Coming Far From Many Nations

COMING FAR
FROM MANY NATIONS
The story of
The International School of Belgrade
from 1948 to 2012, with a view toward the future
THE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF BELGRADE

A collaborative learning community that has always inspired and empowered its members
discover their passions to be global innovators
International School of Belgrade

Temivarska 19
11040 Belgrade, Serbia
Phone: +381 11 206-9999
E-mail:isb@isb.rs
Web: http://www.isb.rs
ISB MISSION STATEMENT

ISB is a collaborative learning community that inspires and empowers its members
to discover their passions to be global innovators.
ISB VISION STATEMENT

We aspire to challenge and empower students through living the IB learner profile.
Coming far from many nations
PHILOSOPHY
The International School of Belgrade, an independent, co-educational international
day school that enrolls students from ages four to eighteen, was founded in 1948.
As an authorized IB World School, ISB is a collaborative learning community
that inspires and empowers its members to discover their passions to be global
innovators.
ISB is accredited by the Council of International School (CIS) and by the New
England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), and authorized by the
International Baccalaureate Organization and by the Ministry of Education of the
Republic of Serbia.
We aspire to challenge and empower students through living the IB learner profile.
From its very beginning, ISB adheres to the following criteria:

The best interests of our students and their diverse needs are always at the
center of our decisions.
ISB always strives to ensure safe, supportive, and healthy environments

conducive to learning.
ISB provides a broad, balanced, high-quality educational program, which

includes visual and performing arts as well as athletics.
No program or service is introduced unless it is consistent with the strategic

plan, the benefits justify the cost, and provisions are made for professional
development and program evaluation.
No program or service is retained unless it continues to make an optimal

contribution to the mission and its benefits continue to justify cost. We
remain committed to areas of strength while addressing areas of weakness.
ISB does not tolerate behavior that demeans or is disrespectful of an

individual or group.
Family involvement in the life of the school is encouraged.
Collaboration and team building across the school is promoted.
ISB balances our need for innovation with respect for our traditions.
Time
Like sand slipping through your fingers,
Each grain counts but never stays long.
As your life is at its end,
You remember past years
And your last moments are regrets
of missed opportunities.
Thas Montanari
2004
SCHOOL SONG
(to the tune of Far Above Cayugas Waters)

Met on common ground
In our work and recreation
Friendliness we found.
In our lives we live hereafter
Memories will stay
Of our school and friends and laughter
Not to fade away.
Teaching us that friendships limit
(is) Not of race or creed
All who seek to live within it
Share a common need.
In the school weve grown to cherish
Never let it die
We will hold though all may perish
(The) Flag of friendship high.
Singing now our song of nations
Happy, young, and free
Let us change by our relations
World thats ours to be.
All weve learned of love and laughter
And to understand
Let us practice that hereafter
Peace may rule the land.
-written by ISB upper grades
with Jean Marinkovi and
Gordana Obradovi, 1962

Dear Reader,
From its very modest beginning in 1948 with twenty-one students in several rooms above the American Mission on Svetog Save
Street, the International School of Belgrade has ridden a tide of constancy laced with peaks of change and transformation. Mrs.
Patricia Andjelkovi, editor, provides us with an array of anecdotes and testimonials in Coming Far from Many Nations. This
compelling narrative recounts our history through a periscopic view of the past generations.
As often is the case in international schools such as ours, periods of time are marked by changes in human resources, facilities, and
instruction. From 1948 to 1966, surnames of Petrovi, Obradovi, Brai, Zeevi, and Kodas walked throughout the Main Villa
on the Temivarska campus. We formed an alliance with the Pittsford School District in New York and joined the International
Schools Association.
In the 1970s, the names of staff members heard around campus included Kovaevi, Jovovi, and Zimmerman. The Staff
Association of the International School of Belgrade (SAISB) was formed and ISB was awarded accreditation through National
Education Association of Schools and Colleges and European Council of International Schools. These three associations (SAISB,
NEASC, and ECIS) are still present with us today. Our curriculum standards, faculty, and administration were influenced by our
relationship with the Pittsford School District. In fact, during a twenty-year period from 1966 1986, over 30 teacher exchanges
occurred between ISB and Pittsford staff, culminating in a Board of Directors meeting on March 9, 1987 where Anne Jovovi and
Lily Tomeak exchanged gifts, greetings, and good wishes with the Pittsford school in the United States.
Over the ensuing twenty years, ISB remained securely and safely at home on the Temivarska campus. Sanctions brought against
Serbia challenged our ability to provide a world class education, but we never closed our doors. At the turn of the century, student
growth demanded an imminent search for more classroom space. Two additional campuses were brought into the fold of ISB and
a bi-lateral agreement was formed between ISB and the government of Serbia and Montenegro.
Over the past five years, we have pushed the envelope of progress. Two strategic plans, a world class facility (middle school and
gymnasium), a technology-rich learning environment, a well-trained faculty, an active Parent Teacher Student Association, and a
robust sense of leadership from our Board of Trustees have all paved the way for our future. Our newly adopted Mission (ISB is a
collaborative learning community that inspires and empowers its members to discover their passions to be global innovators) brightly
reflects our purpose while holding high the torch we grip with passion: serving our students.
Sincerely yours in education,
Dr. Eric W. Sands, Director

March 26th, 2012

Dear Reader,
Its been just over a year since Dr. Sands asked me if I would be willing to compile the story of the International School of Belgrade,
where I worked three different times in as many positions for approximately twenty years. I was happy to accept this challenge
though I knew that a long road lay ahead.
Gathering information about the schools past, input, and photos for this memory book was a daunting task. Much was gleaned
from previous anniversary and yearbooks, while obtaining additional information required many email exchanges, Facebook
messages, and Internet sleuthing on my part. The story of the International School of Belgrade is extensive, and it is my hope that
the next edition will reveal even more about the schools past, along with many more additions about its future.
I could not have done this without the help of my friends and colleagues. Special thanks go out to those past and present,
especially Anne Goslee-Jovovi, Margaret Mileti, Sheila Macgregor-Kovaevi, Branka Srekovi, and Gil Brai for their help in
proofreading, offering suggestions, old yearbooks, and additional photos; to Mr. Lee Johnson, who sent me much information in
hard copy about ISBs former Pittsford Sister School connection; to Nataa Tomi, who helped with file conversions; to Dr. Lavinia
Davenport, who managed to locate a photograph of our schools founder, Lady Catherine Marie Peake; to Suzana Djordjevi
for her clerical help; to Ilinka Jovani, for passing on her extensive student email list; to everyone who contributed input, and of
course, to Dr. Eric Sands himself, for giving me the opportunity to compile this book.
Patricia A. Andjelkovi, Editor

ISB teacher 1982-84; 1989-2005; 2008-2011
March 26th, 2012
What is school?
A center of learning
A place of work
An institution of many classes
A place of questions
A refuge of answers
A place to say, I need Help!
A way of life
That is school.
Benjamin Post
2005
10
OUR HISTORY
ounded in 1948 by Lady Peake, wife of the

British Ambassador, the Foreign Colony School
was housed in two rented rooms at the American
Mission. One staff member, assisted by mothers,
taught elementary children using British texts. The
wife of the American ambassador became the first
chairperson of the School Board in 1949.
From 1950-1957, the school grew to be a K-8 school
using American Forces teaching manuals. In 1952,
the name was changed to the International School
of Belgrade.
ISB moved to its present Lower School residential
location in 1957 when the existing villa was remodeled. Additional buildings were also constructed
on the beautiful surrounding grounds. Enrollment
has fluctuated considerably reflecting the population
of the diplomatic community, the establishment
of other foreign national schools in Belgrade, and
the political and economic situation in the former
Yugoslavia.
In 1962, the School began to receive yearly United
States Government financial grants to enable
the recruitment of state-side teachers and the
opportunity for long-term teachers to attend courses
at U.S. universities. From 1966 through the early
2000s, the School was associated with the Pittsford
School District in New York, a school-to-school
program that included resources, information, and
teacher exchange. ISB also became associated with
the European Council of International Schools
and the Central and Eastern European School
Association.
ISB was first accredited in 1981 by the New England
Association of Schools and Colleges and the
European Council of International Schools.
In the spring of 2003, ISB inaugurated the opening
of the second campus for grades 6 through 12. To
cater for expanding student population, in the fall of
2005, grades 6-8 were moved to a newly-renovated
third campus within walking distance of the other
12
two campuses.
In 2009, the administration and faculty made a
landmark presentation to Board of Trustees in
support of approving the first ISB Three-Year
Technology Plan. Embedded in the framework of
the plan is the implementation of the modular objectoriented dynamic learning environment (Moodle),
the adoption of a grades 6 12 one-to-one laptop
program, and a rich and robust virtual learning
environment. Later in the fall of 2009, ISB received
visitors from CIS and NEASC for the Preparatory
Visit. In October 2009, ISB received full approval
to proceed with the next stage of the accreditation
cycle entitled Self-Study. At the same time, ISB
gained tentative approval for a three-team (NEASC/
IBO/CIS) April 2011 visit to complete its self-study.
In May 2010, ISB was one of 583 International
Baccalaureate World Schools to offer all three
International Baccalaureate programs. All three
IB programs undergo rigorous assessment on an
internal and external basis.The framework provides
teachers with an innovative working environment
while encouraging a collaborative approach to unit
planning.
In February 2011, ISB broke ground for a new Middle

School and Gymnasium which was scheduled
for completion during the 2011 2012 academic
year. Later in the spring, ISB engaged in a threeteam (CIS/NEASC/IBO) Self-Study visit. After a
thorough review of its program, ISB earned 10 - year
reaccreditation approval in July 2011.
In November 2011, ISB ushered in a new era in
education by conducting nationally televised
ribbon-cutting ceremony on the secondary
campus. In January 2012, ISB opened the doors
to a newly purpose-built Middle School and
Gymnasium. Thousands of children have passed
through the portals of knowledge at ISB over more
than half a century since the school was founded. The
future looks bright, not only for the International
School of Belgrade, but also for Serbia.
Lady Catherine Marie Peake,

Founder of the Foreign Colony School, 1948
13
WHAT
HAPPENED
AND
WHEN
OUR SCHOOL
YEAR
WORLD
1948
Foreign Colony School founded by Lady Peake, wife of
British Ambassador.
Principal: Mrs. Alice Haggerty,
-UNICEF and WHO are formed.
First Teacher: Mrs. Gordana Obradovi

Foreign Colony School moved from rooms above the
American Mission on Svetog Save Street to Sarajevska
Street. Lower grades only; 21 children.
1950
Principal: Miss Mellors
-Charles Shultz creates Peanuts.

-Rock and Roll comes to stay!
-C.S. Lewis publishes The Lion, The Witch, and The
Wardrobe.
1952
Foreign Colony School becomes the International

School of Belgrade, the first international school in
Belgrade.
-Queen Elizabeth II succeeds George VI.
1954
Principal: Mrs. Gwen White
-J.R.R. Tolkien publishes The Lord of the Rings.
ISB has grades K-7, an American School Board, and

American texts.
-Jonas Salk develops first safe and effective polio vaccine.
1955
ISB has K-Grade 8
-Suez Crisis
(100 children).
-Jim Henson creates Kermit the Frog.

-Martin Luther King gains prominence as Civil Rights
leader.
1956
-Hungarian Uprising
1957
ISB moves to Temivarska 19 in Senjak.
-First man-made satellite, Sputnik I

1958
Principal: Mrs. Wilmajean Williams
-Common Market formed.

-Airplanes now carry more transatlantic passengers
than ships.
1960
ISB joins International Schools Association.
-Jane Goodall begins her study of chimpanzees in

Gombe, Tanzania.
17

1961
Pre-fab building, now Learning Hall, is added at
Temivarska 19 campus.
-First manned space flight by Yuri Gagarin, former

USSR
-John F. Kennedy creates the Peace Corps.
-Ivo Andri wins Nobel prize for his novel The Bridge
on the River Drina.
-Non-aligned Movement is formed.
1962
-World population reaches 3.1 billion.
Principal: Mr. Kelly

ISB begins to receive US government financial grants,
enabling recruitment of state-side teachers. School
song Coming Far from Many Nations is written by ISB
upper-grade students
1963
Principal: Miss Cathy Priboni
-Beatles earn international fame.
Second floor of Main Villa is converted into

classrooms.
-Major earthquake occurs in Skopje, Macedonia.

-Cuba Missile Crisis causes tension between the US
and the USSR.
-US President John F. Kennedy is assassinated.
-Lasers are first used in delicate eye surgery.
1964
Principal: Mr. George F. Zimmerman
-Studies link cigarettes with cancer and other diseases.
Business Manager: Dr. Nikola Kodas
-Civil Rights Act signed in US.

1965
-Mont Blanc tunnel is opened.
-Yugoslavia decentralizes administration of economic
trade and trade with West develops.
1966
Pittsford Alliance is formed.
-Mini-skirts come into fashion.
ISB becomes associated with the European Council

of International Schools and the Central and Eastern
European Schools Association.
-Soviet probe Luna 9 is the first artificial satellite to

land on the moon.
-In New York, groundbreaking begins for the World
Trade Center.
Principal: Mr.Willard Kobuskie

1967
Due to increased enrollment, ISB goes on split
sessions.
18
-The United States, the United Kingdom, and the

Soviet Union sign the Outer Space Treaty to ban
nuclear weapons from outer space.

1968
-Doctor Christian Bernard completes the first
successful heart transplant.
1969
-Neil Armstrong becomes first man to walk on the
moon.
1970
Principal: Mr. Elvin Bartel
1971
Principal: Mr. Sherman Craig
1972
Staff Association of the International School of
Belgrade (SAISB) is formed.
-Smallpox epidemic breaks out in Yugoslavia.

1973
-Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries

(OAPEC) announces oil embargo.
(230 children at ISB)
-World Trade Center in New York City opens.
ISB joins European Council of International Schools

(ECIS).
Obradovi Hall, named in honor of ISBs first teacher,
Gordana Obradovi, is added.
1974
-Yugoslavias Josip Broz Tito is named president for

life.
1975
Principal: Mr. David McKeen
-Spains General Franco dies.

-Saigon falls to communists.
-Lymes disease is first discovered.
1976
-Apple computers are launched.
-Chinas Mao Zedong dies.
-VHS and Betamax VCRs are introduced.
1977
Principal: Mr. Calvin Sloan
-French is declared official language in Quebec,

Canada.
-Amnesty International wins Nobel Peace Prize.
1978
-After nearly 30 years, Volkswagen Beetle stops

production.
-The first commercial cellular phone is introduced.
-Worlds first test tube baby is born.
19

1979
Director: Dr. Francis Murphy
-Soviets invade Afghanistan.

-Sony Walkman introduced.
ISB hosts first East European School Conference.
-Ayatollah Khomeini takes power in Iran.
ISB is first school in Eastern Europe to receive ECIS

accreditation.
-Mother Teresa wins Nobel Peace Prize.
Pension Plan is started.

1980
-Josip Broz Tito, President of Yugoslavia, dies.
1981
ISB becomes part of New England Association of
Schools and Colleges (NEASC).
-Iran/Iraq war breaks out.

-World Health Organization declares smallpox
eradicated.
First accreditation from NEASC)

1982
-Michael Jacksons Thriller sells 20 million albums to

become the largest selling record ever.
-The Vietnam Memorial is erected in Washington D.C.
1983
Director: Dr. Bernard S. Miller (162 children at ISB)
-Cabbage Patch dolls become a craze.

-Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in
space. Compact discs are released.
Young Authors Competition is introduced.

1985
Director: Dr. Ray Miller
-Titanic wreckage is located.

-Mikhail Gorbachev becomes the last president of the
Soviet Union.
1986
120 children at ISB.
-Chernobyl disaster occurs.
Interschool sports are introduced.
-The space shuttle Challenger explodes upon take-off.
The 20th anniversary of the Pittsford Alliance is

celebrated.
-Halleys comet crosses the heavens, next to be seen on

July 28, 2061.
1987
113 children at ISB.
-World population reaches 5 billion.

1988
Director: Dr. Gordon Quigley (144 children at ISB)
-Concept of Glasnost introduced by USSRs President

Mikhail Gorbachev.
-Iran/Iraq war ends.
-Soviet troops withdraw from Afghanistan.
-Arms agreement between USSR/USA.
-Space shuttle Discovery orbits the Earth for four days.
20

1989
-Slobodan Miloevi becomes president of Yugoslavia
1991
Pittsford Alliance ends.
-Disintegration of Yugoslavia begins.

1992
Director: Dr. David Ottaviano

Director and Finance Manager: Dr. Nikola Kodas
-Bosnia and Herzegovina secede from Yugoslavia.

Montenegro and Serbia form Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia.
As a result of international sanctions imposed on

Yugoslavia, enrollment drops from 160 to 100 students
in one week.
-Rising nationalist and independence aspirations bring

bloody conflict between Bosnian Serbs with Bosnian
Croats and Bosnian Muslims.
-UN imposes sanctions on Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia.
-Czech Republic and Slovak republics are formed.
-Hyperinflation in Yugoslavia:
500-billion dinar banknote introduced, which
devaluates hourly.
1995
-Dayton Accords bring end to Bosnian war.
-Sanctions against Yugoslavia are lifted.
1998
ISB celebrates its 50 birthday with ceremonies and by

planting a memorial sequoia tree by the Lower School
gate.
th
1999
Embassy families are evacuated from Belgrade. School
stays open under Dr. Nikola Kodas directorship and
with core of teachers. (10 students)
-NATO bombing of Serbia, March.

-The worlds population topped the 6-billion mark
with the birth of a baby in Sarajevo.
2000
-Dr. Vojislav Kotunica sworn in as president of the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
-Yugoslavia re-joins the UN.
-Dr. Zoran Djindji becomes Serbian Prime Minister.
2001
-World Trade Centers Twin Towers hit by aircraft and
are leveled.
21

2002
Dr. Nikola Kodas, Business Manager and Director
during sanctions, retires.
-Euro coins and banknotes in circulation
Interim Director: (January-June) Mr. Daryl Russell

Director: Mr. Gerald F. Craig
Lower School Principal: Ms. Wendy McArthur
Secondary School Principal: Mr. Clint Calzini
Hot catered lunches introduced.
Plans are made for new MS and HS facilities.
2003
ISB inaugurated the opening of the second campus for
grades 6 through 12 at Banjikih rtava 6.
-Yugoslavia renamed Serbia and Montenegro.

-Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindji assassinated
in Belgrade.
2004
Grade 10 is added. International Hall is constructed

on Lower School campus.
-Worst clashes between Serbs and ethnic Albanians

in Kosovo since 1999 after violence erupts in divided
town of Mitrovica. NATO sends reinforcements.
Enrollment increases. Middle School moves to

new campus at Sanje ivanovia 15, near other two
campuses
-Democratic Party leader Boris Tadi is elected

Serbian president and pledges to steer Serbia towards
the EU.
-Google introduces Gmail to the public.
2005
-Talks begin on a Stabilization and Association
Agreement with the EU, regarded as a preliminary
step on the long road to EU membership.
2006
ISBs High School celebrates its first graduating class of

two students.
-Eris, the largest known dwarf planet in the solar

system, is discovered.
-The United Nations General Assembly votes
overwhelmingly to establish the UN Human Rights
Council.
-The National Assembly of Serbia declares Serbia to be
the legal successor to the former state union.
-The Republic of Montenegro holds a referendum
proposing independence from the State Union of
Serbia and Montenegro.
22

2007
Dr. Eric Sands hired as the 23 director to lead ISB.
-Bulgaria and Romania officially join the European

Union.
rd
The first ISB IB graduating class had their IB May

exams at the end of the 2-year program, with a 100%
success rate.
-Bulgarian, Romanian, and Irish become official

languages of the European Union, joining 20 other
official languages.
ISB takes lead role in forming the Association of

International and Independent Schools in Belgrade
(AIISB). Founding member schools include
RudjerBoskovi, Milo Crnjanski, German School,
International School of Belgrade, Anglo- American
School, French School, Chartwell, and International
Nursery School of Belgrade. AIISBs aim is to
enhance school effectiveness through cultural
exchanges, athletic competitions, and professional
development while inspiring student learning and
development.
-Slovenia officially adopts the euro and becomes the

thirteenth eurozone country.
-UN unveils a plan to set Kosovo on a path to
independence, which is immediately welcomed by
Kosovo Albanians and rejected by Serbia.
-Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final book
in the bestselling Harry Potter series, is released.
Severe power outage on the Temisvarka campus

requires a flexible half-day scheduling for students
over ten days.
2008
Lower School Principal: Mr. Tim Moynihan
Secondary School Principal: Mr. Bill Kralovec
Mr. William Clowney, Middle School Coordinator/
Activities Director
ISB Board of Directors adopts the first 5 Year
Strategic Plan in the history of the school, which reaffirms the existing ISB Mission and Vision statements
while outlining 15 strategies (with action steps)
scheduled for completion in 2013.
ISB receives the first of several significant grants from
the Office of Overseas Schools for improving security
on two campuses.
-Barack Obama becomes first Afro-American

president.
-Democratic Party leader Boris Tadi is re-elected.
-Kosovo declares independence from Serbia.
-EU foreign ministers sign a long-delayed pact on
closer ties with Serbia, seen as a first step towards
eventual Serbian membership of the EU.
-Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadi, who
evaded capture on war crimes charges for almost 13
years, is arrested by Serbian security forces in Belgrade
and flown to The Hague to stand trial.
A CCTV Surveillance System and 2 way

communication system is fully installed.
-Serbian parliament ratifies a key agreement on closer

ties with the European Union, paving the way to
eventual membership
An online learning program is initiated for students

required by their respective governments to depart
from Belgrade.
-Bloody Friday. Many of the worlds stock exchanges

experienced the worst declines in their history, with
drops of around 10%.
Eleven seniors graduate from ISBs third graduating

class. Senior student Sarah Tkalec was the first
graduate to attend ISB for 13 years.
350 square meters are added to the high school Main
Villa to meet a 19% increase in population. Enrollment
exceeds 400.
23

Board of Trustees engages in Governance Training
with ECIS Consultant Dr. Marilyn Wyatt. Board goals
for the academic year focus on improving financial
health of the school to strengthen academic and cocurricular programs.
The Board Policy manual is streamlined while defining
schools operation through a series of handbooks.
Board approves Master Plan for facilities on secondary
campus based on the 5 Year Strategic Plan. The
plan includes the addition of a 1300 square meter
MS facility, 800 square meter gymnasium, and
landscaping.
ISB professional staff members engage in schoolwide professional development training in a two-day
workshop entitled Planning Backwards.
ISB Performing Arts Department enhances
performing arts calendar by adding eight new events
to its calendar.
ISBs Parent Teacher Association introduces enhanced
calendar of events as well as the Welcome to
Belgrade publication for new families.
PTA financial support of various school-wide events
is evident in events such as the Spring Fair and
Shakespeare Festival.
2009
Mr. Mark Noonan, Middle School Coordinator
Technology Director from the International School
of Prague delivers a twoday faculty workshop on
Digital Citizenship. Administration and faculty
make presentation to Board of Trustees in support
of approving the first ISB 3 Year Technology Plan,
which comprises the implementation of the modular
object-oriented dynamic learning environment (Moodle)
and the adoption of a grades 6 12 one-to-one laptop
program.
CIS/NEASC begins Preparatory Visit at the
International School of Belgrade. ISB receives
full approval to proceed with the next stage of the
accreditation cycle entitled Self-Study. ISB gains
tentative approval for a three-team (NEASC/IBO/CIS)
April 2011 visit to complete its Self-Study.
ISB web page (www.isb.rs) unveiled.
Shakespeare Festival and PTA Spring Fair held on
secondary campus.
25 ISB students graduate.
24
-The H1N1 virus (Swine Flu) is deemed a global

pandemic by the World Health Organization.
-Serbia officially applies for EU membership.
-Croatia and Albania join NATO.
-International Monetary Fund (IMF) agrees to lend
Serbia 3 billion euros to help it weather economic
downturn.
-Russia grants Serbia a 1-billion euro loan to help it
cover its budget deficit.
-Visa-free travel within EUs Schengen area comes into
effect for Serbian citizens.

