Category: school

Everything’s getting ready for your return after our opening with staff this week.  We all gathered on Monday and Tuesday to start our work together.  We’ll have a holiday tomorrow and continue with our preparations on Thursday and Friday.  It’s been wonderful catching up with everyone as they return, hearing about summer adventures, new learnings from conferences and classes, and generally getting reconnected.

Our focus this year centers on the Board adopted strategic themes that we will begin our continued development work in the weeks ahead.  These broad themes form around a single significant goal that overarches our strategic design work and captures the work of our Core Values from the year before.

WE ENSURE EVERY STUDENT LOVES LEARNING AT ASW!

The initial take on our ongoing strategic process was received by the board, adopted, and is available here:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0thleA1n_fNQWZiM1lBTTlXYjg

Our focus this year revolves around the strategic themes articulated in this guide along with the examples of strategies that we may tackle.  The four broad themes:

1. Every learner knows exactly what they need to do next.
2. Our students define the way that we learn at ASW.
3. We break down silos and promote collaboration at all levels.
4. We make the financial and other investments needed to reach our long term goals.

I’ll have more to share at our Director’s Welcome Coffee next week on Tuesday, starting at 8:30a. Looking forward to seeing all of you!  Enjoy your final weekend and take note of the divisional directions below!

Welcome to the 2018-2019 school year, everyone!!  We hope the summer break was refreshing and renewing for all of you and that your travels are bringing you safely to our midst in advance of school opening. For those newly joining us, welcome to the family!!

It’s yet another  exciting year for the American School of Warsaw, building on the success of recent years as we refined our programs and employ the results of our successful re-accreditation award from last year.  We continue with our Core Values that will guide our work for the coming decade, the aspirational qualities of ASW and what we hope to become as the future unfolds.  We add to this a recently adopted strategic framework with key themes that will develop through work at all levels and across all of our stakeholder groups, aligned and consistent with the work defined by accreditation.  More about all of this after we get school open and students welcomed by their new classes and teachers.

We continue this year with our combined eNotes newsletter, which will come each week to your mailbox. Please click on the buttons to find your way to important sections, but be sure to scroll through the message each week to scan for all of the important information from each of our divisions and departments.

We have a wonderful team of educators and leaders ready to greet your children on the first day, ensuring a unique experience in the early days of the school year.  We open with an enrolment of about 990 students and are finishing our welcome of 25 new faculty and 2 new administrators, who will be joining returning faculty next week for our annual schedule of preparation meetings.

As usual, all of our summer teams have worked hard to assure that the facility has been prepared for your arrival and you will see a number of changes in rooms and common spaces as you explore the building.  We recently closed the building so that our work can be completed in open areas that make it necessary to protect everyone from potential harm. Facilities will reopen for after hours use when this exterior work is complete.

One important note:  Please be sure to become an active PTO member and look for welcome meetings to attend and committees where you can make a contribution of your time and talent toward enhancing our sense of community.  PTO is, by board policy, empowered to assure that we have a wonderful set of events and activities throughout the year to reinforce and enhance our strong sense of community.  This is an important time of year to build new relationships, renew collaborations, and enhance what we do to make ASW such a special place for all of us.

Here’s a summary of the key events in the first week:

• First Day of School, Tuesday, August 21, 8:30 am
• New Family & Student Orientation, Monday, August 20, 9:00a, Cafeteria
• Director’s Welcome Back Coffee, Tuesday, August 21, 8:45a, Cafeteria
• PTO Kickoff General Meeting, Friday, August 24, 8:30a, Multi-Purpose Room

School start and end times remain the same as last year.  Wednesday morning late start begins with the first week of school:

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, & Friday

• Student arrival – no earlier than 8:00 am
• School starts for Grades 11-12 at 8:20 am
• School starts for PK-10 at 8:30 am
• School ends for Grades 11-12 at 3:20 pm
• School ends for PK-10 at 3:30 pm

Wednesday (Late Start for students)

• Student arrival – no earlier than 8:45 am (cafeteria open)
• School starts for all at 9:30 am
• School ends for all at 3:30 pm

I encourage all families to subscribe and participate in the Director’s blog – Zimplicity! Please join the conversation here:  https://zimplicity.org  You have opportunities to add your comments and responses to my ongoing dialog with the community.  Each week’s newsletter will include the link so that you can easily find your way. All of the history since my arrival is there as well.  This year, in addition to each weeks newsletter article, I’ll be adding additional posts on general topics, strategic work, student interviews, and information about other educational topics between the Wednesday posts.  Looking forward to our dialog together.

