Category: school

Ho Ho Ho!!

And what a joyous holiday it has become!  Voices were raised in song yesterday at the Grade 2, 3, and 4 Holiday concert.  Tremendous praise to our elementary team for their work in helping the kids raise their voices in harmony, a wonderful reflection on the spirit of the season.  Ms. Andrews and Mr. Minasz – thank you for framing the season!!

We have but a few hours remaining before we head off into an extended break.  When we return it will be 2019, the last year for a very long time that will have -teen on the end.  I have to pause and wonder what things may look like in 2113, when the -tweens return.  It brings back memories of the turn of the century in Y2k when we all concocted our predictions of what this century would hold for us.  And, flash forward, almost 20% of the century is gone.  How are your predictions going?

It is hard sometimes to find ourselves trapped in the current moment, and we should live in the moment when spending time with family and friends.  But, with much acrimony around us, it can be challenging and stressful at times.  I hope that this holiday season brings you two unique opportunities.

First, I hope for you time to pause in the moment with loved ones all around.  May your days of celebration and cultural connection bring you joy and renewal.

Second, I wish for you some time to dream, stepping out of the moment as the new year approaches and wonder with intention about what might be made of the year ahead.  This is not the fodder of resolutions, but more the territory of what could be possible if we take the love and kindness of the moment and use it to craft our way forward.  The most important thing we do in school is to ask students to be mindful of their intentions before taking on a challenge.  I wish for all of us, and particularly our students, and opportunity to make these dreams come true.

Whether traveling or relaxing into home here in Warsaw, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Calendar Business

One bit of business and I’ll remind you in January as well.  We are taking input on the school calendar for 2020-2021, consistent with our current methodology of planning out two years in advance.  Board will make their final adoption in January, but you have a chance now to give us feedback.  Other adopted calendars are viewable on our website at http://www.aswarsaw.org/

Here’s the link to our survey.  We encourage all staff, students, and parents of ASW to join us in giving your input to this process.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/6V5SRW2

Cups

Pleased to announce today that a change is coming in January to address a longstanding concern about plastics in the school environment.  Many projects are under consideration, but the HS Environmental Club has made a case for taking one bold step after the holidays that is now fully supported by the school.  Please see their message:

ASW will take till take a step forward in an effort to reduce waste! To combat single-use plastic waste, ASW will no longer buy white plastic cups used at water dispensers. This means that plastic cups will no longer be available at any water dispensers starting from January 7, 2019. It is important as a school to make environmentally-conscious choices and to teach students to take charge of their futures. Therefore, please remind your children to bring reusable water bottles to school to stay hydrated, as many are doing in elementary classrooms. We would love it if students continued to use water dispensers (or water fountains) rather than resorting to buying plastic bottles in the cafeteria.

Please note that plastic cups will not be purchased through the school for school-sponsored events. As well, our next steps will be to work closely with students and other vendors to limit plastic usage.

We all know that plastic of all kinds pollutes our oceans and landfills, and we recover only 5% of the plastic we produce in the world. In 2017, 96,000 cups were bought, and then thrown out at ASW. By making a change that reduces that number to 0, ASW is showing their commitment to taking steps to improve our commitment to the environment.

If you have any questions or concerns,
please email 19borisaite_i@aswarsaw.org

HS Environmental Club thanks you.

We’ll continue looking at other areas of plastic reduction throughout the school in the form of packing materials, cafeteria usage, etc.  Incremental steps is the best way to achieve sustainable action and I applaud the HS Environmental Club for helping us take this important step.

Cars

Just a reminder, again on the environmental front, to turn engines off when waiting for students at the end of the day. Doesn’t matter whether in winter cold or summer heat, you engine must be turned off when waiting for more than a minute.  Guards will remind you.  There are NO excuses.  I’ll be back out today and the rest of this week to help monitor and remind.

