There is also emerging research into how bilingualism may make the brain more resistant to the onset of degenerative brain diseases. The media picked the following story up over the last few days, and I thank parents for bringing this to my attention.

(Source 2/22/11) http://www.suite101.com/content/research-bilingualism-significantly-delays-alzheimersdisease-a351405

Those who speak two languages, or more, and become stricken with Alzheimer’s Disease have cognitive impairment lessened and cope better with Alzheimer’s. A study from the University of York in Toronto which found that knowing a second language is a significant benefit in the fight against Alzheimer’s Disease was presented at the annual meeting of the ‘American Association for the Advancement of Science’ in Washington D.C. on Feb. 18, 2011.

Originally published in November of 2010 in the journal Neurology, the study, “Delaying the onset of Alzheimer disease: Bilingualism as a form of cognitive reserve” suggests that knowing more than one language significantly delays the onset of Alzheimer’s Disease. The study says it delays the onset, on average, by five years.

The study looked at the data of 450 patients who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, with half bilingual and half speaking only one language. They took into account age at time of the diagnosis, work history and educationas well as language history.

The researchers, lead by Dr. Ellen Bialystok, found that those who spoke two languages had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, on average, four years later than those who spoke only one language. Further, for the bilingual people symptoms did not occur until five years further on than they did for those who spoke only one language.

Please refer to the link to read the complete article.

A story may help paint the canvas. Back in the winter of 1996, my good friend and (now) Assistant Director of the Academy, Paul Heffer, brings a young West Ham youth team to our sports hall for a pre-Germany tour practice and a fun swim. Paul points out a young lad called, Glen Johnson. Paul says, “he’ll play for England’. Johnson did, does. Paul, in my book is a legend and how he coaches is special.

Through this friendship, an 8 hour drive to Atlanta and an $80 Hammers tattoo – I find myself at the brink of working with Mike Kelleher, manager of the US based International Academy, and ISI joins the fun. Then, during Mike’s visit to Indy, we work on a plan that could put Indy on the international youth soccer map. Mike is a smart guy and knows the US field re soccer.  Indy is a city willing and able to bring people in to start something special.

Check out this link: http://blogs.indystar.com/preps/2011/01/28/international-soccer-coach-headed-to-london-training-session/

There are three especially interesting points to note:

Firstly, it is common for authorization to be made conditional on a number of points to be addressed, so we have done particularly well to receive an unconditional authorization. Unconditional authorization in such a short time frame would not have been possible without the great commitment, dedication and enthusiasm of all concerned.

Secondly, we are authorized for the full 5-year MYP, extending from Grade 6 through to Grade 10.  This is how the MYP was originally intended.  Although many public schools locally are busy adopting the MYP, very few of them in Indiana, to my knowledge, will have the full five year program in one institution.

Thirdly, we are the only school in Indiana and one of very few schools in the Midwest to offer both the 5-year MYP and the 2-year IB Diploma within one school.  ISI students entering Grade 6 can now look forward to seven years of world class International Baccalaureate education at ISI.

Our current Grade 8 students are in the unique position of becoming the first students at ISI, and I expect in Indiana, who will be eligible to receive official IB MYP certificates issued from Geneva at the end of their Grade 10.  Students who graduate from the MYP this year and next will receive internal IB MYP Certificates issued by ISI.

ISI will also participate in what is called “monitoring of assessment and moderation”. This is external scrutiny and validation by the IB office of our assessment practices, and of the grades that ISI teachers award to their students.  The IB office will also send a report to the school with commendations, recommendations and, if appropriate, matters that should be addressed.  This is a very powerful process that gives specific feedback to our teachers and ensures that ISI is applying the same standards as other MYP schools around the world.

Achieving IB MYP authorization is an important milestone in our ambition to become the first school in Indiana to offer all three IB programs.  Alastair Kay and the Lower School team are hard at work introducing the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (IB PYP) throughout the pre-elementary and elementary grades, and are currently waiting to hear the date of the authorization visit.  Once PYP authorization has been attained ISI will offer a remarkable 15 years of world class IB education to students that join us from the age of three!

As you spread the good word about ISI in the wider community please mention these points and invite others to consider giving their own children the lifelong gift of an ISI education.  We are pleased to consider new students for entry throughout our school with the exception of Grade 12, and applicants do not need to speak a second language.  Our next Open house is at our 49^th Street location on February 10.

Please follow this link to the IndyStar website for more on our story:

http://newsfromyou.indystar.com/posts/international-school-of-indiana-receives-international-baccalaureate-middle-years-programme-myp-authorization-on-its-way-to-becoming-one-of-the-first-pre-elementary-through-grade-12-all-ib-school-in-the-midwest

With best wishes

David Garner

Head of School

International School of Indiana

As a school that is on its way to becoming one of the first pre-elementary through Grade 12, all-IB school in the Midwest for all of its students, ISI features a global and multi-cultural education program that will enrich your child’s opportunities in the world of tomorrow.