Best wishes to all for your final time at home or in your travels, a wonderful first week, and a successful new year!

Mr. Z

Saying Farewell

In a home or domestic school, saying goodbye for the summer holidays is not as common as it is in the international world.  When you are in a neighborhood school, the chances are high that you’ll see that person the very next day on a playground or in a local market, or maybe just down the street while riding your bike.

But, in the international school world, saying goodbye in June can be quite profound.  We already know that many will be heading off to new adventures and will find new homes in far away places.  For some, it is a return home after living here and calling it “home” for some period of time.  Students know that our goodbyes, however measured each year, means that some of the people we are bidding farewell may not be near us again for a long, long time.

At least in this world today, unlike decades ago, there are many wonderful ways of keeping in touch.  Technology has helped us keep track of friends around the planet, making us feel at times like they have never left us.  For international students, it’s far more likely that they will experience how small the world is and cross paths with old friends again in their continued travels.  We are, after all, truly global citizens.

I wish you well in your traveling, hopeful that we will either see each other again in August, and embrace like we never left, or we will cross paths again when destiny decides, with powerful memories and a heart filled with joy.  On a distant shore, as you look into a night sky filled with stars and planets, wave to all of your friends, wherever they may be.  Somewhere, another Warrior will also be looking up, smiling, and returning the greeting!

Once a Warrior, Always a Warrior!!

Closing Ceremony Livestream

Friday, the last day of school, on June 22, we offer up again our closing ceremony starting at 10:45 a.m.  We will be Livestreaming the event at the following link:

https://livestream.com/accounts/15498644/events/8237556

Closing Ceremony Livestream

Next Friday, the last day of school, on June 22, we offer up again our closing ceremony starting at 10:45 a.m.  We will be Livestreaming the event at the following link:

https://livestream.com/accounts/15498644/events/8237556

Local Area Water Issues

We’ve had a string of water issues over the last week since our last eNotes.  Last week, Sunday, and again yesterday (Tuesday), the school and general area of Konstancin was without water for a short time in the morning between the hours of 5:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m.  In all cases, our systems alerted us to the problem in the early morning hours and GTC, the developer of the local housing area, informed us that a pump had malfunctioned causing reserve water to be depleted.  In all three cases, GTC called maintenance crews to the site which required a 45 minute response time.  Then, an additional wait time was required until the reserve sufficiently filled before the water could be turned back on.  In all three cases, this was another 45-60 minutes.  We instituted normal health protocols at school by limiting early morning access to bathrooms and close monitoring.  We also re-routed some restroom traffic to the annex building which is setup with its own rainwater reserve system that can be utilized even when external water supplies are shut off.  Given the timing and the estimates provided by GTC for repair time, we did not have any impact on other services and no consideration was given to closing school.  If we had received indication from GTC that repairs would push us beyond our 10:30 a.m. threshold, other measures would have been taken and additional communication would have been sent to parents, including the potential for mid-day school closure.  In these instances, those measures were not necessary.

We understand from GTC that they are in the process of making a final switch from the pump based system to a municipal water supply.  That switch over is planned in the coming days and this should resolve any further outages.  But, we continue to meet with GTC representatives to assure our water supply to the school as a priority with shortened response times when problems emerge.  For those who reside in the nearby area, we encourage your involvement in working with GTC to assure that we all have reliable systems in our local area and reaffirm our commitment to GTC as a partner in this work.