Air Quality

Again, on the environmental front, we have added an additional air quality sensor to the building in the internal area of the library entrance.  Below is a reprint of an article from last year with regards to air quality, edited for the added sensor:

To help in monitoring air quality, we have installed two small monitoring devices just inside the building at our front entrance and outside the library.  These units are now sharing data through the AirVisual interface.  You can now monitor the school’s devices on your own applications via the sharing tool that this online system provides.  The “Node” for the school has the following sharing code:

FBZFKATE
-and-
SB5URGSA

In order to monitor this node, you’ll need to setup an account on AirVisual.  Then, point your browser here:

https://www.airvisual.com/app

Follow the instructions for adding a node, entering the share code above.  The instructions may be slightly different online vs. the mobile applications.  You can then follow the school’s sensor and compare with the monitoring points in nearby Konstancin or in the city center of Warsaw.

We’ll keep monitoring and reflecting on our practices in this area.  Your thoughts, as always, are welcome.

Happy to have you monitor and know that we have policy and procedures in place to address reduced activity when air quality is challenging in the local area.  Our Health Office actively monitors this and assures good practice in protecting the health of our students.

I’m happy to announce that we have received our final authorization to offer three key programs of the International Baccalaureate (IB).  We’ll be having celebrations and a more fundamental launch of this achievement in short order, but it was nice to have a mini-celebration this morning and thank our two key coordinators, Miranda Rose and Elizabeth Swanson, for their efforts driving this change, along with their administrators and amazing faculty, to add the Primary Years Programme and the Middle Years Programme to our existing Diploma Programme.  Details about schools that offer at least three out of the four available IB programs can be found by clicking on the new logo below that will appear soon on our website:IB as a framework will now be our structure for learning and pedagogy going forward.  It’s legitimately already in place and providing for wonderful learning experiences for our students of all ages.  While we will update and refine our standards and curriculum, the framework through which instruction is delivered is now guided by the practices we have adopted.  This is exciting for the students of ASW, because the scaffolding of learning will build with each successive program around key goals, linked in powerful ways to our own adopted Core Values.  Many thanks to all who have helped us this far and who continue to participate in this journey each day!!

A Sad Note

Please see the message below from Upper School Principal, Mr. Sheehan, regarding the loss of a past student who was at ASW from 2010 to 2017.  I know you join me in keeping the Seidel family in your thoughts and prayers.

For this Thanksgiving (and I know not all will celebrate this, or some may have already celebrated this), may I offer a poem of my own hand, inspired by the brilliant voices on stage and the memories of our music and themes from both our band and choir concerts recently:

Blue skies, crumpled leaves, and blustery winds
Wrapped around the cobbled bricks of buildings intertwined.

Voices fill the spaces with earnest thought
And wide eyed curiosity hanging from the moments
Strung together through themes and provocations
Day upon day, minute upon minute.

But, on this day, voices can be heard in the heart of the connected spaces drawing us to a crowded gathering.
A unison of message and mind
Reflections on a bygone era
Cautious…
Respectful…
Earnest…
A chorus that captures ten decades
In the smiling faces of musical accomplishment.

For one evening we are a single voice of memory,
Performers and Audience together.
Let the song have no ending.
Look back to look forward,
As a mirror embraces the eye.
Never forget!
Love, Learn, Live, Life
Let us be thankful and embrace our becoming!

Thanks for your indulgence and thanks to all the students and staff responsible for these concerts and their inspiration.  Wishing blessings to all of you and my thanks for all that you do each day to embrace our partnership in service to the students we share.

Additional details on Measles case:

• Some erroneously thought the affected staff member was still at school.  Of course not…
• Some thought that we had policy that requires immunization – no.  While immunizations are encouraged and recorded as part of the admissions process, parents can choose not to vaccinate on the basis of personal/religious objections.  This is consistent with law and the law in most countries.  This also applies to staff.
• We do require that all new staff present health certificates that qualify them for employment.  This is standard practice under labor law.  That same law does not allow restricting employment on the basis of vaccination, nor does it allow us to require immunization.
• Our records show only a small number of students currently lack the MMR vaccine – less than 10.  They have been contacted.
• There is much press and government advice on the recent regional Measles outbreak.  Suggest you click HERE for the recent government information on the topic.

Hope that helps!