2010
The adoption of a grades 6 12 one-to-one laptop
program, and a virtual learning environment inclusive
of a high speed, fiber-optic internet connection and a
state-of-the-art wireless routing system from Xirrus is
featured throughout the school. The goal is for ISB to
have a laptop in the hands of every student in grades 6
12 by the beginning of the 2012 2013 school year.
-Serbian parliament passes resolution apologizing for

1995 massacre of thousands of Muslims by Bosnian
Serb forces in Srebrenica.
-The longest annular solar eclipse of the 3rd
millennium occurs.
-The tallest man-made structure to date, the Buri
Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, is officially
opened.
ISB becomes the 83rd school out of 583 IB World

Schools to offer all three International Baccalaureate
programs. All three IB programs undergo rigorous
external and internal assessment.
ISB achieves full implementation of its new online
database, Web EIM, allowing ready access to student
and parent contact information, report cards, health
information, and attendance.
ISB enters final stages of securing necessary permits
and debt-service funding to commence construction
of MS-HS relocation project.
ISB Language Policy is adopted, which includes the
provision for second-language teaching and mother
tongue language support. ISB support the self-taught
Mother Tongue courses in six languages.
In the third season of volleyball, all four teams (MS/
HS girls and boys) earn gold medals at the CEESA
Blue Division tournaments, an unprecedented
accomplishment in the schools history.
2011
Mr. Brian Lettinga, Lower School Principal
Mr. Jeffrey Eller, Middle School Coordinator
ISB breaks ground for a new Middle School and
Gymnasium which is scheduled for completion this
school year.
ISB was one of the first world schools to host a 7-day
cross-organization visit by agencies CIS, NEASC and
full IB (PYP/MYP/DP).
The entire ISB professional staff attend the Central
Eastern European Schools Association (CEESA)
Teachers Conference in Budapest.
-Former Bosnian Serb Army commander Ratko

Mladi, wanted for genocide, war crimes, and crimes
against humanity, is arrested in Serbia.
-The worlds first artificial organ transplant is achieved,
using an artificial windpipe coated with stem cells.
-The United States formally declares an end to the Iraq
war.
-Novak Djokovi is ranked No.1 world player by the
Association of Tennis Players
ISB engages in three team (CIS/NEASC/IBO) Self

Study visits. After a thorough review of its program,
ISB gains 10 - year reaccreditation approval in July
2011.
25

ISB is voted seat of the presidency for the CEESA
conference for the 2011 2012 school year.
Dr. Eric Sands resigns as the director of ISB effective
at the end of the 2011 2012 school year for the
directors position at Qatar Academy in Doha.
Dr. Robert Risch accepts offer to serve as the next ISB
director at the beginning of the 2012 2013 school
year.
ISB conducts a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the
completed Middle School and Gymnasium. Over 700
people attend a nationally televised ceremony in the
new gymnasium.
ISB Board of Trustees approves the next 5 Year
Strategic Plan.
Approximately fifty alumni attend the first formal
ISB Alumni Reunion held in the gallery of the new
gymnasium. Speakers at the reunion included Board
of Trustees Chair Mr. Chris Gilbertson, ISB Director
Dr. Eric Sands, ISB Secondary Principal Mr. Bill
Kralovec, and MYP/DP Coordinator Ms. Branka
Srekovi-Mini.
26
Look Back
In the beginning,
we cried and screamed.
In childhood,
we played with friends,
no work, only play.
In teenage years,
we hang out with friends,
go to school.
In adulthood,
we work, get jobs.
enter the world.
At age 70,
we start getting older,
realizing that our time is coming.
At death,
we realize that our time came
sooner than we thought.
Lauren E. A. Drake
2005
27
LIST OF PRINCIPALS AND DIRECTORS
1948 Founded by Lady Catherine Marie Peake, wife of

British Ambassador Charles Peake.
1948 Mrs. Alice S. Haggerty, Principal
1950 Ms. Mellors, Principal
1954 Mrs. Gwen White, Principal
1958 Mrs. Wilmajean Williams, Principal
1962 Mr. Kelly, Principal
1963 Miss Cathy Priboni, Principal
1964 Mr. George F. Zimmerman, Principal
1966 Mr. Willard Kobuskie, Principal
1970 Mr. Elvin Bartel, Principal
1971 Mr. Sherman Craig, Principal
1975 Mr. David McKeen, Principal
1977 Mr. Calvin Sloan, Principal
1979 Dr. Francis Murphy, Director
1983 Dr. Bernard Miller, Director
1985 Dr. Ray Miller, Director
1988 Dr. Gordon Quigley, Director
1992 Dr. David Ottaviano, Director
1993 Dr. Nikola Kodas, Director and Finance Manager
2002 Mr. Darryl Russell, Interim Director January-June
2002 Mr. Gerald F. Craig, Director
2002 Ms. Wendy McArthur, Lower School Principal
2002 Mr. Clint Calzini, Secondary School Principal
2007 Dr. Eric Sands, Director
2007 Mr. David Stutz Middle School Assistant Principal
2008 Mr. Tim Moynihan, Lower School Principal
2008 Mr. William Clowney, Middle School Coordinator/Activities Director
2008 Mr. Bill Kralovec, Secondary School Principal
2009 Mr. Mark Noonan, Middle School Coordinator
2011 Mr. Jeffrey Eller, Middle School Coordinator
2011 Mr. Brian Lettinga, Lower School Principal
2012 Dr. Robert P. Risch, Director
28
Memory
An old man passes the autumn leaves
as they turn along the path
The setting sun ahead of him
as he wished at last,
God, please help me remember my past.
Ashli Marie Stricklin
2004
29
In 1948
the world was struggling back from insanity and combining streams of that same insanity in its urge to
rise above it, to move ahead to securityThe United Nations was three years old, UNICEF one year old,
and the World Health Organization was created. India had gained independence the previous year but now
in January Ghandi was assassinated. Czechoslovakia had been taken over, the state of Israel proclaimed in
May. Yugoslavia withdrew from Cominform, the blockade of Berlin and the airlift began in July, and the
phrase The Cold War was coined. The Republic of Korea was proclaimed in August while in Holland
Queen Wilhelmina abdicated in favor of her daughter Juliana. In the United States President Truman was reelected and in England Attlee and the Labour Government were in power, railroads were nationalized, and
the National Health Insurance plan went into operation. America initiated the Marshall Plan. The Liberian
Maritime Law was adopted by the Liberian legislature. The Olympic Games were held in London for the first
time since 1936. In Sweden Count Bernadotte was assassinatedin Hungary Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty
was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment and just a year later in China, Chiang Kai Shek would
resign. The Republic of Eire was proclaimed in Dublin, NATO would come into being, and the Council
of Europe started to operate. Siam was renamed Thailand and the United States of Indonesia was formed
under Sukarno. The Berlin Blockade was finally lifted in September, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan was
created in June, the German Federal Republic in October. Civil war loomed in Korea, the Peoples Republic
of China under Mao Tse Tung was proclaimed. Meanwhile, the transistor was developed at Bell Telephone
laboratories, the first jet aircraft flew the Atlantic from Britain to Labrador, and the first turbo prop airliner
came into use. The British Land Rover was introduced at the Amsterdam Motor Show while in Detroit a
new 1949 4-door sedan sold for $1,236. In Japan the Honda motorcycle by Soichiro appeared on the market
and in America the Polaroid Land Camera was developed while in Japan the Nikon 35mm rangefinder
camera appeared on the market. Long-play records (33 1/3) changed the recording scene. In the field of
medicine cortisone and related drugs came into use, while antibiotics Aureomycin and Chloromycin were
developed as well as anti-allergy drugs. Dramamine was developed and relieved many from motion sickness.
In the entertainment world 1,000,000 American homes had TV as opposed to only 5,000 in 1940. Voice of
America broadcasts began. As for the cinema, people were watching films and actors like Vittorio de Sicas
The Bicycle Thief, Moira Shearer in Red Shoes, John Waynes Red River, Oliviers Hamlet, Humphrey Bogart in
The Treasure of Sierra MadreDavid Leans Oliver TwistRita Hayworth in The Lady from Shanghai. At the
theater among plays showing were Mr. Roberts, Christopher Frys The Ladys Not for Burning, Anouilhs The
Cry of the Peacock, Camus State of Siege, Tennessee Williams Summer and Smoke, Rattigans The Browning
Version, and Andersons Anne of a Thousand Days. Books published
included Patons Cry the Beloved Country, Faulkners Intruder in
the Dust, Graham Greenes The Heart of the Matter, and Mailers
The Naked and the Dead. Some of the tunes hummed included Red
Roses for a Blue Lady, Slow Boat to China, Sleigh Ride, and Buttons
and Bows. Widespread concern was caused by zoologist Fairfield
Osbornes book The Plundered Planet that decried the growing use
of DDT. The first McDonalds hamburger stand opened in 1940 in
California and became a self-service restaurant.
Meanwhile, here in Belgrade, a little school was born on Sarajevska
Street below the American Embassy and like Topsy in Harriet
Beecher Stowes Uncle Toms Cabin, it just growed.
30
Humanity
Cheer for those who deserve a cheer
Cry for those who have passed away
Hate no one
For no one deserves such fate
Love whom you can
For one day they may go
Abandon no one
For by doing so, you abandon yourself
Hurt no one
For such deeds bounce back
Remain by everyones side
For they will remain by yours
Hold their hands
And never let go
Clutch hope
Retain it as long as you can
For it is the key to our souls
The key to humanity.
Eszter Bobvos
2005
31
THE FIFTIES
AND
THE SIXTIES
The first two decades of the schools existence coincided with the rebuilding of
Yugoslavia after WWII and the countrys attempts to establish its status in a post-war
world. It was a dynamic period during which Yugoslavia and ISB community, along
with the whole world, witnessed changes on a daily basis.
In the same year that ISB was created, Yugoslavia said No to Stalin, Israel was
created as a new country, and The Cold War was heating up. Later, wars in Korea
and Vietnam would come, as well as the Suez crisis. In the UK, Queen Elizabeth II
was crowned, in Asia the Dalai Lama fled Tibet, and Sputnik, the first satellite to
orbit the earth, was launched. NATO and Warsaw Pacts were formed and Yugoslavia
chose neutrality, along with with Egypt, India and Indonesia at the first summit of
the Non-aligned Movement (NAM) in Belgrade.
The Sixties were even more of a roller coaster of major world events. A team of
doctors implanted the first artificial heart, the Beatles rise caused mass hysteria in
the music world, US president J.F. Kennedy was assassinated, African and Asian
countries fought against colonization and won their independence, and Yugoslavia
declared its new constitution in 1963, with six socialist republics and two autonomous
provinces Vojvodina and Kosovo. This newly-constitutional structure paved the way
for the destiny of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and consequently the
status of ISB in the decades to come.
In the following pages are memories from those who were or are still connected to the
International School of Belgrade during its early years.
35
Dear ISB,
Thank you for inviting my family to be part of your Memory Lane, in celebration of the 40th anniversary
of the International School of Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Little did we realize that our small beginnings would
become the school it is today. Back then, we did not even have school stationery!
We lived in Belgrade from 1948 to 1952. Those years have given our family many rich memories. My
husband was with the State Department, and the school gave me the opportunity to be part of a meaningful
community. My heart is full of souvenirs: beautiful children, parents, and talented teachers. I am especially
grateful to Gordana Obradovi for all her letters of friendship.
Im always in love with April. Spring, Easter, and birthdays happen every year. Now I have had 85 birthdays.
Where have they gone? As a song says, I dont remember growing older.
Since my husbands death in June, 1973, I have continued living alone on our 179-acre farm in the Shenandoah
Valley. Over the years, I have kept my interest in educational work, mainly as a volunteer, helping young
children with reading difficulties.
Together with my family, I wish the International School of Belgrade a Happy Fortieth Anniversary, and
many years of success.
Alice S. Haggerty
First director of ISB 1948-1952
From ISBs 40th anniversary book 1988
36
some of my memories are vivid and some have lost their sharpnesssince I attended the embassy school
in 1949. The school had warmth that wasnt duplicated in the eight or nine schools that I later attended
Unfortunately, with my mother as a teacher and principal, there were few accepted excuses for not getting
assignments done on time. Also, it was impossible to bluff teachers. I tried unsuccessfully to convince them
that in Virginia we were taught to spell been as binThe school had an international character from its
beginning. I remember a girl about my age who came from a brand-new country that had a white and blue
flag with a single star
John S. Haggerty
ISB student 1948-1949
37
Since the very beginning of ISB, Gordana Obradovi was a teacher and administrator we looked to for advice,
counseling, and friendship. We could depend on her quick thinking, wisdom, and care. She dedicated her life
to her family, her friends, and the school. Her love of children was evident in everything she did. Gordana can
best explain early days at ISB in her own words, taken from the schools 40th anniversary book, compiled in 1988.
Post-war times. As a student of mathematics, I was offered a three-hour job in the Foreign Colony School.
I was interviewed by Lady Peake, wife of the British ambassador. She was president of the School Board.
My English was the result of my ten-year studies, six with English lady teachers and four years (during
the Occupation) by incessant listening to BBC news and English by Radio, clandestinely of course. My
fascination with the language and literature was such that even strict German rules could not discourage me
from listening.
However, I was not sure that my spoken language would be adequate. If it had not been for the kindest
support and encouragement from Mrs. Alice Haggerty, wife of the US Agricultural Attach to Yugoslavia,
my first headmistress, I would not have made it. She was everything a student teacher could possibly wish
for. She guided me gently, consistently, systematically day by day through the art of understanding, loving,
and helping youngsters. Having come from a very rigid school system, I was overwhelmed by her modern,
playful, inspiring, and utterly positive approach.
I shall never forget her way of telling me there would be no smoking on school premises. She said, I never
feel like having a cigarette in school. I hope you dont either. No restrictions were imposed; only gentle
suggestions.
The school was located in what at the time was the American Military Mission house in Svetog Save Street.
A five-room apartment, 21 students, kindergarten through grade 5, two teachers, Mrs. Galina Jankovi and
I, and Mrs. Haggerty as our headmistress. This is how it all started. Mrs. Haggerty always around, always
helpful, taking over tactfully to demonstrate her ingenious ways of persuading youngsters to study and
behave. In the years to come, I kept reaching for that model.
The years to come came and went so fast. The following year we had to move to a dilapidated building
in Sarajevska Street, site of the present American Embassy compound. Mrs. Handler, wife of a U.S.
correspondent, took over the management of the school. I was the only teacher, kindergarten through grade
two. A Yugoslav man, Mr. Terzi, was hired to help. The head of the new School Board was Mrs. George
Allen, wife of the U.S. ambassador. The daughter of the new British ambassador was appointed headmistress.
Miss Mellors, a British headmistress, was later hired as the school began to grow. The name of the school
was changed to the International School of Belgrade. We established many contacts with similar schools and
for years worked closely with the International School Association in Geneva. The idea was to establish an
international baccalaureate for both French-speaking and English-speaking international schools.
In 1966, our school-to-school project with Pittsford (New York) was initiated, and the connections with the
Geneva association discontinued.
38

I could go on and on. There were so many memories, so many happy and anxious moments. Bit by bit, with
highs and lows, the school has become a center of learning that I shall always be proud of. I have learned
many wonderful facts, met many great educators, learned how powerful and efficient a congenial and highlyprofessional staff can be, but most of all I have enjoyed the privilege of working with delightful young people
from all over the world.
Gordana Obradovi
ISB teacher 1948-1987
39
Jean Marinkovic, the first Mrs M among many to follow, was originally a journalist and writer for a wellknown London newspaper before training as an elementary teacher and coming to ISB. She married a Serb, and
stayed here for forty years with her family before retiring to Bath, England. As a younger member of staff, I had
the great fortune to team-teach with her for more than 10 years. It was the crme de la crme in my education.
Jean had a great talent in all areas of the English language and a wonderfully British sense of humor. Jean
rhymed with the children, I added the rhythm, and we created one song and yet another, and the First Grade/
Obradovi Hall (no multi-purpose room then!) production was born. The children learned so much through
these live performances they helped us create that after the Alice in Wonderland show in Obradovi Hall, they
started to refer to us as Tweedledum and Tweedledee. My daughter, even today as a grown-up with her own
family, remembers that she found her love for writing, poetry and language from her experience with Jean as a 6
year-old in grade one at ISB. My son remembers her as a teacher who loved to play with words and tell fascinating
stories. The staff loved her really clever comments on any occasion. Jean Marinkovi will be remembered fondly
as a legendary staff member in the ISB history timeline...... Her son, Micky, designed ISBs first logo.
(contributed by Sheila Kovaevi
ISB teacher 1974-2012)
I came to Belgrade to teach grades 6 and 7 at the school then located on Sarajevska Street. Later Gordana
Obradovi and I spent many happy years team-teaching grades 6, 7, and 8 before I returned to my first love,
grade one. When I first came, the whole school was like a family. Responsibilities, successes, and failures
alike were shared. Even though we and the community have grown far beyond this beginning, the sense
of family within the school remains, as does the warmth. Times in Belgrade have also changed and the city
has grown and developed from those early days when ever everyday commodities were in short supply
and Belgrade was a small, provincial townThe groups of children in photos from past and present are
interchangeable; faces, attitudes, etc. Children are children. How deeply some of our roots have grown into
the school, how possessive we feel about it! How memories have remained are shown in these letters from
past and present. It is conceivable that somehow schools of our caliber must have made an impression, a
significant contribution to world harmony and understanding.
Jean Marinkovi
40
A teacher of many talents, a colleague with many interests, Mrs. Gillian Gibbon-Brai committed herself to
instill the love of learning into generations of ISB children. Respected for her thoroughness, her enthusiasm, her
dedication to the school, Mrs. Brai retired from ISB in 1993, only to return for several years thereafter, due to
the adverse situation in Yugoslavia at the time, and the difficulty in recruiting foreign-hired teachers.
What was it like then? sounds like such a simple question, but it raises so many others. I wasnt one of those
who opened the school in 1948; I only came ten years later when a lot had already happened. Theres so much
to include, but I will try to relate a few nostalgic glimpses into my teaching grade two for so many years.
The children were a limitless supply of diverse personalities, abilities, and cultures; a true feast, and only one
year to get to know them before they moved on to another teacher. So much to learn and so little time! My
first instinct was to share with them the things I enjoyed. Wed explore the outside world, track down birds
and squirrels in the snow in the winter, dredge the ponds in Topider Park for leeches (very difficult to catch
and extraordinary swimmers when we succeeded), and hunt for dragonfly nymphs for our aquarium in the
summer. Wed share stories. We always found time for a chapter of Pippi Longstocking, Beyond the Paw-Paw
Tree, Charlottes Web, or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. In the spring we wrote and illustrated stories
for Young Authors, a major undertaking. We were lucky enough to have an English poet, Richard Burns,
nicknamed Hatman, come in once a week for a couple of months to teach us how to write poetry. The results
were astonishing, and of course the teachers learned from his lessons as well.
We worked in the garden, planting seeds, rosemary, and an apricot tree. Unfortunately, as the school grew
and new classrooms opened, there was less space. Sometimes Id bring small animals to school. I vividly
remember the astonishment in the eyes of a new Japanese boy when I produced two small fox cubs saved
from an untimely death and we fed them with tiny glass droppers on diluted cows milk. On a less fortunate
occasion, a bedraggled and indignant field mouse that hadnt had the sense to find shelter in a thunderstorm
bit two of us. Most of the second graders became enthusiastic weavers and puppeteers. If someone got tangled
up with their weaving, there was always help available. Puppet plays require cooperation, coordination, and
a variety of skills, so were ideal for fostering mutual appreciation and responsibility. As teachers, we were
lucky enough to have the active support of various school boards and principals. We were encouraged
to attend summer courses, both at Nazareth College in Rochester, and Michigan State courses, often held
in European countries over the summer. As a member of the ECIS, we attended annual conferences all
over Europe or CEESA conferences in Central and Eastern Europe. The children of the upper grades often
traveled for activity meetings and after-school groups such as the Drama Club were included. I remember
one trip to the Warsaw International School when the girls and I were the guests of the Indian ambassador, a
charming gentleman who loved Poland, his dogs, and hunting. So the years passed quickly by. I worked until
1995, spending the last year teaching kindergarten. By this time, my eldest daughter, Ivana, had become the
regular grade two teacher. Now, as a mother of three and grandmother of six, I look back with gratitude and
a bit of nostalgia to the half of my life spent in ISB, only occasionally interrupted by some external event, like
the Chernobyl disaster, a space craft tragedy, an earthquake in Montenegro, the assassination of a president.
Politics and conflicts rarely intruded into our world. School was a safe, predictable world waiting to be
explored, and seven year-olds are blissfully unaware of racial, ethnic, or religious differences.
Two things in particular frequently come to mind. For several years we used to study the Inuit of Northern
Canada with the help of a series of short films made by the National Geographic Society, to show the
41

traditional way of life of these people. Life is thankfulness was the saying of the elderly narrator, and
observing the harshness of their daily life, I felt we had something to learn from them. The other message I
like to remember was the answer an Australian Aborigine gave me when I asked him, after having watched
a wonderful display of traditional dancers, what the word for friend was in his language, because we were
going to make a tie-dye cloth panel with friend written in many languages. He replied, We have many
different words for friends, because there are many kinds of friends and friendship.
I felt privileged to work at ISB, during the years of Titos Yugoslavia, the world came to us. In our school, we
were exposed to cultures from all over the world, while at the same time becoming aware of the emotions
and values we all share.
Mrs. Gillian Gibbon-Brai

42

In 1954 I was offered the post of principaland I went off to Belgrade to where the school was at
Sarajevska 26, just above the American commissary There were approximately 50 childrenWe could
use the American commissary and the British N.A.A.F.I., since very little could be found in Yugoslav shops.
Everything was ordered a year ahead from America and Britain. The school was a social center for the
children, since there was very little freedom in Yugoslavia at that time.
Sometimes things were very difficult, for example, when Tito passed through the streets they were closed for
hours and we would receive a message from the embassy to tell us to get the children home quickly before
this occurred.
There were hardships. Electric filaments were primitive, the wires hung down in loops. One hard winter, the
generator broke down and had to go off to Germany for repair. Unfortunately, the train got stranded in snow
drifts, which further delayed things. We were without electricity for some time. Heating by ceramic wood
stoves was then an advantage.
The school was invited to every cultural event in Belgrade, e.g. Russian ballets, Indian folk dancing, and a
visit by actor Danny Kaye in the interests of UNICEF.
We held art exhibits and produced plays. We had a school picnic every yearWe started proper graduation
days and so the school became a real school When I left, there were 147 children from 19 different
nationalities
Mrs. Gwen Gentry (C.G. White)

ISB Director 1954-1957
43
44
Echoes
Children in the snow
Where are they now?
Faces alight with fun
Arms poised to throw
Childish voices
Echoes of the past
Where are they now?
What have they gained
and what have they lost?
Have their dreams materialized
or have they slipped away,
Grown misty, vanished
How many new dreams have come their way
and at what cost?
But facesvoices
Children in the snow
They are the same faces
The same poses, tensed to throw,
even the same names.
Past echoes merge to reform into a present pattern
Anonymous ISB student
45
ISBs former Business Manager and Director, Dr. Nikola Kodas, retired in 2002 after 36 years of service at
ISB. Nick established himself among his former colleagues as a quick thinker and unsurpassed negotiator,
whose warmth and wisdom carried the school through both good and bad times. A true gentleman, a devoted
member of our school, and though not a founding father of ISB, Nick is remembered as one of our schools most
prominent figures.
I began working at the International School of Belgrade in 1964 as its business manager. At that time, of
course the school was much smaller and had a definite family atmosphere. I remember being surrounded by
a staff of teachers who were entirely devoted to teaching ISBs students and who themselves were ever-open
to learning. We had, as is still the case, students from quite a variety of backgrounds and nationalities, but
despite all their differences, there were more similarities that bound them.
As time passed, the country around us changed, first slowly by opening up more toward Europe and the
West, then drastically after Titos death and all the political turmoil that ensued. After my friend and former
director Dr. David Ottaviano left in 1993, the future of the school was quite uncertain, and I took over the
position of director while still continuing to be business manager. The situation worsened around us, and
then came the NATO bombing of 1999. I was determined, along with the rest of the staff, to keep the school
alive and open, even if we had only very few students. (At one point there were only ten, and on some days,
even fewer.) Teachers shared rides, since gasoline was almost non-existent, and hurried to and from school
as fast as possible over Belgrades bridges. In the mornings, instead of staff meetings, wed meet to share news
of who could find what necessity where and what wed heard on foreign news channels, since local news was
censored. As a team, we rallied and made it through the storm.
My fondest memories of ISB are the wonderful staff I worked with for many years and my many friends from
all over, especially those from our Pittsford Sister School Alliance, several of whom I am still in contact with.
Dr. Nikola Kodas

Business Manager/Director 1964-2002
46
During the 1960s, the U.S, Department of State was actively encouraging school-to-school relationships to be
developed between American schools and schools in foreign lands. In the summer of 1960, Pittsford Central
School District and the International School of Belgrade formed what became one of the longest-lasting
and strongest of these relationships. During the early years of the program, in addition to Pittsford Central
School District Superintendent Herbert Bettinger, many other people including Eleanor J. Searl, Elementary
Instructional Materials Specialist for the Pittsford Central School District, Principal Lee Howe, and Dave
Edwards, Secondary Instructional Materials Specialist, visited the International School of Belgrade. At the
same time, teachers from the International School of Belgrade began coming to Pittsford to visit classrooms,
observe American teaching styles and practices, and to share information about Yugoslavia with Pittsford
staff and students. During the first decade of this program, Mrs. Eleanor Searl served as the liaison between
Pittsford and Belgrade. As the program continued, staff members from Pittsford applied for and were hired
to serve as resident teachers at the International School. Bob and Denise Kendricks, Dave and Georgie
Bramley, and Ruth Craig were the first Pittsford staff to teach at ISB from 1973 1975. Sherm Craig served as
the Director for the International School during those two years. From 1975 1977, Lee Johnson, Assistant
Superintendent for Pupil Services and Special Education (now retired) and Maurine Johnson, a teacher in
the Webster Central School District, lived in Belgrade and taught at ISB. From 1979 1981, Rick Lenehan,
a former Pittsford teacher, was there and from 1978 1981 Francis and Barbara Murphy were at the school.
Fran spent the year 1978 1979 as a second grade teacher and was appointed Director of the International
School from 1979 1981. The last Pittsford teacher to live in Belgrade and teach at ISB was Bill Hamilton,
who served there in the 1984 1985 school year as a teacher of physical education.
Under the direction of Pittsford Superintendent, Richard Hibschman, Pittsford accepted the responsibility for
screening and recommending applicants for the position of Director of the International School of Belgrade.
This process resulted in the hiring of several Directors during the late 1980s and through the 1990s. After
Dr. Hibschman left Pittsford in 1988, Lee Johnson assumed the task as part of his role as liaison with ISB. In
November 1995, Lee visited Belgrade and presented a week-long workshop for the ISB staff. This was the
final visit by Pittsford staff to ISB.
Many other people have been a part of developing the relationships and educational exchanges that have
given the program its strength and longevity. After Mrs. Searl, Wanda Ward, Director of the Pittsford
Teacher Center, served as the liaison between Pittsford and Belgrade, and following that, Dr. Florence Seldin,
Assistant Superintendent for Instruction, served in that role. Lee Johnson served in that capacity until his
retirement from the Pittsford district in 2000. Ruth Hollis, Director of the Teacher Center in the early 2000s
and Dave Bramley, a math teacher, shared the liaison role until the demise of the program sometime in the
mid-2000s. Other Pittsford staff members who have visited ISB as participants in the School-To-School
program are: Fred Genthner, Florence Seldin, Fran Selip, Tom OBrien, Marsha Stevens, Dick Hibschman,
Bill Burleigh, Wanda Ward, Marguerite Rose, Rosemary Eiholzer, Sue Cloen, John Iaculli, Debbie Iaculli,
John Cope, Gil Gockley, Bernie Kinsella, Laura Klochko, Alice Woodworth, and June Salomon. At the same
time, almost every one of the permanent staff from ISB visited Pittsford, most working in classrooms in
an exchange of educational ideas, while others furthered their education by taking courses at two colleges
located in Pittsford, Nazareth College of Rochester, and Saint John Fisher College.
In 1976 the school-to-school program between Pittsford and ISB celebrated its tenth anniversary. While
many American schools had entered into school-to-school relationships in the 1960s, most had dissolved by
1976 as staffs and times had changed. The program in Pittsford, on the other hand, had not only continued,
but flourished. The tenth anniversary was celebrated by E.J. Searls visit to Belgrade and Gordana Obradovi
visiting Pittsford. Even more incredibly, the relationship flourished for a second decade. In the 198687 school year, Pittsford and ISB celebrated the 20th anniversary of this school-to-school relationship. In
celebration of the 20th anniversary, Anne Jovovi and Lily Tomeak, two classroom teachers at ISB, spent
47

from March 1-14 in Pittsford. During that time they visited classrooms, presented lessons about Yugoslavia,
and were feted by Pittsford staff. At the Board of Education meeting on March 9, 1987, a formal recognition
of the long-standing relationship between ISB and Pittsford took place with Anne and Lily acting on behalf
of ISB in an exchange of gifts, greetings, and good wishes for the continued success of the program.
In April 1989, the Kendricks, Bramleys, Johnsons, Ruth Craig, and E.J. Searl reciprocated by journeying to
Belgrade in recognition of the 40th anniversary of ISB. A plaque and congratulatory greetings from Pittsford
and the Board of Education were presented.
The program continued on throughout the 1990s and into the early 2000s. When Dr. Nikola Kodas became
director of ISB, he visited Pittsford, and with the assistance of the program liaison, Lee Johnson, interviewed
and hired American candidates for teaching positions in Belgrade. The final two locals hired through this
process were Chris and Diana Pratt.
Unfortunately, the wars in the Balkans and the attendant disruption to ISB and the school community
resulted in a diminution in the program. This was exacerbated by the retirements of many of the most active
participants, in Belgrade, but more significantly in Pittsford. The program died of old age, but wonderful
memories of a strong healthy program and lifelong friendships that grew out of this relationship remain.
Lee Johnson
Pittsford liaison 1988-early 2000s
48
MY SCHOOL
My school I like because its kind.
My school is nice because of the lovely teachers.
My school I like because of the friendliness.
My school I like to play in.
My school I love because its always happy.
My school I love so much
that Im sorry to leave it.
Judith Picken
1986
49
50