Departing and New Faculty & Administration

You will find today on Zimplicity a summary of departing and arriving faculty and administrators for the next school year.  It’s great to be getting to know our new Warriors and we’ll be saying goodbye to our current Warriors who are on their way to new adventures!  Please join me in thanking them for their service and in welcoming the new faces who will be arriving in August!  You’ll find the comprehensive summary here:

https://zimplicity.org/asw-new-facultyadmin-for-2018-2019/

A few items on the final horizon as we approach the end of the year.  Just a couple of bullets for your attention:

• Parent Survey kicked off with wonderful participation in its first weekend.  If you did not receive an email from the school requesting participation, please contact us as we have sent the invitation and the first reminder.  Check junk folders just in case the message accidentally found its way there instead of your inbox.  Contact us if you did not receive it and we’ll check the email addresses to make sure you receive your invitation.
• Closing Ceremony this year will be Friday, June 22 @ 10:45a in the Annex Gym.  We will be live-streaming the event as well as welcoming all to our standing room only assembly bringing closure to our year and including our parade of all nations.
• Summer School continues to accept registration through our CHQ system.  The Athletics and Activities office will be offering another year of wonderful activities during the first two weeks of the summer, June 25 to July 6.

Safety Note

There was a serious accident along the road behind the school property, Powsinska Street on Sunday. The accident included a bicyclist and vehicle.  The cyclist lost his life in the accident.  Our security team spoke with the officers responding to the incident and the causes of the accident likely included high speed of the vehicle, wet pavement and minimal sight lines.  The driver of the vehicle is in custody.  We do not believe any member of the school community  was involved.  But, as a safety precaution, I’m informing the community that we can no longer recommend Powsinska Street for bicycle traffic and we further recommend that cars entering our back entrance pay close attention to speeds on this road to and from the school.  Many parents have reported close calls on that road and, while it is a popular route to the school’s back entrance, we need to increase our awareness and caution on this stretch of pavement.

Later this week, you will be receiving and important email from the American School of Warsaw inviting you to participate in a schoolwide survey.  Similar to our last survey of this type conducted back in 2016, we begin an annual process for gathering regular and consistent data from parents and students about our programs and services.

In his book Visible Learning, John Hattie confirmed that data and research is one of our best tools for continuous school improvement.  One of the most important tools we have is our own action towards gathering feedback and developing action plans around these measured results.  The survey you are being asked to complete will be used annually at the end of each school year and progress will be monitored over time.  Only about 10-15% of the survey will change each year, such that we maintain a solid core of data that can be compared year after year.

Note that each parent will receive a seperate email for EACH student in the family.  Invitations include a personalized link to the survey that is associated with a specific child and parent.  Each survey is somewhat customized based on the grade level of the child, but many of the questions will be the same for each child in a given family.  Anonymity is protected in the application since responses are recorded in a database that is seperate and unlinked to our invitation list.

All parents are invited to interpret their child’s experience and their own understanding of that experience to contribute to the survey, potentially differently for each child.  In some cases, one parent or the other may choose not to participate.  A seperate link in the email will allow a parent to opt out of the survey.   If you do not participate and use the link provided, you will continue to receive email reminders from us until the survey closes on July 1, 2018.

We will compile the results and start sharing the findings in the fall shortly after the opening of school.  Thank you in advance for your kind attention to this important task!!

To all of our special guests, faculty, administration, parents, friends, and family members – we thank you for your pride and presence as we celebrate this, our 25th commencement exercises for the class of 2018.

First, my sincere gratitude to Rob Batchelder for your words and your friendship in our graduation ceremony today.  It is a testament to the longstanding relationship between the American School and the US Embassy in Warsaw.  But, more importantly, it will be my fondest memory of our time on this path together.

Mr. Sheehan, thank you again for confirming your deep bond to the students you serve along with your brilliant team.  As always, you are proud of them and, in return, they honor you with their trust and admiration.

Christina and Sara, thank you for representing your classmates so eloquently.  You both captured the experience brilliantly, each in your own special way.

Dr. Taylor, I thank you for your inspiration and wisdom.  As promised in our assembly yesterday you effectively juggled  your words, bringing a message filled with heart and promise.

