In a year where very little has gone to plan, amazingly our annual AISL school shipment, which includes nearly 1500 new library titles for all our patrons, arrived with splendid timing this Thursday afternoon! We are thrilled to be welcoming the rest of our students from other grade levels back to campus across the next couple weeks, just in time for them to browse and take home some of these beautiful new books! 

Several secondary students will be helping Ms. Maguire process the secondary library book order next week, as we assign every new secondary school book to a specific genre category to make it easier for our teens to shop their favorite genre shelves. 

Also in our shipment are fabulous new works of adult fiction and non-fiction. If you are new to the AISL community, we encourage you to open a library account! Parents may borrow up to 10 books at a time for a two-week loan period. We have an excellent array of titles and genres.

If anyone in your family is looking for recommendations, please ask a member of our library team to assist you! We are always delighted to share some of our favorite reads with others and we stay abreast of the best voices in children's, middle grade, young adult, and adult reads.

What I am excited about this week (besides the great news that we’re reopening campus!!!!)…
 
Professional Development Days on 21-22 September! Don’t forget that there will be no online nor on-campus classes on 21 and 22 September. The faculty and staff will be using those two scheduled professional development days to review and refine our health and safety measures and begin the lengthy school re-accreditation process with our three international accrediting agencies. These days provide an extended period of time for our faculty to engage in deep collaborative work aimed at improving our school.
 
Board Election General Meeting (EGM) on 23 September! Please join our Zoom EGM on the 23rd at 18:00. The agenda includes speeches by our candidates for the Board of Directors (see below), electronic balloting, and a State of the School report by the Director. Please note that you must register on Zoom in advance of this meeting and you must be present for the candidate speeches in order to be eligible to vote. Click here to register for the meeting.  
 
First PTA Meeting of the Year! Please come join the PTA’s first meeting of the year at 18:00 on 30 September. The meeting will be conducted via Zoom. You can join by clicking here (Meeting ID: 338 890 7703, Passcode: 7bhmp6)
 
Revised Articles of Association and By-Laws Ratified! Many thanks to the parent association members who joined our meeting last week to discuss the revised Articles of Association and By-Laws. I am pleased to report that the revisions were ratified and the Board Policy Manual has been amended to reflect the changes. You can always access the Board Policy Manual on the Parent Portal.
 
Health and Safety Dashboard! Since we reopened to Grades 7,9, and 12 on 20 August, we have been tracking important health and safety data on a weekly basis. We have used this data to create a visual dashboard that will help to provide an overview of health and safety on campus and to monitor our fidelity to our protocols. The dashboard is updated every Friday and is available on the school’s COVID-19 Information webpage. While we're on the subject of collecting health and safety  data, here is an interesting bit of trivia: we have already used 212 litres of hand sanitiser since the school year started!

We are excited to continue offering three learning Paths for the Secondary students so that we can make sure that every student thrives.  We are also thrilled to have Grades 6, 8, 10, and 11 back on campus next week!  We have been working hard on health and safety measures to ensure that we can successfully open - and stay open.

On Wednesday 23 September, Grades 6 and 11 will start on-campus learning (Path 1); and on Friday 25 September, we will welcome back Grades 8 and 10 to campus (Path 1). Please help your child to remember to bring two water bottles, lunch, a snack, two face masks (one on the face and one in the bag), headphones, and - if possible - a portable charger.

When dropping off your child in the morning, please remember that arriving as early as 7:05 am helps your child make it to their first class on time.  The temperature checks and hand sanitizing procedures take time and we have many students, so coming early supports your child.  Please also remember to pull all the way up on our drop-off area so we can accommodate many families dropping off their children.

When picking up your child in the afternoon, please remember that we will have a staggered dismissal time as part of our health and safety measures.  Middle school students will be available for pick up from 2:20 pm and high school students from 2:30 pm.  Students not attending an ASA should return home rather than spending time on campus unsupervised.

For more information about the campus reopening procedures, families can view our Campus Reopening Procedures presentation here.  Our students, teachers, and parents have received the same presentation; it was used for student and teacher trainings and parent information evenings.

We host three to six Parent Information Sessions each month to support our parents in learning about what their children are learning and how to support them at home.  If you have ideas about Parent Information Sessions that you or others would like to attend, please let our Assistant Principal, Dr. Sheila Seiler, know by writing to her at sseiler@aislusaka.org.

Upcoming Parent Information Sessions:
- Tuesday 22 September 18:30 - Q&A Session for Secondary Parents: This session is hosted by Dr. Rick Odum, the Secondary Principal, and Dr. Sheila Seiler, the Secondary Assistant Principal, and is for Secondary parents who have questions about campus reopening procedures and how to support their child in being successful in Path 1 learning.  Parents can join by clicking this link.

