Dear Parents and members of the Ciputra community,
I sincerely hope you have all had a wonderful, restful and productive summer vacation. All staff are now
back in school and ready for an exciting new school year.
This morning we welcomed all our students for the start of the school year and it was a pleasure to see
their smiling faces again.
We have new staff members joining Ciputra this year; I would like to welcome our new faculty members
who have joined us this year:
Mr Van Nai joins us as the Head of Vietnamese Studies and brings with him a wealth of knowledge and
experience. Mr Van Nai has previously worked with Kinderworld at the Van Phuc campus.
Daniel Burke comes to us from Ireland and has a wealth of International experience around the world.
Daniel will be teaching Year 4 International.
Stephanie Montgomery joins us from the USA and has had experience in bilingual education both in
Vietnam and abroad. Stephanie will be teaching Year 2 Integrated classes.
Elaine Coleman comes to us from Ireland and has worked previously in International Bilingual schools
in Vietnam and in Europe. Elaine will be delivering the EPP and iPSLE programs to our Year 5 and 6
students as well as supporting the ESL department.
We also welcome Jorry Ann Lee who will be teaching ESL across all Year levels. Jorry joins us as an
internal transfer from the Van Phuc campus.
We also welcome back Ms Minh Anh, Year 3 Integrated, Ms Kim Anh, Year 2 Integrated and Ms Thanh
Thao, Year 5 Integrated to continue the work they started last year in the Vietnamese Department.
We wish them all every happiness and success in the Ciputra community.
Despite the summer vacation, the school has been a hive of activity this past month.
We have started and completed the summer renovation program, resurfacing the football field with new
AstroTurf, replacing the Shade over the Jungle Gym and many other maintenance and beautification
works. Our staff have been meeting and working over the last week to prepare for the new academic
year and ensure that we provide a caring and learning environment for the students from day one.
I am proud to inform you that in early July we received notification from the Western Association of
Schools and Colleges (WASC) that we had been granted Full membership accreditation with their
association for three years, recognising the excellence of our educational program and validating all
Ciputra staff for their hard work and professional standards over the year.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for prioritising high-quality international education for
your family at SIS Ciputra. For our part, SIS Ciputra will continue to offer a modern, demanding, yet
supportive education that truly prepares students for the realities of the world today and tomorrow. We
will make it our priority to get to know and understand all of our students and their families and to strive
to help each individual reach their full potential.
In closing, I would like to remind us all that students learn best when there is a supportive and effective
partnership among school, family, and the student. To this end, the entire staff and I look forward to
working with you and your children to make the 2009-2010 school year a great success.
Yours sincerely,
Costas Gikas – Principal SIS@Ciputra
