Week of 27 October

Good Evening,

Greetings from Kathmandu, Nepal. I have been away the past few days attending the NESA Leadership Conference with the rest of our administrative team. We are traveling tonight so this will be brief as I do not have much time before my internet runs out!

We are aware of the possible change in the upcoming Islamic Holiday. Once we have more confirmed information I will follow up with you about our plan regarding the MS play. 

 

Reminders:

Family Connection Chats:
Thanks to all of those who were able to attend our first Family Connection Chat on balancing screen time and using laptops. We had a good conversation and Mr. Berg shared with us some helpful/useful ideas on how to help our young adults manage their screen time.

We will REPEAT the presentation on Oct 29 @ 8:15 in the MPR for those of you who were unable to attend. We realize it was a busy time right before the break and those who were present encouraged us to repeat the presentation since it is such an important topic for all of us.

Our next chat will be on Nov 18 @ 8:15 in the MPR. Topic:  Decision Making with Social Networking and the Teenage Brain

Our Learning Progress Conferences will be coming up Nov 13-14. Conferences will be held in the gym. Upon my return to school I will send out more detailed information. 

Looking forward to seeing the students again tomorrow. 

 

Week of 20 October

Good Evening,

Welcome Back.....I hope everyone had an enjoyable break spent with family and friends. It was certainly a quick week but all the students seemed happy to be back. That is a good sign I suppose!

Family Connection Chats:
Thanks to all of those who were able to attend our first Family Connection Chat on balancing screen time and using laptops. We had a good conversation and Mr. Berg shared with us some helpful/useful ideas on how to help our young adults manage their screen time.

We will REPEAT the presentation on Oct 29 @ 8:15 in the MPR for those of you who were unable to attend. We realize it was a busy time right before the break and those who were present encouraged us to repeat the presentation since it is such an important topic for all of us.

Our next chat will be on Nov 18 @ 8:15 in the MPR. Topic:  Decision Making with Social Networking and the Teenage Brain

Handbook Highlight:
Approximately every 3 weeks ACS teachers update Power School. The update dates are guidelines to help keep everyone informed as it is really not necessary for students to check Power School every day. Please be aware:

• if an assignment/project is turned on the day of the update then that assignment may or may not be reflected on that update
• if a student turns in an assignment late, the assignment may not be reflected in Power School until the next update

Request Your Support:

One of the traits outlined in our Student Profile is guiding the students towards becoming good communicators. With this in mind, please help us by encouraging your son/daughter to write polite, respectful emails when writing to their teachers and encourage them to ask all of their questions in one email rather than sending multiple emails in one day. Of course, we encourage face to face communication as it helps develop student verbal communication skills. 

Update:
Model UN After School Activity Starts Next Week

The MUN ASA will begin on Monday, October 28th, and will continue for seven weeks, concluding December 8th. This activity is primarily geared for students new to Model UN and will teach several of the key skills necessary for a successful MUN debate. Experienced MUN delegates may also sign up and act as assistants. The activity will culminate in a debate.

Please email Ms Martin (lmartin@acsamman.edy.jo) for more information or to reserve your spot.

As many of you are aware, Ms. Rihani will be on an extended medical leave. We wish her well as she attends to personal matters. In the interim, for continuity purposes, there will be another teacher taking her place for the duration of her absence.

Mark your calendars now....Learning Progress Conferences (formerly known as Parent/Teacher Conferences) will take place Nov 13-14. As we get closer to the date more details about the conferences will be published. This is a great opportunity for student, parent and teacher to take some time to reflect on the learning progress that students are demonstrating as we progress through the school year.

Week of 6 October

Good Evening,

Welcome to the evening chills---I guess this means we are officially into Fall!

Updates:

• We have added the Student/Parent/Teacher Profile links above. Please take a few minutes to review the Parent Profile. We believe documents such as these help us all work together within our community.
•  Special reminder--we will have a Parent Information Session(Family Connection Chat) from our Technology Integrator on Wednesday at 8:15 to share in a dialogue about how to balance laptops and screen time with students. Please join us.
• Please remind your son/daughter to use their lock their lockers during the day. This helps ensure the security of their personal items and ensure items do not get damaged. 

Welcome:

• As you may know, Wafa Khoury retired from ACS after many years of service. In addition, some of you are also aware we recently opened another section of Digital Media in the middle school.Therefore, we would like to welcome Samya Bouari to our staff as our new AFL teacher and Saba Kawas as our new Digital Media teacher. Both Samya and Saba bring a wealth of experience to us and are familiar faces to our ACS community. We look forward to working with them and are glad they have joined us.

Handbook Highlight:
Pg 25 in the Handbook outlines possible ways to communicate. As a general note, if you send your son/daughter's teacher an email, please allow a minimum of 24 hr response time. Our teachers are expected to spend the majority of their day working directly with students and colleagues. With this in mind, teachers may or may not be at their computers to see emails throughout the day.

We hope to work with as many parents as possible thru our team meeting times, parent/teacher conferences, and/or emails.

"...Communication with and within the school is important for you and your son/daughter. We want to keep you informed of your child’s progress and what is going on at the school and we believe in open communication. When a student, or parent, has a concern the best communication path is as follows:  
Student communication with teacher 
Student communication with counselor
Student communication with administration
Parent communication with teacher
Parent communication with counselor 
Parent communication with team of teachers
Parent communication with administration

We believe it is important for students to play an active role in the communication process in order for them to gain authentic experiences in how to communicate effectively.

Teachers are always willing to discuss your son/daughter’s progress with you. Honest, open communication will enhance your son/daughter’s learning experience. If you need help to facilitate a meeting with your son/daughter’s teacher, please contact the MS office."