I had a wonderful time revisiting Belgrade for five months in 1986 and was pleased to visit the International
School, even though its new surroundings felt very foreign to me. During my three and a half years at the
school, we went from a headmistress named Miss Brown to Mrs. White. Both were British, which may
have something to do with the fact that I still write honour instead of honor. I arrived in the middle of my
third grade year. When it came time to start grade four, only two students were enrolled. Rather than waste
time with a two-person grade four, the powers-that-were simply gave us two or three weeks to do all the
math workbooks (at least thats how I remember it) and moved us into grade five. I think I missed the first
round of American history that way, which may explain why I didnt burn out early and went on to become
a teacher of American history. Im sure we did math, science, and English, but what I really remember are
plays and singing and Mrs. Whites giving lessons in clay modeling. I played one of the lords in The Admirable
Crichton, which I recall being a roaring success, and was also very pleased when my older sister fell down
during her entrance in The Barber of Seville.
The pipes froze one year and we all got farmed out to private houses. Once on a dare, the boys on our school
bus yelled greetings to Marshal Tito when we passed him one morning. Everyone was much relieved when
he just turned around and waved. I also remember tromping down a boulevard in Dedinje in waist-deep
snow to get to school when the van could not make it. I received a very good education in Belgrade. The
school was very small and very heterogeneous. I was too young to find anything strange about that then,
and have been pleased to discover that an acceptance of the unusual as perfectly normal has stayed with me
into adulthood.
Linda Killen
.I was nine years old when I came and eleven when I left, so my stay in Belgrade was not very long. I will do
my best to remember those things that have stayed in my mind since 1955-1957. First of all, I have only the
most pleasant memories, not only of ISB, but of Yugoslavia itself. People were friendly and spontaneous
Before starting at ISB, my younger brother and I needed to take private lessons, since neither of us knew a
word of English. I remember that there were children of at least 18 or 19 different nations at the school in
those days; the largest group was American. We are Hershey chocolate bars and mixed water with some kind
of powder you could buy at the commissaryWe used to play a lot with glass marbles during breaks between
lessons Then there were snowball wars in the winter The leader of the opposite camp was an American
boy, a little older than I. After gathering his troops, they went to attack. That was the way I learned what the
word charge meant.
51

We used to invite our classmates to birthday parties where everybody watched some film that was usually
borrowed or rented from the American Embassy. Films in color were very popular, but we also watched
some old Tarzan movies On the whole, I remember getting on very well with everybody. The fact that
there were children from many different nations made the school very rich. Everybody mixed with each
other. The sad thing, of course, was that children came and went. When you made a friend, he would
suddenly move away, depending on where his father got his following mission. I remember Captain Daniels,
who taught all the boys how to play basketball. He invited us to his house on the outskirts of Belgrade on
weekends and 15-20 of us spent wonderful hours playing basketball in his garden. It was nice that somebody
took the time to play with us.
My teacher, Mrs. White, was English and maintained good discipline. My brother had Mrs. Obradovi. I
also remember Miss Edgar. At school I was told that I had terrible handwriting and that I was sharpening
my pencils far too often. Apparently my consumption of pencils must have been alarming.
The school moved during my time from the center to a house in the western part of the city, not far from
where we lived. The garden was big, and there was more room for playing during the break. Certainly there
must have been better classroom facilities there. I hear that the school is still in the same place, but I have not
come to Belgrade since then I went on to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Forestry in 1970 at the University
of Helsinki I have worked in France and England.
Finn Sumelius
52
Questions
I asked the moon how to shine at night.
She said, Stay in a cave for fifty years.
I couldnt.
I asked the forest how to be green and happy.
She said, Kill all humans.
I couldnt.
I asked the diamond how to be hard and handsome.
He said, Just follow me for eternity.
I couldnt.
I asked a wise man how to stop asking questions.
He said, Go to school.
I could.
Jean de Kernier
2005
53

Unlike the schools each of us identifies with back home, international schools face the additional challenges
of a highly mobile student body, together with varying linguistic, social, and cultural expectations of children
and parents. But this too is a distinct advantage for cross-cultural exchanges unique to schools like ISB.
As former director of the school at three different intervals over 14 years, I have had the opportunity of
witnessing the constant forward thrust of ISB to improve and expand its educational program. Two main
factors in this achievement are:
1. The core staff that have served ISB over much of its 40 years. This nucleus of dedicated people has
provided the continuity and stability so desirable in an international educational facility.
2. The school-to-school program initiated in 1966 with the highly-rated Pittsford school system in
New York. This program has provided ISB with improving curriculum, maintaining and updating
teaching skills, and has been a source of specialists in all aspects of the educational program.
Our many years at ISB remain treasured memories of highly supportive parents, a hard-working cooperative
school board, and a dedicated staff. Keep up the good work!
George F. Zimmerman
ISB director 1964-66, 1973-75, 1978-79
It is very difficult for me to find proper words to express the emotions and accumulated feelings I acquired
during my 37 years of teaching music at I.S.B. I believe that every living creature on this planet is here for
a purpose, and mine was to enrich childrens lives with divine feeling of fulfillment and well-being that only
music can give. I consider myself blessed and privileged to have spent a great deal of my life doing something
I like most of all. I.S.B. gave me three things to be perfectly happy a love for music, the English language,
and children.
Because music has a number of different aspects (composing, performing on instruments, singing, ballet, or
simply enjoying melodies), I included as many as possible in my program. The children played recorders,
keyboard and percussion instruments, sang and danced during free choice lessons, learned about famous
composers and their music, and some theory. It was not easy to form an orchestra or choir, for children rarely
stayed long in Belgrade, but to introduce them to music of Mozart, Bach, Strauss, Verdi, and many other
immortals was a real joy.
54

While at ISB, I was the only music teacher and taught children from kindergarten through grade 8. I had the
chance to work with 5 year-olds who loved Tchaikovsky and his Duck Lake, as they called it, and also to have
serious discussions about music with the higher grades.
So many things happened during this long period of time, but Id like to mention just one anecdote. After a
short holiday, the mother of an American girl in a grade 2 came to see me at school. She said that they had
visited Bonn, Germany, where they joined a tourist group to visit to take a guided tour of the city museum.
The guide showed them around, talked about the history and architecture of the city, and finally thanked
them for their attention.
The little girl tugged on his sleeve and stated, You didnt mention the most important thing about Bonn.
And what would that be? asked the surprised guide, while the whole group of tourists looked down at the
little girl.
You forgot to mention that Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn.
And who told you that? asked the surprised guide.
Mrs. Zeevi at I.S B.! answered the little girl.
I made many good friends among my colleagues who stayed by my side whenever I needed them.
I sincerely wish the school many more years of prosperity and growth, in a happy atmosphere full of friendship.
Dragana Zeevi
55
56

My memories of ISB are many and varied: of friendly, smiling faces from students, staff, and parents. We
came from different cultures around the world, and met on common ground in Belgrade, Serbia.
As I reflect on the many years I taught at ISB from kindergarten to grade 8, many memories come to
mind. A staff room filled with laughter and friendship, listening to jokes and anecdotes; going for walks in
the fall with the kindergartners to look for colored leaves, chestnuts, acorns, and helicopter seeds, taking
the children to Senjaks open market to choose and buy vegetables and fruit to make Stone Soup and
fruit salad, grade 3s Haunted Horror House with abundant screams and cries of terror from the younger
students as they entered and sighs of relief as they tumbled out!
As we went through the school year, there appeared to be a special event every month. In late October,
we celebrated U.N. Day, with students beautifully dressed in their national costumes, firmly carrying their
countries flags as they marched around the blacktop with the music teacher, Dragana Zeevi, and her
accordion. Then at the end of the parade, the children would scurry back to their classrooms to participate
in a tasting party, trying different foods from around the world. Truly a wonderful time enjoyed by all of
us. I remember the winter holiday programs in the African Museum, full of excited children, curious and
proud parents, and anxious teachers, all singing, playing instruments, and dancing to the appropriate music
and songs for this time of the year. There were many other activities, too: Field Day, Science Fair, Earth
Day, Young Authors, Create-a-Country, to mention only a few.
I have vivid memories of after-school activitiesswimming at the Canadian Embassy pool, especially with
some of the non-swimmers saying they could swim when they could not, and having to be rescued by the
swimming teachers when they went out of their depth.
Our students visited many other countries for conferences, sports, art, and writing activities. We teachers
appreciated the opportunity to be able to participate at the various conferences, because this gave us
the opportunity to communicate with other teachers in international schools and to gain new ideas in
education. I recall fond memories of my time teaching at ISB, of the wonderful children I came in contact
with and of my colleagues who are now my friends.
Judy Pakvor
57

Dear ISB,
A big THANK YOU.
for giving me the opportunity to teach children from all over the world;
for inviting me to be the grade 5 teacher and, later, when my dear friend Gordana Obradovi retired, the
mathematics teacher in the upper grades;
for sending me not only to our sister school district, Pittsford (U.S.A.) but also to workshops and
conferences in Europe;
for keeping your doors open during the bombing of Belgrade in 1999 so that we could teach the small
number of students who remained;
for enabling us to hold a variety of special events such as sports days, Young Authors competitions, spelling
bees, school fairs, United Nations Day, mathematics contests, to mention only a few;
and, finally, for giving me a group of very special friends: fellow staff members from near and far.
Margaret Mileti
P.S. May you continue to inspire generations of young people in the years ahead!
58

When I look back at the 25 years spent at ISB some memories are vague, but some still fresh in my mind.
September was the beginning of the school year and for some children not a happy time. I remember one
grade one boy in particular who came to our school. At ISB he encountered new teachers, new classmates,
and above all, a new language. He didnt understand one word of what was said in the classroom. Not easy,
even for older children or adults! He used to spend a lot of time in the bathroom trying to hide from us, but
after a couple of weeksI saw him happily playing with his new friends.I remember teaching the English
alphabet and reading to a grade two boy, and the joy we both felt when he readsome English words was the
best reward for our efforts. A few years later, I received a letter from him in fluent English, and I still have it.
Obradovi Hall was then cold and drafty, and in the middle of it stood our sewing machine. The first graders
were making a patch-work quilt for our sister school in Pittsford. I still remember their faces flushed with
excitement while making few stitches at the sewing machine.Spring and Easter came. We colored eggs,cut
out paper baskets for the Easter Egg Hunt, and made a lot of mess in the classroom, but always had a lot of
fun.June brought the end of the school year. Some students with tears in their eyes left ISB, others smiled,
looking forwardto a long holiday and coming back in September.
Branka Kenig
ISB teachers aide 1966-1991
59

Mr. Aleksandar Vasiljevi, caretaker and guardian, known by one and all as ika Aca, retired from ISB in 1992
after 32 years of work. During that time he worked under 15 directors and was a surrogate uncle to hundreds
of children, many of which he could remember by name years later.
He was probably the very first person I saw and got to know at ISB. For all the students, ika Aca was the first
person they saw every day, when he opened the car doors and wished them good morning, delighting in the
antics of the little children. He was also the last to see them, when he supervised the cars and buses at the lower
gate after school.
ika Aca will remain engraved in our memories, an image of the everyday life at ISB, and also something more,
because on seeing him at work, one could easily guess he lived with the children, who gave him his smile.
Aleksandar Vasiljevi
ISB caretaker 1960-1992
(contributed by
Kyriakos Vallianatos
ISB student 1983-1991)
60

ISBs first French teacher, Mrs. Gordana Petrovi, known to her colleagues as Mima and to her students as
Madame, came from a well-established Belgrade family, and was a true lady in every sense of the word. Mima
began at ISB teaching grade 5, then moved on to teach one of her other loves, French, and continued to do so
until she retired in 1984. As a young woman, Mima had studied classical music and dance, which most certainly
aided in developing her dramatic story-telling qualities that greatly entertained her students and developed their
language-learning skills. Mrs. Petrovi was not an easy teacher; some would even say she was very strict, but
she was respected by her students. Her colleagues remember her for her graciousness, hospitality, and as one
former staff member sighs, Oh, that coffee cream cake, which, along with other Serbian pastries, she would
treat them to weekly up in the staff room on the third floor of the Main Villa. Those definitely made the stairs
worth climbing.
Mrs. Gordana Mima Petrovi

ISB teacher 1955-to 1984
(contributed by Patricia Andjelkovi,
ISB teacher 1982-84, 1989-2005, 2008-2011)
61
Unlike Anyone Else

You held me close when I cried,
You dried the tears from my eyes,
You kissed away the pain, over and over again.
You helped me stand up and walk again,
You helped me see and talk again
You stood me up and watched the rain and shine with me.
So I just wanted to say:
Theres nobody like you, youre unlike anyone else.
You make the stars shine brighter, you make my heart fuller.
Because you are unlike anyone else, I just want to say thank you,
For seeing the best in me whatever I do;
Good or bad
You smile and say, I love you.
So I want to say the same to you.
I love you and thank you for being unlike anyone else.
For seeing me; loving me for who I am, not for who you want me to be.
You held me after a nightmare and still loved me when I was sad.
You laughed when I was happy; it was always you I had.
You never stopped loving, unlike anyone else.
You never looked away from me, unlike anyone else.
You never looked at anyone else; I was the sparkle in your eye.
You said you would never leave; that youd never make me cry.
Youve seen me hurt, youve seen me sad, youre my life, youre all I have.
You never judge, you never lie, youre always inside of me, youll never die.
I love you for all of that and this is a thank-you for being just what I need.
For being unlike anyone else.
Ana Buling
2004
62
THE SEVENTIES
AND
THE EIGHTIES

The Seventies were a decade of great technological developments. Personal computers
were created and the earliest floppy disks were made. The Concorde aircraft made its
first supersonic flight. The world experienced recession. Fashion styles were influenced
by a disco trend and people waited in line for hours for movies such as Catch 22,
M.A.S.H., and Woodstock. Environmentalism was born, and the first Earth Day
was celebrated. World population reached 3.63 billion. The Treaty on the NonProliferation of Nuclear Weapons was signed. The Vietnam War came to an end,
while the Soviets initiated another war in Afghanistan. Isabel Pern became the
worlds first woman president and General Francos dictatorship ended in Spain after
a 39-year rule. Yugoslavias economic development continued and living standards
significantly improved in this decade. Many Yugoslavs started travelling more and
more within the country and abroad.
The Eighties were a turning point for Yugoslavia. President Tito died in 1980, and
the process of dismantling Yugoslavia began. Political reform led to the rise of ethnic
nationalisms and brought to power Slobodan Miloevi in Serbia and Franjo Tudjman
in Croatia. Perestroika and Glasnost began in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe
experienced the beginning of the fall of communism. Argentina went to war with
the UK over the Falkland Islands, Chinese students protested in Tiananmen Square,
and Princess Diana married Charles, Prince of Wales. The famine in Ethiopia
prompted the First Live-Aid concert and humanitarian campaigns across the world.
The Chernobyl meltdown and the chemical disaster in Bhopal, India occurred, killing
thousands. The space-shuttle Challenger exploded upon take-off, killing its entire
crew. It was a decade of disco, rock, and pop with singers and groups such as ABBA,
David Bowie, and Queen. This decade heralded the computer age, video games, and
Bulletin Boards, the latter evolving into the Internet. The Cold War came finally to
an end and the Berlin Wall was demolished. In contrast, ISB was slowly reaching the
most dramatic times in its existence.
65
I do not understand
I do not understand
Why some people steal, kill, and cheat
Why there are people ruining nature
Why some people are cruel to others
But most of all I dont understand
Why there is poverty,
Did they go wrong somehow
Or did their parents ask them to leave and never come back home
What I do understand is that love will not be broken or shattered
Love is the light of the world.
Love will lead people to great expectations.
Syamil Mohd Ashri
2004
66

In 1966 Pittsford Central Schools Superintendent Herbert Bettinger received word from the U.S. Department
of State that Pittsford had been selected for a continuing exchange program with the International School
of Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Objectives were designed to promote international understanding and exchange of
teaching methods, materials, and personnel.
It has proved for over twenty years to be invaluable for both schools. My good fortune was to be the first staff
member to follow Herb Bettinger. After an inspirational visit and return to Pittsford, both staff and students
soon learned that the distance from Pittsford to Yugoslavia may be far in miles, but ISB staff and children
became close to a great many Pittsford people both young and old. Hundreds of students and teachers saw
slides and heard tapes from ISB, which helped them learn that students are the same all over the world. Some
early examples are: Hajda from Egypt and Osnat and Kerst from Israel were in grade 3. They wanted to talk
to American students on tape. Hajda said, I want to talk about Osnat and me. At home our countries are
enemies and sometimes are at war. They are not friendly, but here at school Osnat and I are friends and love
each other very, very much.
Pittsford students enjoyed an African student in Dragana Zeevis class who chose to sing The Erie Canal on
tape. Since the Erie Barge Canal flows through Pittsford, it was a source of great delight.
Since the beginning of our program, the Pittsford community has benefited from the visits of visits of fine
ISB staff members. Infectious warmth, knowledge, and enthusiasm were communicated to so many of us.
All were excellent ambassadors who brought insight to our world.
Our many staff members who visited Belgrade always were helped immeasurably by Nick Kodas and
welcomed to all of the ISB classrooms by the staff. Hospitable, gracious entertaining made memorable visits.
Lasting friendships developed through the years and without exception it is the highlight of my career. I am
deeply devoted to the Belgrade-Pittsford connection.
Eleanor J. Searl
ISB Pittsford consultant1970s
67

Though memory is sometimes elusive, the memories of our two years at ISB remain vivid, fond, and part of
our everyday lives. The mid-1970s for us meant a new school (an international one at that), a new staff,a
whole new country. What an adventure for our little Pittsford contingent! The lower campus villa looked
so much like our own Lomb building in Pittsford that we immediately felt like we belonged. What a place
to teach and be a part of! But its always the people who impact you the most.....the students, the staff, and
the community. All those faces representing so many countries. A mini United Nations it was. We loved
seeing students in their native dress. We Americans got a real education in different cultures and learned so
much just by watching the students have lunch together. All those different foods! And who can forget the
all school talent show with a surprise appearance from the ISB staff to the absolute shock and delight of the
students? Every time I hear Silver Bells during the holiday season, the music at ISB comes to mind.
The ISB staff was so great at easing us into our new surroundings. They took us shopping, showed
us new locations, gave us directions to the markets, and taught us some vocabulary for when we got
to our destination. We learned to navigate Slavija Circle, park our cars up on the sidewalks on a busy
Bulevar Revolucije, and learn how to drive those hilly streets. Food always stands out in my mind: the
slava feasts, the huge buffet parties when Pittsford visitors came, and the foods we loved and still pine
for lovingly served to us at the Obradovies, the Kodases, Mima Petrovis (oh, that coffee cream cake!),
the Zeevies, the Tomeaks, the Jovovies, the Pakvors and so many more. I can still smell the aroma
of Draganas turska kafa wafting down from the teachers room. And Belgrades restaurants: We were
introduced to so many and loved them all, especially Lovaki Dom, eher, Vinogradi, and the one close
to the school where you sat outside on a terrace and ordered something fabulous grilling on the spit.
Thirty-six years ago.ISB was an experience never to be forgotten for Bob and me. We see the Johnsons and
the Bramleys and hear from our friends Lily, Anne, Martha, and others, so the Belgrade experience lives on!
Denise Kendricks
Bob and Denise Kendricks

ISB teachers 1973-1975
68

It is almost impossible to measure the impact on our lives that resulted from spending two years in Belgrade
teaching at the ISB during the mid-1970s. We were two young Americans living in a country with a different
language and culture and at ISB we were in contact with students and their families from all over the world.
We gained a greater understanding and appreciation of other cultures and internationalism. In addition, we
gained a greater appreciation of our own country by seeing it from a different perspective. We established
lifelong relationships and returned to Belgrade several times, the first to visit the many friends we had
made there, the second and third times to conduct staff workshops at ISB. The last time was to celebrate the
wedding of Petar Kodas, son of Business Manager and later Director Nick Kodas. Petar, his wife Ines, and
their daughter Ela have become a significant part of our family here in Rochester. We keep in contact with
Lily Tomeak in Phoenix and with a couple of American Embassy families as well.
Personally and professionally we had experiences outside the realm of many of our friends and coworkers.
We came home to our former teaching positions in the Rochester area, but eventually we both changed
careers. Maurine earned a masters degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages and taught
in that program for the remainder of her career in the Webster Central School District. Lee became an
administrator for the Pittsford Central School District, which included serving as the liaison between
Pittsford and ISB until his retirement. Among other things, that role included organizing the search for
teachers and several directors for ISB.
Practically every room in our home contains mementoes that remind us of friends we made, places we visited,
and memories we shared with so many different people from ISB. When Anne Jovovi or Lily Tomeak
send us e-mails with current photos of Belgrade, we are transported back in time and remember standing at
Kalemegdan overlooking the confluence of the Sava and the Danube, or enjoying spring lamb at an outdoor
restaurant with Gordana and Misha Obradovi. We remember visiting with Judy and Ivan Pakvor, Margaret
Mileti, Sheila Macgregor- Kovaevi, and Jasmina Perii, and spending time at Dragana Zeevis or being
entertained regally by Mima Petrovi.
Often fleeting images of Aca and Milica taking care of the school building and grounds, Lily Samardija at
her desk across from Nick in the office, Gil Brai riding her bicycle into the courtyard, Jean Marinkovi and
Branka Kenig shepherding the little ones into the buildings, the annual PTA Fair, School Board meetings in
the Main Villa, and P.E. classes on the blacktop remind us of even more happy times that are too numerous
to mention here.
It has been thirty-seven years since first we set foot on the grounds of ISB. Although both of us have retired
from education, we are actively involved in the International Sister Cities program here in Rochester and
continue to embrace the concepts of internationalism that we learned at ISB. Our memories make ISB of the
mid-1970s live on for us. iveli!
Lee & Maurine Johnson

69

What a wonderful surprise to learn that ISB is making a history/memory book! I spent the very best years of
my life at ISB from 1971 to 1974 in third, fourth, and fifth grades. Believe it or not, I still have my old metal
lunch box and my ISB T-shirt with the logo designed by my classmate, Micky Marinkovi, whose mother
was the grade 1 teacher. I remember the school song, at least some of it Coming far from many nations met
on common ground, in our work and recreation friendliness we found in our work weve learned to cherish
and to understand let us practice that peace may rule the land. I remember the music as well, but
youre lucky you dont have to hear me singing.
When I arrived in Belgrade I did not know a word of English and it was a bit hard at the beginning, but soon
everything became smooth and easy. Thinking about it now Id say the proper term would be exceptional and
exciting, but at that time it was just smooth and easy.
Having friends and classmates from all over the world seemed to be an ordinary thing; learning to play
baseball, tasting food from my friend Takashi (Japan), and letting him taste the biscuits my grandmother
used to send from Italy; going for a sleepover party at Bessies home, buying erasers at the yearly International
Bazaar, and selling easy-to-make boxes of Italian pizza; all that seemed to be quite normal.
What a surprise to see the world 40 years later and having to discover that it is still is struggling against
problems we had solved when we were 8 years old, but what a consolation, however, to be aware that however
a solution is possible.
Mariella Melandri
70
Captain Eugene Andrew Cernan, last man to walk on the moon,

visits ISB in 1972. Director Mr. Sherman Craig is on the left.
71

I came to ISB in grade seven from Turkey, and knew not one word of English. I was so shy that even making
friends was hard, but I do remember that my classmates welcomed me and were helpful and very patient.
The one memory of ISB I hold dear is of Mrs. Andjelkovi, who helped me through my early painful days of
language-learning, and who on the last day of the school that following June (I only was at ISB one year), was
my sunshine. She gave me a book of English language idioms that I still have. I still write to Mrs. A and hope
I can see her again, either in Belgrade or in Istanbul.
Arzu Baaktar
Teaching at ISB was a wonderful and rewarding experience. The students were unusually high in both ability
and preparation. Also, because of an administration that was interested in new curriculum and programs,
teachers were able to pilot new methods and institute new projects, such as the Junior Great Books reading
series, much more easily than in a larger, more rigid system. My greatest joy, however, was the experience
of working with a group of teachers who were really dedicated to the art of teaching and who were ready to
share their experiences and insights.
Up in the bright, sunny, third-floor teachers room, over an ever-present cup of either Turkish or drip coffee,
mutual strategies for better learning were engineered, craft projects were set up, stencils were cut, and help
was offered and taken in a team effort. When a learning of discipline problem arose, or just end-of-theweek burnout, it was always a good idea to climb those three flights of stairs to get advice and counsel.
Someone always had a good suggestion to calm or energize a colleague. ISB has the good fortune to have
a concentration of really superb long-term faculty and it was a great pleasure to have been involved in the
dynamic process of the education in force at ISB.
Nancy Svendsen
72

