Head of School Welcome Message 2019

Dear Faculty & Staff,

Xin chào! I hope you enjoyed a wonderful summer. At the beginning of a new school year, we are filled with energy and excitement at the possibilities and opportunities that lie ahead.  I am very grateful to be starting my second school year with all of you here at Saigon South International School. I was excited to come back knowing that this is a warm, caring, supportive community where we all work together to provide the best experience for these young people in our care.

We welcome 25 new faculty and one administrator into the SSIS community this year. These new faculty members have enjoyed a meaningful and comprehensive orientation thanks to the Herculean efforts of our HR Team and Amy Coquillard (Orientation Coordinator).

On a different note, Bonnie Bertoia has resigned from SSIS for personal reasons. We are extremely grateful to Bonnie for providing extraordinary care and support to middle school students for 11 years. We appreciate everything she has done for this community and wish her the very best. Gary will continue to work in the middle school and both members of the Bertoia family will continue to be valued members of this community.

While most of us were enjoying a relaxing holiday, many were working diligently to enhance our beautiful campus, and to increase comfort and safety for our students. We appreciate all of their work.

At our main entrance, the canopy has been extended to help arriving students stay nice and dry as they enter school. We have extended the security booth, which will greatly improve the flow of students as they enter the school grounds through the security gates, where arrivers will be greeted by our new Security Team Leader, Mr. Hai.

To give our students increased use of the backfield, we are adding floodlights which will improve safety and ensure that we never have to cut our students’ activities short due to a lack of light. The increased access to this field will be very useful, especially as we also welcome our new Activities Director, Jon Wrzesinski, who will no doubt plan all sorts of fun ways to take advantage of this space.

Our cafeteria has gone through a considerable makeover, which will decrease wait times for students at lunchtime, while at the same time enable the Caterers to increase the selections on offer. Thanks to Food Committee who helped us understand how our cafeteria and food offerings could be improved; I think you will be impressed with the upgrade.

Additionally, as many of you requested, we are continuing our work to enhance the atrium for the comfort of our students. This year, we have added more green plants and beautiful bougainvillea vines that will grow to cover the steel columns, and will help to additionally cool the area.

Lastly, I would like to update you on building phase 1 (the summer 2019 construction plan, which included three separate building areas). We looked forward to introducing these spaces to you at the start of the new school year. Despite our thorough planning, the building permits were delayed. At this time, we are unable to give you an exact date of completion, however, we will keep you informed as we learn more. I appreciate your patience and understanding as we continue to develop spaces to further enhance our students’ learning environments.

We greatly look forward to welcoming back Flansburgh Architects, in September for the exciting work on developing the master plan for our facility expansion. This will continue as planned and is not affected by the minor delay of phase 1.

It’s an exciting time for SSIS. I am thrilled that together we are building on the founders’ vision, and a strong foundation of 21 years, to take the School to the next level of excellence. I hope you have a wonderful school year!

All good wishes,

Catriona