Just some reminders about daily things that we should all be checking and making sure we help others to monitor and manage:

Parking

Reminder to follow all of our parking rules here at ASW.  You can get a complete guide at the front security desk at any time, but here are the things to remember:

• There is no parking in yellow zones throughout the parking lot.  Drivers may not leave their vehicles when waiting in a yellow zone and must be prepared to move as directed.  Yellow curbs should never be crossed by vehicles and it is strictly prohibited to park on top of or adjacent to yellow areas.
• Park properly in your spot between the provided lines.  We know that these are tight for larger vehicles and it requires care and caution to make sure we are maximizing the space being used.  We always have overflow parking outside the back entrance to the school along the entry road on both sides.
• Watch your speeds in the parking lot and keep them to a minimum for safety.  Students may emerge from between parked vehicles, so keep a watchful eye at all times.

Security & Safety

• Parents and other visitors must wear badges at all times on campus.  Please make sure it is visible to students and staff.
• Don’t forget to swipe your badge at the entrance as a walker or from your vehicle as you enter the campus.  Be sure to swipe the same badge on the way out as well.
• Make sure students are wearing reflective clothing in the winter to increase visibility.
• Make sure your contact information is updated in PowerSchool, particularly your mobile numbers for emergency communication.  You can click here to make changes after login: 

 

Other Items

• Please make sure you are helping to keep our cafeteria clean after hours.  After 4:30p each day, you must clean up after yourself and make sure that dishes get returned to the racks near the cafeteria cashier stations.  We all need to help make sure that garbage is cleaned up after the cafeteria has closed for the day.
• At this time of year we sometimes experience some small creatures making their way into the school from the surrounding fields and wooded areas.  As temperatures fall, they sometimes find their way into the building.  We’ve had two reports, one in a classroom and one in the cafeteria, so we have followed our protocol and have brought in our contract specialists who work to make sure we address the problem.  This happens each year when the temperatures start to fall along with the leaves outside.  Please report any sightings to our Facilities Team near the Business Office so that they can address any issues immediately.

Remember that we have a MS/HS Choir Concert next week on the 20th.  We had a wonderful Band Concert recently and they also joined us for some wonderful Pep Band style music last weekend.  Now time to have our voices take the stage next week starting at 6:00 p.m.  Please try to join us!

Finally, please consider helping PTO as a volunteer during their upcoming Book Fair!  Thanks to all who have already signed up!! A few spots are still available for helpers on each day.  Click below to sign-up for any or all of the days available:

• November 19
• November 20
• November 21

I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Fall Break and are refreshed and ready for all the activities that lie ahead during one of the busiest times of the year, the span between Fall Break and the Winter Holidays.

Thank you!

I wanted to thank everyone in the broader community for their thoughts and support during a difficult time for me and my family.  I just returned to Warsaw today after helping my mother endure surgery that was necessary due to a recent fall.  Surgery went very well earlier this week and she is resting now and moving to a rehabilitation center later this week.  I’m very happy to be home with my family and community.  Helping your parents during the sunset years is often daunting and I know many who have shared similar experiences with me.  Being caretakers is at the core of family and whether we are parents caring for children or adults caring for our parents, the importance of the family bond remains the same – one of love, compassion, and support without limit.  Give everyone in your family a big hug tonight!  I know I will!

Open House

Our amazing Admissions Office is preparing for their first Open House of the school year on November 15th at 10:00 a.m.  If you know of anyone who is considering applying to join ASW, this is a wonderful opportunity for them to get to know the school and learn more about the programs that we offer.  Please encourage them to attend.  Have them contact the Admissions Department at admissions@aswarsaw.org in order to RSVP in advance.

New and Aspiring Board Member Training

A reminder to mark your calendars for the first session this year of the New and Aspiring Board Member training.  Like last year, I’ll be leading a session on School and non-profit board membership. If you have an interest in a position on the ASW board, as a leader in PTO, or if you are looking to serve on other non-profit boards in the future, this training will help provide some of the key understandings associated with good governance in a non-profit setting.  The content of this training has been expanded to also include insights into ASW specifically.  We’ll explore selected ASW Board documents and will give some insight into ASW structures and policy.  Our first session will take place as follows:

Thursday, November 15, 2018 at 6:00 p.m.

