Category: school

Thankful

I thought I would offer a note to share my thoughts on this day that we keep in our holiday mix to support those cultures that have a day of Thanksgiving incorporated into their culture and traditions.  While other countries may celebrate this on other dates, the idea behind an annual opportunity to offer thanks is very embedded in the American home and family.  As was shared at a recent PTO meeting, there are many things associated with this holiday beyond the turkey and trimmings.  For Americans, it is a time to cherish family and offer thanks for all the gifts that have been given to us throughout the year.  It is a celebration of half full rather than half empty, a time when even those in the most difficult of circumstances find the silver lining of life and offer mind and heart to things like health, safety, sustenance.  For myself, I’m thankful for so many things that it is hard to identify any one thing.  I’m thankful for my school, thankful for the families and friends borne over a year of embracing a new home, thankful for the many wonderful things that Warsaw and Poland treat me with each day, and thankful for the colleagues and partners across the entire staff of ASW, connected together through commitment and common purpose.  I’m thankful for the blue skies and the falling rain.  I’m thankful for the opportunity to improve the lives of others.  I’m thankful for the special moments with family, sipping the nectar of a child’s accomplishment or the lovingkindness of a doting spouse.

I hope you find the many things that inspire you this weekend.  Whether traveling or enjoying time at home together, may this weekend give you opportunity to reflect on the way that your life is filled with the important things life offers!

Parking Lot – Car Idling

A quick environmental note.  It has been brought to my attention that there are laws in play in Poland that restrict the idling of occupied and stationary vehicles.  According to the regulation, vehicles are only allowed to sit in one place idling for a couple of minutes before drivers should turn their engines off if they intend to wait for a longer period.  Fines for breaking this regulation vary, but it is clear that police will give tickets associated with this offense.

There are environmental reasons for this and we would ask parents who are waiting to pick up students after school to please comply with Polish law on this matter and turn off engines if sitting stationary for more than a minute.  You’ll be doing us a favor in both following the law and protecting our precious air quality.  Thank you in advance for your attention to this.

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.  There are still a few spots available.  Like last year, I’ll be leading 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 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 30, 2017 at 6:00 p.m.

If you would like to participate, you can sign up by clicking here:  https://goo.gl/forms/cfjli5MvNnwzNiNs2

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 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 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 30, 2017 at 6:00 p.m.

If you would like to participate, you can sign up by clicking here:  https://goo.gl/forms/cfjli5MvNnwzNiNs2

Just a few updates this week on things happening around campus.

Cafeteria ID Card Initiative

We worked with the cafeteria this year to design and organize a school ID that would work with the cafeteria cashless system, but which would also work for other school wide systems including Library and general identification.  In coordination with CPS, we distributed ID cards to all Upper School students in grades 6 to 12.  During our pilot phase, use of the ID card for the cashless system provided by CPS, the speed of transactions increased significantly and lines were far faster.   But, now students are relaxing their use of the cards and we would like to re-energize the use of cards as a better option when compared to the lookup system (with photo) and the use of cash.  We plan in the coming weeks to work in partnership with CPS to separate the use of cards into identified lines during the lunch hours.  Those using cash or the lookup system will be restricted to one line that is already currently labeled in order to get students ready.  We are considering further the phase out of the lookup system in favor of identification cards in order to both speed the line and reduce the potential for erroneous entries.  Please help us by encouraging students to bring and use their ID card.  We will be doing the same in assemblies and classrooms in order to change our habits in favor of this preferred approach.  If you don’t currently have a cashless account with CPS, applications are readily available and the account can be easily linked to the current ID card.  Replacement ID cards for lost or stolen items can be handled at the divisional offices.  Parents can also get a barcode sticker for their parent ID cards to use the system in similar fashion.  Please contact CPS if you have any questions about this and thank you for your recent participation in their survey.

PD Day today…

Today was our last half day PD day and the work on our accreditation report and other important professional development went well.  In particular, our work on accreditation is yielding great results as we close in on our development of the final report.  We will be hosting the visiting accreditation team at our campus in February and will share more details of this visit in newsletters just after the holidays.  Thank you for your flexibility on these additional half days and your ongoing support of this important work!

