by
Don Morton
ISA is an exceptional community of culturally diverse families
from around the world who are dedicated to gaining the
best possible education for their children during relatively
brief sojourns in the greater Amsterdam area. As a result
of the splendid social, cultural and service programs
organized by the PTA, parents often experience the school
as more important to their well being abroad than the
Concertgebouw or World Trade Center.
ISA is a place where international families—including
Dutch families returning from or preparing for life out of
country—develop enduring friendships as their children
grow. There where land and wind and water meet, at the tip
of history, on a frontier of global enterprise just a few
clicks from the nearest star, ISA's PTA gets things done. The
PTA nurtures in an essential way the friendly, supportive
international environment that is a feature of the school's
distinctive character and permanent ethos.
Year
after year ISA's parents help build the school's
future. They contribute their time, wisdom,
resources and experience unstintingly to meet
one another's and their children's concrete
needs abroad. They roll up their sleeves and
go to work—often even when they know
their own family will have moved on before
the benefits of a particular initiative come
on line. Such incredible numbers of
well-organized volunteers contribute so much on so many fronts
that in recent years it has been impossible for the director
to read all their names aloud at his annual year-end 'thank
you' event!
In
general, a Parent-Teacher Association may be
defined as a voluntary association of parents
and teachers that is founded upon the nexus
of their natural family ties and professionalism
and guided by their ethical ideals of service
to the community of the institution the association
exists to support, ultimately for the sake
of what Erasmus called 'good learning'.
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ISA's
parents in particular—and especially spouses
who may not be able to pursue their own careers
while in the Netherlands—shape the school's
PTA. They are exceptionally talented, resourceful
young adults from many countries who bring with
them to the community strong records of achievement
in business, the arts, music, journalism, science,
technology, diplomacy, sports, public relations,
medicine, education and much more. It is the
PTA that enables parents to meet one another
regularly, to form a warm, many-facetted community,
to socializeand
assist one another, and to transform their ideas
and experience into concrete support for their
children's educational programs.
The
parents' contribution is dynamic, focused and
at a very high level. For example, parents
helped initiate and shape the ISA Music Academy
and Information Technology programs. The school's
larger public spaces were expressly designed
to function as a community center for the families'
Back-to-School barbecues, Craft Fairs and International
Dinners—cherished features of the PTA's
program already for decades.
ISA's
professional educators no longer have to rehearse
Shakespeare on piles of construction earth
out in the park. They no longer have to teach
in sterile classrooms in the Vechtstraat or
in temporary wooden buildings in Osdorp (where
the roof blew away during winter storms!) or
at the crowded old campus in Buitenveldert,
where Moms turned part of the girls' shower
room into Snack Attack so they could warm up
some soup for the kids at lunchtime.
Countless
PTA initiatives in support of the drama, science,
sports and music programs, of improved playgrounds,
of better lunches (or any lunch), of guest
speakers and children's book sales have been
conceived and implemented by the talented parents
of ISA's PTA. The professional staff are grateful
for the dedicated, effective support of the
parent community. Our advice to new parents
is inevitably: "Join the PTA. Do that
right away. Do not wait to become active."
Back
to Voices 2003 |
A
Welcome from our Alumni Coordinator Don Morton