If you would like to participate, you can still sign up by clicking here:

https://goo.gl/forms/jjbOVFp059k9HLcg1

This post was inadvertently not published two weeks ago before the Fall Break.  Posting now.

What a wonderful day!!  It was inspiring to see such amazing community turnout and synergy across all lines of diversity.  I can’t begin to thank everyone enough for their efforts on the day and my appreciation for all that you have done to bring such a special treat to all of our students.  I particularly tagged along with a three-year-old group who were, by the third table, asking for napkins to wrap-up their treats in little bundles to take home and enjoy later.  It was particularly fun watching a dance presentation with them and they were watching carefully the action unfolding before them.  Our students learned much on the day and the memories will persist throughout the year.

I thought I would include the link to the poem read at the assembly.  It was a perfect message for the day.  The most important line was the last:

…the singing will never be done.

Our journey in teaching children is a path that has no end.  Educators know that our words and the experiences we craft together become part of memories that carry on long after a child leaves their preparatory years.  This is the meaning behind the poem, reminding us of our past as we continue our journey into the future.  I shared the concept of Ubuntu – In Zulu language, Ubuntu means “I am because we are” – the sentiment behind United Nations Day and a sentiment that lives at the core of our values. Thank you for everything today.  Seeds well planted…

New and Aspiring Board Member Training

A reminder to mark your calendars for the first session this year of the New and Aspiring Board Member training.  Like last year, I’ll be leading a session on School and non-profit board membership. If you have an interest in a position on the ASW board, as a leader in PTO, or if you are looking to serve on other non-profit boards in the future, this training will help provide some of the key understandings associated with good governance in a non-profit setting.  The content of this training has been expanded to also include insights into ASW specifically.  We’ll explore selected ASW Board documents and will give some insight into ASW structures and policy.  Our first session will take place as follows:

Thursday, November 15, 2018 at 6:00 p.m.

If you would like to participate, you can sign up by clicking here:

https://goo.gl/forms/jjbOVFp059k9HLcg1

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve watched the conferencing process unfold. In particular, the Upper School conferences yesterday and today were opportunities for reflective conversations on progress and goals.  I wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your involvement and for waiting at times while queuing up for some of your teachers.

I’m thoughtful of the real conversations that will now take place at home and hopeful that you find opportunities to celebrate the accomplishments in greater measure to the consideration of goals or plans.  A term was introduced at training during the weekend that might help guide you in these deliberations – feedforward!  Unlike its cousin, feedback, feedforward is about finding the way to build dialog around empowering your child to drive the process.  The ultimate goal of deep listening is to help your child become self-directed, taking the wheel and driving their learning journey.  Questions to consider that could be starters at home:

• How do you think it went?
• How are you feeling about…?
• What might be the causes of…?
• What are your hunches about…?
• What do you want to stay mindful of from now on?
• So, how might you apply what you’ve learned?

One of our key strategic themes this year is the full deployment of an inquiry based model that develops student agency.  It’s not just about motivation, but more about enabling action and assuring that “Our students define the way we all learn at ASW.”  In this instance, think of yourself as being a parent coach, helping your academic “athlete” to embrace a growth mindset and the idea that reaching further than you thought you could is the best part of learning!

Drills Continued

It’s that time of year and our first Lock Down Drill approaches.  Different from our fire drills, the lockdown drill is meant to be an exercise in Shelter in Place due to a perceived threat to students in the area or at the school.  We’ll have our first and only announced Lock Down Drill on Friday at around 10:00 a.m.  We will also be testing our SMS emergency broadcast system.  Hopefully you have all updated your contact information in PowerSchool so that you will receive our message.  We’ll have a survey afterwards to check if there were any problems.  Updating information in PowerSchool is easy – just login and click on “Demographic Change.”  You’ll see all the fields for your phone numbers.  (Note: Please enter all numbers in country code format, including the “+” at the beginning.)

