Parent Portal 

Welcome Back to BISNY – A Place to Belong

Dear BISNY Families,

I hope you are enjoying a wonderful summer and finding time to rest, explore and enjoy being together. As we move closer to the start of the new school year, I wanted to say how much we are looking forward to welcoming you back to BISNY.

There is something very special about the beginning of a school year. New classrooms, new teachers, new friendships, new challenges and, perhaps most importantly, new possibilities.

For some children, returning to school means coming back to familiar faces and friendships. For others, this will be their very first day at BISNY - perhaps even their first experience of school or of living and learning in New York. Wherever your family is beginning from, we want every child to feel the same thing when they walk through our doors:

I belong here.

Belonging matters enormously to us. It is being greeted by name in the morning. Having someone to sit with at lunch. A teacher noticing when something isn't quite right. Finding your place in a House, joining a club, performing on a stage, representing BISNY or simply discovering the people with whom you can completely be yourself.

And belonging doesn't just happen. We create it together.

As an international community, our families arrive at BISNY from different countries, cultures, educational systems and experiences. That diversity is one of the great joys of our school. We want children to feel proud of who they are, curious about one another and confident that they do not need to become the same in order to belong.

Over the summer, we have been incredibly busy preparing for the year ahead. There have been exciting changes across our campus, continued work on our academic programmes and learning spaces, and a great deal of thought about the experience we want every child and every family to have at BISNY. I cannot wait for you to see everything taking shape.

At the heart of it all is one idea:

Being known is where possibility begins.

Our intentionally small size allows us to know our students as individuals - their strengths and interests, when they need support, when they are ready to be challenged and sometimes possibilities they may not yet see for themselves.

Because being known and belonging are deeply connected. When children know they belong, they are more willing to put their hand up, try something unfamiliar, make a mistake, join the team, audition, ask the difficult question or challenge themselves academically.

That is where possibility begins.

This year, you will see an even greater emphasis on academic challenge, purposeful learning and experiences beyond the classroom, from inquiry, robotics and engineering to the arts, music, drama, sport, leadership, service and our House System. We want every student to have opportunities to discover what excites them and develop their individual strengths.

You will also see us being increasingly intentional about protecting the relationships that make our community special. Our new Bell-to-Bell approach to personal mobile phones, for example, is about creating more space for conversation, concentration, friendship and connection. We want our students to look up, join in and be fully present in school life.

There will be plenty more to share over the coming days, including some exciting developments across our campus, dining programme and opportunities for students.

For now, I simply want to say welcome back.

And to our new families: welcome to BISNY. Please don't think of yourselves as joining someone else's community. This is your community now too.

I am enormously excited about the year ahead and about continuing to build a school that is internationally minded, academically ambitious and deeply personal; a school where children are known, where people belong and where every student is encouraged to discover just how much is possible.

Enjoy the remaining days of summer. We cannot wait to open the doors and welcome you back very soon.

Warmly,

Janaquin Clark

Head of School

Dear Lower School Families,

I am very excited to welcome our new and returning families to Lower School for what promises to be another wonderful year of learning! We have many exciting developments underway at school, but at the moment, the hallways and classrooms are far too quiet! I cannot wait to hear the cognitive fizz, joy and laughter filling BISNY again.

As we begin a new school year, we look forward to building new friendships, reconnecting with old ones and immersing ourselves in our new Units of Inquiry. Our staff, pupils and families make BISNY a splendid place to belong. We believe that when children feel known, they discover what is possible. As we look ahead to our coming year, our key philosophy is:

Being known is where possibility begins. 

This year brings an exciting change to our Lower School division, which has been reimagined to include Nursery through Year 6. I am delighted to welcome our Year 5 and Year 6 students into the division and look forward to seeing them embrace their new role as role models for our younger learners. I know they will have an important part to play in helping us build a strong, connected Lower School community.

A fantastic part of our curriculum for Nursery to Year 2 includes our weekly swimming lessons which begin the week commencing September 14th. Reception will be swimming on Thursday afternoons, Year 1 swimming on Wednesday afternoons and Year 2 will be on Tuesday afternoons. Our Nursery learners will begin their swimming journey in January.

We are excited to introduce a new family-style lunch experience in Nursery to Year 1. Each day will feature a delicious entrée, vegetarian option, vegetable side, and accompaniment, alongside familiar favourites such as bagels, sandwiches, fresh fruit and seasonal vegetables. This gives children the opportunity to explore new foods while always having a choice they know and enjoy. This approach will create a communal and joyful lunchtime experience while also reducing food and packaging waste, helping us to make more sustainable choices as a school community. This means that families are no longer expected to order their lunches a week ahead. Our class teachers and teaching assistants will be on hand to support children every lunch time. Beginning this year, we are pleased to share that Year 2 will be joining Year 3 and 4 in the Dining Hall for their lunch. Additionally, Year 5 and 6 will continue enjoying their meals together in the Dining Hall.

I am looking forward to welcoming our staff back to school as we prepare classrooms and learning spaces for your arrival. On Tuesday 8th September, we will open our doors and welcome you back, ready to hear your exciting tales from the Summer Break. Our first day back at school will be rooted in relationships and community as we believe that when every child is known, valued, and supported, possibilities begin to unfold from the very first day!

Wishing you all a wonderful final few weeks of summer break and we look forward to hearing all about your summer adventures!

Best wishes

Ms Stewart-Pond

Head of Lower School

Coming soon...

Dear Parents,

We’re looking forward to welcoming you and your children to a brand new, brilliant year of high school. At BISNY, being known is where possibility begins, and in the Upper School that takes on a new significance. As students grow in independence and begin making increasingly purposeful choices about their subjects, interests and futures, they do so in an environment that recognises each student’s strengths, ambitions and individuality.

On that note, it is my pleasure to extend a huge congratulations to our returning Upper students for your achievements at IGCSE, AS and A-level this summer. Your hard work, late nights and resilience paid off, providing a wonderful platform from which to build this year, as college and the next step beyond BISNY looms closer.

The summer has seen enormous changes to our physical school spaces and I'm really excited to share these with you during our first day back on Tuesday 8th September. As previously mentioned we will also be moving to vertical mentor groups from Years 10–13. This aims to increase the opportunities for students to socialise and forge new friendships beyond their year group, whilst enhancing the scope of our House system, further strengthening our school community. We also have a wonderful surprise up our sleeves for Year 13 students…!

First day back: Tuesday 8th September

All students should arrive between 8:15–8:30am and head to the following spaces for morning registration:

Year 10: Room 301 in B35

Year 11: Room 302 in B35

Year 12: Cambridge & Kareuein in the HUB

Year 13: Yale and Harvard

During the course of the day there will be a number of House activities and competitions so please encourage your sons and daughters to lean into school spirit by wearing their House colours and a comfy pair of trainers. Returning BISNY students should also bring their access card and lanyard.

New students will have this provided during our orientation day on Friday 4th September.

I look forward to catching up with each of you and hearing about your family’s summer adventures!

Best wishes,

Rhiannon Rees
Head of Upper School