From the Secondary Principal

Dear parents,

I hope you and your family had a relaxing long weekend. I imagine that I will see many of you this coming Friday during the Semester Honor Roll Awards Ceremony. This event recognizes those students who have high levels of academic achievement as measured by grades and their Grade Point Average (GPA). Strong grades are an important indicator of current and potential academic success, and we look forward to congratulating a large group of students this Friday.

However, grades are not the only indicator of success. We are excited to have begun a new recognition program that considers several other important characteristics. We have just instituted monthly Middle School and High School assemblies during which students will be recognized with our new Cougar Award. Each month teachers will nominate a few students who show growth or excel in the areas of compassion, cooperation, commitment to learning, creativity, and cultivating relationships. While more difficult to measure, these qualities are critical for success in the school setting, during university life, and in the social and work environment. The Cougar Award is our latest effort at building and sustaining a healthy and productive school culture and climate.

The new monthly assemblies will serve other purposes as well. These meetings will provide an opportunity to come together as a community, to share important information and events, and showcase student projects and initiatives. They will also provide additional opportunities to develop leadership, public speaking, and presentation skills. Monthly assemblies are another effort to improve the learning experience, and we look forward to seeing our students continue to grow individually and as a community as a result.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

From the Secondary Principal

Dear parents, With only a few weeks to go in the school year, students are busily preparing for end-of-year presentations of learning. Although it will look different in each class, these presentations and projects are an important way for students to pull together their learning in a meaningful way. Presentations of learning, project completion, and some exams will occur during the last days of school, including Monday, June 3 and Tuesday, June 4. Please be sure that your child is at school and ready to learn every day until our last day of the year, Wednesday, June 5. This time of year is always busy, with performances and activities celebrating the end of a productive year. Unfortunately, due to some logistical complications, HS Prom, originally scheduled for this Friday, has been canceled. Our student leaders hope to improve and bring this event back next year. However, we are excited to be sending off our seniors during our Senior Farewell event next Wednesday, and are busy planni...
Read more

From the Secondary Principal

Dear Parents, This is a busy and stressful time for many of us. Middle School students are finishing up MAP testing, and many High School students will take AP exams over the next two weeks. To help students do well on these important assessments, be sure that they get plenty of rest and eat healthy meals. Our students have worked hard to get to this point and we want them to feel prepared and able to do their absolute best! As we near the end of the year, students are starting to pull together their learning for final projects and presentations. Please help them be successful by ensuring that they arrive at school on time every day. Students should arrive at school no later than 8:10 to be in class on time. All teachers will be providing critical learning opportunities right up until the last full day of school (Tuesday, June 4), and being absent or late to class makes it difficult for them to make good use of their time.  Be sure to mark your calendars for two student performance...
Read more

Augeri Welcome Message

Dear ACS Community, My name is Steve Augeri, and I am pleased to be joining the community as the interim Secondary School Principal for the remainder of this academic year. Just a bit about me:  My wife, Tiffany, and I are originally from Connecticut and have been international educators for the last 19 years.  We both cut our teeth as secondary social studies teachers for several years in Connecticut and Virginia before making the momentous decision to join the international teaching ranks way back in 2004.  In that year, we took up teaching posts at the American International School in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and life, as they say, has never been quite the same.  Following 4 years in Dhaka, we accepted teaching positions at Dubai American Academy, where I also served as the head of the social studies team. In 2009, I made the transition out of the classroom and into school leadership at the American International School of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where I served as the Dir...
Read more