-
The Precious Gift of Time
The following are my opening words at ISZL’s 2024 Graduation Ceremony. Grüezi mitenand. Good Afternoon. To our honoured attendees: ISZL’s Board of Trustees, Teachers and Staff, Families and Friends, and all those watching from around the world via live stream video, welcome to our commencement ceremony. It is my utmost privilege to present ISZL’s Class…
-
Better Together
Reflecting on the state of world affairs and the challenges we have been facing, from a worldwide pandemic to historical political events to social injustice, among other critical issues, it would be easy to understand the impulse to have consigned 2020 to the local Ökihof (Swiss recycling centre) for recycling and become a distant memory.…
-
Journeys and Transitions
While the very nature of an international community is one of transience, it is important not to diminish the challenges and opportunities associated with the transitions themselves. As the departure of valued colleagues and dear friends are accompanied by the arrival of new families and the promise of new friendships, we also find ourselves managing…
-
From One Parent to Another…
This letter to parents has been written by an ISZL Parent/Teacher: Dear Parents, I have been thinking about you a lot lately. Like you, I’ve just finished attempting to motivate my Primary School aged son to organise his day. He begins with eagerness but his attention is limited, and to be honest, working from home has shown me that mine can…
-
Learning Into Action
What is your mission or purpose in life? What is your vision for your personal future? While we may not ask ourselves these questions very often, the ensuing reflections are often helpful in clarifying our values, articulating what is important to us, guiding our decisions, and determining how we focus our energy and time. As…
-
New Year, New Beginnings
As we embark on the new year and decade ahead, and in the spirit of new beginnings, it is with a sense of excitement, pride, and honour that we launch ISZL’s new guiding statements. We would like to extend our deep levels of appreciation for our community’s involvement in the development of our new mission,…
-
A Sense of Wonder
In 1974, a young boy named Harold Whittles is about to experience his world in a new and astounding way. For the first five years of his life preceding this moment, Harold has not heard the sounds around him as he has been deaf since birth. This is about to change as technological advances have…
-
Civic Responsibilities
One of the many things I appreciate and admire about Switzerland is the collective commitment to civic responsibility. The pragmatic Swiss approach to the establishment of community norms in combination with both an individual and societal belief in supporting and adhering to these agreements have resulted in a country that runs incredibly well. ISZL‘s commitment…
-
Never Odd or Even
“Never odd or even.” Why not start a blog post celebrating the beauty and oddities of language with an intriguingly perplexing phrase that is also a palindrome – a word or a sentence that reads the same backwards? First, my apologies in advance to anyone who suffers from a fear of palindromes, or what the…
-
Inclusion & Community
‘We are all ISZL’ are the words that best capture our recent work in the area of inclusion. For the past year, ISZL staff and representative groups of students and parents have been engaging in professional development sessions, workshops, and discussions focused on inclusion and what we value as a community. The International Baccalaureate (IB)…