March 13, 2026 - Secondary School Principal Blog

Dear Secondary School Families,

🌸 International Women’s Day

On Tuesday, we celebrated International Women’s Day. At ISY, we celebrate this day every year.

Celebrating this day is important for us because it encourages students to reflect on gender equality, while also inspiring students to think about how they can promote fairness, inclusivity, and empathy in a broader sense. 

We were very fortunate to hear from Dr. Poht Poht Kyi, who shared with us her passion for using her own international education to provide excellent learning opportunities here in Myanmar. Dr. Poht spoke to us about the importance of strategic thinking and how this turns our dreams into reality. 

She also shared the idea that “pressure is precious.” Too often, we shy away from challenges and look for shortcuts to avoid the discomfort that comes with real learning and true growth. We want things to come easily, but the things that truly matter never do. It is through the struggle to achieve them that we grow, develop resilience, and discover our potential. This is a very important message.Kind Regards,

Mr. Mike Simpson                                                                                                         

Secondary School Principal

✍ Sign up: Parent-Student-Teacher Conferences | Grades 6 to 12

Parent-Student-Teacher Conferences provide an opportunity for families to meet with teachers and discuss their child’s Quarter 3 progress. There will be no classes that day, and students are strongly encouraged to attend the conferences with their parents.

What Parents Need to Do:

1. Sign up for conference times through PowerSchool using these instructions.

2. Complete your sign-up by 10:00 AM on Wednesday, March 25.

3. You will receive an email confirmation of your conference schedule from the Secondary School Office later that afternoon.

Your child’s Quarter 3 Progress Report will be available on PowerSchool from 2:30 PM on Friday, April 3.

❓ If you need assistance with signing up, please contact the Secondary School Office.

🤝 Service Learning At ISY: Cathryn Berger Kaye at ISY

This week, we welcomed back Cathryn Berger Kaye to ISY as she spent time with our community supporting our ongoing work in service learning.
During her visit, Cathy met with leadership and faculty to focus on areas of strategic planning

and curriculum development. These conversations invited us to reflect on how meaningful service experiences connect with student learning and how service learning continues to grow through classroom practice and student initiatives across the school. It was a pleasure to have Cathy on campus as we continue strengthening meaningful service learning experiences for our students and our community.

📚 Book Week

This week, the ISY community celebrated Book Week, a reminder of the important role reading continues to play in our lives as global learners. At ISY, reading is an important part of daily learning, and Book Week offered an opportunity to pause and celebrate that culture across our community.

The Book Fair was a highlight of the week, giving students the chance to browse a wide range of titles and perhaps discover a book they might not otherwise have picked up.

Thank you to Ms. Nadine Rosevear and our library team for the care they bring to fostering a culture of reading at ISY, and to our Parent Association for their support.

Our Seniors have finished their mock exams and are now in preparation mode for their final examinations in April.

They also continue to be offered places at some very prestigious institutions. We are excited to celebrate these achievements with our community, so look out for more information from our communications team in the coming weeks. 

Roll on Graduation!

🗞 University Admissions: Insider Tips 6:00 PM  | 💻 ONLINE: Zoom Link

This week’s University Admissions: Insider Tips workshop will be on Tuesday, March 17. It will focus on the university application process for Australia and New Zealand. These workshops are online (see Zoom link above) from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm. See below for a schedule of upcoming workshops.

Mr. A-G, our High School Counselor, will host a presentation for Grade 10 students and parents as they begin preparing for university. The session will introduce key steps in the process, including career exploration, course selection, standardized testing, university research, and the application process. It will also outline how the school supports students as they begin planning for their future.

🚙 Transport Advisory Update

Following our recent communication regarding temporary fuel use measures expected to begin on March 7, families are encouraged to consider practical transportation arrangements such as carpooling or using taxi services, which are currently exempt from the restrictions.

If you require a school letter confirming your child’s drop-off and pick-up at ISY, please complete the request form. Once submitted, a letter on the ISY letterhead will then be prepared and sent to you.

If transportation challenges arise that may affect your child’s ability to attend school, please contact your child’s principal. We will continue to monitor the situation and share updates if needed.

🏅Sports at ISY:  Personalized pathways to excellence

We would like to wish the best of luck to our students representing ISY at the upcoming SEASAC events in Softball, Badminton, and Music. These opportunities allow our students to perform, compete, and collaborate alongside peers from international schools across Southeast Asia. We wish all of our SEASAC participants the very best as they represent ISY and our community. You can read more in the Athletics Department Blog.

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✨ What’s On: