Mr. Bailey on the Web

The IB Virtual Community is up and running

David Bailey — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 11:00:51 +0000

Visit the IBVC and register to create your account.

WordPress has been very good to me, but it is time to move on. You can check the IBVC for all of the information and activities of the MKS IB Program.

C U L8R

Good News

David Bailey — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 10:26:29 +0000

I heard from the folks at IB and they have told me that we will be able to use the IB Virtual Community site from the 1st of November. As that is still two weeks away I will continue to update you about events here until then.

I have added some new dates to our upcoming events list. Next week we have visits from Bentley University and the big, BIG USEG university fair.

The following week RCSI Bahrain will be visiting us along with another university fair, for UK universities, on the 27th.

Watch this space for updates.

I know, I know

David Bailey — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 07:07:58 +0000

It has been a long time since I posted. That is because I am waiting for our site at the IB Virtual Community to come online. When this is created I will have accounts made for everyone.

When we are in our new home I will begin blogging anew.

A good site for information about colleges

David Bailey — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 03:09:27 +0000

I just found a site called LearnHub. It cam to me from a university called St. Catherines which is in Minneapolis, MN. St. Kates is a great all girls school if you are looking for that type of environment.

Learnhub is a great portal for studying overseas. They have online counselors that you can communicate with and ask questions about different schools. They also have information on studying in different countries, even including Germany and South Korea.

There is information about test prep and visas and all of the things you need. I have seen a lot of sites, and recommended many of them to you, over the years. LearnHub looks like a good one. Give it a look.

A better way to choose a college

David Bailey — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 08:54:32 +0000

I know that many of you are obsessed with rankings when you are looking at colleges. If you are going to rely on rankings then you should use some rankings that measure things that will be important to you, not just to the school.

Washington Monthly magazine publishes a different kind of ranking each year. These rankings focus on social mobility, research and service. These are categories which all have a direct effect on your university experience. They also will have more to do with what kind of person you are when you leave school.

Take a look and see if any of them are on your current list.

We’re almost there

David Bailey — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 08:23:05 +0000

I know that we haven’t had everything we wanted over the last two weeks, but I think we have done pretty well.

All of your textbooks are here now and you will be able to purchase them from tomorrow. If you need a booklist you can get one from my office.

Your teachers are here! First off, let me welcome Ms. Smithies back to our staff. It is good to have one of the pillars of our program return to us. Your other teachers are all either here or on their way. The new TOK teacher will probably be arriving in a few days. He has taught TOK before and I am sure that you will like him. When he arrives that will complete our IB staff.

All of our best wishes go out to Ms. Mariam and Ms. Bindu who are at home with their new babies. You should get in touch with them and wish them well.

Your schedules are complete and we will be starting full speed when we return on the 19th of September. For those of you who didn’t show up these two weeks you have missed some work. You will need to come and get your schedules from me at the beginning of the day.Then you will need to go and see your teachers to find out what you have missed.

On the university front, I have recently heard from three more colleges that want to visit us in October. So watch this blog space for the dates and times. Our first event when we get back will be the Canadian university tour on the 21st. This is the first time we have hosted the Canadians at our school and I know that Canada is a popular destination for many of you.

I hope that all of you have a joyous Eid. I will update you on new events during the break as they arise.

Our first day back

David Bailey — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:29:13 +0000

Well, it was a bumpy first day back. Lots of adjustments and changes, but tomorrow will be better. It was good to see everyone again after so many weeks. I was glad that so many of you showed up for the first week. You should keep coming in, because from this point on your teachers will be working with you each day.

I want to thank all of the teachers and our new HS Principal who came in today to introduce themselves. I especially want to thank Mr. Essam who helped out today and gave you a talk on Arabic. He is always a big help to me and I know that I can always count on him.

Remember that IB is all about the work. These first two weeks may not be the traditional opening of school that you are used to, but we are fixing our problems one by one. Each day you will have things to do and your teachers will be ready. For the seniors, you definitely want to get started right now and not waste any time. There is always work to be done.

A real IB student

So watch this space for updates. I will keep you posted on what’s going on. Tomorrow I will fix any other schedule problems and change courses for anyone who needs it.

The Diplomas Have Arrived!

David Bailey — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 03:09:56 +0000

The IB Diplomas and Certificates arrived yesterday. I sent out emails to everyone I had an address for and asked them to spread the word.

I will be in my office from 7:30 to 1:45 today and all next week. You, or your parent, may come and collect them anytime you like.

Back in Bahrain and (soon) back to work

David Bailey — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 01:04:37 +0000

I’ve been back in Bahrain for a few days now. Just taking it easy and getting my sleep adjusted.

It looks like the Holy month of Ramadan will be starting on Wednesday of this week. I hope that you all receive blessings and peace during this month.

Next week I will probably be going in to my office for a few hours each day starting on Sunday. The first day for administrators is Wednesday the 18th, but I want to get a head start. You can come by if you need anything.

For all of you IB students I must remind you that there is no Ramadan in IB. You are expected to be at school from the first day. Students who arrive after the holiday will miss a lot of work, especially Grade 12. Getting off to a good start is one of the best things you can do to make this a great year.

Soon I’ll be leaving Las Vegas

David Bailey — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:08:58 +0000

Only a few days to go now and I’ll be leaving for Bahrain. I am supposed to be back on the 2nd, and I’ll probably recover by the fourth.

I am going to visit the school and check on things like the new rooms we were supposed to get for IB as well as my office.

If you need anything let me know by email and we can meet at MKS. Remember the diplomas won’t be here for about three or four weeks. When they arrive I will let everyone know.

See you soon.