NEW FAMILY GUIDE 2023/24

ISF FLORENCE

Junior School Hours

Mon, Wed, Thurs & Fri: 8:30am-3:30pm

Tuesday: 8:30-2:45pm (early dismissal)

SCHOOL HOURS

Drop-off and pick-up procedures will be communicated close to the first day of school.

Upper School Hours

Mon, Wed, Thurs & Fri: 8:15am - 3:00pm

Tuesdays: 8:15- 2:20 pm (early dismissal)

First Day of School

Grades 1-12 will begin on Thursday, 31 August

EY1-Foundation will begin on Monday, 4 september (detailed schedule coming soon)

2

Welcome to our ISF family,

On behalf of the entire ISF community, I want to extend a warm welcome to our school! We are thrilled to have you as a part of our close-knit community and we look forward to getting to know you and your children.

At ISF, we strive to provide an enriching and supportive learning environment for all of our students. We believe that every child has unique talents and abilities, and we work hard to create opportunities for them to excel both academically and personally.

We understand that transitioning to a new school can be daunting, but we want you to know that we are here to support you every step of the way. Our faculty and staff are dedicated to providing a safe and inclusive environment where every student can thrive. We encourage you to get involved in our school community and to take advantage of the many resources and opportunities we offer.

Once again, welcome to ISF! We are excited to have you join us and we look forward to a successful and fulfilling school year.

Sincerely,

Sharyn Baddeley Head of School

3

CONTACTS

Junior School Campus Early Years to Grade 5 Ville le Tavernule - Via del Carota, 23/25 50012 Bagno a Ripoli (FI), Italy tel: +39 055 6461007 email: juniorschooloffice@isfitaly.org Upper School Campus Grade 6 to Grade 12 Villa Torri di Gattaia - Viuzzo di Gattaia, 9 50125 Florence (FI), Italy tel: +39 055 2001515 email: upperschooloffice@isfitaly.org JS Admissions Officer Giorgio Aguilar g.aguilar@isfitaly.org Head of Admissions Patrisha Lauria p.lauria@isfitaly.org US Admissions Officer Laura Garrett l.garrett@isfitaly.org

FAST FACTS

• New Family Orientation - Friday 25 August

• ISF website for calendar updates: https://www.isfitaly.org

• Junior school early dismissal: Tuesdays at 2:45pm

• Middle, High School early dismissal: Tuesdays at 2:20pm

• Junior School office contact for attendance and absences: juniorschooloffice@isfitaly.org

• Upper School office contact for attendance and absences: upperschooloffice@isfitaly.org

• Weekly school e-bulletin Friday Flash comes out every Friday

NEW PARENT CHECLKLIST

• Contact the uniform shop

• Admissions Portal - OpenApply:

Upload most recent report cards (when available)

Upload Codice Fiscale for student and parents

Review and update all contact information

• Organize non-competitive sports certificate (if applicable)

• Organize transportation (if applicable)

• Refer to Student Technology pp. 7

• Review necessary school supplies

4

5 CONTENTS ISF Buddies - Upper School Students Student Technology (Early Years - Grade 5) Student Technology (Grades 6-12) Non-Competitive Medical Certificate (Certificato Medico Non Agonistico) JS Summer Camp (Ages 4 to 11) School Uniform School Nurse and First Aid Team School Lunch Program 6 7 Student School Supplies (EY1 - Grade 5) Student School Supplies (Grades 6-11) Summer Homework (EY1 to Grade 10) IB Student Summer Homework (Grades 11-12) ECA Program (Extra Curricular Activities) 8 9 10 11 12 13 Private Bus School Service School Calendar for 2023-2024 Parent Technology 15 PA (Parent Association) Updated Contact Information and Codice Fiscale Student School Report Cards New Family Orientation 16 Resources Social Media 17

ISF BUDDIES UPPER SCHOOL STUDENTS

All new Upper School students will be assigned a buddy.

• A buddy will be selected from your child’s Form Tutor class, with whom they will share the first 15 minutes of each day.

