From the Director

Looking back on the whole year…
When we started this school year in August, who could have guessed what an unprecedented ending it would have?  The global pandemic has challenged us all to reconsider many aspects of how we live and to adjust how we interact with each other. It certainly led us to re-think our approach to schooling. In August, nobody would have imagined that we would spend the last twelve weeks of the year engaged in distance learning. Although we are all hyper-focused on it right now, let’s not allow COVID-19 to define the entire school year.
 
I am proud to say that, whether in person or through the distance learning program, we have never wavered in our commitment to teaching the whole child. Beyond an unparalleled academic program, we have continued to strive to support our diverse students in social, emotional, and physical health along with artistic expression, service to the community, and a commitment to leadership. Despite the global pandemic, the 2019-20 school year was another exciting one for AISL’s students.
 
We continued to develop our band and choir, produced two school plays, multiple coffee houses, various music and drama nights, and multiple arts exhibitions (including the first virtual DP Visual Arts Exhibition). We hosted a brilliant ISSEA Band and Choir Festival. Our After-School Activity (ASA) program offered more than sixty individual activities in each season.  We fielded dozens of teams that participated in scores of fixtures and tournaments. Along the way, our students won ten LISL championships, 23 ISAZ Midlands Championships, and six ISAZ National Championships!  Our students traveled on numerous international trips, Explore Zambia trips, and sports trips. They participated in more than two dozen individual student-led service projects. We had an exciting school-wide Zambia Day and our largest ever PTA Trunk or Treat. And there is so much more!
 
Most importantly, we accomplished all this while never losing focus on our day to day commitment to a world-class academic program! Our students worked hard across the entire International Baccalaureate program. Their efforts culminated in impressive displays of learning, including the Extended Essay presentations, MYP Personal Project Expo, and the virtual Grade 5 PYP Exhibition. Our MAP testing showed our students making great progress across all grade levels and subject areas. The majority of students in the Class of 2020 were accepted into their first-choice university and many earned significant amounts of financial aid. In short, we managed to have a great school year despite the significant challenges presented by COVID-19.
 
I am honored to serve as the eighth Director of AISL. This is a very special school blessed with an involved and supportive community, wonderful students, world-class educators, and superb facilities. Despite the unusual ending, I sincerely hope that you have enjoyed your time at AISL this year. If you are leaving us, I wish you the very best of luck. If you are staying, I look forward to working with you again next year. Either way, always remember that once you are a Leopard, you are always a Leopard!
 
Have a great vacation!
 
URGENT: Please let us know your plans
As I mentioned above, the COVID-19 situation is forcing us to plan for August in a situation with very little reliable information. Planning staff and student schedules under these circumstances is extremely difficult. If you haven’t done so already, please reach out to Natasha in Admissions (admissions@aislusaka.org) to let us know your family’s plans for August. Will you be in Lusaka? Will you be overseas? If you are overseas, when might you return? Are you planning to re-enroll your child(ren) at AISL? Even if you are not 100% sure, please let us know. The sooner we have this information, the better we will be able to serve everyone.
 
Please share your feedback on Distance Learning 2.0
As you know, the team here at AISL is deeply committed to continuously improving our programs. Having transitioned very quickly to our distance learning program, we worked hard to gather feedback and adjust along the way. Your feedback was very helpful to that process.
 
Although we are hoping to return to face-to-face learning in August, we humbly request another round of feedback so that we can make further refinements to our distance learning program – for whenever we need to use it again.  I would be grateful if you could share your reflections by clicking here. Your feedback will be very useful to us.
 
Check out our Virtual Awards Ceremonies
 It’s not too late to enjoy our virtual awards ceremonies.  Events such as Graduation, the Academic and Sports Awards Ceremonies, and the Grade 5 Transition Ceremony are important rites of passage for our scholars. Although we could not hold this year’s ceremonies in person, our team has worked very hard to create virtual versions of these annual traditions. Please visit our Virtual Awards Ceremonies webpage and take some time to celebrate our students’ many achievements (password as per parent portal). I hope that you enjoy your visit to these ceremonies and that they demonstrate to you our unwavering commitment to create opportunities for our students to thrive.