Important Survey

In the face of growing demand, we are currently planning for growth.  To  gauge our response to the upcoming midterm registration season and the potential for turnover during the winter holidays, we would like you to take our annual survey.  But, we also want to know about younger siblings that will be applying for the next school year. You should know that current families of ASW are now allowed to apply early for admission of younger siblings for the 2019-2020 school year.  If you are planning to apply for next year or are departing after January, please fill out our one-minute survey and we will contact you with more details.

Click here to complete the survey.

International Baccalaureate Global Conference

This week I wanted to share about my experience over the weekend with the International Baccalaureate Global Conference in nearby Vienna.  This year marked the 50th anniversary of this organization and the experience of joining them for this celebration was all the more profound because of the recent verification visits in the prior two weeks.  I wrote about that last week and enjoyed sharing with you the wonderful experiences of having strong practitioners in our midst sharing their reflections on our accomplishments.

All of this importantly points out the tremendous journey and accomplishment of the last two years.  Our two coordinators, Ms. Rose and Ms. Swanson, presented this journey as a workshop at the conference.  They shared the unique opportunity of building collaboration and cohesion around the core philosophy of the IB, and thoughtfully reflected on how staff came together to accomplish the work of changing our framework for learning.  They shared, through stories and anecdotes, their reflections on the challenges and successes that were experienced along the journey.  The many hours spent in highly engaged connected practice has developed a strong program that aligns our practice and our understanding of how children learn best.  The mission of the IB is closely aligned to our own mission and our core values through their aims to “develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.”  For us, this is about all of our core values, but especially the central theme of working together – because without us all, we’re nothing.

I’m thoughtful that the school today looks nothing like the ASW of 10 years ago.  A recent article written by alumni of the school suggested that the school of that time was highly siloed and lacked cohesion around a set of core values that connect the community to common purpose.  I value that their reflection of that time was likely accurate as the school grew into a new facility and started to become the mature institution of today.  Many of the things that they suggested in their open letter to the board and the community now sit at the center of our goals and aspirations, and much of it has already been embedded in our practice going forward.  The strong heritage of the school and its many accomplishments remain, but the opportunities of our collective purpose and commitment to tolerance is found in the aspirations that our core values and IB framework suggest.  When one journey ends, the next begins.  I want to thank all of you, alumni or current community member for continuing the dialog on mapping that journey forward.  We are listening and we hope, like you, that our collective energies will serve the current and future students of ASW in equal and greater measure to the students who have already traveled our hallways.  If you want to join the conversation, we encourage you to join our alumni network and share in the opportunity to help shape future generations of Warriors!

If you are an “alumni” of ASW, click here to continue your connection with this brave and courageous school:

https://aswalumni.org/

Water Update

We’ve now received independent testing that has confirmed that our water Manganese levels have returned to acceptable levels.  All other levels are safe as previously determined.  We will begin the process of cleaning and clearing drinking fountain equipment in the building and will put these back into service after certification during the coming week.  As a result of this issue, and for the foreseeable future, we will increase the frequency of our testing to ensure the safety of our water.  We want to thank you all for your support during this time period and we appreciate the corrective actions of our neighbors and utility providers in response to our concerns.

Warning

We received information that last night, Monday, October 8th, around Zakamarek street, a young woman was assaulted by a man aged about 40.  This message was sent to parents by all public schools in the local area and we ask for increased vigilance.  We do not have any further information at this time.

 

Today we toasted (with bubbly apple juice) the second meeting in two weeks with visitors from the International Baccalaureate (IB) as part of our final step toward authorization of the Primary Years Programme (PYP) and the Middle Years Programme (MYP).  Like our visit last year from our accrediting bodies (NEASC/CIS), this was a visit that provided wonderful validation of our effort over the last two years of work devoted to implementing the framework associated with the IB.  With these visits complete, we now await the final decision of the main office of the IB and expect to receive our authorization in the coming months.  We’re hopeful that this confirmation will come prior to the Winter Break, but the time associated with the review is hard to predict.

