The San Francisco Reunion

Sponsored by the class of 81, open to all. www.jisreunion.com

Come to the Thespian One Acts!

JIS Alum Brings Smiles to Yogya Earthquake Victims

Victims of the Mount Merapi volcanic eruption last October had little to smile about until JIS alum Dan Roberts and his Red Nose Foundation (Yayasan Hidung Merah) came to the Yogyakarta area. Supported by the JIS Thespian Honor Society and Tolong Anak-Anak, the Red Nose Foundation makes use of circus and other arts to empower Indonesia's underprivileged youth and bring secondary disaster relief to people in need of emotional healing and a healthy smile. Dan’s most recent trip to Yogyakarta to help the victims of the eruption was a great success, culminating in eight performances in four days to a combined audience of nearly 1000 people, who all left the performances a little happier than they were before.

Dan (far right), entertains a village crowd near Yogykarta with some of his Hidung Merah colleagues.

[Messages]

He was a beloved MUNer. Erica Greeley, his very good friend, is putting together a memorial book so his two little girls will know their father.

Satish was perhaps the brightest student from my JIS and was no unexpectedly a NASA theorist when he died. I have wept for two days.

Purnima was also his classmate and I believe Neeraj and Erica are going to the funeral.

Manjula

[from Dr Manjula Salomon, JIS faculty alumni & former MUN coach]

It is so hard to read this page.
I am heartbroken - and speechless - as so many of us are.

Manjula is right - I am creating a memory book so that Satish's beautiful daughters can get to know their father through us. If you have any memories, photos, or stories of Satish that you would like included, please email them to me at erica_greeley@yahoo.com by April 15.

I'll do my best to put together a book that reflects the Satish we all know and love.

With much love to old friends, Erica
(Erica Greeley, JIS class of 92)

The Class of '81 is sponsoring a major reunion this summer in San Francisco! July 29-31, 2011 at the beautiful and historic Westin St Francis hotel. Please go to www.jisreunion.com for details and registration information. See you in the City by the Bay!

Aaron Collett (’07) was recently in the Ivory Coast with the Carter Center monitoring the first elections there in 10 years. Click here to see a short video clip of Aaron at work at the election booths.

http://blog.cartercenter.org/2010/11/01/voters-show-enthusiasm-patience-in-cote-divoire-elections/

Geoff Smith, former MS principal, wrote this note to the JIS community before leaving JIS last June to take on a new job in Ghana.  

This is a slightly indulgent note….I warn you….I offer this with a bit of history that is relevant to JIS.

Below are two photos of our son, Jared. On the left is Jared’s graduation photo on May 25, 2010.  The other photo is of Jared at the American Club in Singapore on May 19, 1998, wearing Alex Leiper’s graduation gown and hat.  The photo was taken by Bruce Leiper following the graduation ceremony that was held at the American Club in Singapore.  Jared had just finished KG at PIE.  The riots occurred on Thursday and Friday, May 14 and 15 with the decision to close school for the rest of the year taken on Friday, May 14 while many people were leaving the country.  

There was tremendous uncertainty and events were happening incredibly fast.   Jared, Corey, Rhona, Raeann Leiper and Alex left early Monday (May 18) to Singapore.  Bruce and I followed early Tuesday morning (May 19) and the graduation ceremony for the class of 1998 was held on Tuesday, May 19.  Singapore American School helped JIS out by supplying the gowns for kids.  It was an amazing event and a shared experience no one will forget. 

Around 3:00 am that night, Alex Leiper fell from a balcony of an apartment and died a few hours later.  He was attending a graduation party.  It was all so tragic.  24 hours after a graduation ceremony at the American Club we held a memorial service for Alex at the club.  Stringing together those six days from riots to evacuation to graduation to memorial service was an unbelievable time. 
  