• Our students always look forward to welcoming new children, introducing them to ISF, showing them around, providing information about what it’s like to be a student here and helping them during their first few weeks of school. More information about your child’s buddy will be sent throughout the summer.

STUDENT TECHNOLOGY (Early Years - Grade 5)

New students in Grades 3-5 joining ISF will receive their email address account at the beginning of the school year.

All students will benefit from the use of iPads. Students in Grade 3-4-5 will be provided with an individual Ipad to be used during the school hours.

6

STUDENT TECHNOLOGY

(Grades 6 - 12)

• New students joining ISF will receive their student email account during the month of August, with a temporary access password.

• ISF has a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy*.

• The student BYOD device must be a laptop.

• There are no further requirements (in terms of brand or operating system) but ISF has partnered with an external provider who offers all ISF families Apple products at discounted prices. The school-specific portal can be found HERE.

IMPORTANT: ISF strongly recommends that families purchase their own insurance for their child’s device. Any damage will be investigated by the school and the results of the investigation will be shared with the involved families. Any settlement however must be arranged directly between the families.

*As part of the BYOD roll out, grade 8 students (class of 2027) can decide whether they wish to bring their own device or receive a school-assigned Chromebook during the 2023-2024 school year only.

7

STUDENT SCHOOL SUPPLIES

(EY1 - Grade 5)

The JS provides a school supply kit to all students at the beginning of the school year.

STUDENT SCHOOL SUPPLIES

(Grades 6 - 11)

You will receive a mandatory list of student supplies in our next communication.

SUMMER HOMEWORK

(EY1

to Grade 10)

Students from EY1 to Grade 10 are not required to complete any homework over the summer, however summer reading is always recommended.

IB STUDENT SUMMER HOMEWORK

(Grades

11 - 12)

More information will be provided by the IB Coordinator, Jason Blackstone.

ECA PROGRAM (Extra Curricular Activities)

ECAs usually begin a few weeks after the beginning of the school year. More information will be available at the beginning of the school year.

8

JUNIOR SCHOOL SUMMER CAMP

(Ages 4 to 11)

Summer Camp for students aged 4-11:

• Week 1: 26 June - 30 June (08:30-15:30)

• Week 2: 3 July - 7 July (08:30-15:30)

• Week 3: 10 July - 14 July (08:30-15:30)

• All children ages (4-11) including external students are welcome to attend.

• Summer Camp activities will include outdoor exploration, science, art, creative movements, music and robotics.

• Each day will be a unique and engaging experience.

• The weekly cost will be € 420 which includes a daily snack, lunch and a camp T-shirt.

Please note that the camp will not take place unless the minimum number required each week is not reached therefore if you are interested in enrolling your child(ren), please note that it will be important to sign up and reserve your spot by no later than Friday, 28th of April. The confirmed weeks will be communicated in early May.

Registration is now open and you can sign up at the following LINK and send it back signed to summercamp@isfitaly.org

For any queries about the Summer Camp, please contact us here: summercamp@isfitaly.org

9

NON - COMPETITIVE MEDICAL CERTIFICATE (Certificato Medico Non Agonistico)

• Students who take part in any sports-related ECA during the school year or will join one of our competitive teams, will have to present a Certificato Medico Non Agonistico.

• You should be able to ask your local family doctor in Italy for this medical certificate.

• Once received, kindly email a copy to our School Nurse, Sofia Gori, at nurse@isfitaly.org

• Alternatively, you can directly email our school nurse, Sofia Gori, who will be able to facilitate new families in obtaining this document, directing them towards private clinics that will release this certificate

10

SCHOOL UNIFORM

Students from EY1 to Grade 10 are required to wear a uniform. Students in Grades 11 and 12 are given a revocable privilege of not wearing the school uniform. However, all G11 and 12 students are expected to dress respectfully and appropriately to a learning environment.

Please refer to the school uniform policy for 2023-2024 for further details.

The exclusive ISF uniform supplier is LM School Uniforms. Uniforms can be purchased:

• at LM Boutique in Palazzo Frescobaldi in Via Santo Spirito, 11 Florence, open Mon-Fri 9am-1pm and 2pm-6pm

• online through LM Uniform ISF e-shop (Access Password: ISF1952)

The provider also alternates between both campuses to deliver and take orders, with dates communicated in the Friday Flash.