Our thanks go out to the many who were involved in bringing this work to fruition.  We have to start by applauding parents who were involved in our process and, in particular, the parents who took time out of their busy schedules to join us for meetings this week and last.  We need to thank the Board of Trustees regarding their support and commitment to the program through both their initial decision and through constant monitoring of our progress along the way.  We have a hearty thank you for staff who have dedicated themselves to refreshing practice and work on unit planning that was a significant amount of work shared by all.  Of course, thanks to our administrative team for figuring out how to fit all this work in amongst the things we still do to keep school going each day and through processes they managed to provide time and effort for this activity.

But, we need to offer special mention to our two coordinators who were certainly under the spotlight over the last two weeks that was culmination of their efforts over the last two years.  Miranda Rose and Elizabeth Swanson have spearheaded our journey and provided us guidance along the way, ever keeping us on the straight and narrow toward our eventual achievement.  Together with their ally in the already established Diploma Programme, Carl Beach, all three of our coordinators are truly world class and should take a bow on their relentless encouragement and development of a truly cohesive approach to empowering our students in their learning.

Between last week and this week, tears have been shed.  First, there were occasional tears of frustration, then the tears of trepidation, and now tears of joy – all part of the emotional investment we all invest in opening up amazing possibilities for the children we all serve.

I had the pleasure today of signing just over 50 letters addressed to Ambassadors serving in Warsaw and representing their countries similar to our students from similar origins.  I thanked them for their ongoing support over the years and invited them to join us at our upcoming United Nations Day on Wednesday, October 24, 2018.  Last year, we had representatives from the embassies of just under 10 nations, but received kind notes and letters of encouragement from many wishing us well in our celebration of diversity and culture.

Further down in the PTO section of this eNotes is an initial plea for help in preparing for UN Day and a form you can use to register your country table.  Last year, we had more than 35 countries represented with presentations of all types and kinds.  We are looking forward, as always, to similar this year.

United Nations day is a celebration of the importance of diversity and how it adds value to our experience as global citizens.  As I spoke last year at our opening ceremony, I’m encouraged by the way we respect and embrace our differences, and the power of how the fabric of powerful solutions will be woven from tolerance and respect.  One of our core values, “Work together. Because without us all, we’re nothing.” speaks to the belief that the really important stuff will only happen when we do it together.  We see examples of that every day in our classrooms.  But, with UN Day, we get to punctuate our background and how it adds value to our journey together.

The theme this year for United Nations Day around the world is “Greening the Blue,” a focus on protecting the planet on this the 72nd anniversary of the UN Charter’s adoption.  You can find out more about this year’s UN day here:

http://www.greeningtheblue.org/event/united-nations-day

Please take the time to read below and in future messages about the importance of UN Day at ASW, and volunteer to help with your country table as plans start to emerge.  Our thanks, as always, to PTO and the wonderful parent community for their tremendous support of this and other initiatives to enhance the learning environment of our engaged community.

 

A short note after a very successful weekend at our wonderful PTO BBQ!  Fun was had by all and even though it was a slight bit wet in the early hours, we finished strong with lots of entertainment, plenty of time on the bouncy castles, amazing food from around the world, and a spectacular dodgeball tournament where the parent team emerged victorious!  Thanks to all who helped make it so special on the day.  I’m sure more notes about that below in the PTO section of our eNotes.

Inadvertent Fire Drill

As you probably heard from your students, we had an evacuation drill on Monday when a faulty sensor caused a multi-trigger event that ran our alarm just around lunch time.  But, we matched our previous record and had everyone present and accounted for in around 6 minutes.  We’ve had the companies in to address the fault and double check the alarm delays.  Any conjecture that someone pressed the alarm or that a trigger was bumped has now been eliminated and all is well.  Good news, this means our next drill can be postponed a bit!

Water Update

We are waiting on the most recent round of tests and our bottled water routine is still in place.  We should have new numbers by end of week in order to make our next decisions.  One point of clarification on Manganese is that we have to remember the this mineral is actually expected to be part of our diet and we get Manganese in various foods that we eat in much larger quantities.  While the drinking water limitations for key minerals that we are tracking has been established, it is a secondary limit set by the World Health Organization and is therefore a less strict guideline.   We’ll keep you posted on the updates as they become available.