Students, your teachers know you as engaged learners, empowered by your passion, caring of each other, and motivated to accomplish big goals. Faculty, counselors, and administrators seated before you are beaming with pride.  And they are a talented group who do not consider their work to be the filling of a vessel, but more the launching of a ship.  Their nurturing spirit has prepared you for your voyage and the many challenges on the horizon.

We know as an international community that many here on this stage have had other schooling experiences before joining us in Warsaw. Also, some stay with us for a time, leave for a bit, and then return. It is part of being an international school that we embrace this constant flux of change and transition.  But, as has been my tradition in many schools over a number of years, I’d like to recognize some special Warriors on this stage, nurtured from the beginning of their schooling experience entirely to graduation at the American School. As I call these names, please stand and remain standing so that we can recognize all of you as a group:

10? Students have been identified as having been here since either Pre-Kindergarten or Kindergarten:

Kindergarten:

• Alexander C.
• Matthew M.
• Maximilian O.
• Chan Woo P.
• Oskar P.
• Sarah H.

Pre-Kindergarten:

• Kashish K.
• Michal K.
• Iga L.
• Sara M.

Please recognize these students and their families as our Warriors of longest standing.

525,600 minutes – No that is not how long my speech is going to be.

525,600 minutes How do you measure, Measure a year – these are lyrics from a song entitled Seasons of Love from the Broadway Musical Rent.  It’s a powerful song that filled my ears recently and I’m always caught by how it’s one of those tunes that seems to bridge generations.

But, in particular, a key lyric buried in the song goes like this:

It’s time now to sing out,
Though the story never ends.
Let’s celebrate, remember, a year in a life of friends.

525,600 minutes.  A metaphor for our celebration today.

But I thought I would do a little math of my own…

Let’s see – 13 years of school times180 school days, 6 hours per day, 60 minutes per hour:  I know there is a math whiz on this stage that already knows the answer…

842,400 minutes – That’s the journey of your education.

Oh – but wait.  If you add a couple of years of pre-school, it sizes up to over 950,000 minutes.  Then, I started thinking, maybe there was also a bit of summer school and maybe some after school activities, homework time, extended essay research, a few weekend trips for school related sports or academics, some service time on the weekends at animal shelters, and possibly a lesson or two from a piano teacher.  So, since we are all friends here, let’s just round it up to a nice even one million minutes.  1 million minutes invested in your education so far.

Much of life is about perspective and there is a truth about this perspective.  Here it is:  You will never go to school as much after this day as you have already completed.  Even if you go on to complete a MA and PhD investing about 8 years’ of time, it will still pale by comparison to what you have already invested between the time you started walking and talking, and TODAY.  1 million minutes.  Job well done!  Putting it in perspective, the next learning journey should be a piece of cake!

I value that this last year, your 64,800 minutes, will be many of the most remembered.  As noted in our proceedings, you have been a powerful and capable class.  We watched you listen, learn, study, struggle, and dance.  I hope that the entire experience of your education has given you perspective that you too can take into life.  Value each other always, gather family and friends close at every opportunity and cherish the precious moments past, present, and future.

Two years ago was a special graduation for me, owing to my first born son crossing a stage very similar to this one, and I am now contemplating a similar moment for my daughter just one year from now.  My closing and traditional message is gleaned from my perspective as a father, privileged to have led the schools where my two children have studied and will have graduated.  This traditional message, I will note, is particularly poignant on Mother’s Day.

In these final words, I speak for the parents in the audience and I know this will resonate in their hearts as it does in mine:

To the children in the Class of 2018 — when we say we love you, as we often do, it is not because of habit or routine. It is because of how we really feel deep inside each time we utter the words.  The following has been and always will be true:

• you inspire us
• you complete us
• you give our lives meaning

While we will feel lost without you during the times we are apart, we are so proud of your launching, warmed by the anticipation of all that we know you are yet to become.

We love you so much!!

Go forth all of you — embrace your family and then life!!

