Zimplicity

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!!

   

Welcome to a new year and I’m hopeful that Day 2 was even better than Day 1, as it almost always is!  Building successes one day to another is our motto and I’m looking forward to all the energy and enthusiasm turning into accomplishment and accolades in the weeks and months ahead.

Just so that you know we are working on it, continued adjustments are coming in the cafeteria to work out the “kinks” that I noted in an earlier message would likely be the case.  We are making the necessary adjustments and today was much smoother.  While lines have been a bit long due to the new financial system, the general reflection on the food and preparation seems very positive.  Based on conversations with students today, they are very happy with the new choices and there seems to be something for everyone in the new lineup.  Additional updates to the website and communication (e.g. menus) are all coming soon and will start rolling out next week, including the long sought banking and credit card initiatives for online account management.

We have one bit of sad news that has hit us during our opening that I need to share. Minh Anh “Anna” Nguyen, Class of 2017, passed away on Tuesday morning, August 21, 2018. She was the daughter of Hung Le and Huyen Thithanh Nguyen and sister of Quan Manh “Kevin” Nguyen, from the Class of 2013.  Anna, who entered ASW in Grade 7 was a ray of sunshine to everyone on and off this campus.  Her smile, wit, sense of compassion, and empathy will be missed.  For those who may be concerned, funeral services are this Friday, August 24, at 9:00 at ul. Z?otych Piaskow 27C, 05-504 Antoninów.  I know you all join me in keeping the family in our thoughts during this difficult time.  Students in High School who knew Anna are understandably devastated and we want you to know that our administrators and counselors are standing by to help all who need assistance in dealing with this sudden loss.

 

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!!