My husband and I came to Belgrade from the United States in 1969. In the spring of 1971 I started as a
teachers aide at ISB and in the fall I started teaching grade 4, where I remained until 1990.
After having worked at ISB for 19 years, I returned to Phoenix, Arizona, along with my two children, and
decided to go back to school to obtain my English as a Second Language certificate. I taught ESL in an
elementary school until I retired in 2005.
I have heard that the school has mushroomed. When I started in 1971 we had 240 students and 38 different
nationalities. We treated students as individuals and helped them reach their potential. All of us who taught
at ISB were highly dedicated teachers, who loved teaching and enjoyed the students. I remain friends with
many teachers at Belgrade and with the teachers from the Pittsford connection. The best ISB memories are
all the teachers that I taught with, all the students that I had from so many different countries, the Pittsford
Sister School relationship, and the school bazaars. Also, we made many local and foreign field trips with the
students. My most memorable trip was to Budapest with Anne Jovovi and the eighth graders. At that time,
there was a shortage of laundry detergent in Belgrade, so Anne and I spent our free time looking for it. Being
tired and in an unfamiliar city didnt help. While looking for stores and not watching where I was going, I fell
in a hole. Luckily, I had boots or I really could have hurt my leg more. We had many laughs about that trip.
Lily Tomeak
During my 38 years at ISBs Lower School, I have witnessed many comings and goings, not to mention
changes. For better or worse? That is the question. To mention only a few:
-Our school has grown from a K-8 one campus school at Temivarska 19 to two campuses for PYP, MYP and
DP programs for IB schooling;
-Weve grown from a single principal (head of school), one business manager, one secretary, and one telephone
shared by all and kept free mainly for incoming calls;
- Weve expanded from one custodian (and his wife) who lived on the lower school campus where
the staffroom is now in the basement and an elderly gardener who tended the plants, all three of whom
took care the children like kindly grandparents, to a director position, three principals, a separate
business office building to house a fair number of coordinating staff we now need, as well as secretaries,
teacher assistants, a team of ground staff and cleaners, and IT backup staff, not to forget the security we
now need with check-in and check-out badges, official car stickers to drive on campus, and mobile
phones, of course.
73

Gone are the days of direct, personal eye-to-eye contact, and creative spontaneity. All requests now require a form
to be filled out, a chain of procedures to go through, and more often than not an unpredictable outcome. I look
back and laugh at four lady teachers pushing the piano across the unlocked Obradovi Hall entrance and holding
baseball bats distributed by the principal that morning in the late 70s when the Americans were evacuated from
Iran. No service request forms then..you just got on with it!
We lived in a safe city even through the 90s when the parking lot after the school day became the staff pijaca or
open market. Each of us shared with others newly-found gasoline, flour, sugar, or whatever had become available
at the time. Total camaraderie and support from colleagues.
As enrollment doubled and tripled after 2000, space became a priority. We lost Christmas trees planted by
children, a favorite rare cherry tree that shaded one of the sandpits and was a great place for kids to sit in its
boughs and tell secrets or write poems, the lady and the child statue regularly hugged by children and
surrounded by frogs spouting water into the lily pool, apple trees that lined the blacktop (now the expanded
redtop), endless rose bushes and their fragrance, and the little strips of gardens planted and cared for by the
children themselves year round. Everything we needed for environmental studies was right on our doorstep
and used daily for inquiries. Only the arbor area has survived as buildings have been revamped and added
to. Friendship Hall (originally for housing a French room, science lab and two classrooms), International Hall
(then housing 3 year-olds, 3rd grade and a computer lab), and the long-awaited MPR came along one by one.
However, some things never change. Always present are childrens needs, parents wishes, and the enthusiasm
of ISB teachers in preparing each generation of little people to become the grown-ups of tomorrow,
hopefully fulfilling their dreams. Many have become prominent leaders in their fields and often return to
Belgrade to show their own families where it all began. They always remember more than we do. Education
at ISB is and always has been a family business, a community center, with an international philosophy at
the focus of all we do. It has been my great privilege to be part of such a stimulating work setting for so
many fruitful years.
Sheila Macgregor-Kovaevi
Dobro jutro, Smederevski momci! ika Aca and Mr. Tomekovich would greet my brother and me every morning
in the driveway of Temivarska 19 at the end of our hour-long commute from Smederevo. This greeting in its own
way served as a daily reminder that ISB was a very different school from the one we had attended previously
in India. At ISB, practically everyone on the staff seemed to know all the students. In our previous school, we
arrived each morning with nearly a thousand other kids, all of us making a mad dash to our classrooms before the
first bell. We were lucky (or unlucky, depending on your perspective) if the teachers knew us by our last names!
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In the two decades since leaving ISB, I have become increasingly conscious of how unique and special the
experience was and how fortunate I was to study there. This was a school where you learned about the Renaissance
by imagining that you were given the chance to travel back in time and interview Michelangelo; where you
attended Young Authors conferences at other international schools in Eastern Europe to work with short-story
writers and poets; where you explored stalactites and stalagmites on field trips to the limestone caves at Resavska
Peina. And you got to do all of this with an energetic, curious, and fun-loving bunch of classmates from all
over the world through whom you were introduced to an entirely different set of experiences from your own.
To this day when I open a can of soda, I am often transported back to Thursday lunches when we could order
slices of pizza and soda for delivery at school in time for the lunch-hour. To me this was the most exotic school
lunch I could imagine; to my friends who had been at international schools elsewhere, this really was no big deal.
Nearly ten years after my eighth grade class graduated and left Belgrade, Andreas Tiedemann and I visited Dayana
Grassi in Rome. We were taking pictures at the Fontana di Trevi when we got talking to a couple of exchange
students from the US. They were stunned that Andreas, Dayana, and I had been in middle school together and
that we were still in touch. Fifteen years on, we continue to stay in touch, as do several other classmates from the
eighth grade class of 1989. The small size of our class definitely has something to do with our ongoing contact,
but I also think it may have a lot to do with our shared experiences at particularly impressionable times in our
lives. Central to these shared experiences is the incredible set of teachers we were fortunate to study under.
Steinbeck wrote an essay about the rare delight of having a teacher who fires up your imagination and whose
influence shapes you for a long time thereafter. He compared the experience of the teacher helping you understand
things differently to the elusive and all-too-infrequent thrill of capturing fireflies. I can relate well to the sentiment
when I think back to the effect the teachers at ISB had on me. More than anything else, what struck me was how
excited they were with the material they were teaching us and how genuine their interest was in hearing our reaction
to it. Mrs. Zeevi had us visualize a movement from Verdis Aida as though it were a street scene in Egypt coming
to life in the morning. Mrs. Mileti stumped us with simultaneous equations and rescued my interest in math after
it had been destroyed in my previous school. Mrs. Jovovi , whose course selections in English and assignments in
social studies have stayed with me more than any other material I have worked on since, most likely put me on the
path to my current line of work when she assigned Create-A-Country fall semester of eighth grade. By leading us
to create a country from scratch, she made us appreciate how current social and economic outcomes are so directly
shaped by geography, historical legacies, and national constitutions. I also remember writing reports on books whose
characters are still as striking today as they were then. When I visited Boston for the first time in December 1997,
I spent a bitterly cold afternoon trying to retrace Johnny Tremains footsteps near the site of the original Tea Party.
My time at ISB, the friends I made there, the teachers I learned so much from, together add up to the happiest and
most productive years of my school life. I hope the next generations of students at ISB experience something along
similar lines and get to run with the fireflies, so that many years later the words from our school song still ring true:
the memories will stay, of our school and friends and laughter, not to fade away.
Malhar Nabar
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My thanks to ISB are deeply rooted in the manifold opportunities this school has given me to work with
gifted colleagues/dear friends and to create with middle school students from around the world.
In prose and poetry and in art we have written and illustrated Young Authors books and the annual poetry
anthology Write Now, Right Now.
We have participated in cultural arts festivals throughout Europe. Displays of creative art work decorate
middle school hallways.
My wish is to share with you those creations which are portable enough to be included in this book some
poems from our middle school students over the years. I share their wisdom; may they open your hearts and
your imaginations as they have mine.
Anne Goslee-Jovovi
ISB teacher 1970- present
I attended ISB from 1978-1980. My main memory of the time was participating in what I think was the first
ISB school football tour to play against other international schools. We travelled to Vienna with a mixed bag of
nationalities, and only had just enough to make up a team with one substitute. We were joined by international
schools from Munich and Prague. As the football was only for boys, the girls rightly complained that they
should be able to participate in a tour, and it was hastily agreed that a netball or volleyball tournament be
arranged as well later on.
Our tour was not a success. We lost every game. We scored one goal and our worst defeat was by the Munich
school that beat us something like 25-0. We later found out that they were all around 3 years older than we
were (which we had guessed by the fact they were also half a meter taller) and had been trained by an exLiverpool professional! As for the girls? They won their tournament of course!
I very much enjoyed my time at ISB. I studied with an excellent bunch and recall that the staff was fantastic.
Ive seen the school again recently and was very impressed with the way that it has evolved. Nothing beats the
atmosphere of attending classes with such a multinational mix. All the best for the future, ISB!
Paul Clark (middle; arms crossed)

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ISB has a special place in my heart. I was School Board Chair at an interesting time in what was then
Yugoslavias history, an important time in my own foreign service career (serving 5 years in Yugoslavia),
and, as part of my chairmans duties, I had the pleasure of giving my daughter, Elizabeth, her eighth grade
graduation certificate. As I think back, in many ways ISB at that time was a sheltered cove in a troubled, soon
to be violent world.
Imagine my surprise and pleasure to be back in Belgrade in 2000, this time as a U.S. special envoy, to help
reestablish relations between the U.S. and a much-reduced Yugoslavia. Ambassador William Montgomery
asked me to help with the transition of the school as its long-serving administrator, Dr. Nick Kodas, moved
toward a well-deserved retirement.
It was with special pleasure to hear that ISB was creating a memory book. Im sure much has changed at ISB
- new people, new ideas, and new spaces.
Congratulations to all those past and present at ISB who have been able to do wonders for so many fine
children and good luck in the future.
John E. Katzka
ISB School Board Chair/parent 1986-1988
I worked on the staff of the International School of Belgrade from 1974 to 1976 as a teaching assistant for
English as a Second Language. I also did long-term subbing in grade 4. For years I kept in touch with
many colleagues from ISB and still keep in touch with Anne Jovovi. I loved the international student
body of ISB and watching those students who came in with no English flourish so quickly. At that time, I
did not have children of my own, but later my two sons attended international schools in Bern, Moscow,
and Stockholm. The chance to live in any foreign country at any age is a tremendous experience and life
advantage. Later, I went on to get my masters in special education and taught children with learning and
emotional disabilities for 16 years in the Washington, DC area and Oregon. I now live with my husband in
Bend, Oregon, where we have a wonderful outdoor life at the foot of the Cascades. We have been able to
return to Europe most summers to see friends and do long distance hikes.
Id love to make it back to Belgrade to visit the city and the school!
Martha White-Birkett
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While working for Pittsford as a principal and central office administrator, I was invited on three different
occasions to serve as a consultant at ISB. My special interest was teaching writing to children and then
helping teachers expand their teaching repertoire through the use of Madeline Hunters approach, which was
very popular in the Eighties and early Nineties.
My first trip was in 1978 and then twice in the Eighties. I was made to feel so welcome by everyone and have
stayed in contact with Anne Jovovi and Sheila Kovaevi. I recall Turkish coffee served in the little staff
room, the warmth of the faculty, the wonderful children from all over the world, the dinners to which I was
invited. I had the pleasure of knowing Gordana Obradovi, a wonderful lady and teacher and of course, Nick
Kodas, whose warmth and wisdom made my visits quite memorable.
On my first trip in 1979, which was for a conference for teachers of international schools in Eastern Europe,
we were invited to a reception at the American Embassy. Lawrence Eagleburger was ambassador at the time
and I was awed by his collection of samovars. When I said to some of the ISB staff that I would love to bring
one home, they searched for one in vain, and what I finally carried home was a mortar and pestle, which
weighed a ton, two wonderful naive paintings that still hang in my home in Cape Cod, and three bottles of
Yugoslav wine, which was unattainable in the US at that time. Unfortunately, one of them broke in my carryon bag, but we enjoyed drinking the others.
I have before me the ISB 40th Anniversary Yearbook (1988) and what wonderful memories it evokes!
Florence Seldin
ISB Pittsford consultant 1978, 1980s
Our two years at ISB were years we continue to cherish, realizing that they helped us mature and shape our
careers as educators. We remember arriving in Belgrade in August of 1973, a bit afraid to be in a communist
country and of not being able to communicate with the locals. The orange Volkswagen Beetle we had
purchased from former director George Zimmerman brought us safely to Belgrade. We phoned Sherm Craig
from the American Embassy, told him we were lost, and tried to read him the road sign, jedan smer, only to
learn that it meant one way. After that, we paid more attention to street signs and started learning Serbian
from our beloved colleagues Gordana Obradovi, Dragana Zeevi, Mima Petrovi, Branka Kenig, Margaret
Mileti, Judy Pakvor, Gil Brai, Anne Jovovi, Lily Tomeak, and Nick Kodas. We felt the presence of a
close-knit congenial family and were immediately welcomed!
The feelings of congeniality and the respectful attitude toward education we experienced were the reasons
we were so happy at ISB. The office staff and behind-the-scenes employees, Nick Kodas (later to become
director), the secretary Lily Samardija, and the custodian Aca were extremely helpful and gracious with
their time. We felt supported by our fellow teachers and spouses, the ISB parents, the School Board, and the
school community. This became a very significant part of our philosophy of teaching as young educators.
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The importance of building relationships with our students and colleagues helped shape our classroom
atmosphere, where we hoped our students felt valued and respected. We also learned the importance of
a rigorous and relevant curriculum including high standards of excellence and the feeling that all of our
students could be successful. The parents were incredibly supportive and grateful for our role in their
childrens development. We remember how dedicated the faculty and staff were, and how much everyone
cared about each student. We got to know our students and their interests both in and out of school. Whether
our students were playing fourquare or sharing lunch in the classroom, we were learning from each other. We
gained so much insight about other cultures through the students, took advantage of opportunities to travel
to many countries, and began to understand more about our world. We were impressed with how friendly,
spirited, and helpful the Serbian people were.
This was all before iPhones, iPads, and instant access to information. It was the personal face-to-face
connections we established that had the greatest impact on us and will stay with us forever. Just writing this
for the memory book makes us want to come back for a visit. Thank you to all who have worked at ISB to
make it such a wonderful place for children to learn how to work and live together!
Georgie and Dave Bramley

I was asked by my superintendent at the Pittsford District Schools to go to our sister school in Belgrade and
stay three weeks in April, 1974, as a consultant helping with various needs for the teachers, principal, and
School Board. I gave workshops on developing motor skills, worked with teachers on developing teaming
skills, tested students via Piaget techniques, conferenced with parents of Pre-K and kindergarten ages, worked
with the principal to design a new playground, and consulted with the School Board.
At the time when I was atISB,Pittsford had six other teachers working there. Sherm Craig was principal and
his wife was a teacher as were Dave and Georgie Bramley, Denise and Bob Kendricks, and Lee and Maurine
Johnson.
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We were delighted that several teachers from ISB came to visit the schools in Pittsford, N.Y. Igor alji came
to Pittsford for two weeks. During his stay, he worked with physical education and health teachers at two
elementary schools and one middle school. Nick Kodas and his wife visited Pittsford in February 1999.
Nick was interviewing our teachers to make future plans for teachers to come to ISB on a two-year contact.
I bonded immediately with all of the international school staff and enjoyed the students from many countries.
After school and on weekends, the staff had tours, concerts, and parties planned. Most of all, I acquired
forever wonderful friends and cherished memories. This was my first trip overseas and it was, indeed, a
learning experience.
I have been retired since 1990 and continue to do volunteer work and am in two international organizations
in leadership positions. I do keep busy for my 84 years!
Wanda Ward
ISB Pittsford consultant 1974
One event at ISB signifies for me the wonder and magic of childhood and the hold that books have on
children.
It was around 1983 when kindergarten classes were busy reading books about the lovable elephant
Babar, created by Jean de Brunhoff. The first book, The Story of Babar, was published in French
in 1931 and then in English in 1933. It tells the story of a young elephant who leaves the jungle,
visits the big city, and returns, bringing many benefits of civilization to his fellow elephants.
He becomes their king, marries, and has children to whom he teaches many valuable lessons. It
was followed by scores of other books, many written by the authors son after his death, as well
as films, toys, musicals, and T.V. shows. Next to Mickey Mouse, Babar has been called the most
popular character in childrens fiction.
I dont remember the circumstances of how it started, but somehow the children were encouraged to write
letters to Babar to invite him to the school. To their great excitement, they received a reply rolled on a scroll
suitably written in spidery royal script and stamped with a royal seal. Babar said that he would be happy
to accept their invitation, but regretted that his wife could not accompany him as she was busy with the
children. He would, however, come with the Old Lady, another character from the series, and the author
himself, who would join them from France.
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The idea for the visit either came from Judy Pakvor, the kindergarten teacher then or the librarian, Kay
Howdeshell, but there were a number of us conspiring to get Babar to ISB. Roger Lowen and Helen Raudenbush,
both ISB parents, joined in the fun to portray Babar and the Old Lady. I cant remember who posed as the
author, but he spoke French, which was important. I was the grade 6 teacher at that time and loved to do all
kinds of projects with the kids, so I was recruited to help. My job was to make a huge papier mch head of
Babar that would fit over Rogers head and to decorate the library as Babars throne room where he would
receive the children. A large chair was draped with cloth and cushions and set against the tall windows
covered with scenes from Babars life.
Eventually we were ready. Roger dressed up as a proper royal in a tuxedo, white spats on his shoes, a red sash
across his chest, and a small crown atop his papier mch head. The Old Lady was dressed in black, and wore
a hat and veil. Appropriately, the author wore a beret. The plan was to have them drive through the school
gate and up the driveway in a limo, but Babar, with his big head, couldnt fit into the car, so they walked down
Temivarska Street instead. The kindergarteners were lined up to greet them with bouquets of flowers and
other gifts. The excitement was palpable.
Babar spent a great deal of time with in kindergarten where the children showed him their Babar-related
projects and asked him questions about his life. Thank heavens Roger and the others had boned up by reading
the books. The rest of the day Babar sat in audience on his throne and received the classes of smaller children
one by one, while the author and the Old Lady visited the other classes. My 6th graders were skeptical of the
whole thing, as you can well imagine, but the author was so believable with his French accent and knowledge
of the books, that by the time he was ready to leave my class, the students were clamoring for his autograph!
The day was a great success, a MAJESTIC occasion, and everyone --the children, the teachers, and the
characters had a wonderful time. I heard later that Roger, an officer at the American Embassy, took that
head of Babar with him whenever he was posted to a new country!
Sue Throckmorton
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ISB? Memories? I dont know where to begin, there are so many. When I started working in 1976, I was fresh
out of university. I was swept into the wonderful world of teaching by what I would now call a dream team.
Gordana, Jean, Mima, Margaret, Gil, Judy, Sheila, Anne, Lily, Nick, Lee, Maurine, to remember but a few.
They were my mentors for many years to come. They shared their knowledge and experience, making me
part of the team that would set the foundations for what ISB has now become. I am grateful to them for their
support, their true friendship and the knowledge that I now share with my younger colleagues.
Together we have lived through some interesting times to say the least, and each time we came out stronger
and more determined to do what was in the best interest of the students and the school. Our biggest rewards
were the smiling faces, the success of our students and to see the school flourish in spite of the bad times.
Jasmina Obradovi-Perii
83
What is my school?
An education in my country
A place where I learn
A place where teachers teach
A jail for most students
A place obedience in acquired
A gift of friends
A source of my knowledge
Exercise for brain and muscle
A homework-giver
Most of my day
This is my school
Mia Pjevac
2005
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Being the son of a diplomat, Ispent my childhood in a lot of schools in various countries across the world. I
was in ISB in grades 5 and 6 from 1983 to 1985. Without a moments hesitation, I can easily say that those two
years were the happiest of my school years.Back then, ISB was a very small school,only going up to grade 8
and with just 165 students. It has subsequently grown quite a bit, but from what I hear, the values that made
ISB what it was are still intact.
Myhappiestmemories of ISB include thetruly international community with students from all over the world; a
strong culture where there was no semblance of bias or prejudice against any community; extremely friendly and
effective faculty that took personal interest in the students; a focus onnot just academics but also extracurricular
activities like sports, music, an annual Spelling Bee competition, and an Young Authors competition; a unique
sportcalled foursquare, which was a craze back then and a sport that I have not come across anywhere else.
I would like to make special mention of Principal Bernard Miller and his wife Betty, and teachers like Mr.
Frank Doneski, Mrs. Jovovi, Mrs. Mileti and Mrs. Obradovi who made ISB very memorable for me. I
have also managed to stay in touch with a few friends I made all those years ago . I was lucky enough to get a
chance to visit ISB again in 2009 after a gap of 24 years. It was a wonderful experience, and Mrs. Andjelkovi
was kind enough to take me around the school.
I completed my MBA and then worked for ten years at Britannia (an Indianfoods company),followed by
five years at Nokia. Earlier this year, I decided to set up my own venture in the travel and tourismindustry.I
am close to launching my company now, which will be manufacturing and distributing travel souvenirs for
tourists.
Akshay Hiremath
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When I think of ISB, I remember warm, friendly faces of children from all around the world, the sweet
giggling of my friends, the squeaking noise of the swings, and the cheers as someone made a basket in the
garden. I can still see the astonished faces of the little African boys and girls who have just gone out to play
in the snow for the first time in their lives. It reminds me of my kindergarten days when we went to the
chocolate factory, stuffed our pockets with chocolate and endless chocolate bananas, and returned to school
only to find them all melted. I remember the excitement of dressing up for another school play or holiday
performance. Im sorry that the cherry tree on which I used to climb and spend recesses with my friends had
to be cut down. What I remember most is the caring way of the teachers and the warmth of the ISB staff,
which made my two years at ISB some of the best years of my school days.
Jelena Kovaevi
I remember clearly my time at ISB. It was warmth, laughter, a feeling of friendship and community, of being
accepted. No need to adapt, to wear a mask. I remember being part of a colorful mixture of students coming
far from many nations, who somehow managed to get along with each other more or less peacefully. Our
classrooms were spacious and full of light, the walls decorated with our own artwork, the desks arranged in
groups or half-circles. No straight rows all facing front. Our teachers were humanhow strange, and yet
how reassuring. Not only did they do their best to encourage us and really make us understand what we were
learning, they also achieved small miracles of management on a daily basis, often preparing assignments for
almost as many different math, reading, or spelling levels as there were students in a class. I remember how
they used to join us in playing foursquare at lunchtime, and how they treated us as equalsa revolutionary
concept indeed, at least for someone like me who was used to being just one out of a couple of thousand
students taught by a couple hundred teachers who only bothered to remember your name if they found a
reason to scream it. Of course it wasnt all love, light, and plenty of Mozart. Nobodys perfect, and neither
were any of us. Occasionally there were assignments turned in late, quarrels in class, teachers mad at you
for nothing. There were messy cubby holes, messier desks, missing library books, social studies tests far too
hard to do, reading labs with too little time to finish, and PE teachers who tried to turn us all into Olympic
athletes. In short, it was life. But there was always such an abundance of friendliness, of giving and sharing,
of jokes and laughter that even extra words in spelling, Turtle Graphics in computer class, along with library
tests on the Dewey Decimal System, seemed like minor hardships.
Judith Wolfframm
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I remember Beograd quite fondly. It was my first overseas teaching assignment. The school was small,
friendly, and vibrant. Every day brought new adventures. Teachingstudents from all around the world was
so challenging and rewarding. I can still vividly see the Main Villa that was the home of ISB. The staff was
so supportive and helpful. Coaching soccer, introducing the Young Authors program, driving in Beograd,
trips to Dubrovnik and Cavtat, the 1984 Olympics, monstrous snow storms, working on projects with the
teachers, and sharing ideas and methodsare all delightful and indelible memories. I cant believe that it was
almost 30 years ago!
Frank Doneski
After any time at ISB, most other schools would seem boring by comparison. I was lucky enough to get to
spend nine years at this amazing school. Nine years of science fairs, Young Authors, and so many other fun,
yet educational, projects, such as designing your own space ship or even a whole country. Nine years of so
many different kinds of people from so many different countries.
My family moved to Yugoslavia in 1986 when I was six, just in time to start in first grade at ISB. Not able
to speak English except for rattling off the numbers one through ten without really knowing what we were
saying, my younger brother and I learned to speak English within weeks. Now 25 years later, we still speak
and write in English to each other most of the time.
Its weird the things you remember. Stop, drop, and roll is one of the first things I actually remember
learning and it sticks in my head even today, especially when watching a movie where someone is on fire. On
the other hand, I do not remember exactly when I learned to read, but my love of reading certainly started
at ISB. The corner of the library where the childrens books were kept was such a wonderful place, with the
fireplace and enough floor space to lie down and read to your hearts content. I used to bring home books
from the library, at first for my mom to read to us. My mother grew to dread Dr. Seuss with his wonderful
lexical dexterity. Later I read what I brought home for myself. I used to say I had read the entire library by
the time I left.
There are so many great memories in my life connected to ISB, its hard to pick out one or two. Even as I am
writing this, I am using the skills I learned during the Young Authors project. I will go back over this piece
and check it for spelling and grammar mistakes, plus I will rewrite it several times before I am completely
happy. At least I do not have to rewrite it in my best handwriting.
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My family left Yugoslavia nine years later. My brother and I went to a normal school but to me, it was boring
and colorless. The years at ISB probably spoiled me for other schools because no other school ever measured
up. I noticed that when I taught English in schools myself, I tried to bring some of the fun I had in learning
into the lives of the young people I was teaching. I hope they caught a glimpse of the school I went to.
Sabrina From
In 1978 I was a new bride, recently back from serving in the Peace Corps in West Africa, a place I fully
expected to return to with my husband to do development work. When he was accepted into the Foreign
Service, we both thought that a posting in Africa would most likely be his first.
However, there were no African junior postings for his entering class and most of the available positions
were consular posts in Mexico, which did not interest him. However, there was an economics position at the
American Embassy in Belgrade where coincidently he had lived for a few years as a child and fortunately, he
was able to get it. Having had no experience with communism, it seemed very exotic to me!
Having taught English in the Peace Corps, I received my masters degree the year before we left and tried to
learn some Serbian. After we arrived, I was offered a job teaching English as a Second Language at ISB. I
was a bit nervous since I had only taught older students up to that point and had no experience with young
children. Fortunately, ISB had an excellent program developed and taught by Lyle McCullough, whose wife
Joanna taught third grade. Lyle became a close friend and mentor and I learned a great deal working with
him. A nice surprise was that Gil Brai, my husbands grade 2 teacher, was still teaching. She was one of the
best elementary teachers Ive ever known!
The program was housed in a small building called The English House where Lyle had created a comfortable
and stimulating learning environment. It was a very popular program with both parents and students
because it was very effective and the children enjoyed the learning activities Lyle had created. The teachers
appreciated the program because their students became functional in the classroom very quickly. I was very
proud to be able to direct the program after Lyle left the following year.
The program had students from all over the world, even from some that didnt have diplomatic relations
with each other. Its very diversity seemed to promote a strong sense of community. It was a very safe
environment. However, once when there were high tensions between certain countries in another part of
the world, the teachers were issued baseball bats in case we needed to defend our classrooms from an attack!
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In such an international program, we were used to students arriving or leaving unexpectedly. The German
students would typically leave after the fifth grade to attend a German school. But the saddest day was when
the Japanese Embassy opened their own school and all the Japanese students were pulled out unexpectedly
overnight in the middle of the year. They had comprised a large percentage of the school population and
even more of the English program. It was a wrenching experience for the whole school!
My time at ISB meant a great deal to me, both personally and professionally. I still have fond and vivid
memories of my colleagues and the school. I learned a great deal and became a better teacher. Later, I was
able to replicate the program successfully at the American School of Warsaw. Perhaps most profoundly, it
contributed to a lifelong love and appreciation of Yugoslavia and Serbia, which continues to this day.
Patricia Whitelaw-Hill
John and I were married in 1984 and arrived at ISB in 1985. We were 23. School nurse Muriel Metcalf made
me a German Chocolate cake for my birthday in September.
John, a newly graduated science teacher and fitness nut, was hired at the last minute to be the PE teacher at
ISB. He had all ages, K-8. On weekends, we had students join us for American football in Koutnjak Park. We
lived in a house at Beogradskog Bataljona eterdeset eteri (44!). I remember that much Serbian well because
for several months we relied on taxis for our trips into the city. We rode our mountain bikes to school. Then
we bought a young horse to save him from slaughter and began spending our free time at the hippodrome,
where we taught riding lessons for many ISB students and even a few teachers. After we got the horse, we
needed a car and bought a yellow Jetta. One Saturday, we led our colt up the hill to a pet show at ISB.
While John taught PE, I assisted Jean Marinkovi in grade 1, and then moved with the children to Gil Brais
grade 2. I learned so much from those wonderful women and children! In the winter, John and I walked with
the children from the school to a gymnasium a few streets away for PE. One spring, we flew to Vienna with
a group of ISB students for a weekend sports festival hosted by ISV. We even worked in a TV miniseries, The
Fortunate Pilgrim, with Sophia Loren and some students from ISB. John was the stunt rider, and you can see
him in the opening scene of each episode.
In our third and last year at ISB, Ron Leiner left the science position and John moved into it. I tutored
remedial reading and taught seventh grade world history. It was fantastic to teach world history to kids from
around the world! Most days, John or I walked to the little Centroprom on Temivarska and bought a chicken
and a loaf of hleb to share for lunch in the tiny teachers room under the eaves.
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We had many mentors and surrogate families at ISB. Those were precious years. I was eight months pregnant
with our first child when we left ISB. Along with lots of advice and support, the ISB teachers gave me a
baby shower. Their wonderful gifts were passed down through our four sons. We also brought home our
enormous rescue dog, Ben, a arplaninac mix, unique in our corner of the US, for the rest of his life, two cats,
and seven kittens. We are forever grateful to Nick Kodas for encouraging us to start our retirement savings
early with TIAA-CREF.
For many years, I often dreamt of ISB and Belgrade and woke up feeling homesick. Over the years, however,
we have had wonderful visits from several students, including Gabriela Hahn, Andreina Lairet, and Jani
Leino. We have been to Canada to visit the Skerkowskis and Hahns and we keep in touch with the Connors
in Wyoming. We even met Jody and Bernie Welch, the couple from Maine who came to ISB right after we left
and moved into our old apartment. We called them to let them know about the feral cat we had left behind,
and they took him in. Some years later, we met through mutual friends in Maine. It really is a pretty small
world. It has always been lovely keep in touch with students, families, and staff from our years in Yugoslavia.
John and Cynthia Nye