I hope everyone had both a wonderful October break and that you fully enjoyed Halloween and All Saints Day!  It was evident that many who I spoke with were feeling refreshed and renewed by this break, helping us get ready for the many things on our agendas in the weeks before our longer Holiday Break.  It’s hard to believe that we are almost at the halfway point of the year and much, already, to look back on that inspires reflection.

The most recent memory, and one not to be missed in offering our gratitude, is our recent United Nations Day.  A HUGE thank you to PTO and all the parents who cooked and created and shared their talents on the day.  It was a fabulous event, casting yet another shadow on all prior years with more countries represented and more engaging activities for kids across the campus.  Our assembly was a wonderful kickoff for the day and we were all enriched by our diversity on display.  Thank you all involved for your dedication and commitment.

Stepping Up

One of our key messages during United Nations Day spoke to the important imperative of contribution in a community that is dedicated to the collaborative approach in nurturing our children.  Our core value, “Work Together. Because without us all, we’re nothing.”  We reflected on the imperative in the statement that we must depend upon all of us finding our role in a community of learners.

Further down in this E-Notes you will find a plea from PTO for new leaders to step forward and help with time honored events that are scheduled on our calendar this year.  We know that there are many wonderful organizers in our community and we are looking for leadership.  As Brian Mason, our wonderful leader in PTO since my arrival last year, has given notice that he would like to hand his baton to the next in line for succession, we are looking for the leaders in our community who can step in for this role.  In addition, some of the events remaining this year are still in need of leaders as well.  For the school’s part, we are ready to support and help you take on a leadership role of this nature.  We just need some new partners and hoping that you will encourage yourself and others to step forward and help.

Admissions Survey

One last reminder, we still need your input on our Admissions Survey.  If you haven’t done so already, please head to this link and complete it if you will be leaving mid-year or if you plan to enroll additional siblings next year.  That survey is here:

https://goo.gl/forms/HWUEtDqJ4mlJ2dKz1

New and Aspiring Board Member Training

Please mark your calendars for the first session of New and Aspiring Board Member training.  Like last year, I’ll be leading session on School and non-profit board membership. If you have an interest in a position on the ASW board, or if you are looking to serve on other boards in the future, this training will help provide some of the key understandings associated with good governance.  Our first session will take place as follows:

Thursdays, November 30, 2017 at 6:00 p.m.

If you would like to participate, you can sign up here:  https://goo.gl/forms/cfjli5MvNnwzNiNs2

Finally, as many of you know, I’m in Shanghai this weekend revisiting the Learning2 Conference that I helped inspire 10 years ago.  They invited me to attend and speak as I take a position on the advisory board of Learning2.  I’ll be back on Monday and, speaking of Monday, we have our next board meeting of the year.  As always, meetings are public and you are welcome to join us!

Monday, November 6, 2017 at 6:00 p.m. in the MPR.

https://livestream.com/accounts/15498644/events/7790464/videos/164538325/player?width=640&height=360&enableInfo=true&defaultDrawer=&autoPlay=true&mute=false

A few quick updates in this edition…

UN Day tomorrow!!
Setup has begun and we are getting ready for a busy and wonderful day!  Assembly begins at 9:00 a.m. – seating (and standing room) will be available at 8:45a. Livestream is here:

https://livestream.com/accounts/15498644/events/7790464

To all the parents and particularly to the coordination under PTO and the capable leadership of Jessica Sirotin, we all thank you in advance for everything that will be on display tomorrow for all of our community, celebrating our diversity in wonderfully special ways.  Students will remember these experiences for many years to come and your sharing of time and talents is an important part of the Warrior spirit!!  Thank you, one and all!!

Admissions Survey
We still need your input on our Admissions Survey.  If you haven’t done so already, please head to this link and complete it if you will be leaving mid-year or if you plan to enroll additional siblings next year.  That survey is here:

https://goo.gl/forms/HWUEtDqJ4mlJ2dKz1

Safety and Security
We have had recent reports confirmed by police of home invasion robbery in the local area.  This is a general security reminder to all with regards to personal safety and security in your homes.  You should:

• Lock doors at all times, even if at home (this includes vehicles)
• Use your alarm (if one is installed)
• Ensure that items that could be used to force entry into a home are not left unsecured on your property.
• Report all suspicious activity to local law enforcement (Dial 112)

In regards to personal safety, it is always good to refresh your practices and make sure you have emergency contact numbers handy and report anything out of the ordinary to the local authorities.