Board Meeting on Monday

First Board of Trustees meeting is Monday, September 24th at 6:00 p.m.  More information on Friday and a reminder that you are always welcome to attend.

Please join us this weekend for the PTO BBQ!!

Lots of “PTO – Join the Fun” enjoyment on tap.  Chances to win valuable prizes and also support the PTO in their main fund raising activity of the year.  This is family fun at its finest and we hope everyone will come out and join us!  Saturday, September 15, starting at noon.

Yours truly will be doing time as a target on the Dunk Tank at around 1:15p.  Principals, Teachers, and others will be before and after me.  Later in the day, we will have a tournament dodgeball game as well. Come join us for all of this!

If you can still help for a short time during the day, we have needs for additional adults on Raffle Sales and in the PTO Wear-House for a shift.  These online sign-ups are here:

• Raffle
• Wear-House

Please help if you can for just 30 minutes.  Or sign-up to do a couple of slots if you are able.  Thanks in advance for your assistance!!

Water Update & Hydration

Hopefully you received my message on Tuesday detailing our actions taken while dealing with our high Manganese levels in recent water tests.  We are waiting on the next round of tests after the application of remedies by GTC and will inform you of the results.

In the meantime, our protocols seem to have worked well with the deployment of bottled water throughout the building.  Our supplies seemed to be sufficient to the need and I appreciate all the flexibility of students and staff as we adjusted to these changes.

One thing that struck me, and I’ve been reflecting on this both before and after the current situation.  I’m concerned that children, in general, may not be hydrating enough.  I reminded myself of the health benefits of good hydration and would suggest that we could do better, both at school and at home, with encouraging good hydration habits for our children.  Children are much more prone to dehydration due to their size and body weight while growing up.  I know for early childhood, we often have to remind students to get a drink before continuing an activity.  Symptoms of dehydration are some or all of the following:

• Headaches
• Poor concentration
• Thirst
• Cracked lips
• Dry mouth
• Constipation
• Lethargy

Like sleep and good eating habits, good hydration habits are important for growing and learning.  We should all make sure that children have water bottles and that they use them effectively in making sure that they get the necessary fluids each day.  Recommendations for children under 8 is 4-6 glasses of water per day.  Over 8, the recommendation climbs to 6-8 glasses.  That means refilling the water bottle (depending on size) 3-4 times per day at a minimum.  Weather conditions and temperature can certainly affect this recommendation up or down a bit, but it is clear that all of us may need to rethink how much water we get per day just like we reflect on how important a certain am0unt of sleep is to our health and well-being.

At school, we will always make sure that we have necessary supply.  Even in this current situation, our supply will meet the needs of our kids.  Make sure kids have a water bottle and encourage them to make hydration a good habit!  By the way, it should be noted that the PTO Wear-House has a few remaining ASW branded water bottles available! They’ll be ordering more soon. 😉

PTO Mixer – FRIDAY!!

We are hopeful of rivaling the turnout of the prior two years for this successful traditional event!!  The PTO mixer is a wonderful opportunity to connect with other adult members of the school community across all boundaries and have a great time together in a social setting.  This year, due to the generous donation of the Marriott Hotel, we will be in the wonderful Champions for our gathering this year!! Come join the Fun!

Friday, September 3, 7:00p to 12:00a

Student Handbooks

We’ve developed comprehensive handbooks this year for both our Elementary and Upper School Divisions.  The first chapter of each handbook is common content that is the same for both divisions, followed by a chapter for the specific division.  You can find these two documents on our website and via these links:

   

Please refer to these documents for important information regarding the implementation of policy through systems and procedures.  It is an important first reference when any question or concern emerges.