Our family conceptually began in Yugoslavia with Finn, our first childs birth shortly thereafter in Aruba.
You can do the math to see why conceptually is italicized! Life at ISB for Jody and me began with the
school community and broadened to include much of the Belgrade expatriate community. Aca, the school
caretaker, introduced us to the stoic resilience and subtle humor necessary to keep the pace of Belgrade life
smooth. Our landlord was delighted that we did not want to keep horses or many pets at all, which (at least
the horse part) shocked us since our apartment was on the second floor. We learned about Belgrade in many
ways. We learned what true family meant when we saw ceramic photos on tombstones, fresh flowers in vases,
and usually one or two family members engaged in light conversation near the grave of a departed loved one.
Slava days meant cakes made of ground wheatberry and walnuts and that saints were present in our lives.
The list goes on.
Our walk to ISB led us through a park to catch a streetcar (if we were lucky) at the base of the hill, and we delighted
in jumping aboard for the four-minute ride to school.Each tram stop had a kiosk and a few tables always welcome
for turska kafa (wed stop for a cup if we were early enough) or pivo (wed enjoy a beer on the way back).The walk
uphill to school was made lighter knowing that Tom Tomekovich, our PE teacher, took this same trip with a
ISB kids to a rented nearby gym on rainy daysTom was talented, brash, and had steadfast confidence in
the kids ability to do the walks and not get run over en route by a Peglica (tiny Fiat 126p) or worse. Jody
worked with veteran grade 2 teacher, Gillian Brai. (Our third daughter was named Gillian in her honor!)
Mrs. Brai was an Irish woman of the old school. Her unique two-pen grading system challenged Jody to
understand that deep-down there was a reason that Gils students excelled at reading. Mrs. Brai expected
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them to. Bernies homeroom was upstairs. He learned never to jump on the second floor for any type of
science demonstration because of floor flex. He was fortunate to work with Margaret Mileti and Anne
Jovovi, who wereboth talented, capable, and fortunately for Bernie, very patient.
ISB, thanks for the memories.
Bernie and Jody Welch

ISB teachers
1988 to 1990
91
What are fingers?

Fingers live in a country called hands,
On a continent called arms
On a world called body,
Its relatives the toes are on the other side of the world.
Syamil Mohd Ashri
2005
92
THE NINETIES
The Nineties truly embodied the concept of change for better or worse, depending on
the geographical location, aspect of life, and nation to which one belonged. In one
part of the world, China celebrated the handing-over the sovereignty of Hong Kong by
United Kingdom. In Europe, Germany celebrated its reunification, IRAs decision to end
violence earned respect, and the European Union formed its Treaty of Maastricht. On
the other side of Europe, Yugoslavia was in full collapse. Its republics, Slovenia, Croatia,
Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Macedonia, declared independence from the Federation,
and consequently the Yugoslav wars started. The United Nations imposed sanctions on
Serbia because of the policies led by its government, and ISB went through extremely
difficult times. Indian Prime Minister Gandhi and Judge Falcone, the Italian hero of
the fight against organized crime, were assassinated, and the famous fashion designer,
Gianni Versace, was gunned down. It was an age of the Gulf War and dissolution of
the Soviet Union, but at the same time a wonderful Information Age, bringing the
first appearance of MP3s, DVD media, cell phones, and later on satellite phones. The
Spice Girls became one of the biggest global pop celebrities, and movies such as Titanic,
Forrest Gump, and Schindlers List were filmed. Belgrade became just one of the small
capitals of what used to be Yugoslavia. The Serbian people experienced hyperinflation,
unemployment, poverty, a constant struggle for survival of the free spirit, and still
another struggle against Slobodan Miloevis regime. When the crisis came to its final
peak regarding Kosovo, most of the diplomatic corps and their families were evacuated,
first temporarily, then for good, as the bombing of Serbia began and diplomatic relations
were broken. ISB experienced the hardest times in its history.
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As one of the rare pupils privileged enough to attend ISB from kindergarten through grade 8, I have lovely
memories from the time I spent there. One of the things I loved most about ISB was our school trips. I
remember being thrilled when I was chosen to attend the Knowledge Bowl in Istanbul as a 6th grader. My
other friends, Maria, Andrej, Sabrina, Bo Woon, and Julie were all 8th and 9th graders, so being the only 6th
grader made me feel very important indeed. We spent a few wonderful days in Istanbul competing against
other international schools from Moscow, Warsaw, and other European cities. Although we were not among
the top three schools at the end of the competition, we came back with amazing stories and an incredible
experience.
I remember our annual holiday programs and musical get-togethers at the African Museum, where we would
endlessly prepare and rehearse songs, dances, and skits to impress our eager parents.
I remember camping outside in the garden towards the end of the school year with my whole class, toasting
marshmallows, and telling ghost stories while wrapped in blankets, huddled together in the cool late-spring
evening breeze.
But the memory of ISB that will stay with me forever is my graduation ceremony in June 1997. I remember
the sadness I felt looking over at my classmates, Toa, Srdjan, Harpa, and Florian, and thinking how things
would never be the same again. Although our parents, siblings, relatives, and teachers were proud of our
achievements and no doubt we were as well, I just remember feeling lost and empty, because I knew that a
wonderful chapter of my life had come to an end.
Tania Bain
96

I remember having a lot of fun on a trip to Prague to participate in the Knowledge Bowl. We took a very, very
long train ride through Hungary and what was then Czechoslovakia before finally arriving in Prague. As we
pulled out of Bratislava, our groups boisterousness reached a peak. All of a sudden a woman showed up and
started yelling at us in something that sounded like Hungarian, though it may well have been Czech. None
of us understood a single word, but we knew what she meant: You kids are way too loud and need to quiet
down, because youre making am awful racket! We all looked at her sheepishly. She paused for a moment,
looked us over, and then said something that almost certainly meant, Are there any questions, because you
know exactly what Ive been telling you all this time. We were much quieter for the rest of the train ride.
I dug out an old yearbook from my parents house and had a look through. There were some photographs of
a Scottish bagpiper who came to visit ISB. Everyone was very curious to see him play and we were charmed
by the actual bagpiping itself. The bagpiper had the thickest Scottish accent I have ever encountered. All the
kids had a lot of questions, which he gladly answered, but none of us understood a word he said.
I also have fond memories of Mrs. Zeevis music class. She seemed to have a way of making everyone really
enjoy her class and learn a lot about classical music at the same time. She would tell us great stories about
the composers and wed have time in class to listen to the music and do free-form drawing or coloring a line
portrait of the composer that we were studying, which I really enjoyed.
Leafing through my yearbook, I see there were many things Id forgotten, but still enjoyed. The Pet Show was
always something Id looked forward to. It was fun to see everyones pets. The dogs were excited, and there
were even occasional sociable cats. I think the Pet Show was where I first saw a cat on a leash!
Gym class used to be on the blacktop, for the most part. I remember an extremely windy day when we played
badminton, and had to calculate whether the shuttlecock would be blown outside the court lines or not.
I remember Mrs. Andjelkovis French Cooking Club. We cooked a lot, but the dish I remember making was
salade nioise, which didnt require much cooking at all. Though the food was good, the exciting thing was
that the class took place on the top floor of the Main Villa, a kind of refurbished attic that was then reserved
for the teachers lounge and kitchen. We ate around the teachers table.
John OKeefe, Jr.

97

Memories from ISB, oh, there are so many! I remember our Friday dance parties, swimming, International
Day, and even lunchtime detention! I started at ISB in 1994 and was there for three years. I will always
remember ISB as a family school. When I attended, there were fewer than 72 students and I knew everyones
name. Over the years I have kept in touch with a few people, mainly through Facebook.
Raimundo Campbell
98
Feelings
When we talk about hate,
We think of a person whose
eyes are covered to see only evil.
When we talk about generosity,
We think of a person who has a big heart.
with enough space for everybody.
When we think of love,
We think of a feeling
That washes off all hatred
Leaving space only for
Pleasant feelings.
Sandra Krstovi
2005
99

The blacktop, Friendship Hall, the computer lab the good old days! All bring back some of my best
memories. Growing up in Belgrade in the 90s will always be remembered as an extremely difficult period in
the history of Serbia. For the kids who were privileged to attend ISB during that time, however, the school
was REALLY a place that changed that harsh reality and allowed us to enjoy a normal existence. We had
international bazaars, we participated in CEESA basketball tournaments and CEESA cultural conventions;
we had ISB sports days ... We had it all!
From kindergarten through grade 8, I was taught to respect other races, cultures, and beliefs, and that will
always stay in my mind. When I look at the situation in the world today with all the conflicts and wars, I
realize that if the lessons we were taught back then were applied by the worlds leading countries and if the less
powerful countries followed them, the world would be a more peaceful place for us all ... a place more like ISB.
Andrija Samardija
I came to ISB in the fall of 1998 to sub for the French teacher and I liked it immediately. When the teacher
came back, I was lucky to be offered to stay at ISB. Some called me a risk-taker, but I felt it was the right move,
and it was. I have seen ISB grow in many ways, from the times when eighth graders were the oldest ones
and looked huge compared to those in lower grades and now, how small they look compared to our seniors.
I have seen ISB grow from a few buildings at the lower school campus, which was the only one then, to two,
then three campuses. High school grades were added one by one, new programs started and developed,
many new foreign and local teachers hired. Some left, some arrived, again and again.
I remember when ISB, which of course had a director, appointed the first principal, the first IB coordinator,
the first athletics/activities coordinator. I remember when the first high school and college counselors
positions were created.
All is still very fresh in my mind the first Personal Project presentations, waiting for the IB results for the
first IB senior class
More memoriesI witnessed the birth of the first Speech and Debate team, volleyball, basketball, and soccer
teams, the choir, and theater plays, the first ISB High School prom I believe that it was then that ISB
became what we call a real school.
Branka Srekovi-Mini
1998-present
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My memories from ISB are numerous, and even though I was only there from 2nd through 7th grade,
some friendships have lasted a lifetime. One of my best memories is of our 6th grade campout. With Mrs.
Andjelkovi as our supervising teacher we camped out on school grounds. It was a lot of fun as many of my
classmates can attest. We played kick the can, cops and robbers, and many more. I recall witnessing bats fly
over the basketball court. As for the friendships, its been a lot easier to reconnect with Facebook in our lives.
Without Facebook, Ive only kept in touch with my very good friend Helena, who was with me from grades
2-4. After Belgrade, my family moved to Sweden, and then to Shanghai, China. As I suspect with other
expatriate families living in Belgrade, moving around was quite normal. I am very thankful to Facebook for
reuniting me with friends I remember and friends who remember me from ISB. Even though there was a
war going on for most of my stay in Belgrade, ISB has a special place in my heart and I hope others feel the
same way as I do.
Amanda Johannesson
I must say that coming to ISB significantly contributed to where I am and what I do today. From the kid that
struggled to get good grades, helped by greatteachers like Mr. Chris Wilson, Mrs. Mileti, Mrs Jovovi, and
others, I excelled to become a silver student in the AmericanSchool in Lisbon and then graduatewith honors
from both New York Military Academy High Schooland St. Johns University, with a major in computer
science and a minor in business.
I have worked with the world-renowned company, ExxonMobil in Angola, my home country, for nearly
10 years as supervisor of computing. ISB got me started on this path to success. If it hadnt been for the
persistence of my teachers to keep me trying and moving forward, I wouldnt be where I am today. I thank
you all!
Agostinho Neto Domingos

101
Atoms
The uncuttables
The building blocks of life
They make up everything you know
And even everything you dont.
Jack Harvey
2009
102

We arrived in Eastern Europe from Guam, and it was a big transition! Guam was so slow and laid back that
over there we had the impression we were almost going in reverse. In comparison, Belgrade seemed so fastpaced. Jenny taught grade 4, and I taught science to grades 5-8.
When we arrived, aside from the American population, ISB was almost completely populated by dependents
of the non-aligned nations. We were very happy to meet people from so many different backgrounds. The
schools annual bazaar was a wonderful riot of color to us, with people from African nations wearing their
national dress and many lovely Indian women in saris.
The school was housed then on the lower school campus in the Main Villa itself, along with Obradovi
Hall, Friendship Hall, and another small two-classroom building. Everything felt warm and friendly. The
Villa was homey and wood-paneled, with a polished wooden banister and stairs leading to the upper floor
and still another set of stairs that led to the teachers lounge on the third floor. I recall the library with its
fireplace over which hung a nave painting purchased for the schools fortieth anniversary in 1988. Jennys
class upstairs had glass doors and a balcony.
Mrs. Jovovi, Mrs. Mileti, Mrs. Andjelkovi, and I shared students for English, social studies, math, French,
and science. I remember a wonderful, supportive atmosphere. There was a great long-time staff. My colleague
Anne Jovovi was the new person (aside from us), having taught only 17 years at that time!
I remember Aca, the custodian, who had been there forever as well. ika (affection term for a man) Aca
used to give bread to the children to feed the pigeons and would sit outside with them, telling them stories
(whether they all understood, I dont know!) until their parents came to pick them up, if theyd been delayed.
Svaki, svaki, radni dan were among the few words we shared.
Jenny and Chris Wilson

103
In March 1990, I joined ISB as a substitute for the regular nurse who had taken emergency leave until the
end of the school year. As I had not previously worked as a school nurse, I was a little apprehensive. This
feeling quickly dissipated as I had the help and support of all the staff and all went well. Then fate played its
part. Nurse Branka would not be returning and I was offered the job for the following year, which I accepted.
Thirteen years later in 2003, I retired from ISB!
I had always enjoyed working in an international environment and ISB, although at the time a small school
(around 160 pupils), was ideal. Situated in a quiet, green area with staff and children from all corners of the
world, it was a perfect learning environment. We had a complete health care program for all grades K 8,
with one class per week. Lots of activities and some parent involvement. Vision, hearing, scoliosis, and even
Tine testing were tolerated with humor and interest. Band-Aids by the dozens, hot packs and cold packs were
all in a days work. An occasional headache, tummy ache to escape from class was not unknown. However my
prevailing memory of these occasions was when a child who was really ill asked, I dont have to go home, do
I? I cant believe how much all these kids loved being in school!
Also its amazing how all those scratches and bumps incurred at recess or PE never hurt until a child returned
to the classroom. Only then is first aid required, the definition of which according to one 4th grader is:
When someone doesnt know what they are doing but they are trying to do it!
Many more happy and successful years to ISB!
Elizabeth Mili
ISB nurse/health teacher 1990-2003
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Metaphor Poem
Tears are drops of water in an ocean of sadness.
War is fear.
Moon is the Earths follower for scientists,
and something to look at for those in love.
Television is a lie wrapped up in colored paper.
Mind of an old man is the wisest book.
The army is am unfeeling crowd of people.
Hate is what keeps us from love.
School is a keeper of knowledge.
Mona Varga
2004
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At the beginning of school in 1991 when I was eleven, I closed my fathers car door and watched him drive
away while I stood alone next to ISBs main Main Villa. I was a girl in a state of shock, who had very calmly
and unconsciously accepted that I was a new person who had to start all over again, leaving behind a distant
memory of what my life had been before.
I remember being taken directly to my first ESL class. At first, I had to try to express myself other than with
words through team sports, drawing, sharing candies I had to develop what I thought I was good at, and
in that way I drew closer to my classmates. It was hard and I was very shy, but with time everything seemed
to pay off. My English improved and I could find myself again. By the end of the school year, I was as
comfortable and happy as one can be.
ISB was such a different school from the one I had known. I was delighted by colored pencils, notebooks,
beautiful novels to read, wonderful books to study subjects like science from, pink erasers, scented markets,
stickers that said Good Work. We could have lunch boxes, play tetherball, use the library when we liked,
buy used books at book sales, bring our dog to Pet Show, enjoy McDonalds meals once a week. I especially
liked Create-a-County, the Science Fair, Young Authors, the Spelling Bee, bingo nights, and our Christmas
shows at the African Museum. I participated in basketball and was on the swim team, too. With Mrs.
Zeevi, the wonderful music teacher who played the accordion, we used to color while listening to Griegs
music.
ISB then was truly a fortress, for outside there was war. Every year there were fewer and fewer students. Most
families had been transferred out by their embassies or companies. There were only three of us in grade 8. I
was a pre-teen and missed the friends I had made the year before. ISB was becoming a desert island.
The few students who remained became really close. We truly enjoyed going to class and we read the books
we had to read, did the required experiments, and did our algebra. Life went on at ISB.
We organized our first parties at each others houses on Friday or Saturday nights. We dressed up, danced,
and started to flirt under the spell of the slow tones of Michael Jacksons Heal the World.
Time passed. Our new director, Dr. Ottaviano, introduced a grade 9 and there were three students in it: Bo
Bin, Kathy, and I. Soon more came and it was like a breath of fresh air. Being a bit rebellious as students
sometimes are, we had the bright idea to change the time on the clocks. Some we moved forward, others
we set back a few minutes. This created some chaos, for students either arrived too early to some classes or
very late for others. Some got to go on break too soon! We were discovered through a scrap of paper wed
left lying around.
I was very sad to leave Belgrade. While we wrote in each others yearbooks, we were filled with some
excitement as to what awaited us in high school, but were conscious of how special our time at ISB was. It
was just like leaving home.
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Maria Luisa Melendo

My first job at ISB was to teach Serbian as a Foreign Language in the primary school. During the second
semester, I decided to take my grade4 students to the local supermarket. We planned the field trip together
and role-played possible scenarios. I made a list of items and the students had to find out how much these
items cost. We were all excited!
The big day came and off we went! Grade 4 shoppers wanted to work on their own and soon they found
people to help them. They were happily engaged in conversation and I was so proud of their Serbian. When
I approached the group, I heard them chatting in English. The shop assistants were practicing their own
English! When I sweetly scolded my students for not using Serbian, one student said that they were helping
the Serbs learn good English!
Olja Miloevi
ISB teacher 1991-present
107
What is War?
War is a chess game but for real.
Pawns are expendable,
So kings arent harmed,
A strategy game for destruction,
Chess can be solved,
And war solves nothing.
Lazar Dresevi
2009
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The year was 1992 and in June an international embargo against what was left of Yugoslavia began, following
the breakup of the original Yugoslavia in March of that year. Dave accepted the job as director of ISB in
late April after a visit to the school, Cathy as the media specialist/librarian. We sold our house in the USA
in May and headed to Belgrade in early August. Since there were no flights into Belgrade due to sanctions
imposed in June, our family of four flew into Budapest, Hungary. During our two days in Budapest as guests
of John Johnson, Director of the American School in Budapest, rumors about the conditions in Yugoslavia
abounded. One of the press reports spoke about a shortage of milk, some food products, and also petrol. We
decided to purchase some of these items in Hungary before we left for the drive to Belgrade.
We were encouraged to follow a US Embassy van in order to facilitate the border crossing, but we chose to go
ourselves early in the morning. As we neared the end of the three-hour drive from Budapest to the Yugoslav
border, we filled our gas tank and some jerricans with petrol, hiding them among our personal luggage in
the trunk.
At the border, the Hungarian guards strongly questioned us about what the milk was for. Dave kept repeating
children and pointed to Kyle, age seven and Kate, age five. Without looking further, the guards waved us
through. On the Yugoslav side, the crossing guards saw the jerricans, but waved us through with a wink.
We were lucky, because as the embargo continued to progress month after month with more intensity, those
jerricans would likely have been confiscated.
Once we arrived in Belgrade, the city was as we remembered it from our April visit, except that there had
been no rain for six weeks and the leaves on the trees were turning brown and falling off. Regardless, the
school community greeted us warmly and the first month was an idyllic one for us.
In the United States, we had always been overwhelmed by the news of the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. In
Belgrade, however, we had little news of the situation around us. We listened to BBC and Voice of America
on the radio, but could not understand the local television newscasters. Even if we could have, President
Slobodan Miloevi apparently slanted the news. The International Herald Tribune was not available due to
the embargo. We only heard news propagated by the government or what we could glean by speaking with
others.
It was strange for us to be in the middle of a world hot spot and yet not receive any news of what was
happening around us. We felt as though we were on another planet. Our August existence was real, yet
unnatural, knowing that so much human suffering was so close by.
Our staff was dedicated to the school, but there were many obstacles to overcome, both educationally and
personally. When Dave interviewed for the job as director, there were 180 students from kindergarten
through grade 8. When we arrived, the school population was down to about 90. The splitting of the country
and establishment of embassies in Croatia, Bosnia, Slovenia, and Montenegro, plus the embargo prompting
the exit of most foreign businesses, caused a 50% drop in school population.
Our personal obstacles included shortages of milk and petrol, heating oil, and some foods. Inflation of the
local currency was also a challenge, although much less for those working at school (paid in US dollars) than
the local population. It was heartbreaking to realize that peoples life savings were evaporating before their
eyes if it was held in local currency. The official exchange rate was something like 45 dinars to the dollar.
Meanwhile, on the street you could exchange hard currency at an ever-skyrocketing rate. We have a number
of interesting stories about experiences exchanging money on the street. One in particular was when Cathy
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went with Jasmina Perii, (our grade 5 teacher) to a man on the street whom Jasmina knew and trusted. They
met him near her home in his car. As they approached the car, he got out and went to his trunk and opened
it. Cathy and Jasmina followed. Cathy thought that the trunk was where he kept his dinars for the exchange.
However, after the trunk was up, all three looked around to be reasonably certain that they werent being
observed, and then the man reached behind his windbreaker and opened the zipped area where normally a
windbreaker hood was kept and pulled out his currency! The exchange was then made, the trunk closed and
all sauntered casually away.
In fact, inflation was rising at a phenomenal rate during our early months, hitting what is considered
hyperinflation by early fall. Prices on all food items doubled in a very short time, often daily. We would stop
at the store in the morning to buy some food for lunch and by the time we returned in late afternoon all of
the price stickers had been changed, due to the days inflation. Indeed in a very short time we needed to take
buckets of Serbian dinars to the store to buy food and a plane ticket took almost a wheelbarrow full of money.
Eventually the Serbian government began printing new dinars with more and more zeros so we didnt need
as much currency to pay for things. To this day we still have a 1 million dinar note which is worthless today
and may have been worth about USD $1.00 then. Later, there were 500 billion dinar notes printed.
It was not uncommon to see well-dressed people rummaging through garbage cans. Spot shortages developed
quickly. Dave remembered one time substituting mid-day for Sheila Kovaevi in grade 2, as she knew of a
place to buy a 100-pound sack of flour. We all pooled our money and she brought the flour back to school
and everyone split it up.
The sanctions imposed against what was left of Yugoslavia, particularly the oil embargo, affected people in
major ways. Gasoline lines stretched for miles, often requiring a 24-hour wait. The Serbs were amazingly
patient. Everyone, from the foreign diplomats to the local people on the street spoke about petrol shortages.
Heating oil was restricted, but the United Nations supplied the school during the winter to keep us warm.
As the suffering worsened, the crime rate in Belgrade also rose. Predictable thefts (food and car gas siphoning)
were commonplace, and people jumped on local trams without paying. Trams began breaking down and
spare parts were not available. By mid-winter, there were few trams operating. More and more people were
walking. Informal networks developed everywhere. Every day before school started, instead of meetings,
teachers and staff would share intelligence about where to find food, petrol, and other necessary items. As
a staff we were always on the hunt. We pulled together to help each other, kept the school going and open.
When petrol was said to be sold in a certain alleyway for 3-4 German marks a liter, Dave would send someone
(often Goran Zarubica, our maintenance supervisor at the time) to fill up as many jerricans as possible so
teachers could get to work.
As the sanctions bore down on the country, the school faced more and more challenges. There was an
initial fear the schools financial accounts in the USA would be frozen, along with other Yugoslav finances.
School and cleaning supplies were scarce, but the teachers and staff were resilient and resourceful. School
utility costs rose 70% in one month. The staff began to have more and more difficulty getting petrol, even
surreptitiously in the alleyways. Dr. Nikola Kodas was a quick thinker and an even better negotiator. One
time we took the school van and drove out into the country to secure 25 jerricans of fuel for the teachers and
staff. Dont ask where we got it, but suffice it to say that we all pitched in together so we could all get to school
daily and keep the school open.
Our own children, Kyle and Kate, grew in their understanding of other people and cultures. Kate in
Kindergarten was blessed to make friends with Tjina from Finland, Vimbai from Zimbabwe, and Rei from
110

