Leopard's Tale |
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Leopard's Tale |
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COVID Update #13 Too Tight too Loose? Messages are coming in with both extremes of, we are too tight with our COVID regulations or we are too loose. Our COVID-related decisions are driven by our mission that “Every Student Thrives.” In practice that means we want to keep school open to facilitate student learning and also create an environment that does not spread the virus. This is made relatively easy when our community is largely COVID free but becomes more difficult when cases rise as each situation is unique, requiring context-specific decisions made under extreme time pressure. While hindsight may illuminate a few miscalculations, the decisions were made with the best of intentions in line with our mission and informed by Zambian Government and CDC guidelines. Here is our latest update. As we near the end of the school year, we are seeing spikes in COVID positive cases within the community, owing mainly to non-school sponsored social events. However, compared to this time last year, when Zambia was on the verge of another wave and most were not vaccinated, positive cases have mainly been mild, as many of our community are now double vaccinated. That is great news for those individuals, but vaccinated individuals can still spread the virus, putting older family members with comorbidities at risk or disrupt travel plans as many of us look forward to visiting friends and family in the next few weeks and need a negative test to depart. We do not want school to contribute to those challenges. Therefore, we continue to emphasize wearing masks indoors at all times, keeping a social distance, and sanitizing regularly. If your child has any symptoms, have them stay at home and follow our revised guidelines. Masks outdoors remain optional. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the community for your vigilance this year in following all our guidelines around this ever-changing situation. Community vigilance, vaccinations and the better understanding of the virus gave us the confidence to eliminate restrictions of parents coming to campus, loosen post-travel quarantine restrictions and host in-person events. We stopped sending whole classes home after learning of a single positive case within the grade. We sent our students to three ISSEA events even when the budget, approved in a pre-vaccine era, did not include these costs. School hosted several athletic tournaments and the Model UN. Friday Market has come back and the PTA Boot Sale is this Saturday. Next year, we plan to expand Friday Market, resume Explore Zambia trips and work with the PTA to organize an even bigger, spookier Trunk or Treat, for example. We are intent in reestablishing that spirit of community that existed pre-COVID but we are not naïve to think there will be an end to COVID. We do not know how this virus will evolve but are confident we can navigate this path. Thank you again for the support. Graduation The graduation was a wonderful event on Saturday afternoon and our graduates have now left with fond memories of their time at AISL. Here are some snapshots of the event. Yearbook The Yearbook has arrived and it is a wonderful collection of memories from this school year. A huge thank you to Janke, who almost single handedly put this book together and to our sponsors New Horizon. Next year we aim to have this as a student-led co-curricular activity as there is much valuable life worthy learning in developing a Yearbook. They will be distributed on Monday 13 June and students will have a chance to get autographs from their friends and teachers. MAP Growth Assessments Our G3-G12 students have just completed their MAP Growth Assessments for the Spring 2021/22. These assessments provide teachers with valuable data that they can use to differentiate instruction for your child. As shared in the NWEA Parent’s Guide to MAP Growth, “Children learn better—and faster—when teachers have a clear picture of what each student knows and is ready to learn next. That’s why a group of educators and researchers founded NWEA®, a not-for-profit organization that has created some of the most trusted and reliable assessment solutions available. More than 9 million students in the US and in 140 countries worldwide use MAP® GrowthTM. Overall, we had another successful round of assessments as a whole school with our students performing at or above US norms in all grade-levels in the areas of math, reading and language usage. The EGM and End of Year Summary Congratulations to David Burrows, Aki Georgiou, and David Howlett for being elected (or re-elected) to the AISL Board of Directors at the Election General Meeting last week. We had seven highly-qualified candidates stand for our three vacancies, so it was always going to be difficult to decide. A big thank you to the 78 voting attendees for being a part of this important decision, especially as the Board works on the next level of AISL Strategy Thinking. End of Year Summary Slide Deck Leaving Teachers 2022 Teaching Couples Tony and Claire Potts will be heading to Mozambique after eight years at AISL. Tony will be continuing in a leadership role that will encompass admissions, strategic planning and tech innovation and Claire will be teaching Kindergarten. We wish Tony, Claire, Abi and Josh the very best at their new school, the American International School of Mozambique. Kate and Marin Dobson will be leaving AISL in June after four years to return to the USA. They will both be teaching at a school as a Learning Support Teacher and Physics Teacher, respectively. We wish Kate, Marin, Finn and August the very best as they begin their new adventures in Hawaii. Bridget McCall and Nathan Chilton will be heading back to New Zealand after four years at AISL. The grandparents can’t wait to spend more time with their new grandson, Casey. Nathan will be working as a Year 7 teacher while Bridget settles the family in their new home. Primary Elisa Ingles Velasco will be leaving AISL in June after six years to begin a position as a Secondary Spanish teacher/EAL teacher. We wish Elisa, Albert and Uma the very best as they start their new life in Myanmar. Sandra Hamatuli, who joined us last October part-time in the ELC due to an expansion in enrollment, will be finishing her contract in June. We are fortunate to have her continue on our AISL team as a learning assistant until November as she covers a maternity leave in the lower primary. Secondary Wayne Thompson In a blow to both AISL and the teaching professional generally, our PHE of long standing, Wayne Thompson is retiring this year. We wish Wayne the best of luck in his new adventures. Clare Cullen I&S teacher and all-round great person, Clare is leaving both AISL and, at least for the time being, Africa as she heads to the UK to further her studies. We wish her the best of luck. Naomi Chevannes After a stellar few years at AISL, Ms. Naomi Chevannes is taking her talents to Hong Kong. Naomi brought vigor and fresh faced enthusiasm to the Design role and she will be dearly missed. Vanessa Tolino Long time AISL drama teacher Vanessa Tolino is leaving us to take her formidable skills to Japan. Highlights of Vanessa's tenure at AISL include this year's Squirrel Girl Goes to College and her re-imagining of Flash Gordon. Her contributions are appreciated and she will be missed. Monica Carilles Monica Carilles is leaving us and returning back home to Mexico. Monica is a wonderful teacher and has been a general force of positivity in the Secondary School. She will be missed by all. Looking forward to the All Bands Concert this evening at 5.30pm in the Theater. Next Friday is the last Friday Market of the school year. Hope to see you there! It has been good fun on campus this week, as we dressed for Spirit week! With kind regards, Dr. Oli Tooher-Hancock Director Comments are closed.
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The Leopard's Tale is our main medium to keep our families informed on such things as the day to day happenings on campus, after school activities, summaries of any arts and sports events, helpful resources, and important dates and reminders.
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