Dear Parents and Guardians,

We are greatly saddened to hear of the events in Ukraine, and offer our support to all of those in our community who are directly or indirectly affected by them. We have families in our community, and students in our classrooms, from the directly impacted countries.

At B.I.S., we benefit greatly from our strong and supportive community. We strive to provide a respectful and safe environment for all of our students, faculty, and staff, while facilitating an appreciation and respect of our shared humanity and diverse community.

Should the topic arise at home, we encourage you to have thoughtful, balanced conversations with your children, and to be mindful that polarizing political rhetoric found in the news, or even overheard in casual conversation, can find its way into classrooms and playgrounds, and be destabilizing.

There may also be heightened levels of anxiety among students who are receiving information from both traditional media sources and social media. If this is the case, our counseling department advises you to acknowledge and validate your child’s feelings and take their concerns seriously, to discuss the facts with age appropriate detail (only if they wish to do so). Please seek to limit the exposure to media if it is adding to their anxiety.

We are fortunate at B.I.S. to be part of a safe, respectful, compassionate, and caring international community, and we are thankful to our parents for instilling these same values in our students.

If you have any concerns regarding your child’s wellbeing, please reach out to their homeroom teacher or counselor, who will do all they can to support them at school.

Kind Regards
Michael Cunningham
Director
Berlin International School