Japan. Kyle made friends with Danilo, Andrea Petrovi and Jelena from Serbia, and our family felt supported
by the Jackson, Petrovi, and Sweigert families, to name only a few. We were able to enjoy the beauty of Serbia
despite the conditions and all of us learned to ski at Kopaonik during the school winter holiday spent with
parents, teachers, and students from school. When we go skiing, we still think of the Serbian words, plug,
plug and sneg as learned in our lessons!
In the spring of 2010, as 25 and 23 year-olds, Kyle and Kate together returned to Belgrade and were able to
re-connect with Andrea Petrovi.
We started that school year without a physical education teacher and our teaching staff was wonderful about
pitching in and taking turns doing creative physical education lessons. There was definitely an esprit de corps
as we pulled together and delivered a sound education to all of our students despite various professional and
personal obstacles of living in Belgrade during that time. Our students had a wonderful experience, thanks
to the dedication and caring of all of our staff.
We still think fondly and count as friends all of the staff that we knew while at ISB and are pleased to have
shared some of our memories of that very memorable time for the ISB History Book. This reminiscence
merely scratches the surface of that year. We will never forget our colleagues and friends, Dr. Nikolas Kodas,
Krs Bogdanovi, Draginja Jefti, Judy Pakvor, Gil Brasi, Sheila Kovacevi, Chris and Jenny Wilson, Goran
and Gordana Zarubica, Anne Jovovi, Pat Andjelkovi, Margaret Mileti, Jasmina Perisi, the Mike and
Eloina Monchilov, Liz Mili.
Dr. Dave Ottaviano

ISB director 1992-1993
Cathy Ottaviano
ISB librarian
1992-1993
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Young Soldier
18 years is much too young
To go to war
But he did
19 years is much too young
For his best friend to die
But he did
22 years is much too old
To return from battle
But he waited
Expecting to find a better world
When he went home
But he didnt
Sarah Braun
2003
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I spent 7 of my now 25 years at ISB. Today I am finishing the economics faculty at the University of Belgrade.
I own my own company and also work for several others. My colleagues and partners always ask me how it
is that I speak English so well and know so much about history and different cultures and countries. Then
I always point out that I finished my elementary education at ISB, a school that helped me develop into
the person I am today. Recently I was host to a Chinese business delegation in Montenegro and they were
amazed that I knew some things about their country that even they did not. I explained to them that for
half a year in fifth grade, our teacher, Mrs. Perii, taught us everything there is to know about China and its
culture. Several times we even cooked traditional Chinese food together to see what it tastes like and how
they prepare it. All in all I wouldnt trade my time at ISB and the friends I met there for anything.
Rade Rakovi
I attended ISB from grade 2 through grade 8. My fondest memory is that there was ethnic diversity at ISB,
unlike any other school in Belgrade. I had and still have friends from Japan, Hungary, Spain, Nigeria, France,
Italy, Germany, Croatia, and Serbia. I was able to learn about their cultures and lifestyles, which prepared me
for my move to Tanzania where I lived for four years.
I also have fond memories of the volleyball tournaments we played with other international schools all
around Europe! It was great fun participating, but the most fun was staying with host families in each country.
Out of all the schools I have attended, ISB was the smallest but I felt like we were family.
Mina Popovi
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Ive had the pleasure to work at ISB since 1994, and have taught grades 4 and 5. I have been a buddy teacher
to quite a few teachers as well as a mentor to my grade 5 teaching partner. I have seen our school grow
and evolve from a small family school to a large International IBO World School, offering all 3 programs on
three campuses with approximately 450 students. Although our small school has grown, so has the feeling
of oneness between staff and ISB families,and it has remaineda truly wonderful learning environment, an
oasis where internationalism and friendship thrive! Im so happy that at ISB we dont just focus on academic
growth but on teaching life-long learning and on molding our students into becoming the best possible people
they can be: people who will not only be tomorrows leaders, but who will make a difference in the world!
I have so many wonderful and treasured memories of all my years at ISB: annual trips to the northern
resort town of Pali (families and staff all together), of annual Young Authors competitions, sports days,
barbecues and pepper-roasting parties after school, accreditation and authorization visits, science fairs, pet
shows, bazaars and spring fairs. ISB has always been a huge part of my life! From the very first day, I felt very
welcomed by my wonderful colleagues and kind friends, who opened their hearts and homes to me, and
have become my second family. The spirit of family andtogetherness is a legacy of ISB I will always carry in
my heart! I feel very privileged to teach and be friends with so many people from around the world and am
proud and honored to say that Im an ISB educator!
Ilinka Jovani
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It feels just like yesterday when I was considering accepting position of library assistant at ISB. A couple of
weeks later, I have to admit, I felt pretty important wearing an employee name tag at the Welcome Picnic
for the 1993/94 school year. Looking back at those times filled with events and memories, I find it difficult
to single out just one. Being so long in the school gave me the opportunity to fill many positions, from
library and office assistant to Internet teacher, and finally business manager. I also had pleasure of traveling
through Europe as a chaperone for student competitions and for professional conferences and workshops.
However, I discovered that when reflecting on ISB back then, its not the trips that come to mind. Instead,
there are details from everyday doings: a pet show, a black hat for a reading contest I created, a paprika
party, a drawing I received from my grade 9 Internet class students when they discovered I was pregnant, a
warm feeling one only has when working among friends. And not only friends. I have been working with my
husband Goran for all these years and it was enjoyable, supportive, and above all, fun.
One memory that comes to mind belongs to a day of no particular importance. It was late fall in Belgrade.
Goran and I stood on the parking lot, talking. The wind was making miniature tornados and he pulled my
hood over my head. The next gust brought a well-known tune from the music room. The kids were rehearsing
for the monthly assembly that always started with the school song, the song that always brought that fabulous
feeling of belonging to a warm and caring school. Goran and I instantly started to sing. We looked at each
other and laughed. That day we knew we had to have our own child at ISB one day and we are fortunate that
our son Matija is an ISB student now.
Gordana Zarubica,
ISB Human Resources Manager 1993-present
Goran Zarubica
ISB Director of Maintenance 1992-present.
My name is Igor alji and Im ISBs physical education teacher, born in Belgrade, Serbia, locally hired. My
last name is typical for my home country, which is quite important for the following tale!
It was the beginning of the 1996-1997 school year. We had visitors from our sister school from Pittsford,
New York. Superintendent Mr. John ORourke and his wife were here, and we were all excited about their
visit. I was told he was a big wheel over there in Pittsford!
At that time our school was quite small. Grades K-8 were located on ISBs original campus at Temivarska
19. My office was in the Main Villa on the top floor. People wouldnt climb up the narrow wooden staircase
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unless they had to. That morning I was working on my lesson plans, drinking coffee, and listening to my
favorite radio station when suddenly I heard footsteps. It had to be Mr. ORourke! I stood up, took a deep
breath and put on my friendly smile, just in case! He walked in. We shook hands and with a big smile he said
ORourke!. Because my name is hard for foreigners to pronounce, I get easily confused when introducing
myself and therefore Im usually focused on what Im going to say and how Im going to make it easy for them
to understand my name. Oalji I gushed, and immediately realized what a foolish mistake I had made,
but it was too late! Our conversation continued about the school and the subject I was teaching, but I couldnt
forget even for a moment my inadvertent Irish-Serbian last name.
A month later I was invited to Pittsford for a professional development exchange to familiarize myself with its
physical education program. To my surprise, I was hosted for almost two weeks by Mr. John ORourke himself!
It took me about a week to gain courage and find the right moment to tell him about my embarrassment at
how I had introduced myself to him first time we met! We both laughed to tears for another five minutes.
I would also use this opportunity to thank Dr. Kodas, Director of ISB at that time, for making this wonderful
trip happen, and my great hosts from Pittsford for treating me like I was family!
Igor alji
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Ying-Yang Pen
Pen on paper
Paper under pen
Harmony between two
Will create a poem
Carl Kelly
2009
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Arriving in Belgrade in 1994, I joined my husband who had been assigned to the American Embassy a year
earlier. I had a job awaiting me at ISB and was looking forward to working and teaching in an international
school again. It was wonderful to have a position all lined up, since as a trailing spouse there could often
be a one to two-year wait until a suitable job opened. The fact that one was available at ISB and that ISB was
the smallest school I had ever seen was part of a larger Yugoslav story.
A year earlier in 1993, I briefly visited my husband during a ten-day period when 500 billion dinar bills were
in circulation and the bite of sanctions and inflation were taking their toll. Gasoline was being sold in plastic
containers on street corners and people in Belgrade were ever more caught up in a crisis over which they had
little real control as they struggled to keep their daily lives on an even keel. The foreign business community
had pulled out and that had a large impact on the schools enrollment. The Yugoslavs I met in that short
visit saw themselves as Yugoslavs, first of all, rather than Serbs, Croats, Macedonians, et al. Belgrade was in
many ways still a cosmopolitan city and I looked forward to living there. A year later after concluding a job
in Washington, D.C. and moving two children to college, I landed in Budapest and went by car to Belgrade.
Western airlines were no longer flying into Serbia.
The International School of Belgrade, like the former Yugoslav republics, had fallen on difficult times. Its
enrollment had dropped and stabilized at about 75-80 students, drawn mostly from the diplomatic and
foreign correspondent communities and from Yugoslav families who could afford the tuition. Grades K-10
were housed in three buildings including the Main Villa. I was hired to fill two positions: that of librarian
and social studies/history teacher for grades 6, 7, and 9. Classes ranged in size from 5 to 8 students. The
Villa housed the directors office, the library and the nurses clinic downstairs, and upstairs the social studies
classroom and the computer lab (a new addition to the school, as were computers in general). I came to
realize that Dr. Nikola Kodas, the grand gentleman and unflappable director who hired me, had very few
candidates to fill these positions. He and the teachers were truly the bricks and mortar of ISB during those
dark years, sometimes literally dark when the electricity failed.
The former Yugoslavia will long be a case study of how truly terrible political leadership results in tragedy
for millions of people. But should anyone ever write a contrasting story from the same time and place,
there is no better counter narrative than that of ISB during those years. Dr. Kodas, the teachers, and all
who worked in the school office and grounds were among the most devoted people I have ever seen. (I
would love to give a shout-out of all those names, if only the people were all still there!) Every morning the
children came through the gate and entered a kind of learners haven, dedicated to their education and a fully
normal school life. To a core of Yugoslav teachers was added a core of native-born English speakers from
the British Isles, Australia, and the U.S., strong women who had married Serbs in the 1960s and Seventies,
made Belgrade their home, raised their families bilingually and bi-culturally, and had had a professional
affiliation with ISB for most of their working lives. They were all determined not to let education at ISB suffer
from the surrounding national trauma. I never heard discussions of outside politics or the concomitant
frustrations of daily life. Instead, the life of the school and its classes were the focal point of discussion and
activities were organized in a very inclusive way so that all students could benefit from the small size of the
school. For example, all the students, youngest to oldest, visited Anne Jovovis fall class where her students
explained to both 5-year-olds and 15- year-olds what their research projects were, their intentions, and their
findings. The annual Pet Show included both beloved stuffed animals and live four-legged friends. The
rhythm of the school day was an anchor in everyones life. In my time, class trips continued for upper school
students (for example to Bucharest and Budapest for combined programs with those schools). Teachers
attended conferences to discuss best practices in schools elsewhere with the use of portable, shared computer
keyboards among children who might not have a computer at home many did not in 1995. The school
administration stretched its funds to realize as many requests and projects as possible and everyone had a
shared sense of doing the most with what was available.
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In my 25 years of experience with private schools, most much larger international schools but finally one even
smaller, I never saw more interest in book fairs or in exploring library shelves. Nor have I ever experienced
such a shared sense of purpose and endeavor. My two years at ISB in the mid- 1990s, it turns out, were the
best of times at the worst of times.
Ethel Perina
ISB was probably the best thing that ever happened to me. Not sure if it was the teachers or my friends
or the blacktop or drinking ice-cold water straight from the dispenser in Obradovi Hall, or dressing
up for Earth Day, or the Bazaar, or the Pet Show, or making veggie burgers and turshija (not sure of
the spelling) with Mrs. Andjelkovi. Or maybe it was never quite remembering the correct spelling
of vacuum in the Spelling Bee, or making snowmen or simply sitting in detention (a.k.a. study hall)
watching the other kids play outside and wondering if Id ever see the light of day first-hand again.
I love being able to look back and smile when I remember all the silly thing my friends and I did. (NOT me
and my friends! (Thanks, Mrs. Jovovi!) But most of all Im proud of the fact that Im now a teacher and I
love teaching because my teachers loved teaching me. Thanks, ISB.
Laide Lawal
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120
121
THE TWENTY-FIRST
CENTURY
It is hard to talk about the last decade from a historical perspective, because
there is not enough historical distance to discuss and interpret it. For this
reason, historians call the past decade current events. However, these
current events from the first decade of the new century brought immense
changes to Serbia and to ISB and are consequently significant enough to
be mentioned. In Serbia, a peoples uprising ended the Miloevi era.
Soon afterwards, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia became Serbia and
Montenegro. Then Montenegro broke away, leaving only Serbia. Its first
democratically elected prime minister, Zoran Djindji, was assassinated in
2003. In the world, neutral Switzerland joined the United Nations, the euro
entered into circulation, Barack Obama was elected the 44th US president
and became the first Afro-American inhabitant of the White House. In the
field of science, the human genome was deciphered. It was a decade of Asian
tsunamis, earthquakes in Haiti, Turkey, and India, terrorist attacks in New
York, London, Madrid, Moscow, and Beslan while at the same time a decade
of incredible growth for ISB in every aspect of its school life.
Looking from 2012 into what will happen in the world would be like playing
Nostradamus. However, we can still try to visualize what might happen.
Will Serbia retain its present size? Will it join the European Union? Will
the European Union itself survive its current crisis and keep the euro as its
currency? In what ways will the worlds and Serbias economic situations
evolve? How will all this affect ISB? Will ISB continue to grow both in student
body and facilities or will it keep its current size? Well just have to wait and
see. The future is just around the corner!
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We arrived at ISB at a time of great change and expansion for the country and the school. Director Jerry Craig
knew that both physical and instructional changes had to occur for the school to be the best in a new and
challenging time. We fell in love with our campus and it was easy to see that a strong and loving community
had led and preserved the school during the war years. The newcomers, both staff and over a hundred new
students, were welcomed and enveloped into the school. Everyone was ready to try new things and work
hard. The children were really special. To recall just a few would be the brilliant duo of Stefania Spinellis
and Adelade Drap-Frische; Ivan Struk who learned English overnight; the Chafetz kids Joe and Emily and
Andjelija and Alexei Janiijevi whom we practically considered our own; and Benedicte Madsens glorious
singing voice. So many bright-spirited kids. There were teachers who really made changes in their lives like
Donna Greig, Ann Craig, and Anne Jovovi, who made the arts and themes of PYP and MYP come alive
every day. We loved the upper school field trips begun by Wendy McArthur. These trips pushed everyone and
helped us to really experience Serbia. We all gave everything for the school and our kids. Perhaps its because
as an international school many of us came unfettered by complications of our lives in our home countries
and were ready to devote an extra measure to our new family at ISB. It was a life-changing experience. Our
Serbian friends will be ours forever. Steve was asked to be a godfather at our friend Sashas wedding just this
year and I know he plans to visit in 2012. We Alaskans appreciated the addition of air-conditioning as well
in 2004!
Cris Wilson
ISB librarian 2002-2005
Steve Wilson
ISB counselor 2002-2005
I loved ISB for the 2 years I attended it (grades 4 and 5) for many reasons. I enjoyed classes with teachers
Mrs. Jovani and Mrs. Perii, and loved the different projects we did, like the geography ones on Japan. I
remember happily sitting at home drawing my pictures and writing everything by hand. Its weird how much
things have changed nowadays, and kind of sad too. The years at ISB were some of my best school years,
and I made many good friends, since we were a very small class. (I arrived just as the war had ended and I
believe the whole school only had 32 students). My friend Sonja and I used to go to the school library and
pick several Nancy Drew books, and then just sit and read. We sometimes got through two books a day, so
eventually Id read all the Nancy Drew books the library had to offer! I remember the Spelling Bee, where I
came in second place two years in a row, the Young Authors competition that I won twice, UN day where I
dressed up in Swedish national dress, the school song and pledge, which I surprisingly still know by heart
after all these years! Basically ISB was (and probably still is) an awesome school and I miss the years I had
there and the friends I made. We have now all gone off in different directions and live in different countries,
but occasionally still manage to keep in contact. I will always remember ISB and the good times I had there,
and I tend to look back at my yearbooks now and then and dream myself back to those years :)
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Sanna Sartori
I remember that my first visits to ISB took place around 1980. While I was still in primary school in a
neighborhood Serbian school, I was invited by grade 2 teacher Mrs. Gil Brasis daughters to visit the Spring
Bazaar. I remember it as a colorful place with amazing stands, among which I preferred the African and
Dutch displays. It was at this bazaar that I first tried American pancakes and fell in love with maple syrup.
A few years later, I started babysitting some ISB students, which helped me a lot to learn about different
cultures and to practice my English. Much later, my daughters Tatijana and Ivana were students of ISB for
a while. They loved the creativity and warmth of ISBs teachers and staff. When I was a child, I had special
feelings about ISB, and thought how lucky ISB students are to attend a school like this.Now I am a teacher at
ISB. This is my 10th year and I think how lucky I am to work in a school like this!
Milica Joci
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Simile Poem
Night is like a nocturnal playground.
The moon is like the nights nightlight.
A dream is like a reality of anothers life.
Hands are like peace agreements.
Time is like a heart, almost never skipping a beat.
Allie Vitas
2004
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When I first moved to Serbia from the rural Midwest, I went through intense culture-shock. The International
School of Belgradeits professors, students, and overall welcoming atmospherehelped me adapt to the
very different environment I was thrust into. My first year at ISB changed my entire lifes point of view. I
became more cultured, more adaptable, and suddenly the shy girl from Wisconsin became a social butterfly.
The teachers at ISB were the best Ive had the pleasure to know at any of the nine schools Ive attended
since preschool. They were personable and truly wanted to teach for the enrichment of the students lives
and futures. ISB was and still is special to me. It is where I feel I really grew into the person Ive become.
The friendships I made at ISB are still a huge part of my life even though weve all been displaced all over
the globe. I can talk to people from there and were able to pick up where we left off. Some of my greatest
memories of ISB are going to CEESA and competitions with students and teachers. We all got to know each
other and became great friends during the trips. Winning was not the most important thing when it came
to these trips. Sure, we all wanted to win, but even more so, we knew it meant we got to experience different
cultures together. Another one of my favorite memories from my years spent at ISB was the theater show
we put on every spring: Shakespeare in the Park. Our high school had the most beautiful grounds, so every
spring when the air was heavy with the scent of flowers in bloom and the grounds were becoming green after
white winters, the students put on a fantastic production of a Shakespearean play. We would spend hours
rehearsing, trying on costumes, and painting and creating the sets. It all became worthwhile when we got
see it all come together and perform before an audience of students, parents, faculty, and friends. There are
no words to describe the home that ISB made for its students. It was an incredible experience and one that I
take with me every day of my life. I am proud to say I was an ISB student and part of the ISB family.
Allie Vitas ISB student

2001-2005 and 2006-2007
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Even though it is in my home country, ISB was the school where I gained my first international teaching
experience. I still remember how impressed I was to be surrounded by students from all over the world,
speaking their own languages, but who had to communicate at school in English.
Four years of teaching physical education at ISB had a significant influence on my teaching career. It helped
me to grow as a person and professionally as a teacher. I learned a lot not only from my colleagues, but from
my students.
The school was then undergoing international baccalaureate accreditation, and it was rewarding to take a
part in such a challenging and sophisticated process with a group of devoted and enthusiastic colleagues by
my side.
ISB was where I took my first serious coaching steps. As a full member of the Central and eastern European
Schools Association (CEESA), ISB competed with other schools from the same region in three major sports
(soccer, basketball, and volleyball) and cross-country. That provided us lots of opportunities to travel around
Europe and visit other schools, and to get to know their school communities.
As the first international school where I worked, ISB will always have a special place in my heart.
Tamara Atanackovi
InMay 2002 as a young general practitioner, I had the opportunity to begin volunteering in the health office
at ISB, which then had an enrollment of about 200 students. I replaced Mrs. Elizabeth Mili, a nurse from
England, who had worked at ISB for 13 years. After Mrs. Mili retired, I earned my certification and spent
two months in training on curriculum, health topics, and school issues. During my first year, I worked with
the school counselor to implement one of the first programs in the Middle School, the RAP (Resourceful
Adolescent Program), developed to build resilience and promote positive mental health in teenagers. Since
those first three years in the school Health Office I have been dealing primarily with student playground
injuries and accidents during PE lessons and often accompany students on field trips.
As a member of ISB community and its welcoming environment, I have had the chance to enrich
my personality. As a part of a blossoming community I have the opportunity to blossom as well,
learning that open mindedness, happiness, and the acceptance of the importance of human
beings as they are is crucial. ISBs constant pursuit towards enriching the holistic approach to
students personalities regardless of their differences is the astonishing breath of this community.
I am happy to be a part of this community and to develop and grow with them because I have the chance
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to give myself completely as a person, professional, and human being. Teaching and its feedback are always
helping me to develop.
Last of all, ISB continues to expand, and not only in its number of students. I remember fondly that 20032004 was a baby-boom year for the staff, with around 10 staff members becoming new parents!
Dr. Ljiljana Balo Dr. Lilly

ISB school physician 2002-present
My name is Fairuz Hanifah. I am from Jakarta, Indonesia. I attended the International School of Belgrade in
5th grade class from 2006-2007 and my teacher was Mrs. Sentevska.
I now live in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. I am in the tenth grade in Druga Gimnazija Sarajevo and
am doing the IB Program. What made ISB special for me? All the teachers were very kind to me when I was
there. They taught students patiently and did not judge us by where we were from or of what religion we
were. All the students were equal. I loved my friends and teachers there. I improved my English and had a
lot of new experiences. The teachers and friends were very respectful and polite to me, especially during the
Muslim fasting time, when they were kind enough not to eat in front of me. I loved to bring Indonesian food
to my school, because my teachers and friends liked it.
I loved to take school trips with my classmates and celebrate Halloween, Opposite Day, Crazy Hair Day, etc.
The extracurricular and sports were also fun and not boring!
Fairuz Hanifah
I feel that its people who make a place memory-worthy. In Belgrade I had so many friends from all around
the world and they all have changed me for the better. I wouldnt be the person that I am today without their
influences on me. For example, my best friend, Una, taught me to see the brighter sides of all of the situations
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and lightened up my day just with her smile. Now, because of her, I rarely get upset over things, which amazes
my other friends. Another friend of mine, Jack, taught me to stick to things that I know when things were
getting tough and because of him I am able to say No to things that I feel are not good for me. My fourth
grade teacher, Mrs. Jovani, was such an amazing teacher that I never could find another teacher that could
replace her. Even when I wasnt in her class anymore, she would find me and ask me how things were going
and would be there to listen to me if I had to open up to someone.
But to be honest, I will remember Belgrade because of all the laughter and fun times I had there. Whenever
we went back to Turkey for holidays, we never once said Were home. It was always upon our return trip
to Belgrade that when we said that. I feel that alone sums up what a cozy and memorable place ISB and
Belgrade will be for me.
Beste Karli
Because I have spent the past 8 years in equatorial climates, one thing I remember fondly about ISB is the
snow! The ISB campus is beautiful, but it is glorious when it is covered with a layer of glistening white and
silver. My children were in elementary school at the time. Both compared the garden area to a really special
birthday cake!
I was in charge of the Year of the Reader my last year at ISB. What a fun experience! I still have the photos that
kids submitted showing them reading all over campus, the book that Pat Andjelkovi shared with families
during an author visit, and the quilt my reading club put together. Excellent memories.
Lastly, (though Im not sure this is appropriate for a memory book) I recall the great barbecues and social
events because of the beer and wine! I was always so pleased that the school and community allowed alcohol
on campus. I thought it was so important for children to see social venues with responsible drinking. Sadly,
in some of the countries where Ive lived, that doesnt happen!
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David and Susan Stutz

