CAC High School Principal’s Notes
Thank you for reading this week’s Highro-Glyphics. It was another busy week showcasing our students’ many talents. Congratulations to the volleyball teams for their spirited play at Crowd the Court. And mabrouk to the drama students who delivered beautiful performances at the musical cabaret.
Go Screaming Eagles!
Our soccer, volleyball, and cross country teams have departed for the inaugural ISAA tournaments in London and Geneva. Our World Scholars’ Cup team is off to the Tournament of Champions in New Haven, Connecticut. Good luck and safe travels to all!
Season 2 sports sign-ups are next week, with tryouts starting Wednesday..
Skyward Gradebook
The gradebook section of Family Access on Skyward allows students and parents to view student progress each fortnight. Teachers are available to speak to students face-to-face about progress and academic performance. Below are the dates the Skyward gradebook will be open for the rest of the semester:
Nov. 7 (today)
Nov. 21
Dec. 5
Season 2 Athletic and Activity Eligibility
Current grades as of this afternoon will be used to determine athletic and activity eligibility for season 2. We will also run a second eligibility check for season 2 based on final first semester grades.
November Holidays
Please note that there is no school this Sunday, November 10 for Prophet’s Day. There is no school November 28 for the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday.
HS Parent Coffee
Please join us on Wednesday, November 13th, at 9:30am, in room MS 115 for a parent coffee morning. We will be discussing final exams and other summative assessments: how students benefit from them, how teachers design them, how we prepare students for them, and how students can best prepare themselves.
First Semester Final Exams
Semester 1 final exams begin on December 15 and continue to December 18. Please do not make travel plans that depart before final exams are finished.
The final exam day-to-day schedule can be found here.
The month leading up to examinations can be stressful, busy times for students. We have a few suggestions to make in order to help alleviate the stress that most of our students experience as exams approach:
Your child should be working to make sure his/her class notes and graded assessments are in order and are readily available for study and revision.
He/she should be devoting some time per day to prepare for exams as well as making wise use of Flex times during the school week.
We encourage your child to make an appointment to see his/her teachers for extra help if needed.
Make sure your child is getting proper rest during the days/weeks leading up to exams. One of the best ways to prepare for an exam is getting adequate sleep.
Your child should avoid cramming – almost all academic studies reveal that cramming is not a particularly efficient method of test preparation. Continually self-testing throughout the semester has been shown by cognitive scientists to be one of the most effective ways to prepare for final exams.
Following these suggestions will not ensure a completely stress-free, pre-exam period for your child, but it will help alleviate harmful stress, thus providing for a better outcome.
Winter Vacation Begins December 20
Making travel plans for the Holiday Season, a reminder that the first day of Winter Break is December 20. The last day of winter break is January 11, as classes will resume again on the 132h of January at 8am, with an assembly in the theater.
Second semester exam dates are June 1-2 for seniors and June 3-8 for grades 9-11. Graduation is June 5. Please keep in mind while you plan your summer travels that seniors are able to depart after graduation and underclassmen after their final examination.
Jerry Duggan Rachel McCall
HS Principal HS Assistant Principal
Counseling Department Announcements
Freshmen,
On Tuesday and Wednesday next week, counselors will meet with Freshmen to discuss Developing Strengths and Deepening Involvement throughout High School. Additionally, the students will explore their multiple intelligence types and ways those could align with potential career interests.
Juniors,
Counselors encourage you to register for one of the upcoming standardized tests if you plan to apply to the USA or a system where the tests are required for your university applications next year. December is a good time to test before the business of spring in junior year (especially if you are full IB or plan to travel with your sports teams/ clubs). You can get a base line score and then retest in the spring to improve based on your goals.
Also, as you know, unfortunately, sometimes a test administration is cancelled by the testing company (which is out of our control), so having a score early is like having a safety net.
We are a closed test site for SAT (which means only CAC students test here); the deadline to register is Nov. 8th for the Dec. 7th test.