At this time, I ask Principal Michael Sheehan and Chair of the ASW Board of Trustees, Mr. Rob Batchelder to please join me on stage for the conferring of diplomas…

A short note to herald the work being done by staff throughout the school in regards to the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that is coming into effect this month.  We are working diligently to implement all of the components of the new regulation and part of the process has been incremental changes to some of our agreements and systems that help us manage information that is processed on a daily basis.  We’ve done extensive data mapping and continue to work with an international working group on the topic.  Many of the systems at ASW were already compliant with the upcoming regulation and we are moving quickly to assure that all systems will be fully compliant in the coming months.  While we plan to have a more comprehensive campaign regarding this important new regulation, it’s a good idea to become familiar with the regulation and the stipulations therein.  You are likely already receiving notices from various online companies about your  participation in their systems and we will have similar as we return to school in August, if not earlier, via our PowerSchool system.  We presented our comprehensive audit on the topic to the board on Monday and clarified next steps in our process.  Policy was presented for first reading and we are well on our way to the next steps.  If you want to learn more about GDPR, you can go to the EU website on the topic at https://www.eugdpr.org

Other items of attention:

• Please come and join us on Saturday for the Warsaw Spring Cup, our first annual invitational track meet.  Along with visiting schools from Krakow, we’ll have guests from multiple schools here in Warsaw to join us for an event co-sponsored with local track club RK Athletics and our honored guest, Robert Korzeniowski, Poland’s Olympic Gold medalist race walker.  The opening presentation begins on Saturday at 9:00a in the Annex Gym.  Also on hand to help us in opening the ceremony will be John Armstrong, the US Embassy Economics Counselor and himself a former high school track participant.  Please join us!
• There will no longer be a printed version of the calendar. All events can be found at the online calendar on the ASW website https://www.aswarsaw.org/about-us/calendar. The Academic Calendars for next school years are listed on the websites as well. They can be downloaded and printed.
• This is a reminder for all interested ASW families to sign up for the ASW Summer Camp 2018. There are still some spaces available and we are going to open it to a wider Warsaw Community on June 4th.  The details are below under School Wide section of this eNotes.

Accreditation

It’s important to gather our key documents together and you can now access the entire accreditation report via the link below.  We’re happy to share this compiled version that includes the letters of accreditation from both CIS and NEASC along with the entire self-study and the visiting team’s comments.

http://bit.do/aswaccreditation

ASW Robotics Team

The ASW robotics team returns from the FTC World Championship in Detroit where the world was most definitely their classroom.  Out of 134 competing teams from all over the world, our team ended up 55th in their division. Bouncing back after numerous challenges, each of the member of the team pulled together and never gave up. The students had examples and were helped by many teams from all over the globe.  Friends were made and collaborations happened on many levels. Tips and technology that were shared helped us to get on our feet. Felix Morenc stepped up and became an FTC student ambassador from our team.  Shevy Gupts and Jack Kolenbrander spearheaded efforts for the tasks in the Fed Ex challenges. Juwon Park and Max Turner tirelessly coded and tweaked the mechanics of the robot during every minute of the pit time.  On a terrific side note, the boys had accommodations in the center between the home stadiums of the Detroit Lions, Tigers, Pistons, and Redwings. The team comes back in good spirits, more skilled, more knowledgeable, and eager to share and continue to develop the robotics program at the American School of Warsaw.

Campus Safety

A big thank you again to many of our community who assisted in arranging for the installation of our new road in back of the school.  We are still fine tuning this entry, but have a wonderful access for our families that depend on this entrance.  Thank you again for improvement in following all of our on campus rules and please note the new painting of lines and signage that should help you make the parking area safer for all of us.  A reminder that there is no parking in yellow areas and please also check your speeds on campus. We need to be going very slowly at all times and we appreciate your compliance with this important safety expectation.

High School Play

Students have worked very hard getting our last dramatic production ready for you this week.  It is a wonderful family friendly play that will offer both an evening and matinee performance.  Please join us for one or both:

The HS production of You Can’t Take it With You  is THIS Friday at 6pm and Saturday at 2 pm. Tickets for this hilarious, family-friendly comedy are 10 zloty, and will be on sale this every day this week outside the cafeteria, from 12:30 -1:50 or at the reception desk at other times. Some tickets may also be available at the door.