ISB teachers and parents 2003-2006
I met my future husband, Sava Vrbaki, when we were both kindergarten teachers at ISB in 2005. We hit it off
right away, relying on each other for lesson planning and support. We developed a great friendship, always
enjoying the funny things that kindergarten children do and say. In our second year working together a
romance had formed. We eventually got engaged and then moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina to work at
another international school. We were married in Michigan, USA, in 2010. At our wedding we had several
friends join us from our time in Serbia. Each summer we return to Serbia, as Sava is Serbian, to visit friends
and family. ISB will always be a special place and turning point in our lives. We think of all the wonderful
staff, friends, and students there every day. We are currently living in Panama City, Panama, where Sava now
teaches ESL and Chrissie is a counselor. We were drawn to come to Panama to work with Wendy McArthur
again, the lower school principal we loved at ISB!
Sava Vrbaki
Chrissie Serafin Vrbaki
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Well always remember right before United Nations Day trying to come up with traditional costume and
food for Australia. All the other students came in beautiful garments carrying delicious food that had been
cooked in their country for centuries. But there would be, on the day before, trying to find something that
had koalas or kangaroos on it, debating if anyone else would even try Vegemite, and ending up taking in
Fairy Bread. This is white bread, with butter on it, and then sprinkled with hundreds and thousands of those
tiny little rainbow-coloured sugar dots.
Well always remember the school trips to other countries, which for someone from a country where you can
drive for days and fly for hours and not have left the state.
We remember growing up learning about other cultures, other foods. We remember learning to ride bikes at
school trips to Pali, a beautiful lake and lovely place to spend time with friends and family. We remember
the paddle rides on the lake. We remember performing at the holiday concerts in the African Museum right
beside the school. We remember the hot weather in the middle of the year, which was incredibly confusing
for our Aussie bodies. We remember thinking the school year was funny because it didnt match the calendar
the way it would at home.
Elysia Muirhead
ISB student January 2001-2003
Aidan Muirhead
ISB student 2001 to mid-2002
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135
Saved by the Bell

The intimidating paper lands on my desk.
Pencils roar across the paper
Clocks clink telling us to beware
Chairs creak uncomfortably
People whisper, afraid of the results
The teacher begs for silence as the leaves
rustle outside.
The test still stares at me blankly
daring me to challenge it,
until the reassuring sound of the bell is heard.
Ana Buling
2005
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There are so many spectacular memories I have of ISB, so it was rather challenging to decide where to start
and how to put them together.
When I first came to ISB, campus-wise I found the school extremely small compared to my previous one and
the number of students reached only 150. However, as you know, first impressions are not always correct. In
my case it was way off. I spent the best two years of my schooling in ISB.
The teachers were all so attentive and caring. Because there were only few of us in each class, the quality of
our studies was very high, since the teachers could dedicate their time to each and every one of us. We all
got along well and what was amazing was that we all knew each other, from kindergarten all the way up to
grade 8.
Besides classes, there were always activities going on such as field trips, sport tournaments, fund raisers,
etc. There was something for every one of us. The most memorable event for me is probably the volleyball
tournament in Bucharest, Romania, in 2002. After a 14- hour train ride, we went straight to the gym and
had about an hour to get dressed and warm up for the first game. In the end we won for the first time in ISB
history of CEESA tournaments in girls volleyball. We won again the next year in Sofia, Bulgaria. We had
only 150 people in the whole school and we did not even have a gym in our campus, yet we managed to win
against schools with 1,000 or more students. We were so happy and proud! It is hard to explain the feeling,
but I will definitely never forget it.
Then there was the opening of the new campus. The school was growing in numbers and in September 2004
they were planning to start a high school program. The campus was very green, spacious, and homey. We
had a grand opening where I gave a speech and also had the honor, as Student Council President, to declare
the new campus open. I am extremely grateful and proud that I was able to do so. That year we also decided
on our school mascot, the dragon, and I still cannot believe that ISB now has shirts and sweaters with my
dragon drawn on them!
I left Belgrade, Serbia, at the end of the school year in 2003. It was never harder for me than it was then to
leave the city, my friends, all the staff at ISB, the memories and all the wonderful people I met during my
two years there. I hear that the school continues to grow and develop and I only wish everyone the best and
for them to experience at least a part of what I did when I went to ISB. I wish I could get to see you all again
someday.
Mateja Keek
137

I have vivid images of ISB, among which are its beautiful villas. While not purpose-built facilities, they
conveyed warmth and welcome. I particularly liked the curved arches of the lower school library, framing
Zuzana Chalupovas folk art painting above the fireplace. The lower school villa was particularly beautiful
in the spring, with its light-colored faade contrasting with the bright blue sky, blossoming trees, and rows
of annual flowers blooming in front of the white picket fence. The upper school grounds became a white
wonderland in winter, with fluffy snow clinging to the many trees, tall gate, and buildings. In May, its grounds
were transformed into a natural stage for Shakespeare in the Park, complete with a pigs head on a platter and
Renaissance minstrels. New buildings may bring new amenities, but one cant replicate the hominess of ISBs
villas and its highly dedicated staff.
One memory in particular illustrates a potentially dangerous situation that was handled well. I received a
phone call one snowy Sunday night in November saying school had been canceled. On Monday afternoon,
I learned that there would be no school for the rest of the week for lower school students and that all staff
should report to the high school.
On Tuesday morning I made a quick stop to the lower school computer lab to pick up my school laptop and
some papers. Immediately upon entering the small building, I noticed soot on the floor, with footprints leading
up and down the narrow hallway. A faint, smoky odor still lingered. From floor to ceiling, the computer lab
was covered in thick black soot and burn marks. The circuit breaker box was a mangled, charred mess, with
a few wires dangling helplessly. Silence filled the cold lab,devoid of any blinking lights, whirrs of electrical
equipment, etc. I made a quick survey for telltale signs of scorch marks or the smell burned plastic. I was relieved.
Our director informed us that a tree had fallen right onto a power line, which in turn had hit the
wet ground. This live wire sent a huge surge of electricity into the school and about 50 homes in the
immediate vicinity. Two people had been hospitalized. Had it not been for the quick thinking and action
of the school security guard and custodian who shut off the power, the electrical surges would have
continued, causing even more damage at the school. This happened on a Sunday morning when no staff
or students were at school. Just 24 hours later, students would have been in that computer lab, some less
than a meter away from the fuse box where much of the energy surge seems to have been concentrated.
Elementary school classes had to be temporarily relocated to the high school campus and split sessions were
introduced. Elementary teachers were given a short time to pack 5 boxes of materials from their classrooms.
The situation required the flexibility and patience of all involved.
At the beginning of the year classroom teachers and some specialists had received laptops. Now we appreciated
the benefits of portable technology even more, because access to technology could continue with as little
interruption as possible, utilizing the campus-wide wireless system, central backup, etc. Several AC chargers
had been destroyed in the power surge, but teachers worked around this inconvenience and pulled together.
Melissa Enderle
138

When it comes to school, every kid has the same assumption: Its no good and youre definitely not meant to
enjoy going in every day. At the age of five, one day before my first day of school, my big brother underlined
this unquestionable fact and, given that big brothers are always right, I knew it had to be true. Well, ISB
proved him wrong on that one. Being five at the time, I dont remember a whole lot, but to this day my
mother reminds me that I came back from school every day and declared that it was without fail The best
day so far.
Sappy as it may sound, I was lucky enough to begin my school experience at ISB and, after a few years away,
almost lucky enough to graduate from there. Yes, that whole spiel about graduating with your closest friends
being an incredible experience is true. Probably. Sadly, I wouldnt know, because I left ISB in 10th grade,
along with my closest friends. When I was still blithely unaware of the fact that we were going to move, I was
busy complaining about everything, ISB included. Why? Because thats what high school kids do. You sort
of have to really. Granted it wasnt all unicorns, rainbows, and peanut butter, but funnily enough, four years
later, during a trip to Belgrade in 2011, I couldnt resist visiting. It wasnt the first time either. In fact, it was
one of many visits to ISB that were prompted by a handful of reasons that any high school kid who reads this
will laugh at, any teacher will smile at warmly, and that I will stand by until my memory starts to go hazy due
to old age. For one thing, I met the greatest people Ive ever known so far at ISB, including best friends that
Ive kept years after leaving. On another note, apparently youre lucky to have one outstanding teacher of your
preferred subject at some point in life. Well, I happen to know that I met the best English teacher I will ever
have at ISB. Yet again, if youre reading this as a high school kid, youre probably going to think that that is
very, very lame, but its actually pretty cool.
Theres one last clich I should bring up about what my time at ISB has led to: my ultimate plan after university
is to become a teacher there myself. Yeah, no joke.
Eszter Bobvos
ISB student 1996-1997 and 2002-2007
139
Time
Is like eating a candy bar
Too quickly,
Then regretting
That you didnt
Savor it.
Hannah Woomer
2004
140

We moved to Belgrade in August, 2005. My husband, Buddy and I both had teaching jobs, and our children,
Declan, 12, and Hadley, 8, were excited to start their new schools. From the moment we arrived, we felt
welcomed, valued, and at home. People we just met felt like old friends. We slid into our new lives without a
wrinkle.
Our memories are many, Ill mention just a few. When Declan was in seventh grade in 2006, he became
friends with Valerio Toncig and Nikola Tausan. During the summer of 2011, Declan met both boys in Europe.
The friendships that Declan made years ago continue to grow despite time and distance.
As part of our family tradition, we hosted a Cinco de Mayo party every year. It was a huge success with lots
of Mexican food, and of course, tequila.
While I was the drama teacher, an American movie was being filmed in Belgrade, and the filming company
needed American kids to help out. We organized for 30 kids to be in the movie The Brothers Bloom, starring
Adrian Brody. So sorry not to be there anymore!
Buddy and Cassie Habeck

ISB was my first overseas job and I loved it! I arrived in August 2001 and the school was still very small,
with fewer than 100 students. It had such a welcoming, family feel to it. I felt so close to the students, their
families, and the other staff. It really was a special time. Although I loved all 3 years I spent there, I must
admit that the first 2 years were extra-special because we were such a small, close-knit group. The growth
ISB began to experience while I was there was exciting and it was wonderful to see the 2nd campus open.
When I returned for a visit several years later, I was in awe of the continued growth with the opening of the
3rd campus. I have very special memories of working with the PTA to create the Halloween Party and the
Easter Egg Hunt. School picnics were always great fun and a wonderful way to get to know the ISB family.
ISB holds a special place in my heart and memory.
Laura Curran
141

When I think about the International School of Belgrade I have many, many, many happy memories, both
personally and professionally. I will feel forever tied to Belgrade and to Serbia because my one and only
beautiful daughter was born there. Ainsley is six now and often tells her friends here in Panama that she is
Serbian!! My memories of taking ninth and tenth graders hiking and biking in southern Serbia goes down
as some of my favorite times. The beauty of the country, the warmth of the people and of course, one cannot
think about Serbia without thinking of kajmak or pljeskavica and opska salata! Mmmmmm! Must admit
though, I never became a fan of Serbias gut-burning strong brandy, rakija!
Most of my time in Serbia was spent on the beautiful campuses of ISB and although they were challenging
years, and years full of hard work, I only recall the great times. During my first year at ISB, my office was
in the high school and I remember driving through those grand gates every day up the long driveway and
thinking to myself, I cant believe they pay me to come here. Each of the campuses has a unique flavor and
adds to ISBs unique and charming qualities. The faculty and staff at ISB are a group of highly dedicated and
caring people. In my time there, ISB grew quickly and we needed to make a lot of changes and each and every
member of our team rose to that challenge to ensure we offered the best education to the children walking
through our doors.
I decided to leave ISB because I wanted to go to a big school and get a big school experience and that is
exactly what I did. Although I enjoy my big school, I truly miss all that small schools have to offer. The sense
of community that ISB has, spending many weekends at school events on campus, the Halloween party,
Christmas party, musical performances, etc. I knew the names all of the students at ISB and chatted regularly
with parents who stayed after school while their children played on the playground. I knew the names of
every faculty member and never had to wonder who the new person was walking through the hall. It was a
place where people cared for one another and stepped up if help was needed.
I could write forever, recalling many funny, sad, and challenging moments, but I will have to save those for
the next memory book. I would like to thank all the teachers, students, parents, and fellow administrators.
It was an absolute pleasure and thank you for contributing to five of the best years of my life!
Wendy McArthur
Lower School Principal 2002-2007
142

The time in Belgrade and ISB was good. I made a lot of friends from different parts of the world. Some of
them I still am still in contact with. Two of them are still my best mates and we usually meet once or twice a
year. When we do, it feels like we still go to same school together. ISB had many good teachers who gave me
motivation to study and become something.
Elis Guttman
Our son, Ethan Woodward, attended ISB for two years, from 2009-2011.Im sending along a photo, which says
so much to us. In it we see our child coming out of his shell to express himself musically. This photowas taken
athis kindergarten music concert, the same night where our typically shy boy started break-dancing to Michael
Jackson music. His teacher practically had todrag him off the stageand my husband and I and his teachers all
laughed at the joy he wasexpressing so fullywith his body.I would like to thank his music teacher Mrs. Janiijevi,
Mrs. Kralovec, Mrs. Jeakins and all the many teachers and leaders who were involved in the process of helping
to shape our son. This picture also communicates Ethans overall experience at ISB. He wassurroundedby
friendship, creativity, learning, learned to express himself in front of an audience, and emerged as a real learner,
ready to face the world.Our memoriesof the wonderful experience ISB was for our son will stay with us forever.
Regina Landor
Billy Woodward
ISB parents 2009-2011
143

I was a teacher at ISB for three years. I first started as a grade 3 substitute and then the following year I
became the grade 2 teacher. I just loved teaching at ISB.
I loved team-teaching grade 2. I enjoyed all the PYP units, especially the animal unit. This was our first unit
of the year, and I learned so much from my students. They had lots of questions that helped all of us to look
more deeply, to delve, to inquire. I also lovedthe Serbian unit because we had everything we needed and
more within our own community. Our family loved living in Belgrade and absolutely adored ISB. We always
felt like one big family there.
I remember when all the teachers went to Croatia for a conference. That was really fun! We had workshops
during the day, but went out to eat and socialize with colleagues at night.
I was the teacher liaison for the PTA all the three years I taught grade 2 because I love being able to have
insight as a teacher and a parent volunteer. We gave the students and the families many fun parties. For
instance, every year we had an Easter egg hunt. We had a day that the students could bring in their pets and
parade around the school campus. Some children brought in stuffed animals. We had yard sales for families
that needed to get rid of a few extra things theyd accumulated over the years and now needed to downsize
to go back home. We also had a fantastic Halloween party at the school. Families would come to school on
Halloween night and bring a jack o lantern to decorate the entire campus. It looked great after they had put
the lighted pumpkins in place. We had different activities in every building and smaller children could even
go trick or treating around to each classroom. Face painting, arts and crafts, and lots of food and drinks, of
course, candy.
One of my ideas was for Pizza Hut Fridays. At one of our PTA meetings I told them that at one of my other
schools where I had taught in West Virginia, we always got pizza from the local Pizza Hut, Dominos, or Papa
Johns. We decided to talk this suggestion over with Pizza Hut. This turned out to be one of our biggest fund
raisers at the school. I wonder if ISB still has Pizza Hut Fridays.
In addition to my teaching duties, my other big love is music.At ISB, I often helped with the musicals such
as Grease, Fiddler on TheRoof, and Bugsy Malone. I also helped the music teacher with the Christmas shows.
Towards the end of our journey in Belgrade, I became pregnant with my sixth child. I worked up until I was
in my 7th month and then returned to the U.S. to give birth. I was very sad to leave my students, but I was
also very happy to meet my sixth child, who is at the time of this writing 4 years old. He often speaks about
the times we were in Serbia, even though he never actually lived there, but gets so jealous when we talk about
our fun times at ISB, he has stories to tell as if he had been!
Dawn Nazzaro
144
Dawn with US Ambassador and Mrs. Polt

My introduction to Vlade Divac came in my first few months at the school. Along with Novak Djokovi,
Vlade is one of the most famous Serbs. He is the only foreign-born and trained player to play in over 1,000
NBA games and is considered one of the greatest basketball players ever.
For a short time, Vlades children attended ISB. During my first autumn in Belgrade, I mentioned to one of
them that I wanted to take my sons to see the Eternal Derby, the annual Partizan vs. Red Star football game.
The next day his son Luka told me that he had tickets for me! On Sunday morning, the day of the game, I got
a call from Vlade himself. He said he would come by to deliver them. A few minutes later he was at my front
gate with 3 tickets for the luxury boxes at Marakana Stadium. We got to enjoy the spectacle and pageantry of
one of the greatest rivalries in world soccer. Vlade was seated a couple of rows behind us. Vlades warm and
humble personality came through immediately. He also came to one of the schools basketball practices and
gave our students a mini-workshop in passing and rebounding.
Vlade embodies two Serbian traits. The first is height. Both men and women here tend to be tall, and you
often see 7-foot people who would be a rarity in other countries. Serbs are also very kind and go out of their
way to help others. Perhaps its because I am a foreigner, but the help in getting around daily life my family
and I receive from strangers is amazing. They appreciate our attempts to learn Serbian and love to hear that
foreigners choose to live in Belgrade and enjoy living here.
In my time at ISB, Ive had the opportunity to meet several of Belgrades rich and famous. Besides Vlade
Divac, we asked the legendary pop-folk singer Lepa Brena to sing at the 2010 commencement exercises. It
was exciting to plan the event with her and her assistant and to hear her performance of Hajde da se volimo,
which really brought some Serbian spirit to the celebration.
My family and I are grateful to the people of Belgrade and to the school community and will cherish our time
at ISB forever.
Bill Kralovec
ISB Secondary School Principal 2007-present
145

I have too many good memories of my time in Belgrade to pinpoint just one. There were so many incredible
moments and people that I would hardly know where to begin, so instead I will speak of my favorite
constant. Every school day for six years I went to work in a park. I walked to school, up Temivarska Street
through the beautifully-kept African Museum grounds. Then a quick right, followed by a quick left, and I
entered the side gate of the campus into an area of green with old trees and beautiful stone fixtures. Working
in a park is the one thing that I was grateful for every single day. I haveworked at and visited many schools
in various parts of the world, including North America, South America, the Middle East and Western
and Eastern Europe but from what I have seen I can say without a doubt that the ISB campus is the most
breathtaking. There was no swimming pool, there were then no tennis courts, no this, no that. But what ISB
has, apart from its outstanding students and faculty is life in a park-like atmosphere. My best memories were
of Shakespeare in the Park, which enhanced the beautiful surroundings of the high school grounds.
Yvonne Slough
ISB played an important part in my becoming who I am today. I remember all the extra-curricular activities,
such as volleyball, cheerleading, and student government that I participated in being as not only being fun,
but also educational. They taught me how to take charge of my affairs, be a good team member, and how to
be a support system for my friends in times when they would need it. My favorite classes were English with
Mrs. Slough and art with Mrs. Skori. Both pushed me to work even better, specifically at times where I was
convinced that I had reached my limits. They also taught me that with enough effort and determination I
could become great at whatever I applied myself to. The school as a whole prepared me for tasks I would have
to face in university as well as life skills I have now acquired. Though there were bumps along the way (such
as my setting fire to a stool in the science lab due to a miscalculation on how much dynamite should be used
in an experiment), my experience at ISB was a pleasant learning experience. I am now studying in Rome,
finishing my degree earlier than anticipated, having completed three internships and one underway, and this
is all thanks to ISB having prepared me for the world as I see it now.
Tanja Strugar
146

My first encounter with ISB took place on a wintry evening in Surrey when, having looked at the dream list, Michael
and I decided that Serbia might be an option for our next posting. Since we had decided not to send our children to
boarding school before the age of 16 and because we had two girls under that age, a good school would of necessity be
a vital influence on our choice of our next step. We had gone down the American/IB route in Cairo (our last overseas
posting) where our children went to Cairo American College, with its dreamy jacaranda-lined campus and the tanks
outside protecting Mubaraks grandchildren who attended the school. I googled schools in Belgrade and immediately
came upon ISB. Heartened by the sight of the directors photograph and his reassuring title, I decided, immediately to
send off for the prospectus under the pseudonym Val Mond, which is a family-based name I sometimes use. I carried
out a little research of my own and was intrigued to discover the astonishing fact that the school had been founded in
1948 by my possible predecessor-to-be, the British Ambassadors wife, Lady Catherine Peake.
Things looked good and felt right. Michael applied for the job and on the anniversary of Kristallnacht, November 9,
2009, we found out that he had indeed been appointed Ambassador to Serbia. Excitement was great. Lots of secrecy
had to be maintained as first the Foreign Secretary, then the Prime Minister, and finally the Queen had to give their
blessing (permission). When all this was over and we had been firmly invited to the June Kissing Hands ceremony
in Buckingham Palace, we told the children the good news and the adventure of sorting ourselves out for a new world
and life began. An application was made to ISB without informing the admissions officer, Sanja Ili, about Michaels
position. We wanted the kids to be accepted on their own merits and also to maintain as much freedom of choice
as possible without giving offence. Our reconnaissance trip in the spring confirmed our choice of ISB. We were
favourably impressed by the magical Emerald City-like appearance of the lower school buildings and the parkland of
the high school campus and by the welcome tour given to us by Sanja. Our eldest daughter, Jessica, was particularly
excited by the bubble gym and the Black Box theatre, in which she has since been able to sharpen both her athletic
and theatrical skills.
We arrived in Serbia on August 7, 2010, and spent four heavenly incognito months in a swamp flat down in Senjak.
Sanja, in the meanwhile, had been told the truth, but had promised not to spill the beans and, to this day, I am grateful
for her discretion. The girls settled speedily into their new school. Carefree, we would walk, up the hill every morning,
whistling to the start of a new day. Jessica said that ISB was the easiest of schools to settle into and ISB is her seventh
school. These were the months when, unfettered by public duty and not bound to flying the flag, we were able, as
a family, to discover Belgrade and its magic. That summer, the Danube really was blue! We took trams all over the
place. Michael worked as a volunteer at Gradjanske Inicijative and we both took Serbian lessons. Every weekend we
took the bus down to Ada Ciganlija and spent hours and hours swimming and lying by the river or bicycling along it.
Finally, on November 26th, the flag car arrived to collect us and 26 pieces of luggage (mainly black bin bags that looked
distinctly unambassadorial!) and take us up from Senjak to Dedinje where our new life began. It has naturally, with
its security and formality, been a whole different ball game and contrast to those hazy, crazy days of that first Serbian
summer. However, throughout this experience we have been blessed by the continuity and welcome given to us all
by ISB and most especially by Dr. Eric Sands, the man who stepped out of his photograph and his title to become
Michaels tennis partner and our life-long friend. ISB is the kind of place where such friendships are made. And what
is education for, if not to seal friendships and cement alliances? Lady Peake would have agreed and how amazed she
would be to see what a grand place her little school with its twenty-two children has become!
Dr. Lavinia Davenport

ISB parent 2010-2014
147

After a big snowfall in Belgrade in November 2008, many brittle trees collapsed with the extra weight of
the snow. Most did so without an audience. Many others caused severe damage as they blocked traffic,
crushed unluckily parked cars and, in our case, knocked over a power line that sent 420 volts into the ground,
incapacitating the entire electrical system at our elementary campus. Fortunately, this happened over the
weekend and nobody was hurt. With no power, school was cancelled on Monday and the Administrative
Team had time to assess the damage and make a plan. The next morning, the entire faculty gathered at the
high school campus to hear the details of a proposed week of Flexible Scheduling.
This was the plan: the lower school students would attend classes at the high school campus, sharing it with
the high school students on a half-day basis. We were all assigned a high school teachers room and were
given 5 boxes to pack our teaching necessities for the next week. I packed my alphabet set, my favorite books,
pencils, crayons, journals, some math manipulatives, and thirty first grade-size PE shoes.
In the pitch-black darkness of 6:30 a.m., I showed up to my assigned room #24, a high school English
class with shelves of real dictionaries, not the picture-filled child versions I had in my room. There were
individual desks instead of the low colorful tables I was used to. Posters of famous authors, poets, and
playwrights decorated the walls. I couldnt imagine my 15 first graders filling the space. I unpacked, displayed
our alphabet to make it feel like home, distributed the crayons, pencils, and journals and went to wait for my
students to arrive.
My first graders, usually full of energy and all over the playground before school, were lined up nearly and
silently, waiting for me to show them our new room. We walked through the high school lobby, up the big
set of stairs, past the lockers they themselves could fit in comfortably, and into room 24. My students found
desks to sit in and sat nervously, feet dangling from the chairs many inches from the floor. We read Goldie,
an updated version of Goldilocks and as always, did what all good readers dovisualize what the three
bears garden looked like, asked questions about how Goldie got lost, predicted how her mother would react
when she got home, summarized the story using transitions like beginning, middle, end, and lastly, made
connections to the just right experiences we had had.
It was soon time for PE. All laced up, the kids ran around in the high school bubble gym. They came back
assuring me that they had had the best PE class ever and were ready for high school. To save time for the
next PE session, we neatly placed our PE shoes in pairs in the empty space under some unsuspecting high
school students locker.
It was 11:30 a.m. Without lunch or after-school activities, it seemed like the day had just started. It was time
to put everything neatly back in our boxes and leave before the high school kids and faculty needed their
rooms. We left them a note and some cookies.
The next day continued in the same way and before we knew it, it was Friday. News came that our campus
was safe, cleaned, freshly painted, and ready for us to return on Monday. We had mixed emotions. We liked
the beautiful view from our second-story classroom. We liked the way our shoes fit neatly in the hallway in
their own special garages. We liked looking at all the thick books on the shelves. We loved the revolving
door on the bubble gym and all 23 stairs we climbed to get to room 24. Sadly, we wrote thank-you notes
to the mysterious big kids who sat in the same desks after we left. One of the best artists in my class drew
a large, beautiful rendering of Goldilocks, and we decided to put it up on the wall. She chose the best spot
in the room, right next to a portrait of Shakespeare and thats when I saw it. There it wasa sign that read
Good readers visualize, ask questions, predict, summarize, and make connections. I couldnt believe it. I told
my kids how smart they were and how they were doing many of the same things big kids do. As we walked
down the steps to meet parents, we met our director. One of my first graders stopped him and said, We are
now all ready for college.
148