We are an open test site for the computer based ACT (students from other schools can test here with us). Therefore, we want our CAC students to sign up NOW before the spots are full. Don’t wait for the deadline of Nov. 22nd. Register now for the Dec. 14th ACT test.
Claudia Bean, Stephanie Barker, Cameron Simon
HS Counseling
General Announcements
ISAA Schedules
CAC will participate in tournaments in the new ISAA league held in London and Geneva on November 7-10, 2019. See the tournament event list and link to tournament schedules below:
• ISAA Girls Soccer @ TASIS, London, November 8-9
• ISAA Boys Soccer @ TASIS, London, November 8-9
• ISAA Girls Volleyball @ ISG, Geneva, November 8-9
• ISAA Boys Volleyball @ ACS Egham, London, November 8-9
• ISAA Cross Country @ ACS Hillingdon, London, November 8-9
http://blogs.cacegypt.org/athletics/2019/10/31/isaa-tournament-schedules/
The link to the tournament website (Boys & Girls Soccer at TASIS, London) is: www.tasisengland.org/ISAASoccer
Scott Fitzgerald
Activities and Athletics Director
Transportation Announcement
The Transportation Department would like to remind parents and students that friends are not allowed on buses. It is also not permissible to switch buses. Thank you for your cooperation.
Mohamed El Ghalban
Motor Pool Manager
Saturday Openings for November and December
The CAC Libraries will be open on the following Saturdays in the month of November and December:
– November 2
– November 16
– November 23
– December 7
– December 14
You can see the full list of Saturday openings for the CAC libraries here.
Josianne Fitzgerald
MHS & Head Librarian
Girl Scouts Leaders Wanted
There are four ninth graders who would like to continue their Girl Scouts careers. We need leaders to guide them. Please consider volunteering to lead this troop for the year. Girl Scouts at this level can lead their own meetings and projects, but they will need a liaison with the Cairo Council of leaders and with the USAGSO organization. Please email Sara Torosian, cairogirlscouts@usagso.org, if you would be interested in leading these girls. It’s an extremely rewarding experience; you will not regret it!
GSS Mark Your Calendars
Ereeny Gawdat
Service Learning Office
Story Fest
StoryFest is coming your way this December 10, 11, and 12. We have a dedicated team of organizers working to make this inaugural event a memorable one for the whole CAC community.
What is StoryFest?
StoryFest is a celebration of storytelling, in all its myriad forms, for all ages. Stories are how we interact with and understand the world!
Who is StoryFest for?
The festival will have events for all ages! We will welcome students, parents, faculty, staff, and alumni to the event. Some will be more geared toward adults, and others toward children.
Can you give me some examples?
• StoryFest will host musical performances from Hazel Ketchum and Bob Culver, two American musicians specializing in balladry and musical storytelling.
• Enas El Masry, an Egyptian journalist-photographer-blogger-storyteller, will give a TED-style talk entitled “Our Brain on Stories: Why Do We Crave Them?” which will explore the intersection of stories and personal identity.
• Giles Abbot, a dynamic performative storyteller, is joining us from the UK to contribute his artistic gifts.
• A team of students and adults will lead an introduction to the collaborative storytelling in roleplaying games. If you’ve ever been interested in why Dungeons and Dragons is having a cultural resurgence, try it for yourself (or another roleplaying game) with some helpful folks to guide you.
• Much, much, much more.
There are many ways to engage with StoryFest:
• Read a story in your native language at the Native-Tongue Story Open Mic event.
• Read a story or poem at the StorySLAM or PoetrySLAM events. Look for sign-ups and registration soon!
• Participate in the Flash Fiction contest. We will have categories for Flash Fiction (1000 words or less), Drabble (100 words or less), and Nano-Fiction (10 words). Look for sign-ups and registration soon!
• Record a reminiscence about CAC. Stories are being collected for CAC’s upcoming 75th anniversary!
Questions about the event? Contact Noah Balazs nbalazs@cacegypt.org.