After Alex died, Bruce and Raeann Leiper set up the Alex Leiper Scholarship Fund through KKJIS (the classified staff credit union).  Alex had great relations with the JIS classified staff.  Giving to the fund is a way to support educational scholarships for JIS classified staff employees.   Each September, there is a gathering of classified staff and their children who are receiving scholarships.  The scholarships are given out during the gathering - generally held on the top floor of the Wantilan Center.  It is truly a great occasion for our classified staff and their kids.  If you want to support educational scholarships for our classified staff, one way to do so is donating to the Alex Leiper fund.     

As for the 2010 graduate of JIS.  Rhona and I want to express our deepest appreciation to the JIS educators who provided him with so much over the years.  Truly, every step of the way from Pre-K to Grade 12 he has had JIS adults in his life who provided so much and we couldn’t be happier or more grateful to all of you who have helped shape our son.

Geoff and Rhona

Dear JIS Community,

After the fourth of four JIS Open Houses last night in the high school, I hereby declare this school year officially launched!  Thanks to all who were able to come to school during these opening events to meet our teachers and hear about some of the exciting plans that we've got in store for the year ahead. It continues to be an extremely positive start to the school year, and we are delighted that you and your family are with us.

Since I was able to offer just a brief welcome at three of the four Open Houses (PIE and PEL had theirs on the same night), I'd like to capture a few of the initial themes in writing to make sure that you receive a common message from me. 

First, I am thrilled to be here. JIS has a reputation among international schools the world over as being a distinctive school of quality. Despite, and perhaps as a result of its challenging history in which significant events in Indonesia have influenced it, JIS has emerged as a school of great accomplishments. A beautiful physical plant, inspiring educators, a diverse array of learning experiences, a creative and talented leadership team, a committed support staff, a dedicated and strategic Board, and a dynamic group of students from around the world,  all make for a powerful combination. The rich variety of Indonesian cultures and a healthy dose of optimism and entrepreneurial energy help complete the list of major attributes that we enjoy at JIS. All this is what appealed to me as a candidate, and the reality on a daily basis has been even more exciting.

Second, I've heard loud and clear from the JIS community that we'd like to build on this rich history to make JIS even better in the future. This desire for continuous improvement, for the enhancement of our already good school is music to this Head of School's ears. Several initiatives along these lines are already in process and will form the focal point for our development work this year:

• environmental stewardship,
• service learning, and 
• further unification of our systems, communications, and curricula in order to create a greater sense of oneness at JIS.

In order to provide coherency to these dreams and others to come, we intend to launch a process in the second semester this year to help clarify our vision as to how JIS will continue to grow and evolve in the years ahead. This will be an opportunity for all members of our extended community to express their views as to how we can live our mission (our Board labels this achieving our "Ends") more fully. In other words, we'll focus on how we can better enable our students to achieve personal excellence and be the best for the world.

I'm grateful to the entire JIS community for your warm welcome, and particularly to the Board of Patrons, that group of committed volunteers who are entrusted with the stewardship of our fine school's strategic future. The Board, together with the Leadership Team, faculty, staff, parents, and students are establishing an exciting partnership that will guide this vibrant learning community into the future for many years to come.

I look forward to learning with and from you all this year.

Warmly,

Tim

A Message from Monica Greeley,
Head of School (2009-2010)

After six years as a Jakarta International School teacher, Activities Director, and High School Principal, I left JIS in June of 1994 with an overwhelming sense of appreciation for the broad and deep education of my two children (graduates of 1990 and 1992) as well as an awareness of my own tremendous professional growth. With time, these sentiments have strengthened. Similar to Benjamin and Erica’s reactions when they entered college, I had no idea how much JIS had taught me until my first post-JIS experience as Director of International School Yangon in Burma. ‘Focus on learning’ is now a JIS mantra, and we have multiple ways to assess learning here at school, but the real test is applying that learning beyond the JIS environment. For my children and me, JIS became the touchstone against which subsequent experiences have been measured. Regardless of time or place, we have remained proud JIS alums.