The following Monday, it was school as usual in our old classroom with skinny books lots of pictures, colorful
tables, low chairs, and our alphabet hanging above the board. One of my students raised his hand and
said that although he had liked room 24, just as Goldilocks might have, he felt just right back in his old
classroom. A wonderful connection he made.
Kay Strenio
Primary Years Program Coordinator 2008-2011
We moved to Belgrade in 2006 with our two children (one born in South Africa, one in the Peoples Republic
of China) and lived in Serbias capital for five years. Our children attended ISB, where I was on the Board
of Trustees for 4 of the 5 years. Our family had our choice of the various Belgrade international schools, but
through research and referral, we saw that the International School of Belgrade offered the best program and
the best international baccalaureate education.
Having lived with our children in South Africa, Washington DC, then Belgrade, we found Serbia and
traveling in the Balkans to be an excellent and safe experience for our family. During our vacations, we skied
the slopes of Mt. Kopaonik each winter (our daughters learned to ski there and one won the junior downhill
slalom trophy at 11 years old), traveled to Macedonia, Italy, Greece, and through villages in Serbia, Hungary,
Slovenia, and Croatia. We remember one daughter squealing with delight through her snorkel at her first
sight of a Mediterranean school of fish in Croatia.
We found ISB to provide an excellent education and be very responsive to the needs of both our children,
one of whom had mild challenges.
We remember hearing so many languages on the ISB playground. Often one ISB student asked a question in
one language and the reply was given in another!
One year on the first day of school on the playground, one young boy who knew no English heard my
daughter speaking one of his languages (Netherlands Dutch), and they both became friends for
life! That same half Russian / Dutch boy now lives with his family in Brussels. My daughter and he
seem to be kindred spirits, and, who knows, perhaps hell be a future son in law? I would be proud!
Our eldest daughter keeps in close touch in this wired world with her closest ISB friends, who now live in
Brussels, Rome, various locations in the United States, Amsterdam, Zurich, and South Korea. Quite an
international group of third culture kids!
149

Among ISBs students, will there be a future prime minister, president, or dictator? Who can say?
No one in our family would be the same as we are today without the positive international experiences we
have had or without the very positive 5 years we spent, lived, laughed, grew, and learned, in Belgrade at ISB.
Mark Hawkins
ISB Board of Trustees member and parent 2006-2011
Twenty-one years in the ISB office! Office work the one thing I had decided I would never want to do. (I
used to teach in Australia.) So what was it that kept me in that secretarys chair for so long? As I think about
it now, I realize there were two factors that made this job special for me. One was the variety of activities
that kept me busy and interested the entire working day and often after hours. Besides the regular secretarial/
office duties, some of these were: coordinating the after-school activities program, editing, creating/writing
newsletters, enrolling students, substituting for absent teachers at all grade levels, teaching kindergarten
through grade 4 computer studies, teaching EAL to grade 1, and many more.
It is the second factor, being in daily contact with the children, which was and still is the most rewarding.
The students are here to learn, but through my ongoing interactions with the children from over 30 nations
at times, there was much for me to learn from them as well. Even now during my fifth year back in the
classroom working with the little ones, watching them at work and play, reminds me of what we adults used
to do as kids; things many of us have forgotten or have no time for in our everyday, hectic lives: living in the
moment, being spontaneous, using unspoiled creativity, exploring, celebrating little achievements, laughing
a million times a day, and more. There is so much positive energy in the classroom that I cant help but feel
joy and have a smile on my face throughout the day!
So, dear ISB students, present and former, the following acrostic, a mere sprinkling of your names, is dedicated
to all of you. It has been a pleasure knowing you, working with you, and learning from you!
Krstinja Bogdanovi
ISB Secretary/Administrative Assistant 1986-2007
Teacher assistant 2007-present
150
INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF BELGRADE

Ivan, Isabel, Ilhan, Ida, Ilija, Isidora, Ian, Irina, Iva, Igor, Iris, Isaure
Nathaniel, Nabil, Nyalambi, Neslihan, Neva, Nisha, Nevine
Tania, Teodora, Tristan, Tahia, Tasha, Trisha, Tatiana, Thomas, Tafadzwa, Tendai, Tara, Teodor
Erhan, Emika, Eduardo, Ellis, Emeka, Eric, Eliko, Estibaliz, Emirhan, Elizabeth, Emily, Elysia
Rade, Ruben, Rachel, Rafaelo, Rana, Romina, Roelof, Robert, Ryu, Ronit, Reza, Remco, Rolando
Nikita, Nadia, Natalija, Natasa, Nurazlila, Neethu, Nikola, Natanel
Andrija, Alexei, Andrew, Andreas, Amanda, Aleksandra, Adebola, Amy, Anja, Anuj,
Tijana, Tracey, Taiwo, Tina, Tinashe,Trajko, Trinity, Tizziano, Tiril, Takahira, Todor, Timothee
Irem, Irena, Ivana, Itunu, Ikemefuma, Ikechukwu, Imran
OLaide, Omar, Olivia, Oluwaseun, Oyenmeki-Charles
Nemanja, Nasiru, Natalie, Nik, Nenad, Noah, Nursuraya, Natasha, Nischint, Nina, Nicholas
Adriana, Alberto, Antti, Abishek, Andreina, Anze, Angelo, Anna, Amber, Annebeth, Alon, Alex,
Lemeesa, Leila, Leda, Liam, Lilla, Leyla, Leina, Luisa, Leon, Lori, Lidia, Lindsay
Srdjan, Sasha, Stefan, Sara, Sebastian, Simeon, Sabrina, Sanja, Shweta, Summer, Stavros,
Cody, Christopher, Chiwike, Chara, Caroline, Catherine, Chaka, Carla, Cynthia, Christina, Connor,
Hasim, Hasan, Hakim, Hiroki, Heiko, Harpa, Hugo, Hannah, Holly, Haley, Hayden, Heather, Hamish
Olusej, Olivia, Olusegun, Olga, Owen,
Oguz, Omri, Ognjen, Or, Obrad
Luis, Layal, Lydia, Laura, Laetitia, Lisa, Lara, Lindsey, Lana
Obren, Ozzy, Onur Ozgun
Francesca, Federico, Filip, Fadhil, Faysal, Florence, Farah, Fariz, Florian, Feliks, Felicitas,
Beatriz, Benjamin, Bosko, Bo Bin, Belinda, Brin, Brian, Basak, Bozidar, Bettina, Bindiya, Becky,
Emma, Emina, Erik, Etay, Erina, Ella, Eva, Emma, Elizabeth, Eui-Kyu, Emilia, Eleonore
Luka, Lazar, Lindsay, Lara, Linda, Lacey, Lesley
Gamal, Georg, Gwen, Gabriela, Gregory, Gaurav, Gloria, Gabriel, Gabor, Gemma, Gianluigi, Gill
Richard, Rahul, Ruth, Renate, Rana, Roudhan, Remy, Robert, Rima, Risto, Ruriko, Ranko, Rebecca,
Abigail, Andjelija, Aleksandar, Alexej, Ana-Maria, Andrej, Anton, Adrian, Angelo, Adrienne,
Danilo, Daniel, Donald, Despina, Dragana, Devin, Dimitrije, David, Dimitrios, Danijela, Digal,
Emre, Elena, Elliott, Erin, Esther, Eli, Elisah, Eszter, Erica, Elisia, Elise, Eligio
151

When asked to write some lines about my experience at ISB during my 3 years as a Board of Trustees Vicechair and then Chairperson, I was once again reminded of how much this special place means to my family
and me.
Thinking of how to summarize all the emotions and thoughts about ISB, I can narrow them down to three
points, each deeply connected to one another. They are: the power of persistent goodwill and engagement,
the driving force of change, and the privilege of giving back.
My first visit to ISB dates back to March 18th, 2000, when my wife Elena and I entered for the first time what
was then a single campus to pick up an enrolment form our children. At that time there were altogether only
33 students. The school radiated a warm atmosphere, a huge level of dedication, and a desperate desire for
better times and change.
It was the dedication, the silent daily work of teachers and staff who refused to give up even in the most
difficult times that made it possible for us to find not only a school but the very school we were looking for.
The values of commitment and love for education were there and provided the foundation for the coming
success of ISB, giving the whole environment a unique atmosphere and special significance.
Then the years of change came at a huge speed. A new interim director, and then Jerry Craig as our new
director, followed by a second and then a third campus and principals the Lower School and then also for
the High School, and finally another new director, Dr. Eric Sands. ISB started to be rethought inside out and
upside down, which brought new ideas, many challenges, and some surprises. If I were to choose one single
word to describe this it would be energy!
As my son Tiziano pointed out while we were sharing our memories, ISB was really reflecting the pace of
change that was under way in Serbia, our host country that has always provided ISB with unique support
and true respect.
The Board of Trustees tried to help this much-needed change at ISB even when things got tough, and we were
quite generously provided with occasions to experiment our challenges management skills!
Nevertheless, there has always been a huge resource and this was the honest, persistent (I want to repeat this)
goodwill and dedicated engagement of all those who believed in ISB. For as many difficult moments we could
be faced with, there was always respect and joint understanding of all stakeholders and this, I truly believe,
made it possible to make ISB the school it is now.
We saw and were actively part of change in the schools reality, in our community learning and teaching
experience, in our surroundings, and in our students lives.
I could mention so many success stories and Eric, Marilyn, Thatcher, Marcel, the Marks, my fellow Board
colleagues, Zhana in the schools business office, could add theirs.
Two such stories that are to me are the best indicators of the meaning of all my words are the new middle
school campus and our first local teachers who moved overseas to work in another prestigious international
school.
The middle school campus is the result of a vision for the future that proves the commitment of ISB to its real
values. However, seeing the first two Serbian ISB teachers, Ivan and Tamara Atanaskovi, be selected by a
prestigious school and move on to Southeast Asia was possibly the biggest indicator of how far ISB had gone
in just a few years.
152

It was an actual sign that we all were ready to give back. We gave back to our constituency, we gave back to
Serbia, we gave back to our kids, and we gave back to our communities by shaping new citizens who were
exposed to the values we believe in throughout their daily experience at ISB.
I personally feel deeply honoured to have had the opportunity to give back my small part in serving what I
will forever see as an incredible community of friends, professionals, and young adults that made my kids
and me better persons and better citizens.
Roberto Toncig
ISB Board of Trustees Vice-Chair/Chair 2005-2007/ 2007-2008
Serbia endured several difficult years in the 1990s and early 2000s, and this unstable environment inevitably
also placed limitations on the school. However, with the gradual amelioration of the situation, new
opportunities arose for the school to reach out and up.
Prior to my joining the Board of Trustees in 2008, the previous Board, under the stewardship of Mr. Roberto
Toncig, had already taken two crucial steps to put ISB on a more firm foundation. The first of these was the
development of a 5-year Strategic Plan (2008-13), which set out for the first time the long-term measures
required to build a sustainable financial foundation, attract top quality teachers and administrators, upgrade
the curriculum to world standard levels (PYP, MYP, IB), and develop top-class facilities. The second step was
equally crucial the recruitment of a school director with the skills and energy to drive the school forward on
this path. We had found the right man for the job in Dr. Eric Sands, who led his team of principals, teachers,
and support staff to build the ISB we see today. Of course, none of this would have been possible without
the whole-hearted support of the entire school community (not least the parents practical investment in the
form of school fees!). Those of us who were there will know that this phase of regeneration and development
was neither guaranteed nor easy.
As a non-profit institution, ISB is a genuine community of parents, director, principals, teachers, students, and
support staff. Every effort, cent, and dinar invested in ISB is reflected in the quality of teaching and facilities
benefitting the most important people in the school community: the students. While the new Middle School
and High School represent the most visible outcome of recent efforts, the introduction of a scholarship
program reaching out to our Serbian host society represents an equally impressive expression of community
ethos. On a more personal level, I can also affirm that the integrity, professionalism, and commitment of
the Serbian and international colleagues with whom I served on the ISB Board were simply outstanding.
Working with them was enriching and enjoyable!
So, though no doubt there are still plenty of things to work on at ISB, I think it is also worth stepping
back every now and then to reflect on where we have come from and acknowledge our achievements (and
learn from the missteps to help us plan ahead!). I hope this will engender pride in our progress so far, and
confidence in the future.
153

In conclusion, a heartfelt Well done! to all those who have participated in the ISBs development to date, to
my successor Chris Gilbertson, and all those now taking the school forward into the future, an equally hearty
Keep up the good work! Long live ISB!!
Marcel Grogan
ISB parent 1998-2002 and 2007-2011
ISB Board of Trustees member 2008-2011
I first came to ISB at the age of six in 1995. It was my first day of school and I did not speak a word of English.
I remember being nervous and scared that day. However, all of that passed when I saw how accepting,
friendly, and kind everyone was to me. I would say that what I remember most from that day was being
accepted immediately. I find acceptance to be one of the best qualities ISB has to offer. I began taking English
as a Second Language classes and within two months I was speaking English fluently. Of course, I was at first
overjoyed that I did not have to take ESL anymore, but I soon realized that this meant I would no longer have
classes with the ESL teacher and some of the other students and this upset me greatly. Furthermore, even
though the Nineties were a very traumatic and difficult time for Serbia, ISB managed to create a safe haven
for us. In 1997 my father was transferred to London. The schools I attended in London contrasted sharply
with my experience at ISB. They were bigger, less personal, and I came home one day and told my mother
that I no longer wanted to go to school now that I knew how schools in London function.
In 2000 my father was transferred back to Belgrade and to me it felt like I was coming home. After all these
years, I had not been forgotten and this made me feel very welcome. ISB at the time was a very small school
but still offered us everything it could. We were able to participate in many different CEESA activities from
the Knowledge Bowl to basketball, volleyball and, later on, HOSIC. These trips we kids took together are
some of my fondest memories of my time at ISB. New friendships were made, new cities explored, and of
course, we just had a great time together. Being as teenagers are, I can imagine that it was not always easy for
our teachers and chaperones. Of all the trips, the one that still sticks out the most in my mind was our stay in
Moscow. We stayed at one of the most run-down hotels I have ever stayed in, but we had a blast. We stayed
up all night talking and laughing, even though we received countless warnings that it was time to go to bed.
Despite this, we had a great time in Moscow we also all learned a valuable lesson how lucky we all were to
be able to lead the kind of life we did. ISB became a second family to me. I knew I could live with my joys as
well as with my problems.
Over the next six years I was at ISB, the school underwent many changes. It grew in number as well as in size.
A new high school campus was added on and later on a middle school campus. My class was also the first to
graduate with an IB diploma in 2007. Even though the school was going through many changes and growing
at such a rapid pace, it never lost its personal touch. ISB was a unique experience and gave me the confidence
and tools to succeed in college and later in life. Growing up interacting with so many different people and
cultures changed me and made me a better person. In retrospect, it also gave me many advantages. I am
154

currently studying medicine and many of the traits and qualities I need in order to do so, I learned at ISB. I
will always treasure the years I spent at ISB because they not only gave me the basis for the outlook on life I
have now, but also contributed greatly to the person I am today. For this I will always remain grateful to the
school, the teachers I had, and of course the friendships I made.
Stefania Spinellis
ISB student 1995-1997 and 2000-2007
155
Storage Rooms
I am a storage room
Full of memories,
Holding thousands and thousands
Of events and happenings,
Good or bad
Within my family
Yet I cry for more,
And souvenirs come streaming through my door.
Sonja Ili
2005
156

When I received an e-mail from Mrs. Bojana, ISBs secretary/coordinator who did everything for us and
who was greatly underappreciated, regarding the Alumni Wine and Cheese at the end of 2011, I was simply
ecstatic. For a while I had been longing to see my old school where, unlike most students, my entire life took
place. I had entered the world of education and social initiation back in grade 1 when I was enrolled in the
school. I remember having ESL classes with Mrs. Jefti, the woman who would on my graduation day present
with me a small token, a silver pendant that had the ISB logo on it, that would always remind me of how
important my school was to me. Not that I needed any reminding.
All of my firsts happened at school: my first crush, my first teenage rebellion, my first encounter with French,
which would later become my favorite language (thanks to Mrs. Andjelkovi), my first A++ (in fifth grade,
and a thank you to Mrs. Perii), my first B (that was complete failure for me at the time), and eventually, five
years later, my first D, closely followed by my first F. Not that grades were the highlight of my schooling, of
course. The highlight of my education was the school itself, its people, its events, and finally, its spirit. Despite
the best efforts of people such as Mrs. Perii, Mrs. And Mrs. Van Drunen, Mr. and Mrs. Slough, Mr. and Mrs.
Wilson, Vlada, and students Laetitia Drap-Frisch, Suzanne Glemot, Lisa Begusch, Sanna Sartori, and many,
many others who tried to create official school spirit in the form of Spirit Week or class competitions, school
spirit was always a weak point in our school. We raised money, cleaned Senjak, wore pajamas to school, and
were involved in many other exploits, some of which made sense, while others not so much. And yet despite
the obvious lack of enthusiasm of the entire school for such artificial events, we were indeed a rather large
family of musketeers, and ISB was always a place where you could find help, acquire wisdom, make lasting
friendships, and many other things. We were actually a family, a lively bunch of students where everything
was possible, and our outlook on life was in general very positive with a proactive attitude
Thinking about this, I entered ISBs grounds with my husband some years after I had left it, not knowing
what to expect. Would the changes that were made going to affect the way I experienced ISB after all these
years? Was I going to go back home feeling disappointed, or worse, completely unaffected? I was afraid
that my times at ISB were slipping away from me, that I was losing a part of myself that I cherished more
than any other. Thankfully, it was not to be. Indeed, the building had changed, the classrooms and facilities
looked more like AIS Moscow that wed visited during my high school years, but the memories stayed with
me. As I walked along the path leading to the entrance, I remembered sixth grade I remembered carrying
jars of icky-looking, gooey worms, bugs, and brains of various animals (I wonder where those are now) for
my science professor, Mr. Clark. I remembered how wed helped our teachers move all things from their
offices and classrooms to the new and exciting campus at Banjikih rtava 9. The school had changed. I had
changed. But what it was before, and the various stages it had passed through while becoming a full-grown
international school, would always be with me. In my fourth grade class we had six students in all. In my last
year of high school I graduated along with 28 other people. Indeed the school had achieved much in the past
ten years. As much as I resent the change that has been going on without me there to experience it, I have to
admire it for its courage and determination. Those two qualities are ones that I dont innately have, but that
my school had given to me over the past years. I remember being embarrassed in grade 5 to give speeches for
STUCO (Tanja Strugar would always do them instead of me). But I also remember grade 10 and Shakespeare
in the Park (my class will always be very proud of that event) where I unabashedly entered the makeshift
stage on the high school campus, my hair dripping wet, singing Mary Had a Little Lamb, rocking back and
forth, in my own interpretation of Shakespeares Ophelia. And it is those times that really matter. What stays
with me to help me through life, what pushes me forward to be the best person I possibly can. I am going to
be forever grateful to my mother who enrolled me, because she changed my life that way.
On this note, I left the alumni party thinking how grateful I should be for having all these memories, now
very assured that I had not lost them. I will use them to get ahead in the world, just like Mr. Calzini once
told me to, when writing my recommendation for admissions to a US college. I never left to study in the US
157

despite having been accepted, but his help and his words have guided me at home, just as they would have
overseas. All my love and appreciation goes to every single person I met at ISB none of which are forgotten,
and that I see now as I write these pages. For that, I owe a big Thank you to Mrs. Pat Andjelkovi, who
introduced me to French in grade 3 for being the one who sparked my memories.
Sonja Ili
158
A LOOK
TOWARD THE FUTURE
Dear ISB Parents and Colleagues,

On behalf of the International School of Belgrades Board of Trustees, we
are pleased to present you with our new 5 Year Strategic Plan (2011
2016), which reflects many months of reflecting and discussing on where
we are and where we want to be. Through a comprehensive and inclusive
process, we have embraced a new Mission and Vision and targeted seven
major strategies. We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone
involved for giving their time and effort in shaping this essential step
forward for our community. We also want to take a moment to reflect on
how far we have come and how much we have accomplished together to
lay an excellent foundation.
In this Plan you will see evidence of our commitment to building and
securing the long-term future of the International School of Belgrade as
the premier IB school in Central and Eastern Europe. A carefully-planned
and implemented curriculum, an outstanding teaching staff, a supportive
and responsible community, inspiring leadership, world-class facilities,
and prudent financial stewardship will help us realize our aspirations for
21st-century learning at the International School of Belgrade.
Dr. Eric Sands, Director
Mr. Chris Gilbertson, Board of Trustees Chair
161
THE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF BELGRADE

STRATEGIC PLAN
December 2011 - December 2016
FINANCE
-To further develop and sustain financial strength to realize the ISB Mission, the Plan
Ensures that the financial plan supports the strategic plan to allow for the
prioritization and allocation of future spending;
Increases operational reserves to 25% of the operational budget;
Keeps operating costs in balance with all revenue sources;
Ensures our school fees remain competitive with regional benchmark data, and
provides price/value synergy;
Identifies and prioritizes alternative income streams and maximize the
opportunities that these provide.
LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
-To create safe, environmentally responsible, healthy, physical and virtual
spaces in order to inspire all learners, the Plan:
Ensures that ISB has appropriate facilities and resources to meet the demands
of the Mission through the creation of a master plan;
Develops and implements sustainability and environmental policies and practices
Further develops the use of innovative technologies to improve teaching and
Learning;
Continues the improvement of functional school facilities.
GOVERNANCE
-To have effective, transparent, accountable, and representative governance at all levels throughout the school,
the Plan:
Builds a culture of strategic thinking that ensures the implementation of the
strategic plan;
Explores options for more representational governance;
Institutionalizes best governance practices in line with international school
standards to achieve the ISB Mission;
Investigates and implements effective communication practices;
Encourages strong candidates for the Board who will adhere to the Mission and
demonstrates strategic leadership;
Develops dashboard indicators to address the issue of transparency.
162
MARKETING AND ADVANCEMENT

-To be the school of choice, the Plan:
Creates the business rationale and job description
for a marketing, advancement and communications
appointment within the schools organization;
Devises and implements a strategic branding, marketing
and advancement plan;
Raises the profile of ISB on a local and international level
by sharing our expertise, talents and skills;
Develops local and global relationships that enhances
our school programs and reputation.
CURRICULUM
-To ensure that the written, taught and assessed curriculum is systematically and collaboratively implemented
and reviewed throughout the school, the Plan:
Aligns the IB instructional program through a regular review cycle;
Ensures the continuity of the instructional program by following the IB standards
and practices;
Provides opportunities for ISB to contribute and connect with their community;
Develops purposeful opportunities for engagement in action and service.
STUDENTS
-To provide opportunities for students to demonstrate a desire for learning and commitment to the Learner
Profile attributes, the Plan:
Creates a learning environment that empowers students to follow their passion
and commitment to learning while developing their ability to think critically;
Collaboratively develops clear expectations to ensure student success (in
partnership with students);
Provides opportunities for students to positively interact with one another and
contribute to the dynamic school climate;
Refines and adapt admission procedures to attract and admit students capable of
achieving success within the framework of the IB Learner Profile.
163

STAFF
-To attract, employ, develop, and retain outstanding staff from diverse cultural backgrounds who embrace our
mission, vision, values and pedagogy the Plan:
Ensures that recruiting practices seek culturally diverse teachers who are IB
trained and internationally experienced;
Ensures the development of all staff through the provision of career and
professional development opportunities;
Promotes our competitive employment package and the benefits of living in
Belgrade and Serbia;
Continues to address the disparity of salary and benefits across all staff.
164
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The International School of Belgrade would like to give special thanks to its teaching and administrative staff,
past and present, who have served the school for over ten years. Apologies for any unintentional oversights.
Andjelkovi, Patricia
Balo, Ljiljana
Bogdanovi, Krstinja
Brai, Gillian
Brai, Ivana
Goslee-Jovovi, Anne
Janiijevi, Ljudmila
Jefti, Draginja
Joci, Milica
Jovani, llinka
Kenig, Branka
Kodas, Dr. Nikola
Macgregor-Kovaevi, Sheila
Marinkovi, Jean
Medenica, Janice
Mileti, Margaret
Mili, Elizabeth
Miloevi, Olja
Obradovi, Gordana
Obradovi, Ivan
Obradovi-Perii, Jasmina
Pakvor, Judy
Petrovi, Gordana
alji, Igor
Srekovi, Branka
Zarubica, Goran
Zarubica, Gordana
Zeevi, Dragana
Thanks is also expressed to all other members, past and present, of our schools administrative, teaching,
clerical, and custodial staff, all of whom have contributed to making our school what it is today.
165
Dr. Eric Sands with some of the International School of Belgrades long-term staff.
Left to Right: Igor alji, Krstinja Bogdanovi, Patricia Andjelkovi, Sheila Macgregor-Kovaevi, Dr. Eric Sands,
Goran Zarubica, Gordana Zarubica, Draginja Jefti, Anne Goslee-Jovovi, Ilinka Jovani, Branka Srekovi
166
Faculty and staff of the International School of Belgrade, 2010-2011
167

Coming Far From Many Nations

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COMING FAR

FROM MANY NATIONS

THE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF BELGRADE

International School of Belgrade

ISB MISSION STATEMENT

ISB VISION STATEMENT

Coming far from many nations

ISB always strives to ensure safe, supportive, and healthy environments

ISB provides a broad, balanced, high-quality educational program, which

No program or service is introduced unless it is consistent with the strategic

No program or service is retained unless it continues to make an optimal

ISB does not tolerate behavior that demeans or is disrespectful of an

Family involvement in the life of the school is encouraged.

Collaboration and team building across the school is promoted.

The International School of Belgrade

Coming far from many nations

(to the tune of Far Above Cayugas Waters)

The International School of Belgrade

Sincerely yours in education,

Dr. Eric W. Sands, Director

Coming far from many nations

Patricia A. Andjelkovi, Editor

The International School of Belgrade

The International School of Belgrade

ounded in 1948 by Lady Peake, wife of the

In February 2011, ISB broke ground for a new Middle

Coming far from many nations

Lady Catherine Marie Peake,

Coming far from many nations

-UNICEF and WHO are formed.

First Teacher: Mrs. Gordana Obradovi

-Charles Shultz creates Peanuts.

Foreign Colony School becomes the International

-Queen Elizabeth II succeeds George VI.

-J.R.R. Tolkien publishes The Lord of the Rings.

ISB has grades K-7, an American School Board, and

-Jonas Salk develops first safe and effective polio vaccine.

-Jim Henson creates Kermit the Frog.

ISB moves to Temivarska 19 in Senjak.

-First man-made satellite, Sputnik I

Principal: Mrs. Wilmajean Williams

-Common Market formed.

ISB joins International Schools Association.

-Jane Goodall begins her study of chimpanzees in

The International School of Belgrade

-First manned space flight by Yuri Gagarin, former

Principal: Mr. Kelly

-Beatles earn international fame.

Second floor of Main Villa is converted into

-Major earthquake occurs in Skopje, Macedonia.

Principal: Mr. George F. Zimmerman

-Studies link cigarettes with cancer and other diseases.

Business Manager: Dr. Nikola Kodas

-Civil Rights Act signed in US.

Pittsford Alliance is formed.

-Mini-skirts come into fashion.

ISB becomes associated with the European Council

-Soviet probe Luna 9 is the first artificial satellite to

Principal: Mr.Willard Kobuskie

-The United States, the United Kingdom, and the

Coming far from many nations

-Smallpox epidemic breaks out in Yugoslavia.

Principal: Mr. George F. Zimmerman