Pre-Elementary and Elementary “Classes in Action” Open Houses
Ages 3 – Grade 3

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Thursday, February 2, 2012

8:30 a.m.- 11:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m.
200 W. 49th Street, Indianapolis

Upper School “Classes in Action” Open Houses

Grades 4 -12

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Tuesday, November 9, 2011

8:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Taurel Building, 4330 N. Michigan Road, Indianapolis

Personal tours are available by contacting the Admissions Office at admissions@isind.org or at +1.317.923.1951 ext. 369

The Annual Fund is the critical funding for unrestricted funds to benefit teachers, programs and scholarships.

It supports ISI’s daily expenses—salaries, financial aid, technology, science laboratory supplies, art materials, electricity, building maintenance, student activities and all the areas that enhance existing programs, enrich curriculum, and help assure that ISI remains a world-class educational institution.

It is just as critical to highlight another main purpose of the Annual Fund – a strong commitment to the professional development of ISI teachers. Our teachers have a continuing interest in honing their skills and gaining valuable training in the latest innovations in their fields and in teaching excellence in general. In addition, ISI’s goal of full Pre-K-12 participation in the International Baccalaureate (IB) Programme requires ISI teachers to actively participate in the design and implementation of the IB Programme. The Annual Fund helps support ISI teachers as they attend conferences and training sessions to meet our strategic goal of an all-IB World School.

The International School of Indiana sincerely appreciates those who generously support our efforts to ensure that each of our students graduates ready for the world stage.

Annual Giving Drive

Goal – $300,000.00 and 100% participation

Giving period ends June 30, 2011

Please donate today:  www.isind.org/giving/give-online/annual-fund-donate-online.aspx

• In an immersion program, teachers teach a significant part of the normal school curriculum in the target (foreign) language.
• This allows students to ‘acquire’ the new language almost effortlessly, and at the same time, develop the full range of academic skills normally expected.

WHAT DO WE MEAN BY ‘BILINGUAL’?

• When used loosely, people associate this term with almost perfect proficiency in two languages.
• In linguistics, the term can be used for any appreciable level of proficiency in more than one language.  Used in this sense, the majority of the world’s population is bilingual.
• When a school talks about educating children bilingually, there is a commitment to achieving high levels of proficiency in two or more languages.
• Upon graduation, for example, a student might be capable of studying at college level in either of two (or even more) languages. In practice ambilingual (equally proficient in two or more languages) people are quite rare.
• Most people who we would describe as bilingual will probably have a preferred and slightly stronger language, but will still be very proficient in other languages.

ISN’T BILINGUALISM HARMFUL?

• No.  Studies suggest that the brain is outstandingly predisposed to learning several languages simultaneously or successively without mixing them up.
• Bilingual people tend to be ‘smarter’, not necessarily as measured on IQ tests, but in the way they approach new situations.  They have a greater repertoire of critical thinking skills and strategies to address challenges.
• There is research evidence that bilingualism helps keep the brain alert and slows down the onset of brain deterioration in old age.

WHY DO YOU OFTEN USE THE WORD ‘ACQUISITION’ INSTEAD OF ‘LEARNING’?

• ‘Learning’ is better used to describe the typical classroom situation in schools and night classes around the world, where students get a few hours a week of teaching of the target (foreign) language.  There’s a high chance that the teacher will not be a native speaker, and will spend much of the lesson explaining in the students’ first language rather than communicating in the target language.
• To be a successful learner in these types of lessons you need to have a very analytical brain and work in a very disciplined way.  Even so, you may end up knowing a lot of grammatical rules, and be very good at talking about the language, but you may not actually speak the language very well.  The teacher may measure your progress by giving you grammar and vocabulary tests, rather than by getting you to use the language for real communication.  (This might sound familiar to many of us from our own school days.)

• ‘Acquisition’ describes the perfectly natural way that we learn our own first language.  Typically, parents do not teach their small children grammar; they do not teach their children lists of vocabulary; they rarely correct their small child’s language, unless the child is saying something that is factually wrong.  In spite of this lack of specific teaching, all small children master their own mother tongue at remarkable speed.
• Small children make rather predictable errors as they start to use their mother tongue, but automatically self-correct as they continue to recognize patterns in the language and build proficiency naturally.
• Immersion programs make use of the brain’s natural capacity to learn languages in much the same way as we learn our mother tongue.
• Many factors are involved, but the key one is: we acquire language when the focus is on meaning (and not on grammatical form).

SHOULDN’T CHILDREN MASTER THEIR MOTHER TONGUE BEFORE THEY LEARN A NEW ONE?

