I hope that all staff and students have returned rested and ready for the start of another busy year ahead and that all parents have enjoyed and made the most of the valuable time spent with your children during the holidays. There are a number of challenges that we will face this year and I know that together we will make sure that this year is a successful one. We heartily welcome all of our new staff and students as they become members of the KIS community.With regard to the new Principal job search, I had a meeting in Chennai with the Search Committee in early July and the committee has shortlisted four good candidates. I will provide more details of their interview process early in the semester. At this point I would like to thank Anita who gave up much of her holiday to manage the administration of the applications. Also this semester we have the move of grades 7 & 8 to Ganga Campus, the review of our process for MYP and the introduction of the PYP in the Elementary School all on the agenda. In addition, we hope to get permission to start building on Ganga Campus soon.
This summer has been a very busy time on all our campuses and I can only extend to our Vice Principal Kaisar, Finance Director Ganga, Dean Sam, Human Resources Aruna and Maintenance Manager Mr Bheeman and the maintenance department, our sincere thanks and appreciation for the Herculean task that was undertaken in moving grades 7 and 8 down to Ganga Campus, building the classrooms and the extended dining room there that the additional students necessitated and preparing Swedish House, our newly purchased dorm, for our grades 4 to 7 boys. All this, along with the regular repairs and maintenance that occur every summer.
It was with deep sadness that we learnt of the passing away of the mother of Mr Godwin (Finance office) and Mr Selwyn (Travel office) on 8 June. Some of you would have also heard that Mr S Peter’s (Food Services assistant) 16 year old son met with a tragic accident early in June and battled for his life at the Apollo Hospital in Madurai. Sadly Wieben died on 3 July 2009. Our heartfelt condolences go to Godwin, Selwyn and Peter and their families on their loss.
Congratulations to Bryan Plymale and Isabel Fernandez whose baby girl, Daniela Keith Plymale Fernandes, arrived on Saturday, 11 July 2009. Both Isabel and Daniella are doing well (and Bryan too of course!).
Geoffrey Fisher
Principal
principal@kis.in
Geoffrey Fisher
Principal
principal@kis.in
• Beth Dagitses is from Michigan and joins the PE department. Her son, Aaron will be entering grade 9. Beth’s interests include community service, drama, school year book, soccer, student government and band.
• Sonny Deenadayalan is a KIS alumnus (Class of ’81) and joins us as KISCO Coordinator. Sonny and his wife Nandini are joined by their two daughters Neha and Sruti who will be entering grade 5 and 9 respectively.
• Samanthea Laitflang, alumna from the class of ’97, joins the Learning Support department. Her interests include community service, drama, Sunday school, reading, writing, poetry and music. Sam comes with her husband, Gian Sealy (Class of ’96).
• Sandhya Paul will be teaching Middle School Science. Her interests include community service, school magazine, sketching and cartooning.
• Akila Rajagopalan joins the Mathematics department. Akila enjoys drama and Sunday school.
• Anita Solomon joins us to teach English in the Middle School. Anita enjoys community service, drama, school magazine year book, Sunday school, cooking and baking, worship leading and counseling. She is joined by her husband Daniel and sons, Joshua (grade 11), and Benjamin (grade 9).
• Sadie Strange will be one of the dorm parents in Swedish House. Sadie enjoys cooking, baking, camping, choir, drama, community service, hiking, gardening and interior decoration. Sadie and her husband, Peter, who is already on staff as an English teacher, came to us from Sherwood College, Nainital.
· Zai Whitaker is back! She will resume her responsibilities as HoD, ESL department.
• Akansha Gupta (Class of 2000) is volunteering for this academic year and will provide administrative support in KISCO and the Alumni office. She enjoys camping, community service, drama, school magazine, year book, racquet sports and track and field. 
• Jonas Hauke comes from Hildesheim, Germany and will assist in the Social Experience department as a volunteer. He will also help with camping and activities. 
• Denton Josey is from Florida and will volunteer for this academic year. He will assist in the ESL department and also provide dorm support in Loch End dorm. 
• Coco Lammers is from the Netherlands and has come to KIS through Princeton in Asia. She will help in the ESL, Art and Music departments. Coco enjoys band, camping, community service, hiking, nature study, photography, school magazine, arts and yoga. 
• Mousumi Sinha Babu, Soumen’s wife, will be volunteering in the Social Studies department. Mousumi enjoys camping, choir community service and hiking. Mousumi and Soumen have two children, Ayaneel (grade 2) and Archit (PS). 
Bettina Rieck (Class of 2006), a German exchange student to KIS, was touched profoundly by the SoEx program at KIS and as a result founded Nampu, a nonprofit organization in Germany. Nampu means "hope" or "believe" in Tamil. Bettina has gathered interested people to serve as members of this organization to raise funds for Shenbaganur Orphanage here in Kodaikanal. Partnering with the KIS SoEx department they have so far succeeded in building a cow shed, have worked to build toilets and supply other provisions for the children at the orphanage. If you would like to join Nampu or get more information, contact Bettina at: 
Hometown: New Delhi
Zai Whitaker, ESL Head of Department
Sam Laitflang, Learning Resources, ESL, Piano