goals. Thank you, Sharyn!

We celebrated our 70th Anniversary with events throughout the year. The fantastic Alumni Reunion was a highlight as we welcomed guests from across the world and kicked off the school’s exciting Development Fund.

This year also brought real sadness, as we lost two members of our community, a parent and a beloved teacher. The ISF Community remembers Eytan and Sandra and extends condolences to their families, friends, and colleagues.

The Board recognizes and is grateful to our teachers who provide ISF students with a caring learning environment. The collective efforts across the school culminate in the successes of our graduating senior class, a group of 65 students who make ISF proud in so many ways – through innovative and exceptional CAS projects, by the acceptances they have received from leading universities, and for their vibrant presence among us. We wish them well and trust that the education they have received at ISF, together with the many friendships they have made, will serve them well for years to come. We look forward to welcoming them among our growing alumni network!

Parents, students, and teachers have participated in many activities this year, from bringing a great sense of spirit to the school through sporting activities to celebrating the diversity of our community at special events like Chinese New Year. ISF has hosted art teachers from across Europe and brought the Model United Nations to our campus. The beauty of language

was a theme this year at the Junior School where parents read to children in many languages. Language trips abroad for students at the Upper School rounded out studies in French and Spanish. A celebration of the arts provided exceptional occasions for the ISF community, from the Diploma Program IBDP Visual Arts Exhibition and the Cantabile Choir’s performance at the famous San Carlo Theater in Naples to the exciting dramatic performances by students throughout the year. We are a vibrant and vital community!

The ISF leadership teams have worked hard to attend to the community’s wellbeing and to promote inquiry-based learning as the driver of academic quality. Our extraordinary support staff work behind the scenes to prepare meaningful events, keep us lively on social media, care for our students’ health, maintain our beautiful facilities, carry out a finely tuned admissions process, and monitor the finances of the school. They are the unsung heroes of ISF, with an ethic of service and hard work that are an example to us all.

The Board would like to thank the United States Consul General, Ragini Gupta, for her participation on our Board as an Honorary Member. We thank veteran Board members who have served with dedication over these past many years and welcome our new members.

We wish all those who are leaving ISF this year, whether to take on new challenges or to enjoy a well-deserved retirement, the very best in the next chapter of their lives.

My own tenure as Board Chair is now coming to a close after 3 years. I am so pleased and confident in our Chair Elect, Morgan Fiumi, who, as an alumnus of this school has ISF in his DNA and who embodies the best of what ISF stands for – balance,

reflection, and dedication to the flourishing of a new generation of young people.

The Board continues to take guidance from the strategic plan and the aspirations it embodies. These past few years have not always been easy, as our community has weathered the pandemic, leadership changes, and the challenges of operating an independent non-profit school in our local context. The Board keeps its focus on building trust in our community, acting constructively to make the school an ever-better place to teach and learn, finding exciting ways to grow, and weaving us into the wider Florence community.

We continue to strive to become ever more “internationallyminded, uniquely Florentine.”

Cathleen Compton

BOARD SPOTLIGHTS

CONOR DEARDEN FRANCESCA BIGNAMI

Name: Francesca Bignami

Children and grades: Alessandro (14), Lorenzo (7)

Profession: Lawyer

Years on the Board: Just started

How would you describe ISF in 3 words? Cultural integration, great opportunity, focus on childrens’ skills

What makes ISF unique? The opportunity to create cosmopolitan and talened young people

Where do you see ISF in the future? Source of new talents, an international think tank

Name: Conor Dearden

Children and grades: Hannah (G4), Alec (G2)

Profession: Software Programmer

Years on the Board: Just started

How would you describe ISF in 3 words? Diverse, accepting, caring

What is your favorite part of campus? The Junior School parking lot, the welcoming community is felt the moment you step out of your car, both from parents and teachers.

What makes ISF unique? The people, Florence, the campus, and the attention to each child.

Where do you see ISF in the future? Leading Europe in project-based learning curriculum.