• No.  It is not necessary to postpone starting additional languages.  The children will still develop their mother tongue as long as they receive regular input, for example from their parents and family, if it is not one of the languages taught at school.
• However, we do need to distinguish between spoken and written language.  Even children with quite severe learning difficulties can develop oral (spoken) fluency in multiple languages.  Literacy skills, however, as in reading and writing, require higher order analytical capability.
• When we use the word ‘master’ we need to be specific.  Realistically, we only master literacy in our own language after many years of school-based teaching.

WHAT CAN I EXPECT TO SEE IN MY CHILD AT THE BEGINNING OF THE IMMERSION PROCESS?

• Children who are especially confident and extrovert might try using the new language immediately, and be very proud of showing off new words and phrases.
• Most children, however, may appear unable or reluctant to use the new language.
• The brain naturally goes through a ‘silent period’ at the beginning of the acquisition process.  The child may appear to be inactive, and not participating, but there is in fact a lot of activity going on within the brain.  Think of it as an essential period of incubation.
• It is important to recognize and respect this silent period, which can last many months in some cases.  There will be no particular advantage in trying to force the child to speak, and in fact we may do more harm than good.
• In the early stages of language acquisition a child will understand far more than he or she can say or write.  In other words perception or understanding is always far in advance of production, or active use of the language.

WILL MY CHILD EXPERIENCE A FORM OF ‘CULTURE SHOCK’?

• Yes, he/she might.  People are familiar with the term ‘culture shock’ when we go to live in a new country.  The symptoms of culture shock can be very subtle, and are easily confused with other issues.  In many ways, entering a language immersion program will involve some level of culture shock, but also ‘language shock’.
• Add to this all the challenges of entering a new school, and fitting in with a new group of children.  All these factors bundled into the first few weeks can have quite a drastic effect on the child’s psyche. The child can appear sad, angry, unsettled or moody.
• The good news is that these symptoms are normal and temporary, our teachers and counselors are skilled in dealing with them, and our children emerge from the experience greatly strengthened in many ways.

SHOULD I TRY TO SPEAK THE TARGET LANGUAGE AT HOME WITH MY CHILD?

• No!  One of the most precious things you can give your children is a strong foundation in their mother tongue.  Keep using your mother tongue as normal, and ensure that the child has as much authentic exposure to the mother tongue as possible.
• If your home language is not one of the school’s languages, this may mean making an extra effort to find suitable children’s books, DVD’s, recordings and so on, and extra efforts to keep in touch with the wider family by letters, cards, email, telephone, webcam and so on, so that the child continues to develop both spoken language and literacy in the mother tongue.
• Occasionally in a family the mother speaks one language and the father speaks another.  The situation will vary from case to case, but the best advice is that both parents should use their own language with the child.
• The child’s brain is perfectly capable of acquiring several languages at the same time.  Do not be upset if the child is reluctant to use the target language with you.
• Languages have strong emotional ties, and it may just not feel right for the child to speak to you in French or Spanish or Mandarin, if this is not the language you normally use.

WON’T MY CHILD BE BEHIND OTHER LOCAL CHILDREN IF SHE IS EDUCATED IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE LIKE THIS?

• A lot of schools that offer immersion programs like ISI observe that the youngest students in these programs may score below other monolingual English-speaking students that take the same standardized test in or around Grades 2 and 3.
• However, most schools also report that by around fifth grade the immersion students catch up and begin to outperform their peers.
• There are several reasons for these observations.  Firstly, standardized tests are designed to measure apples with apples, and are calibrated for the most part on children being educated in the national system entirely in English, and following a math curriculum in a specific order.  Such tests can be a hurdle for children who have not been educated in English up to that point, and are not particularly helpful in measuring any additional skills that children in immersion programs such as ISI’s are acquiring. Secondly, there may indeed be some temporary delay in the development of certain academic concepts caused by having to learn the actual language of instruction at the same time as learning the academic content. Thirdly, studies frequently show that many children being educated bilingually will derive a significant academic advantage over and beyond their monolingual peers, and that this becomes evident in the later elementary grades.
• We also need to keep a sense of perspective.  The OECD (Organization for Economic Development) conducts international comparisons of student achievement, and consistently lists Finland’s 15-year-old school students as the top achievers in literacy, math and science.  However, Finnish children do not begin formal schooling until the age of 7.
• This should tell us not to attach too much importance to early standardized testing.  It also teaches us that education today is about being globally competitive, and not simply keeping up with or outperforming the neighbor’s children.
• Parents need a long term perspective and a long term commitment to bilingual education. Ultimately it is far more powerful than a monolingual education.

MY 3RD GRADER SEEMS PRETTY FLUENT IN FRENCH NOW.  WOULDN’T THIS BE A GOOD TIME TO PUT HER BACK INTO THE LOCAL SCHOOL SYSTEM?