- Thursday 24 September 18:00 - Grade 10 Personal Project: This session is for Secondary parents of students new to Grade 10 and anyone who would like a refresher. The session will be an information session about the Personal Project. Our MYP Coordinator, Ingrid Turner, and Secondary librarian, Terry Maguire, will host this information session.  Parents can join by clicking this link.

In case you missed it
Chantra Reinman, our K-12 Director of Student Support Services, shared and interpreted research on the learning-different brain that challenges common perceptions and reveals the scientific basis of dyslexia.  We had a great discussion- parents asked robust questions and Chantra supported them in understanding more about this learning difference.  If you would like to watch the presentation, you can click this link.

We hosted a Grade 6 and an all-Secondary parent night on Wednesday 16 September to share our campus reopening plan with parents, including updates that we have made since our August presentations.  If you would like to view the presentation, you can click this link.

In the interest in continuous improvement, we have invited parents to share with us their thoughts on: the quality of education during distance learning, how well the school prepared for distance learning, how well the school has communicated and followed up to direct communication, parent perception of relative program quality, and overall comfort levels surrounding prospective reopening for more grades. Additionally we provided some space for parents to share with us things that they were worried about, and things about the school that made them happy.  We have summarized the results which may be found here. 

We also want to take a moment to say thank you to all the parents who have been supporting their children at home during distance learning.  We also want to thank all the teachers who have been teaching three Paths of learners, often at the same time, and stretching themselves to do what’s best for students.  We want to thank our students who have been working hard to keep their masks on and who have made big improvements in remembering to stay 1.5 meters away from their classmates and friends.  Everyone has made big sacrifices while staying socially responsible and internationally minded in order to care for the AISL, local, and global community.  Thank you.

As always, please keep communicating with us so we can continue to ensure that your child thrives at our school.  Please reach out to us with any comments or feedback you have - we are here to help.
​
Kind regards,
Dr. Rick Odum, Secondary Principal
Dr. Sheila Seiler, Secondary Assistant Principal

Attendance Policy for illness:  Parents should check their child’s health and temperature before he or she departs for school each morning.
 
Please do not send your child to school if any of the following symptoms or signs are present in the previous twenty four hours and seek medical help:
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♦Elevated temperature (38 degrees Celsius or greater) or chills
♦Acute cold, sore throat, or persistent cough
♦Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
♦Vomiting, nausea, or severe abdominal pain
♦Repeated diarrhea
♦Pus-like discharge from the nose or eyes
♦Red or inflamed eyes/lids
♦Skin rashes such as suspected and untreated impetigo, scabies
 
If ANY member of your household has any symptoms potentially related to COVID-19 do not send your child/children to school and seek medical help. Ensure that students who have been in contact with a COVID-19 case (or someone in their household has) stay home for 14 days. Please contact the school nurse when you are not sure if your child is well enough to attend school.  Also, it is wise to contact her when your child is on the “borderline” of being ill.  (Be sure to let the school know where you may be contacted in case your child’s condition worsens).  SPECIAL NOTE:  If your child complains often of headaches or stomachaches or frequently does not feel well, please notify your physician or health care provider.

An important part of our most recent campus renovation was the creation of a new traffic flow on campus. So, when you come to campus for the first time, you will see significant changes. Please read on and review the attached diagram BEFORE you come to campus.
 
The new traffic flow was designed for several reasons:

• To create a one-way flow of traffic through the entire campus
  • All vehicles must now turn from Leopard’s Hill Road onto what used to be the Secondary School access road and then exit campus back onto Leopard’s Hill Road through what used to be the Primary School gate, which is now an EXIT ONLY
• To create a longer drop-off space for students in the morning
  • There is now a dedicated drop-off lane and a through-traffic lane
  • IMPORTANT: Parents should pull out of the through-traffic lane to drop off their children on the walkway and then carefully pull back into the through-traffic lane to proceed to the exit
  • Parents should not park or wait in the drop-off lane
• To create additional parking (about 100 additional spaces!)
• To create an internal perimeter so that people who access our parking lots must still pass on foot through controlled security checkpoints in order to access the campus

 
Please note that we are not currently issuing vehicle parking stickers. The final phase of our security upgrades for parking will be boom gates installed at the entrance. When those have been installed, we will begin issuing access cards to parents. We’ll share more information about this process soon.