And, Finally…
Wishing all a wonderful Fall Break next week!!  Whether you are traveling to a new adventure or staying in our own neighborhood, we wish you a nice mid-semester rest with renewed energy and enthusiasm for the Winter season that approaches.

At the administrative level and during this first part of the current school year, we often start thinking ahead to next school year and beyond.  It is our strategic nature to reflect on the results of our initiatives and programs during this first part of the year and think about the next year and how we will improve or otherwise sustain our work going forward.  While many professions experience this cyclical aspect to their work, education is particularly suited to an annual “do over” that allows us to get better and better with each iteration.

Our work in strategic planning is a key example.  While we work toward implementing our new core values, we are already considering the gaps that are being identified between what we are, and what we want to become.  The next phase of strategic planning is to translate these experiences into tactics that accomplish the aspirational work represented by our 5 values.  The results of Accreditation Self-Study will also inform this work.

But, we are also planning for the more operational aspects of school growth and assessing our overall school population in the face of growing demand.  At our most recent board meeting, we reported the lowest turnover rate on record for ASW and how this increased pressure has created waiting list at most grade levels.  To that end and in order to more effectively gauge our response to the upcoming registration season and the potential for turnover during the winter holidays, we would like you to take our annual survey from admissions.  In this survey, we want to know about the potential for mid-year departure and your early notification to us will help us place some of the students currently on our waiting lists.  But, we also want to know about younger siblings that will be applying for next year and with this message we want to inform you that current families of ASW are now allowed to apply early for admission of younger siblings for the 2018-2019 school year.  If you are planning to apply for next year, please fill out our survey and we will contact you with more details.  Thank you in advance for filling out our survey.  We want to hear from everyone in order to plan effectively for the remainder of this year and for next year.  Click here to complete the survey.  It will only take one minute of your time.

https://goo.gl/forms/HWUEtDqJ4mlJ2dKz1

Finally, looking forward to seeing you at United Nations Day which is fast approaching.  We are working out final details and a seperate message about our event will be coming shortly.  Very excited to see our diversity on display in all its pageantry!!

This week it is time to pause and reflect in the aftermath of a horrible tragedy in Las Vegas and contemplate our response to this and other tragedies around the world.  We’ve just emerged from multiple storms and significant human suffering in the United States, the crisis with Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, the multiple war and conflict fronts around the world, and now the worst mass shooting in US modern history.

First and foremost, we reach out our thoughts and prayers to all who may have been impacted by this string of misfortune.  We know that often members of our own community are connected through family and acquaintance with those who have been harmed by these events.  Our hearts reach out to those who are impacted by violence, no matter where or how.  Our most important human quality is our compassion for those in need and for those we have lost.

Please know that conversations at school often try to help students, in age appropriate ways, understand the bombardment of media and gossip.  We create open forums for expressing ideas and reflections on feelings that emerge in the shadow of significant events.  We will always try to make sure that this dialog is respectful and open to different points of view, valuing all in a comfortable and academic dialog.

Because we value diversity, I would also suggest that ASW, like schools of our nature around the world, aspire to values that seek to resolve conflict through peaceful means.  One of our most important values, and one that will be on display in all pageantry on United Nations Day, is the message of inclusiveness.  The idea that we can all sit together, seek redress to our concerns and not be excluded because our ideas or backgrounds are different than those across the table.  In fact, we not only embrace that diversity, we depend upon it to help us see things in ways we might not have considered – ways that can help us solve the problems that future generations must tackle.

Please join me in encouraging in our children, the ones we raise together as a village, to keep open minds and engaged hearts in all their encounters in life.  We are hopeful that the children we prepare today will find ways to eliminate the tools of violence in favor of ensuring that solutions to world problems are inclusive and empowering to all.

