Each year at TCIS each major division of the school contributes an Annual Report of that year's accomplishments. As Head of Information Technology I contributed the following to the 2012-2013 & 2013-2014 Year in Review Supplement that all School Board members and parents receive. I will include each years contribution to this page. |
About TCISSince its beginning in 1995, the Thai-Chinese (American) International School (TCIS) has been an Age 2 through Grade 12 American-style college-preparatory academic program that offers a day-program and also a new boarding program. Our current enrollment is 750 students.
TCIS is recognized among the top-ten international schools in Bangkok that offer an American Curriculum and 100% American-English speaking academic programs. We currently have 65 US Teachers, 14 Canadian Teachers, 13 Chinese Teachers and 8 Thai Teachers. We are accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) and offer 16 Advanced Placement high school courses. |
Making an impact @ TCIS
My tenure at TCIS has been a time of great opportunity and growth for the school. We have made significant strides forward in implementing and integrating educational technology into our classrooms, our administrative offices and in our ability to communicate with our entire school community.
Spring 2014 WASC Accreditation: Commendations...
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In the Spring of 2014, TCIS went through a standard five year WASC accreditation process. I would like to share the positive findings that the visiting accreditation committee commended the TCIS IT department upon after visiting and meeting with us from March 30th to April 4th 2014. |
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From Chapter 1: Student/Community Profile...(Page 4)
From Chapter 2: Progress Report (Pages 15 - 18)
During both years of my tenure, the TCIS IT Department was specifically noted for making improvements in Facilities, Curriculum, Technology, Communication & Professional Development.
During both years of my tenure, the TCIS IT Department was specifically noted for making improvements in Facilities, Curriculum, Technology, Communication & Professional Development.
2013 - 2014 Accomplishments: Strengthening our Foundation...
The 2013-2014 school year began with a significant change in educational technology at TCIS. We implemented a new grade-book system that we had to train our staff on in the first few days before our students arrived for classes. During these pre-service days we also had to train our staff on a new networked Ricoh printing system that significantly increased our ability to monitor and manage printing costs.
2013 & 2014 also saw the following accomplishments.
2013 & 2014 also saw the following accomplishments.
- With department backing five of our innovative teachers attained Google Certified Educator status.
- We strengthened our adoption of Google Apps for Education throughout the school year via numerous lunchtime and other in-house professional development sessions for our teachers.
- TCIS launched a new communication tool for parents (in conjunction with our new online Gradebook) called PlusPortals that allows parents to keep track of their child’s progress.
- We launched a new and more mobile & tablet friendly website that is easier to manage and maintain and has become the primary source of communication for our school community.
- TCIS embraced Social Media and launched a Facebook page that has become a significant portal for enhancing communication amongst our students and parents.
- Due to two emergency school closures during the spring semester (a military coup and a hazardous waste fire) our online learning system that we had implemented that year allowed us to continue classes with no makeup days needed.
2012 - 2013 Accomplishments: Hitting the ground running...
The TCIS IT Department had a successful school year in 2012 - 2013. The year started with a change with Mr. Brent Zeise assuming the position of head of IT after having worked in previous International Schools in Europe, Africa & the Middle East.
The first major project that TCIS IT worked on was successfully switching our email service from a local server running Microsoft Exchange to hosting our email on the Cloud with Gmail through Google Apps for Education. This exponentially increased the flexibility and usability of our primary means of communication within the TCIS Community.
The first major project that TCIS IT worked on was successfully switching our email service from a local server running Microsoft Exchange to hosting our email on the Cloud with Gmail through Google Apps for Education. This exponentially increased the flexibility and usability of our primary means of communication within the TCIS Community.
In addition this switch to Google Apps for Education also opened the doors for new and expanded functionality, communication and more efficient work flow by allowing TCIS teachers, staff & students to take advantage of the flexibility of Cloud computing with a range of applications from integrated Documents, Spreadsheets, Calendars and Communications.
Another major accomplishment this year was the effective rollout and upgrading of TCIS's Wireless Internet Network. Covering the majority of campus, the new Enterprise Level Wireless network expands the accessibility and ease of use of our impressive high-speed Internet capabilities for the myriad of wireless devices that access our network every day.
We also worked to improve our Social Media communications by emphasizing and using the TCIS Facebook page as well as updating our main website to help keep our community more actively engaged and informed of the latest happenings and events here at TCIS.
Another major accomplishment this year was the effective rollout and upgrading of TCIS's Wireless Internet Network. Covering the majority of campus, the new Enterprise Level Wireless network expands the accessibility and ease of use of our impressive high-speed Internet capabilities for the myriad of wireless devices that access our network every day.
We also worked to improve our Social Media communications by emphasizing and using the TCIS Facebook page as well as updating our main website to help keep our community more actively engaged and informed of the latest happenings and events here at TCIS.
In addition to the positive changes above, the TCIS IT Department also:
The TCIS IT Department is looking forward to the 2013 - 2014 school year as we hope to expand upon and refine many of the initiatives that were started this year as well as strengthening our use and practice of Educational Technology for our students, staff, faculty and parent community.
- Worked with the Faculty Association and Administration to help devise a more equitable and cost-efficient printing solution for faculty & staff.
- Upgraded hardware including replacing three servers and rolling out Apple MacBook Pro's to our High School Faculty for use in our 1 to 1 MacBook Program.
- Continued the successful rollout of our 1 to 1 MacBook Program at the High School.
- Encouraged one of our strongest teachers in Educational Technology, Mr. Wesley Prybylski to successfully apply for and become an Apple Distinguished Educator.
- Participated in the first ever Google Apps for Education Summit ever held in Bangkok, Thailand.
- Instituted a series of Professional Development opportunities for Faculty on integrating technology into their daily practices.
- Reviewed and improved our purchasing and budgetary process.
- Researched a more efficient and streamlined School Information Service and Learning Management Service for the TCIS Community.
The TCIS IT Department is looking forward to the 2013 - 2014 school year as we hope to expand upon and refine many of the initiatives that were started this year as well as strengthening our use and practice of Educational Technology for our students, staff, faculty and parent community.