| The
first few years of the International School’s seventh decade are a microcosm
of the school’s past. ISM has had fluctuating enrollment; it is experiencing
widespread parent interest in the school’s activities, with hours of volunteer
work spent on numerous committees; it has seen the effects of heightened
political tension in the Philippines, with a series of bomb threats to
the school in 1980, and demonstrations only blocks away in 1983; it has seen financial problems arise out of the current economic situation in
the Philippines, with devaluation and widespread inflation. |
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On a slightly less serious note, the school is still
prone to typhoon floods and power failures, and everyone still shakes their
heads over the traffic problems which accompany the school day.
The International School is moving closer to other
similar schools, especially those in Asia. Sports teams compete for championships
in other countries, and our own school was host to the first United Nations
Model Assembly with participants from other schools in the South-East Asian
area. Teachers have been sent abroad to conferences and seminars, and International
Baccalaureate teachers routinely exchange information with other IB schools
around the world.
Even the school’s calendar has been altered to a September-June school
year, thus bringing it in line with common North American and European
practice. The attempt to increase the number of teachers with international
experience brought about the second strike in the history of the school,
but it is expected that ISM will soon have a staff which more closely represents
the composition of the student body than it has had for some years. As is customary in
the school’s history, a move to a new campus was necessary to relieve
overcrowding. In 2002, classes opened at a new campus in Makati - near
American Cemetary in what many alums remember as Fort Bonifcaio.
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