IRENE SERIO

Name: Irene Serio

Children and grades: Matilde (G5), Massimiliano (G2)

Profession: President OIC Group (marketing, communications, and events management)

Years on the Board: Since February 2023

How would you describe ISF in 3 words? Inspiring, engaging, simply unique

What is your favorite part of campus? The view from the Junior School Italian Garden

What makes ISF unique? The people. An amazing group of teachers, staff, students and families, working together with love and dedication to let our children find their way and helping to make the world a better place.

Where do you see ISF in the future? As warm and welcoming as today, but always ready for every new challenge of tomorrow.

FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

SHARYN BADDELEY

Welcome to our final newsletter of the academic year, it has been a wonderful few weeks with so many things to celebrate. Thank you to everyone who has helped make the exams, events and celebrations go so smoothly and positively. Teamwork is essential to everything we do at ISF and each of us has our own unique part to play; it is a great example to our students when we collaborate successfully.

I have been reflecting on my first year at ISF and I have certainly learnt a great deal, thank you for your warmth and patience! I have spent a lot of time this year getting to know our students and community, and observing the processes and procedures that make the school run. ISF is a vibrant school with a huge amount of potential. We have wonderful foundations and our 70th anniversary celebrations certainly reminded us of this fact. There are more changes ahead with staff and students moving on, and we want to wish them the very best. We are also welcoming new people in September and this is an opportunity to embrace new ideas and practices that can hopefully benefit us all. I have worked with the Leadership Team on our strategic goals for next year and we are excited by the opportunities for growth. We are all invested in making ISF the very best that it can be for our students and we will continue to work hard to achieve our ambitious goals.

I hope that you all have a restful, relaxing and very happy holiday, and come back refreshed and ready for another exciting year at ISF!

Best wishes,

Sharyn Baddeley

INTERNATIONAL BOOK WEEK

NICKY SHAMASH AND PAOLA SCOPELLITI VICE PRINCIPAL OF LEARNING AND JUNIOR SCHOOL LIBRARIAN

As an International School, international mindedness is at the heart of everything we do. The learning community envisions, creates, articulates, and models a culture of international mindedness. International mindedness is a view of the world in which people see themselves connected to the global community and assume a sense of responsibility towards its members.

The learner profile and approaches to learning provide the dispositions and foundational skills for the development and demonstration of international mindedness. One way that we celebrate our International community, the language we speak and the countries and cultures to which we belong is through our International Week and our Book Week. This year, for the first time ever, we combined this two events to have an “International Book Week.”

This 4-day event was a community celebration of literature, reading, and languages at ISF. Along with favorite activities such as Door Decoration, Book Character Day, and Buddy Reading, students also participated in drama performances and workshops, attended the drama club’s performance of The Wizard of Oz, swapped books, and enjoyed listening to stories and poems in many different languages.

Our Grade 2 students performed a Poetry Slam and Scottish dance routine for the Grade 2 families. Some students and parents showcased their talents and the many languages of ISF by sharing a poem in their home language with the audience.

Each child brought their favorite book to school from home, or found a favorite from our library which was shared and discussed in each of the classes.

Students then selected an important sentence or phrase from

the book which was written down and added to a whole school mural inspired by our ‘book of the year’, A Child of Books by Oliver Jeffers. This beautiful piece of artwork is now displayed in the cortile for the whole school community to enjoy.

The students’ favorite books were then displayed on a red carpet of ISF’s favorite books, which the community got to browse in the Italian garden.

A whole school publishing party rounded of the week, with small groups of students from Foundation to Grade 5 sharing their most recent published piece of writing with their siblings, friends and family.

GRADE 5 PYP EXHIBITION

NICKY SHAMASH, VICE PRINCIPAL OF LEARNING, AND GRADE 5 STUDENTS

The PYP exhibition is an event where students are given the opportunity to share their understanding of a real-life issue or topic. The exhibition is one of the final experiences of the IB Primary Years Programme, done at the end of Grade 5 at ISF. The exhibition helps students engage in a collaborative form of learning and inquiry, show autonomy and agency with regards to their learning and demonstrate that they’ve learned and can enact the key qualities of the IB Learner Profile. The exhibition also helps to unite PYP students as part of a community, reflect on their PYP learning experiences on the whole, and acts as a step towards the next part of their educational journey as they move on from the PYP. Here are some reflections from some Grade 5 students after the experience.