These students deserve a full house!!  Please join us!!

And, by the way, you can also cheer on our lady Warriors at the CEESA MS Girl’s Softball tournament before and after the play on both Friday and Saturday!

Limited Security Staff on Duty

During the vacation, we will have a lighter staff managing the facility.  You may find, during off hours, that the front metal gates will be closed.  We do have an intercom system installed near this entrance and you can call for assistance, but may need to wait for the guard to come from the building monitoring area.  For times where scheduled activities are booked, the normal procedure will be followed with guards greeting at the front entrance.  The back gate will be closed for the entire vacation.

We will still be hosting IB exams next week, so front entrance will be open in the morning and afternoon for students and staff who are on duty from Monday through Friday.  The admissions office will also be open next week for scheduled appointments.  If you have an urgent need, you can contact the direct Security Desk line at +48-22-702-8518.

Parking Lot Painting

Now that the weather has cleared, we will be refreshing the parking lot lines on the school grounds, including the crosswalks, arrows and general markers. Areas of the parking lot will be closed while this work is undertaken, further limiting access during the week.

As part of our work, we’ll also be adding yellow paint to curb areas that will now be clearly marked as “No Parking.”  These yellow areas required that drivers remain with their vehicle and much of this area constitutes our “Kiss and Go” zone for both pickup and drop off. You may not leave your vehicle unattended in these areas and any pause for more than a minute will require that you turn off engines while you wait.  If there is no space in the yellow area, you may continue to circle around the Elementary or Upper School zone, or you can park at your discretion.

Your attention to all of our painted areas is appreciated.  Currently, we are seeing great improvement in adherence to our traffic guidelines, which is making our campus safer for everyone.  I also appreciate the way that drivers are paying attention to turning their engines off while they wait in order to protect our environment.  Thank you for your cooperation with and collaboration in these improvements!!

Mark Your Calendar

Tickets for the hilarious comedy You Can’t Take it With You are on sale now outside the cafeteria from 12:30 -1:50 each day.

This family friendly HS production runs Friday, May 11th at 6pm and Saturday, May 12th at 2pm. Tickets are 10 zloty, so hurry and get them now!

MAKER FAIRE 2018

It’s time!!  It’s our second annual tradition at ASW to bring all of our Makers together for an extravaganza in the form of a Faire – and we need YOU!!!  Please join us in helping at the many booths that will be setup on the day.  Activities for all ages, parents demonstrating or just helping in making sure students have exposure to the beauty and elegance of creation from design.  Whatever you think you might be able to share or even if you can just help on the day, this is a pivotal opportunity for the community to come together and provide a unique experience for our kids that is closely aligned with our core values.  WE NEED YOU!!!

Head here to sign-up: https://goo.gl/SoorkD

CEESA Concert Opportunity

We have a very special event this weekend as we host the CEESA Band and Choir gathering at ASW.  For all of you, it means lots of music going on around the school with our many guests that arrived today!!  There is a unique opportunity to join us for a finale concert on Saturday night at 6:00 p.m. in our Theater.  All of the visiting students and our own students will perform for us after some days of collaboration and practice.  Given our recent wonderful presentations, this event promises to be a real tweet.

We had a wonderful Band and Choir Concert on Tuesday night, with our students providing us with instrumental and vocal bliss, regaling the seasons through song and dance (loved the Rumanja shuffle)!  Rock and Rota last weekend was also a wonderful success with guitar festival following that had melodic harmonies wafting through the rafters throughout the school. Thanks go to the entire Performing arts teams, but especially to our directors: Ms. Bechdoldt, Mr. Armstrong, and Mr. Celinski.

So, I’m shouting out a challenge to all to help us fill the theater for one more performance coming on Thursday night for the Middle School Band and Choir, 6:00 p.m.  Please think about joining us and applauding for our kids to honor their preparation and commitment.  Will be an engaging night of song, all as we also prepare for our 130+ guests coming to the CEESA Band and Choir Festival the weekend of April 18-22.  Book now for Saturday night, April 21st, to join us in the Theater for the finale of the festival, which always promises to thrill and impress!