• No. It’s easy to mistake this level of fluency for something much deeper.
• Jim Cummins, a highly respected Canadian researcher who conducts research into the Canadian French and English immersion programs, talks about the difference between BICS and CALP.  BICS are basic interpersonal communication skills.  Typically these come quite easily and fairly rapidly.
• CALP is a much deeper cognitive academic language proficiency. For the child to be able to use any language for a sophisticated purpose in her future career she needs CALP.
• This only comes after quite a few more years developing the kinds of skills involved when you are learning science, humanities, math etc in the target language and dealing with challenging, abstract topics.
• Parents who move a child out of immersion before the CALP process is well established will almost certainly waste the early progress the child has made in the target language, even if they employ a tutor to work with the child at home, and they risk placing the child in a situation where the receiving school may not value previous immersion learning.

The process has been vital.

The dynamic dialogue and exchange during this exploratory and discovery process has been invaluable in defining the ‘big ideas’ for a new ISI campus.  And it’s been a lot of fun, too!

The hands-on activities have focused on using the guiding discovery principles to evaluate design options and to collaborate in arriving at solutions.

The process isn’t over, but it is finite.

NOW is the time for you to share your opinions and contribute your perspectives and visions for ISI.

Cannon will be returning soon.  Please look for future communications about participation opportunities.

Remember: Every student, regardless of age, will benefit from this campus unification project.

We are evaluating Blackwell and Taurel, and common areas, including libraries, auditoriums, lunch rooms, athletic facilities, and more.

Thank you for all of your support in this exciting process!

The IB is sending a team of three experienced evaluators (including native Spanish and French speakers). They will look at the following: curriculum offerings, assessment, knowledge of the MYP Framework, willingness to fully implement the MYP, classroom observations, meetings with all the teachers and administrators, meetings with students, meetings with representatives of the ISI Board of Directors & Parents/Guardians.

The meeting between the IB Team and Parents & Guardians will take place on Thursday, 16th September at 3pm in the Black Box Theatre.

It would be fantastic to see a great turn out of Parents/Guardians in support of the MYP implementation at ISI. At the meeting, the following questions/discussion points may take place in addition to specific questions that parents/guardians might like to ask:

• Answer questions about how the MYP operates in school and worldwide
• Evaluate parents’ experiences and involvement with the MYP so far at ISI
• Parental understanding of the MYP philosophy, requirements & objectives, and international dimensions
• How MYP is different from other Middle School / Junior High School Programs

If you are able to attend, please email Linda Weiss and we will send you some of the MYP material that has previously been given to parents at MYP introduction and assessment meetings. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our Parents/Guardians for your support throughout our implementation of the MYP at ISI.

The International Baccalaureate Programme gave me an incredible work ethic, which has provided me with the discipline I need in order to perform well at university while leaving me enough time in the day to experience life and culture outside of school. ISI taught me the importance of this dual education and I will be forever grateful.

For instance, in my High Level Spanish A2 course, instead of simply translating a novel from Spanish into English, I was immersed in the Spanish culture of that period in order to fully understand the significance behind the language of the novel. This balance between education and real life importance and application has had a serious impact on me.

Both my work ethic and my abilities in Spanish language and culture gave me the opportunity to work remotely from Indianapolis over the summer as an intern for an NGO in DC, where I researched global medical issues for female adolescents and translated documents and web pages. I was able to get this job through a professor with whom I became good friends during my second semester at GW. Being close with my teachers was something I learned at ISI and I treasure it now in university.

The 2010 International Travel Auction, Saturday, November 13, 2010, at the Indiana Roof Ballroom transports you to la bella Italia for a Night in Italy!  New friends and longtime patrons are welcome at one of Indianapolis’ signature fundraising events.

Ours is a globe trotting community and the vacation destinations, unique items and viniferous, culinary and fun experiences offered in the Live and Silent Auctions will generate high-spirited bidding hosted by an entertaining professional auctioneer.

This is the 16^th Annual Travel Auction in the history of the International School of Indiana and funds generated make it possible to offer scholarships and enhance programs in fulfillment of our mission.

ISI distinguishes itself as a school that provides a focus on intercultural understanding and critical thinking and produces young people who are truly ready for the world stage because it is:

• a school with outstanding academic results and college acceptances;
• a school that achieves astonishing levels of fluency in other languages;
• a school that is on its way to becoming the first pre-elementary through Grade 12, all-IB school in the Midwest.

ISI is committed to preparing all students to be ready for the world stage. Your support enhances Indiana’s world class school that contributes to the attraction of global talent by our leading firms while preparing Hoosier students to collaborate, compete and prosper in the global economy they will inherit.