Nicky Shamash

During my exhibition I showed that I was a communicator by talking in front of everyone in the assembly that I led and at the exhibition when parents, teachers and kids passed by. I even showed I was caring when making our displays. I help my friends to cut something. I’m getting them a piece of paper that they needed. Finally, I was a thinker by planning and thinking what I would do for my action and creative piece.

Bianca Marchi

During exhibition, I was a communicator when I did an assembly because I shared my learning with other people. During an exhibition I was in Inquirer when I did not understand something I did not give up, I continued researching deeper and

deeper. During the exhibition I was principled when someone invited me to do something else. I first finished my own work and then helped them.

Giorgia Capua

During exhibition, I showed, I was knowledgeable when I picked my mom’s profession, so my mum helped me a lot and I read a bunch of articles to learn and become very smart. Another time I showed I was an inquirer was by asking questions and searching for an answer by looking even harder. Another time during exhibition, I showed I was a balanced person by spending time writing my summaries, reading and summarising to balance out my brain and hand.

Ami Alpern

During the exhibition, I showed how I was a thinker, as I decided my plans and I knew what I needed to do before the exhibition like my creative piece.

During the exhibition I showed I was a communicator when I figured out what I was going to say and what information I would list when speaking. I had clear lines of communication with my teachers and my mentor. During the exhibition, I showed I was knowledgeable when I discovered more information that I felt comfortable to share.

Anaishe Tirivayi

EARLY YEARS

NICKY SHAMASH AND KAREN GREGG VICE PRINCIPAL OF LEARNING AND EARLY YEARS TEACHER

Our strategic goal in the Early Years this year was to continue shaping our early years programming to be Reggio Emilia inspired and create meaningful outdoor learning spaces. We have been working hard towards meeting this goal.

Our Early Years 1, 2 and Foundation have been harnessing the learning potential of the outdoors through explorations of the Olive Grove and our Early Years garden. Whether it be rain or shine, children have the opportunity to be learning outside. We are equipped with rainboots, waterproof jackets and pants so that everyone stays dry and warm.

We have been exploring the research and pedagogy on the benefits of outdoor play and learning in the early years through a partnership with the charity Learning through Landscapes. A consultant came to visit in October and is continuing to liaise with us via virtual Professional Development.

Through this site visit, we have made adaptations to the structure of our day in Early Years 1 and 2. Every morning, students in both classes have the opportunity to mix together and freely choose which of the available zones they would like to engage in. Teachers create learning provocations and observe students play and interactions and responsively support next steps in learning.

Students flow between the outdoor and indoor spaces, including our Atelier space where our Art teacher has a dedicated Early Years hour daily.

The teachers in the Early Years meet to discuss their observations of student learning and plan future provocations based on our developmental benchmarks and learning goals. Provocations for learning are designed outdoors and indoors

through the lens of our units of inquiry as can be seen in these photographs.

Foundation’s How We Express Ourselves Unit of Inquiry

Central idea: People use their creativity to express ideas and evoke feelings

In art, the children went down to the olive grove to collect natural materials for their sculpture pieces. Using recycled paper tubes, clay, and materials found in nature, students developed their sculptures in the art studio. Key learning outcomes for this unit were to use our imagination to create things, and demonstrate enjoyment of and absorption in activities.

Early Years 1 and 2’s Sharing the Planet Unit of Inquiry

Central idea: Observing cycles in nature enable us to connect to its wonder and beauty

Students collected and created with leaves after observing the changes in the trees during the fall. When it rains, the water is collected in the tuff tray and students use it to do experiments exploring concepts of floating and sinking and learning new vocabulary. Key learning outcomes for this unit are to ask questions, make observations, and collect and record data using simple instruments to recognize patterns about how local weather conditions change daily and seasonally.

Early Year 1 and 2’s How We Express Ourselves Unit of Inquiry

Central idea: The arts provide opportunities to enjoy communication, creativity and reflection

Students worked independently and collaboratively with a range of materials to creatively experiment and explore different art forms. Key learning outcomes for this unit include creating artwork in response to a range of stimuli and participating in individual and collaborative creative experiences.

