SIS welcomes new teachers, students, parents, programs

Saipan International School opened the 2018 school year on July 8, 2018, with five new teachers.

In response to parent requests for a deeper science program, SIS hired two new science teachers this year: Elizabeth Mansfield and Kristopher D’Alterio.

Mansfield, an experienced Biology and Chemistry teacher, joined SIS from Bilkent International School in Ankara, Turkey.

D’Alterio is the new Physics and AP Calculus teacher and a recent graduate of New York University, Abu Dhabi where he worked on a joint program with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to study the variability of water MASERs around supermassive black holes.

Yu Chau is also new to the staff this year as a Mandarin teacher, working on a fellowship with the College Board and the Confucius Institute.

In the elementary school, Tricia Gleason joined SIS’ Early Childhood team with Veronica Willden.

Gleason has been teaching for the last four years in Korea at the Gyeonggi Suwon International School, an international baccalaureate primary years program school.

Willden is a native of Chile and will be working as a cooperating teacher at SIS.

SIS also announced the addition of an after-school program for children in grades K-5 from 2:45pm to 5pm. The program focusses on wellness and is available to SIS students at no extra cost.

School headmaster Ron Snyder, AP English teacher Ingur Lee, and new SIS counselor Whitney Altizer welcomed all new students and parents to the high school in a Parent Night last Monday. Lee discussed the role of service and the recommendation in university application process. SIS will also be sponsoring him in a follow-up workshop in Korean for the entire CNMI Korean population.

Altizer shared with parents how he can support students throughout the application process. He has been teaching in Korea for several years and has just returned from two sucessful courses at the International Counselor Training Center where he networked with other international school counselors on topics such as the university application process and the unique needs of international students growing up outside of their home cultures.

Snyder offered a presentation on university programs in English outside of North America, focusing on programs in Europe that are free for all students. He also gave an overview of the SIS high school course offering, including the new AP Capstone Diploma program.

SIS is the only school in Micronesia and one of nine in the Pacific authorized to offer the AP Capstone program. This year’s AP Capstone Seminar course will be taught by Kimberlee Church, an experienced AP and IB English teacher. (SIS)