Finally, a note of encouragement:  In the spring time, we all beginning to focus on thinking ahead to next school year.  In that regard, it is time for returning parents to start considering their role in partnering with the school beyond just being a parent.  ASW has always placed a high value on our parent partnership.  Many roles for next year are beginning to emerge that are seeking your time and talent.  In the early stages, we earnestly ask you to consider taking on roles in PTO as they start to finalize their leadership team for 2018-2019.  Whether as committee chair or on the board, they need leadership that will continue to build and inspire everything possible to extend and enrich the school experience for all of our students and families.  Scroll down to the PTO section to find out more and please contact PTO leaders quickly to get involved!!

 

 

What a beautiful day today!!  I hope you all enjoyed the wonderful spring weather and basked in the sunshine.

It was great to also get our traffic back to normal with the re-opening of our back entrance.  With the traffic now rebalanced back to our regular flow, the lines and wait times disappeared.    You may now readjust your departure times accordingly so that all are arriving at their usual time.

As noted in my message, we are thankful that the Hinckfuss family allowed us to return to access of our road while negotiations continue.  We are hopeful of a positive outcome, but we should caution that legal matters can sometime be unpredictable as we work towards longer term solutions.  To that end, we have backup plans now in place should they be required.

We want to thank the many members of the community that stepped forward with ideas and suggestions.  We gleaned many suggestions from others and appreciate tremendously your contributions.  In particular, the support of the Real2B developers and their willingness to work with us on alternative plans was very helpful and much appreciated, setting the stage for a wonderful partnership in the future.  But, particularly want to mention Mr. Peter Wasserman for his support in recent days.  Thank you so much for your help!!

Also, thanks go out to everyone for pulling together during our entrance challenge.  We all appreciate how all demonstrated tremendous flexibility and patience during our traffic lines.  Still smiling as you entered the front gate each day, despite the long wait, was a wonderful testament to our sense of community and the partnership we all enjoy!!

Last Friday, ASW received word that our re-accreditation process was successful and we were awarded full accreditation by the Council of International Schools (CIS).  Ray Davis, Director of School Support and Evaluation was particularly thoughtful in his commendations:

In reaching their decision, CIS took into account the Evaluation Team’s commendations which were based on evidence of effective alignment with the standards for CIS International Accreditation. In granting the award of accreditation, CIS felt that the commendations – or strengths of the school – far outweigh any areas in which the school was deficient. Of particular note are the following:

• the thorough, inclusive, reflective manner with which the American School of Warsaw Self-Study Report was generated
• the identification and implementation of core values as the touchstone for strategic planning and all decision-making (Sections A and C)
• the creation of student-centred teaching and learning policies to guide instruction and assessment (Sections B, E, and F)
• the development of service learning as one means of engaging students as global citizens (Sections A and F)
• the concerted effort on the part of the Board of Trustees and Director to develop a ‘robust’ Board Manual establishing clear roles and responsibilities as well as policies guiding school operations (Section C)
• the positive school culture evident through respectful and supportive interactions among all stakeholders (Sections D and F)
• the strong financial health of American School of Warsaw (Section G)

These strengths and others should be celebrated by the school community.

As with all schools around the world, our job of continuous improvement is never complete.  The action plan in the final report, largely authored by our team, has carefully articulated our path forward.    With the additional insight and recommendations of the visiting team, we’ll set about that work in the immediate months and years ahead.

The New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) performed a joint accreditation with CIS and we expect that their findings will be largely aligned.  Our next report of progress on their recommendations will be compiled in the Spring of 2020.  The full report will eventually be posted for all to review after these results have been presented to the board at our April meeting.

A quick note with regards to the board.  Aspiring Board Member training is next week and there are still spots available for your participation.  The link for signing up and details can be found here:  https://goo.gl/forms/HuxZ5JGk0bO5lO9z2