Dear Parents and Students,
Our AISL Coaches are excited to be back with more ASA videos for you to watch and practice some drills you would have learnt during our ASA program.
We hope you enjoy these drills! 
Kindly click on the thumbnail below and the video will pop up for you to view .

In last week’s Verbal Jam, we addressed anxiety in school kids and shared some short and long term strategies on how to cope with anxiety. We brainstormed some ideas about how parents can support children during these uncertain times. If you missed the webinar, the link to the video is both here on the Verbal Jam site  and below. For any questions please contact Driekie Smith at dsmith@aislusaka.org.

The personal project is an important part of the MYP. Students learn to manage and direct their own inquiry and further develop the skills they have learned trough the MYP. 

Note: Parents can join by clicking this link.

Dear AISL Parents, Students, and Staff,

Based on last week's announcements by the President and Minister of General Education, AISL will commence a phased reopening of all classes beginning next week. We will be reopening in stages to allow ample time for students and staff members to adapt to our rigorous health and safety protocols. If you have not done so already, please review these protocols in our Reunite 2020 Campus Reopening Plan that is located on the landing page of the website as well as on our COVID-19 Information webpage. 

We will also be hosting a series of Grade-level specific Zoom information sessions for parents. The days and times of the parent sessions are listed below. Each session will be recorded and will be made available on the COVID-19 Information webpage in case you are not able to join the live session. 

We are looking forward to welcoming back our students in the various grade levels according to this schedule:

• Wednesday, 23 September: Early Learning Center, Kindergarten, Grades 1, 6, and 11
• Friday, 25 September: Grades 2, 3, 8, and 10
• Wednesday, 30 September: Grades 4 and 5

Here is a schedule for our Zoom information sessions. These sessions will provide detailed, step-by-step descriptions of what your child's day will look like from a health and safety perspective. Remember that, if you are unable to attend the session, you will be able to review the recording of it. You are also always welcome to email the principals directly for clarification on any points. 

Parent Information Sessions: Reopening Campus with Zoom links:

• Wednesday, 16 September: Grade 6 from 18:00-18:45 & Grade 7-12 from 19:00-19:45
• Thursday, 17 September: ELC from 16:15-17:00 and KG & Grade 1 from 17:00-18:00
• Tuesday, 22 September: Grades 6-12 Questions and Answer Session from 18:30-19:30 (for any remaining questions)
• Wednesday, 23 September: Grades 2 & 3  from 16:00-17:00
• Monday, 28 September: Grades 4 & 5 from 16:00-17:00

We are eager to welcome your children to campus and are confident that this phased plan will allow us to reopen in a safe and orderly manner. Please understand that, with the exception of ELC and Kindergarten parents during drop-off and pick-up, no parents will be allowed on campus. I apologize for the inconvenience. We will certainly review this policy as the health and safety environment permits. 

Many thanks for your patience and support as we get back to on-campus learning!

Sincerely,

Russell Menard, Ed.D.
Director

It is great excitement that we count down our days until students can return to campus. As was shared earlier this week, we will be welcoming back our Early Learning Center, Kindergarten and Grade 1 students on Wednesday, 23 September. Our second phase of reopening will be on Friday, 25 September with Grades 2 and 3. The final phase of our reopening plan will be with our G4 and 5 students on Wednesday, 30 September. For each reopening phase, we will be hosting a parent information session for those particular grade levels where we will share the specifics of what to expect so that students can return to campus safely.

• On Thursday, 17 September, we will have an informational session for ELC families from 16:15-17:00 followed by a session for Kindergarten and Grade 1 families from 17:00-18:00.
• On Wednesday, 23 September, we will meet with G2 and G3 families from 16:00-17:00.
• On Monday, 28 September, we will host a session for families in G4 and G5 from 16:00-17:00.

After each parent session, we will be sending out a survey to families to confirm which students will be physically attending on campus (Path 1), which students will be synchronous (Path 2) and which students will be asynchronous (Path 3) so our teachers know what to expect. All of the parent sessions can be accessed via the Zoom link on the Whole School calendar. We look forward to having many of you join us.

All of our students have been developing their visual art skills these past few weeks. Recently, they have been expressive explorers in ELC; brainstorming creative tales in KG; creating with expressive shapes in G1; drawing food portraits in G2; expressing their beliefs through art in G4; and applying their color theory knowledge in G5. Below are just a few examples of some of the wonderful artwork that our students are doing.

Until next week,

Darlene Huson, Primary Principal
Tony Potts, Primary Assistant Principal/Tech Integration Specialist
Christine Kelly, Primary Assistant Principal/PYP Coordinator