2023 UNIVERSITY ACCEPTANCES

UNITED STATES

Adelphi University

Boston University

Butler University

Colorado University

Colorado School of Mines

Drew University

Duke University

Emerson College

Fordham University

Georgia Institute of Technology

Hofstra University

Ithica College

James Madison University

John Cabot University (Rome)

Loyola Marymount University

Marist College

Marymount Manhattan College

New York University

North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Oklahoma State University

Old Dominion University

Pace University

Rutgers University

Santa Clara University

Sarah Lawrence University

Southern Methodist University

Stanford University

St. John’s University

St. John’s University Honors Program

Stonehill College

The New School, NYC

Temple University

University of California, Berkeley

University of California, Davis

University of California, Los Angeles

University of California, San Diego

University of Colorado, Denver

University of Delaware

University of Massachusetts, Amherst

University of Maryland

University of Maryland, Honors College

University of Michigan

University of Pennsylvania

University of San Francisco

University of Texas, Austin

University of Southern California

Villanoca University

Virginia Commonwealth University

Virginia Tech

Western Washington University

Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Yale University

ITALY

Accademica Costume e Moda

Università Bocconi

Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore

LUISS Business School

Politechnico di Milano

Università IULM

UNITED KINGDOM

Bath Spa University

Binghamton University, SUNY

City, University of London

Durham University

Glasgow School of Art

Hartpury University

HULT International Business School

King’s College London, University of London

Kingston University

London School of Economics & Political Science

University of London

Loughborough University

Northeastern University London

Oxford Brookes University

Queen Mary University of London

Royal HOlloway, University of London

SOAS University of London

Staffordshire University

UCL University College London

University of Bath

University of Birmingham

University of Brighton

University of Bristol

University of Cambridge

University of Central Lancashire

University of Derby

University of East London

University of Edinburgh

University of Exeter

University of Leeds

University of Manchester

University of Nottingham

University of Reading

University of Southampton

University of St. Andrews

University of Sussex

University of the Arts London (UAIL)

University of Warwick

University of Westminster, London

University of York

SPAIN

IE University

EUROPE

ESCP Business School

CANADA

McGill University

University of Toronto

NETHERLANDS

Erasmus University Rotterdam

Maastricht University

University of Amsterdam

Utrecht University

SWITZERLAND

Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne

GLION

Les Roches

GRADE 5 PYP EXHIBITION

GRADE 5 PYP EXHIBITION

GRADE 12 GRADUATION

GRADE 12 PROM

FLOMUN

ALUMNI REUNION

ISF GALA 2023

GALA UPDATE

We were thrilled to host the 2023 ISF Gala at Stazione Leopolda on Friday 12 May. Thank you to everyone who attended and supported the evening. It was wonderful to see so many people from our community come together to support the school as well as our chosen charity, the Meyer Hospital. A special thank you to the amazing Gala Committee who worked tirelessly to pull the evening together. Another huge thank you goes to auctioneers, Alatia Bach and Alessandro Albrighi, the amazing DJ Mousse T and our CAS students for their important contributions to the Gala.

ALUMNI REUNION (previous page)

On Saturday 1st April, the school hosted an alumni reunion to celebrate its 70th anniversary. Over 200 alumni from every era of the school were invited to reconnect with former pupils and staff at the Junior School Campus. Over an aperitivo, alumni had an opportunity to look through yearbooks with photos of classmates and school activities, as well as specially designed panels with class and staff photos. Current students supported the event helping welcome guests and provided music, showcasing their musical talent, and the festivities continued with an evening event at Villa Viviani.

ISF GALA 2023

GREASE PERFORMANCE

CANTABILE IN NAPOLI

FIELD DAY

FIELD DAY

GRADE 5 PROMOTION

GRADE 8 CELEBRATION

ISF SPORTS GALA

ISF SPORTS GALA

CONGRATULATIONS!

Olivia and Stefano welcomed Leonardo D’Andrea on March 7, 2023.

Ilaria married Roberto on March 24, 2023.