The unanticipated opportunity to return to JIS for this school year was and has continued to be a thrilling gift. Simply walking around campus evokes kaleidoscopic emotions and memories, not only of our own children’s active school lives or of the vibrant personalities who have contributed to JIS life over the years, but also of program seeds planted during my previous incarnation which have blossomed and now bear fruit. Ninth Grade Project Week and the school wide focus on service learning are examples of the JIS commitment to improve student learning in its broadest sense over time. Happily, the strong IASAS program, rich and varied cultural activities, exceptional faculty, and the vital partnership between parents and the school are some JIS constants. And, as there should be change in any dynamic organization, so it is with JIS: our professional development plan is more focused and data-driven, technology is more central to our instructional program, and campus security measures have expanded considerably due to turbulent times.

But the soul of JIS remains the same. This is what connects all of us – graduates, former students, parents, former faculty – in our JIS Alumni community across the years and miles. We are a caring, collaborative community whose shared history can and should continue to support and enhance JIS in our common quest to prepare students “… to be the best for the world.

As we head toward the 60th anniversary of Jakarta International School, together we must crystallize this vision in ways that engage our far-reaching Alumni community. As valued and valuable stakeholders, this is a great moment to consolidate our efforts to celebrate our personal past JIS experience, connect with the present, and invest in future generations of JIS Alumni.

See you at the 60th!

Monica N. Greeley
Head of School

(Monica wrote this message at the end of last school year. Our apologies for only just posting it now).

JIS Gives Back

Dave Tarcy, HS teacher, hands over to the new head of school, Tim Carr, financial support for a full four-year university scholarship for a family member of the JIS classified staff. JIS Alumni and friends initiated the scholarship with the main criteria being that no one in the recipient’s entire extended family had ever attended university. The scholarship winner, Rizal, was decided by KKJIS (JIS Employee Cooperative) and he will be earning a BA degree in Information Technology from Guna Darma University, near Jakarta. It is hoped that Rizal’s success will benefit many. JIS thanks everyone who contributed to this effort.

(From left)Puja Santosa, (KKJIS Secretary); Saiful Bachri, (KKJIS President); Dave Tarcy (Faculty Sponsor); Tim Carr, (Head of School); Doug Slusher, (Santa Fe Relocation Services and JIS Alum); Surya, (Rizal’s father) and Charlotte Darmon, (KKJIS VP).

A Message from Tim Carr, Head of School

Dear JIS Community,

It is difficult to believe that I’m already winding up my first official week here at Jakarta International School.  This past Monday morning, my wife Barbara, our son Andrew, and I were greeted by a throng of staff members who wore traditional garb, serenaded us with gamalan music, and then provided a sample of many Indonesian languages as we entered the school.  There are clearly many ways to express “welcome” in Indonesia, and our family is feeling embraced with open arms and genuine warmth, for which we are most grateful.

After nearly 20 months of anticipation, it is certainly great to be here! Fortunately, during the transition period, I was able to visit the JIS campus a few times, begin the process of meeting JIS community members, participate in some key events, and learn about the school.  Likewise, spending ten days in Yogyakarta in language school this summer was a great way to establish our linguistic base in Bahasa Indonesia, while learning and being immersed in Javanese and Indonesian cultures. Clearly, though, we have lots of listening and learning yet to do, and this will be a theme for the years ahead. So saying, JIS is moving forward on many exciting fronts, and I am keen to maintain momentum, while helping to guide the school’s development into the future.

As we prepare to welcome new teachers this weekend, returning teachers next week, and students and parents thereafter, feel free to stop by my office on the ground floor of “G Block” on the Cilandak Campus to say hello. Please be patient as I put many faces to names, and know that I look forward to having the chance to meet you soon.

Here’s to a wonderful adventure, learning from and with one another this year!

Warmly,

Tim Carr
Head of School

Mr. Tim Carr, Head of School, began his first day at JIS on Monday, July 19, and was welcomed by many staff members and faculty at the Cilandak campus. Shown here with some of the staff members on hand to greet him, Mr. Carr, (fourth from left), was accompanied by his wife, Barbara (fourth from right), and their son, Andrew (third from right).