We are working with the Board of Trustees with various governance items starting from last year that includes updates to all of our policies.  This is also linked to our ongoing accreditation work and standards in the accreditation protocol suggest that policy is well written and effectively followed.  Our current policy manual with edits that were completed last year is available for review on the school website at the following link:

Board Policy 2017-2018

One such policy that underwent review last year is our attendance policy.  While we have always had language in our admissions and re-enrollment policy that speaks to attendance being a factor in consideration of students, the policy manual lacked clearer guidelines for attendance and the school’s expectations.  At the core, the overall effectiveness of school programs requires generally regular attendance.  The current attendance policy is here for your reference:

Policy 8.10 from Board Policy 2017-2018

This policy establishes standards that are incrementally more rigorous based on the age of the child and the growing importance of full engagement in increasingly rigorous content. But, the policy is clear that it can also be responsive to unforeseen circumstances of illness or family emergency and we encourage parents to approach principals when this is likely as soon as known.

We are still aligning our systems to report effectively relative to the policy.  For example, there is no more need for differentiating between excused and unexcused absences.  As stated in the policy, all absences are treated equally with regards to the limits established in the policy.  This encourages parent and student conversations that plan ahead for absences associated with activities and athletics to assure that potential total absences are considered.  As a school, we want to be thoughtful in the implementation of this policy and we do encourage parents to contact us early when mitigating circumstances force a conversation about student attendance.  We are always happy to discuss this with you at your discretion and as an important part of our partnership.

 

Dear Parents,

We are expanding our protocol this year and hoping to encourage greater involvement in our public board meetings.  Our first meeting of the year is Monday, September 25 at 6:00 p.m. in the MPR.  The advance packet of materials for the board meeting is published and available at the following link:

September Board Packet – Public

There is an opportunity for public comment incorporated into the agenda.  Information is available at the meeting on how to signup for this segment of the meeting.

School governance is a collaborative process and we look forward to your review and involvement.

Best Regards,

Jon P. Zurfluh
Director

 

School Photos

Last year we received good feedback from parents regarding our selection process and experience with a new school photographer.  As a result of that input, we entered into an open bid process again this year hoping to seek a new vendor for our school pictures.  We included additional parent input on that process from those who volunteered to assist.   In the end, as has already been included in prior newsletters, we are set to welcome Jesse Long to our campus on a pilot program using a true global photographer.  Jesse is well known to many of us in the international world and he has taken pictures for schools throughout SouthEast Asia as well as the European theater.  We are very excited to welcome Jesse to our campus and look forward to his interactions with students during the week long schedule of group and individual photo settings.  See your divisional news below for dates specific to each grade and divisional level.  If you need the order form, which must be returned on your child’s individual photographs day, you can click HERE and download it for printing if it somehow doesn’t make it home with your student.  A headmaster I heard about often quipped that the best unknown treasures lie in the bottom of your child’s backpack!

Danger Area

Please see the location in the map below that is near the school on the road we all use for traveling to the center of Warsaw.  We have become aware that this intersection has become very dangerous for drivers and bicycle riders due to the excessive speeds that are being used.  There have been a number of incidents at this intersection in recent weeks and it was devastating to find out that there was a bicycle fatality that many of you may witnessed on your way to the PTO BBQ on Saturday.  This is the location in question:

After reviewing the information available to us, we are recommending that all bicyclists avoid this intersection entirely.  The crosswalk shown here is insufficiently lit for crossing and the high speed of cars in this corridor and lack of traffic light will continue to make this an unsafe area to cross.  We would recommend that all inbound and outbound bicyclists continue on the 724 on either side of the road to the intersectionfurther south and use the traffic light to cross in this vicinity:

 

In order to dismiss rumors, one of our school teachers, Mr. McKenty, was one of the first on site at the fatality accident on Saturday and offered assistance, but others had already arrived and provided initial support to the victim as emergency services were responding.

We continue to recommend that all bicycle riders wear helmets at all times.  Even on short rides to school from nearby communities, building safe habits early is critical to make sure you are safe on the road at all times.  Remember also that all bikes must be walked within the boundary of the campus no matter which entrance gate is used.  Bicycles should all be parked in provided racks near all of the main entrances to the school.  Stay safe!!

United Nations Day

Just a quick note looking ahead.  We plan to have an all school assembly on United Nations Day on October 19th.  PTO and parents are already beginning to plan our United Nations Day this year and we have plans to kick off the day with an all school gathering at 9:00 a.m.  More details on United Nations Day will come home soon and we will also livestream the assembly so you can all participate from wherever you may be located.