General Data Protection

This week we continue to remind parents who have not yet completed their update of health information and stipulation to key provisions of data protection.  You only need to login to PowerSchool and we would encourage ALL parents to regularly login to PowerSchool to check attendance, review health room information, and to update contact information to assure we can reach you in the event of an emergency.  At the beginning of each year, we have a one time form that all parents must complete in order to grant us permission that is necessary to provide educational services to your child.  If you have not completed this initial process yet, expect that we will call you in the near future to make sure we get this important information.  We consider it a condition of enrollment that parents are able to access PowerSchool and that you check this portal regularly as part of our partnership.

Parent Survey Sharing

I’ll be looking for opportunities to share information from our Student/Parent Satisfaction survey that we completed in June.  With over 836 responses for the full school section of the questionnaire, here are some important highlights of the agreement on the statements in the survey:

• “When I have questions or concerns, someone in the school responds in a prompt and helpful fashion.”  46% Strongly Agreed and 48% Agreed for a total agreement of 94%.
• “My child is engaged and interested in learning at school.” 53% Strongly Agreed and 43% Agreed for a total agreement of 96%.
• “My child’s classes have helped her/him learn to collect, organize, analyze, and communicate information.” 37% Strongly Agreed and 57% Agreed for a total agreement of 94%.
• “My child has access to various up-to-date technology-based tools and resources.” 40% Strongly Agreed and 56% Agreed for a total agreement of 96%.
• “My child is developing digital citizenship to use technology in a safe and responsible manner.”  33% Strongly Agreed and 60% Agreed for a total agreement of 93%.
• “School facilities meet my child’s needs.”  54% Strongly Agreed and 43% Agreed for a total agreement of 97%!

In terms of the full school portions of the survey, the lowest scores were still all above 80% agreement, but the lower results suggested that work in the following areas was warranted:

• Assuring sufficient challenge for students in all their classes. (83%)
• Refine our reporting of student progress (already planned this year). (86%)
• Improving our ability to give timely and effective feedback (part of our PYP/MYP implementation). (89%)

As we continue analysis of the data from this survey along with your comments and the divisional statements, we will look for more opportunities to turn your feedback into action plans and enhancements in many aspects of the school.  We believe improvement is an ongoing, living process and your partnership in this regard is essential part of maintaining our cutting edge level of performance in service to your children and their educational goals and aspirations.

Last week, I made one note at the PTO meeting regarding safety updates and reminded all in attendance that they should be wearing their Parent identification at all times.  There was a mad digging into purses, but we had everyone wearing their badge in short order and after more than a few giggles.  My thanks to all the parents in attendance for their help in checking.  I reminded everyone that we would be asking all to be more diligent about this in order to assure that all adults on campus were authorized to be here.  Further, I suggested that I would hate to embarrass anyone when a student comes up to us to ask, “who is that?” when a badge is not visible.  Staff will rigorously approach you if they don’t see it in order to show students we are checking!

In addition, we have updated all of our records for safety and background checks.  This is also required for all non-parent class leaders and tutors for all of our various activities before, during and after school.  In order for these individuals to renew their badges for access to campus, they will need to provide a criminal background check and are required to stipulate to our Code of Conduct:Further, we have updated many of our manuals and procedures to assure that we are in full compliance with all standards in Poland as well as international standards on Child Protection.  We have identified Child Protection Designated Leads for this year and have chose a co-lead model.  Our two Designated Leads are Agata Kielczewska and Iza Skoczylas, both Upper School Counselors who work out of the Middle School office.  They will serve the entire PK-12 population in this area of Child Protection.  All potential concerns are reported to them and further action is taken based on our child Protection Policy and operations manual.  Parents, students, and staff are all encouraged to approach them if they have any concerns about the treatment or safety of any student at ASW.

Parking Lot Update

Finally, on the safety front, we have updated parking safety guides and we would remind parents again of our rules and regulations.  We are all doing very well for the start of the year.  New this year are reminders that we will send via email with pictures of your vehicle if you have broken any of our rules.  This will include a reminder that the Parent Handbook clearly notes that cars will be restricted from accessing the campus if there are repeat offences of parking or moving violations while on campus. Our new guides offer good advice. English version and Polish version(and other languages coming soon) are available on the ASW website and at the security desk.  Don’t forget also, when waiting, to turn your engines off and protect our environment.  Thank you!!