For specific questions, please contact LM Uniform customer service: firenze@ school-uniforms.it or +39/0556282130.

Please order your children’s uniforms by the end of May 2023 to secure the items. For overseas families or those unable to respect that date, do ensure to contact the provider so your child’s uniform will arrive for the beginning of the school year.

PE Attire

An official ISF PE uniform is not required. Students may wear:

• an existing ISF PE uniform purchased in the 2021/2022 year;

• single color blue or black sports shorts AND single color sports T-shirt;

*Upper School only: Students must change after PE into their normal school uniforms for hygiene reasons and may not wear the same clothing for PE lessons and the regular school day.

11

SCHOOL NURSE, FIRST AID TEAM AND COUNSELOR

A full time school nurse is available everyday at both campuses, as well as a certified first aid and CPR-AED team.

For more information you can contact Sofia Gori at s.gori@isfitaly.org

There is also a social and emotional Counselor at each campus.

12

SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM

Junior School - Lunch and Snack

• Students are encouraged to use the hot lunch provided by the food company (SIAF) that also offers alternatives for specific dietary needs. Students may also bring lunch. Healthy lunch and snacks are encouraged e.g. fruit, vegetables, yogurt, cheese, juice (no potato chips, sweets).

• EY1 and EY2 children eat lunch in their own lunchroom. To use the Junior School lunch service please subscribe to the Portale Genitori portal or app. Instructions on how to register can be found at this link.

• Lunch service provider contacts: 0143 836 050 (9am-12:30pm and 2pm4:30pm) or buonopasto@camst.it

• A dietician designs the menu in accordance with the Italian Health and safety regulations and is sent weekly through the Friday Flash.

13

Upper School - Lunch and Snack

ISF Café is available in the mid-morning and lunch breaks. In accordance with Italian Health and Safety regulations and in support of encouraging healthy eating habits, students may not order food for delivery to school from outside providers.

• To use the lunch service at the Upper School please register through the ISF Cafè App. The instructions are found in this link.

• The APP can be installed on multiple devices using the same user and password therefore parents can recharge their children’s credit using their own phone. You can monitor your child’s lunch choices through the app.

• Students in G6-8 may not use their smartphones during school hours and require physical cards that are linked to the digital account, which will be distributed at the beginning of the school year.

Students may eat packed lunches in the designated areas. There are separate sittings for G6-8, G9-10 and G10-12 which are aligned to the teaching timetable. Cleaners sanitize areas after each sitting.

For information regarding the app, please contact app@camst.it.

14

PRIVATE BUS SERVICE

A bus service is provided by an external private company, which has been collaborating with the school for many years. For a price quotation or possible routes, please see the company’s contact information below. If interested in this service, we advise that you contact the company soon as places fill up quickly.

Andrea Mangini

Contact: manginilimousine@tiscali.it / +39 335 606 6355

Massimo Pestelli

Contact: maxpe.mo@gmail.com / +39 339 432 5502

SCHOOL CALENDAR FOR 2023 - 2024

You can find the upcoming academic school calendar at this LINK. Check our website for continous updates.

PARENT SCHOOL COMMUNICATION

New parents will be added to our ISF email lists during the summer. A weekly school bullettin called the Friday Flash is sent to all parents every Friday with important information. We incourage parents to consult the Friday Flash weekly to keep updated on news and communications.

Riccardo Biagiotti (IT Manager) will be sending further information to access our School Parent Portal.

15

PA (PARENT ASSOCIATION)

PA representatives, along with many parents at ISF are always happy to welcome new parents to the ISF Community. PA representatives will attend the New Family Orientation Day.

To get in touch with other parents and PA members, you can follow the Parent Facebook group here or visit the PA page on our school website.

UPDATED CONTACT INFORMATION

CODICE FISCALE (ITALIAN FISCAL CODE)

We kindly ask you to provide any updated contact information including home address, emails and phone numbers through your OpenApply account. It is also important for you to upload you and your children’s CODICE FISCALE on OpenApply when available.