Before my general thoughts this week, I wanted to offer a note of care and concern for those in our community that may have been touched by the devastating events in North America and the islands off her coast with the recent storms of Harvey and Irma.  I know that we have families and friends affected in Florida and further up the eastern coast and I’m guessing that many whom we know were also affected in Texas.  While I have heard mostly good news in the various reports of safety, I know that the challenges of the cleanup and recovery still lie ahead for these large populations and I know you all join me in wishing them well in addressing the challenges of the weeks and months ahead.

I’m always thoughtful about the changing seasons and how the cycle of the school year so closely matches the wisdom of mother nature.  With the waning days of summer, we are seeing the fruits of the final growing season all around us.  Similarly, the beginning work of the school year, fruits of our early labors, becomes the foundation of work that lies ahead, sustaining us through the deeper study and increasing independence in learning. With each iteration of the cycle, students find themselves more and more at the center of their learning until it leads them to the lifelong pursuits of profession and career. From the learning on display so far, I can only see great things ahead!

We have a particularly important waypoint coming up this weekend with the annual PTO BBQ on Saturday starting at 12:00p.  It is a wonderful time to build community and expand important relationships that will support and enrich us throughout the year.  Like at the PTO Mixer recently, it is a time where we encourage everyone to meet new people or find those that you maybe met recently and expand that relationship further.  We’ll have lots of entertainment, great food, and a unique opportunity to put your raffle tickets in on amazing baskets filled with valuable prizes gathered from our broader community.  This is the main annual fundraiser for the PTO and critical to their mission of supporting the school in important ways throughout the year.

It has been a great week back after a wonderful PTO event on the weekend.  Hopefully you took my challenge and got to know someone new at our mixer.  Now the work of the school year progresses in earnest.

First, we need to let you know about some schedule issues that will be affecting us in the coming weeks, starting with next Wednesday.  When planning this year’s calendar, we were faced with important work this semester on finishing our comprehensive review of the school through the accreditation process.  Like last year, we need time to complete this work and finish our report by December.  We scheduled, as we have done in the past, half days of school for students with staff continuing their work in committees and focus groups in the afternoon.  We have three of these that were established on the calendar last fall:

• September 13
• October 4
• November 8

This will be the last use of half days for ASW for the foreseeable future and is directly linked to our accreditation work, which is all but complete with these final reports and forums.

When we shifted the Wednesday early dismissal to late start, and our calendar decision to use Wednesday’s for accreditation work, we noted the conflict and understood that both together reduced the length of the day beyond a usable number of hours.  Seeking to assure a minimum half day of instructional time, we decided to make these three Wednesdays a normal start time rather than change the half days to other dates.  This is noted on all of our calendars and we are also sending reminders in other communications to make sure that all parents are aware for our first iteration of this next week.  Overall, the Wednesday late start has gone very well and we believe this feature of our schedule will carry forward.  But, it is unlikely that we will consider half day dismissals in future calendars.

Next month I’ll begin the process of  gathering input from all on our calendars for 2018-2019 and also 2019-2020.  I’ve carefully captured feedback from prior discussions and we will begin the drafting process now in preparation for ultimate board adoption in December.

Finally, my thanks to parents for their ongoing support of our grade level trips at all divisions.  Students, despite the wet conditions, are enjoying their excursions and engaged in important activities that will become a foundation for their learning and collaboration throughout the year.  My thanks to all who assisted in preparation and our sincere appreciation for the teachers and administrators who put in extra time and talent to make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible.

First a simple reminder to please join us at the PTO Mixer this Saturday at the Blue Cactus at 7:00 p.m.  Looking forward to seeing everyone for this important start of the year event.

Greetings from Arusha and the Ngurdoto Mountain Lodge where TEDGlobal 2017 is taking place.  I’ve had a wonderful experience here amongst some of the most inspiring minds in the world touching on topics that span from leadership to infrastructure, education to the arts, and politics to social change.  It will be hard to articulate this experience in easy phrases.  As I enter into my final day here, I can only reflect on all of the inspiration and insight that I have gleaned in my time here that will certainly have impact on my growing perspective of global issues.  This TED Global has been a particularly special one because it is the 10th anniversary for TED from the first TEDGlobal held on this same spot in 2007.  Many of the speakers and attendees from that original conference were in attendance here, adding all the more to the experience.

