"The Voice" September 09

Although the school holidays have hardly begun, this week the excited students of the International School St. Lucia got an opportunity to check out the site of the school’s new Annexe, which will house 60 students from Grades 4 through 8 when the new academic year begins on September 1st. The need for more space has arisen with the increasing enrollment in the primary and junior grades, so in keeping with the existing “upstairs Super-J” location, ISSL are currently fitting out three large, bright, air-conditioned classrooms on the first floor of the new building behind Super-J Rodney Heights, and the students who turned up for a site visit were happy with the progress of their new home. Germaine Waters is Chair of the ISSL Board of Governors, who states “the school has grown so fast we have had to be creative with planning additional space. It is unusual to have a school on top of a supermarket, but the ISSL community has become very attached to the location and now it doesn’t seem strange to us at all. However we are growing at such a rate that we will require a purpose built school in the next two years, and we are in discussions with various parties who are considering providing a building for ISSL to rent.”
The new academic year will also bring new technologies to the International School, in the form of two computerised “smart boards” which were generously donated by corporate citizens Mainlan and Ultimate Automobiles. ISSL is already the most technologically advanced school in St. Lucia, and these state of the art classroom tools will enable students to enjoy highly interactive and visually exciting classes and presentations. “Smart boards allow teachers to bring online resources into the classroom in a truly integrated way,” says Board member, Dee Lundy-Charles.

The teacher is able to guide students from online research of their topic, to a PowerPoint presentation of their findings, a Word document or Publisher report for distribution or even a movie or slide show to share with the whole class. The introduction of the boards will allow ISSL to continue to provide the most engaging and up-to-date education experience for students at all levels and grades.” Interactive whiteboards can be found in more than 150,000 U.S. and the majority of UK classrooms; the technology is also growing internationally, with a presence in 75 countries, now including St. Lucia.
For many of the older students of ISSL, the summer months are an opportunity to visit potential universities, and several students have travelled as far afield as the Republic of Ireland to investigate courses and facilities. Others have incorporated visits to UK, USA and Canadian universities in their vacation plans. The International School awards the New Brunswick Secondary School Diploma to students at the end of Grade 12 on successful completion of a rigorous four-semester course comprising compulsory and selected subjects, some of which are pitched at a First Year University level. Students can also choose to stay with a family in Canada and take one semester of classes in a New Brunswick school if they wish to experience the curriculum ‘on the ground’. The Diploma is accepted at universities and tertiary institutions worldwide, as well as regionally by the University of the West Indies, and the majority of ISSL students plan to move on to tertiary level education in a variety of countries on completion of Grade 12.
The International School St. Lucia reopens on September 1st, 2008. The school office is open from 9am until 1pm throughout the summer and interested parents can call 458 0989 or visit the school “upstairs Super-J”, Rodney Heights for information about enrollment, fees and available courses.