After studying the storytelling unit, Grade Four embarked on a journey to see the traditional Cambodian art form of shadow puppetry that tells stories from ancient Khmer lore. They watched a stunning show put on by very talented puppeteers.
Following the show, the students returned to a hotel for a good night’s rest. For some, it was their first night sleeping away from their homes, and for most, it was the first time sleeping in a hotel.
All survived the night and we had a scrumptious breakfast and retired to the pool for a late morning swim. The students had a wonderful time and many said they wished we could do it all over again.
Grade One students visited Pizza Company for their field trip. They learned the basic math skill of fractions using pizza slices.
The students had good fun and gained self-confidence, as for most of them, this was their first visit to the mall and the pizza restaurant.
Grade Eight students went on a field trip to Angkor Museum.
It was a wonderful way to explore and learn about the history of Khmer civilization. A museum guide gave an informative tour which the students found amazing. For most Eighth Graders, it was their first visit to the museum.
The field trip ended with a delightful lunch at Lucky Mall.
Grade Six took a trip to Angkor Wat to compliment their story telling unit. They went to learn about stories depicted by the bas-reliefs.
Many of the students had never been to Angkor Wat and were amazed with the stories that Mr.Vannak told them.
They had a great picnic lunch outside the temple sketching figures from the ancient Angkorian era.
JPA held its Honors Assembly at the end of the third term. The Honors Assembly was conducted by Grade Three prefects Molis and Chanthen.
Ratana, a Grade Four student, gave a speech in English and Voleak, a Grade Five student, gave a speech in Khmer.
Prizes were given to students who earned yellow, honor report cards and to students from each grade who had shown the most improvement.
The Kindergarteners celebrated their 100th day with fun activities centered around the number 100. They counted popcorn until they had one hundred pieces each. They drew pictures of what they would look like in 100 years. They counted 100 blocks and used them to make long trains. They danced 100 steps to the Happy Birthday JPA song and imagined what would happen, if they could eat 100 cookies each.
The students enjoyed practicing their math skills and it was a wonderful opportunity to reflect on their achievements and progress thus far.
JPA welcomed a group of professors and students from MIT's department of architecture.
The group came to help with JPA’s new campus design and to complete a design and build project for a local school in a village near the JPA Tachet campus.
During their visit they focused on campus designs optimizing natural lighting and ventilation allowing JPA to build a beautiful and efficient facility with a low carbon footprint. They also analysed our Tachet campus and suggested ways in which we can improve acoustics, illumination and ventilation.
At Ampil Peam village school, the MIT group designed and built a new kitchen. Their construction focused on using inexpensive materials available locally following a prototypical design which could be easily replicated by local builders.
JPA held its Honors Assembly at the end of the second term on 18th December 2009.
The Honors Assembly was conducted by Vanndet, a Freshman prefect who serves on the student council and Sotheach, a Grade Seven student.
Veasna, a Grade Six student, gave a speech in English and Sony, a Grade Seven student, gave a speech in Khmer.
The second annual chess competition started at the beginning of the second term.
Congratulations to Sovannra (Grade Nine) who was declared the chess tournament champion!
Twenty Grade Nine students from Phnom Penh’s Northbridge International School visited JPA on 20th November 2009.
Principal, Lisa Arthur presented a brief history of JPA and then the visiting students joined Grade Three for
a reading activity.
Later, they met with JPA’s Grade Nine class and played several games of chess.
It was a valuable learning experience for our students to interact with students from a multi cultural background.
We were pleased to welcome Dick Krajczar, Director of the East Asia Regional Council of Overseas Schools, in November. During his visit, he observed classes and spoke with students and teachers.
JPA held its Honors Assembly at the end of the first term. The Honors Assembly was conducted by Nann, a Freshman prefect who
serves on the student council.
Sokly, a Freshman student, gave a speech in English and Mara, a Grade Eight
student, gave a speech in Khmer.
Congratulations to Pangna (Grade Five), who got a 3.5 GPA in all three core
subjects (English Language Arts, Khmer Language Arts and Math) and received a
yellow honors report card.
JPA welcomes Ambassador Carol Rodley.
On 21st August 2009, Ambassador Rodley made her first visit to JPA. She met with Mark Fox, Director, and Lisa Arthur, Principal of JPA.
Ambassador Rodley toured the campus and met the teachers and students.
The students celebrated the official opening of the JPA library.
The new library is an amazing environment with space and
furniture appropriate for students. The students love the books in the library
and the most popular books are the Goosebumps series and the Harry Potter books.
The library is open before and after school and during breaks. It has over 1000
books in both English and Khmer including fiction, non-fiction, newspapers and
encyclopedias.
JPA opened its school clinic at the beginning of this school year with a full
time nurse.
The new clinic greatly expands the health care that we can provide at school.
Apart from treating day to day aches, pains, cuts and bruises, we can also
monitor longer term conditions.
In an effort to help conserve Cambodian wildlife, JPA contacted an organization
in Preah Vihear which guided us in preparing a habitat for a pair of Barking Deer.
We implemented all recommendations and the two animals are now happily housed on
campus.