One in particular is Patrick Awuah, a talented young mind at the time, who inspired myself and many other leaders around the world with his inspired talk in 2007.

I had lunch with Patrick today, reinforcing my belief in the importance of nurturing leadership in our students, built on a foundation of character and insight.  The best quote from the video above is the response from a student to his professor simply stating, “I am thinking now.  Thanks.” This is the thank you message that all educators plan and hope for as we inspire minds.  I was first introduced to Patrick’s video in 2008 while I was still in Shanghai.  His message has inspired my leadership voice and I was able to share that with him today.

The many messages of this conference will find their way into my messages in the coming months.  Our core value of reaching beyond the classroom requires that we all consider the global context of our work together.  With the significant international diversity that we enjoy at ASW, it is our urgent hope that we build the skills in our students to face the challenge of the global issues that we will all face in the coming decades.  Our students must be prepared to address those challenges.  They must start “thinking” now!

You can listen to some of my reflections from the conference on my podcasting audio feed on Anchor below.  If you want to go further with the interface and the associated app, you can also dial in with questions and offer comments on the content presented.  I plan to use Anchor throughout the year to expand on my thinking as Zimplicity continues its central role in my communication to all of you.

http://anchor.fm/missivez

My thanks to the community and the Board of Trustees for allowing my absence at this critical time of year to participate in this unique opportunity.  I look forward to all that might emerge from this experience to enrich our community and expand our capabilities.

Core Value Focus

When students arrived on Tuesday, there was a flurry of shrieks and calls as students reconnected with friends, distanced by the summer vacation and now back together again.  But, there was also the reaching out to get to know new students to our mix and honest attempts to reach out and engage them in the different activities of the day.  At lunch time, some of our advisories had lunch together and spent the time getting to know each other, forming new connections that will lead to growing friendships.  One of our Core Values speaks to stepping across boundaries, trying new things and reaching beyond to new possibilities.  At the parent coffee on Tuesday, I concluded my brief remarks with a challenge – it’s time to find that one or two parents you don’t know.  Not just amongst the new parents, but across cultural and language boundaries to find new connections and experience the foundation of community.  Like our students, reach beyond the initial learning and reject the “So, what?” attitude.  Turn those connections into partners and friends.  Build the community we all desire!

PTO General Meeting & Community Event

To help in getting you acquainted with others, we have two PTO events that are also noted in the PTO section of the newsletter:

• The PTO General Meeting is tomorrow, Thursday, at 8:45a in the MPR – we will have guides and posters directing you for those who are new
• PTO Adult Only Mixer at the Blue Cactus,   ul. Zaj?czkowska 11, Warsaw,  00-785.  Saturday, September 2nd – starting at 7:00pm

Purpose: To mix new & returning parents, faculty, and staff of ASW
Dress: Casual / to your taste
Four food stations provided
Live music, then DJ
Beverages provided by the PTO until 9pm then it becomes no-host

New Year, New Handle (and new Guest Wireless Access)

Please look for us on Twitter and other social media accounts under our new handle:  @ASW_Warsaw – Follow us on Twitter and subscribe to our Facebook page.

We’ve also changed the Guest Wireless Access password on campus.  When prompted, the new password is “corevalues@ASW” – the password is case sensitive and should be entered exactly as shown.  For most devices, you will only enter this password once and the device should remember the password until the next time it is changed.  We change this password only occasionally and you’ll find this access password posted around the school.  This password is just for guests to the ASW campus.  Students and staff access the school’s formal internal network using their username and password as before.

TEDGlobal 2017

I’m announcing today that I’m leaving for a short conference this weekend that is a long held dream of mine. As a long time supporter of the TED format and content, I was pleased when my application was approved for attendance at the TEDGlobal event that is being held next week.  I’m sorry to be gone so early in the school year, but it was a unique opportunity I could not miss.  I’ll be traveling to Tanzania for the conference and more information about the conference and the many ideas that likely will return with me can be found here:  https://tedglobal2017.ted.com/?tedconf   I’ll look forward to sharing my experience when I return.  I’ll be writing and submitting my Zimplicity and Newsletter article next week from Arusha!!