Weekly Update from the Secondary School

Dear parents, 

Week one of full, on-campus learning in the books! It is such a great feeling to have all the grade levels back on campus. There is an energy, a general vibe of the place that, coupled with the truly glorious weather we are having, makes AISL a pretty wonderful place to be. 

But, true to form, I am not ALL roses and caviar this week. The increase of students unfortunately leads to an increase in my anxiety levels. As I have said before, my number one priority is the health and safety of the students, faculty and staff of AISL. After all, we can’t have quality learning if we are not physically safe. So, this week I want to speak on the topic of complacency. 

As some of you may know over the summer I contracted a pretty nasty case of COVID. It was a bad one that put me up in the hospital. Now, I didn’t have it nearly as bad as some other people in the AISL community, and I in no way want to put myself up there as some kind of special case. However, having gone through a frankly hellish experience, which sadly lingers into the present in the form of long-COVID fatigue, I am more committed than ever to doing all that I can to prevent what happened to me from happening to anyone else. 

So, when I harp on the kids for having their masks warming their chins, or for forming little scrums in the walkways, please know I am not doing this out of a deep-seated cruelty, quite the opposite really. All the things we do as a school for health and safety, even those things that seem overly restrictive and conservative, are done because we truly care about our students, the faculty, and the entire community. 
 
A few logistical items:
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1. If your child needs to move from Path 1 to Path 3, and it is not simply a temporary sick day or the like, that information needs to come from a parent. If you wish for your child to change learning paths, please send that request to attendance@aislusaka.org. After we receive a parent request, the Leadership Team will review each case and communicate with Parents and their children. 
   
2. In a related note, excused absences: If your child needs to miss school for any reason, please notify us at attendance@aislusaka.org , as well as all your child’s teachers. Also, please let us know the reason for the absence. This way we can identify the absence as excused. Examples of excused absences include (but are not necessarily limited to): personal illness, family emergencies or religious observances. , 
   
3. In another related note: remember that Path 3 is available for students who are in special circumstances which preclude them from joining us on campus. Path 3 is NOT available to students to facilitate a vacation/trip during school days. 
   

 
For further clarification please refer to the attendance policy in the Secondary Handbook. 
 
Thanks to you all. AISL wouldn’t be the same without you. Have a great weekend!
Dr. Rick Odum