CAC High School Principal’s Notes
Thank you for reading this week’s Highro-Glyphics!
Thank you to everyone who attended the High School Recognition/End-of-Year Athletic Awards Ceremony, and congratulations to all of the students who were recognized for their outstanding achievements. It was wonderful to celebrate our students!
Eid Mubarak!
Principal’s Notes Highlights:
● Eid El Fitr Holiday
● Graduation
● “Master Classes” for Seniors
● Skyward Gradebook
● CIS Virtual Preparatory Accreditation Visit
● Yearbook Orders
● Final Exams
● Student Virtual Meetings with Mr. Duggan
● E-Learning Reminders
● Moving on from CAC at the end of the year
Eid El Fitr Holiday
There will be no e-learning classes on May 24-28 in recognition of the extended Eid El Fitr Holiday. We wish everyone a restful holiday.
Graduation
We will likely not be able to provide an update on the status of graduation until after Eid. If we do have any additional information before then, we will share it with seniors and their parents.
“Master Classes” for Seniors
Seniors really enjoyed the two “Master Classes” this week. Here is a photo of CAC alumnus Chase Waites preparing the kind of quick, tasty dish a college student craves!
Skyward gradebook
Skyward gradebook will close for student and parent viewing on June 8 so teachers may finish grades. It will re-open when report cards are issued on June 15. Students with outstanding loans or fines will be blocked from Skyward before report cards are released on June 15. See the HS Morning Announcements for more details.
CIS Virtual Preparatory Accreditation Visit
This week, CAC enjoyed a Virtual Preparatory Accreditation Visit by Priscilla Feir from the Middle States Association and George Hobson from the Council of International Schools (CIS). This visit is the culmination of several months’ work during which the school has measured itself against core standards from CIS’s revised International Accreditation Framework (2019). A detailed Preparatory Evaluation Report has been submitted which the evaluators used as the basis for a series of meetings with stakeholders.. The evaluator’s schedule included meetings with teachers, parents, students, and trustees on themes such as the school’s purpose and direction, curriculum, teaching and learning practices, and well-being. In addition, CAC is excited to be one of the first schools undertaking a remote preparatory evaluation using a recently published virtual accreditation protocol that has been put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The school will receive a progress report from the evaluators which will be used to initiate a comprehensive self-study process starting next academic year and including broad representation from all stakeholders in CAC’s community.
Yearbook Orders
HS Parents, don’t wait to order your copy of the CAC 2019-2020 Yearbook!
Fill out the following HS Yearbook Order Form to reserve your copy. Yearbooks will be on sale for LE 550. After June 2nd, the HS Yearbook will be available for 600 LE. For multiple copies, please fill out a separate form for each copy you request. Google forms will send you a confirmation receipt once your answers are submitted. Make sure to print out your emailed receipt to claim your copy. Parents who will fill out the form will be committed to purchase the 2019/20 Yearbook. Pick up date will be announced soon. Please check the morning announcements for more information.
Final Exams
Given the unusual circumstances of this year, we have decided not to hold final exams as originally planned. This change will allow teachers to add some instructional time to their classes, enable us to provide students with alternative assessments to demonstrate their learning, and mitigate the stress that might come from high stakes testing in a novel learning environment. Please see the morning announcements for more information and for the revised schedule for June 3-8. Students should make every effort to attend a synchronous meeting for the last class of each block. Those who cannot attend because of time zone differences should communicate in advance with teachers regarding expectations for the last days of school.
Student Virtual Meetings with Mr. Duggan
I will try to run a few more Flex meetings with students in the last two weeks of school. If your child receives a Google Meet invitation, please encourage them to join in.
E-Learning Reminders
● We will continue the 2-day rotation of ABCD/EFGH for as long as we are using the e-learning platform.
● It is important that students try to maintain a regular schedule.
● Though e-learning remains asynchronous, students should make every effort to attend live sessions. When possible, teachers will record live sessions for the benefit of those who have connectivity problems or other issues.
● Remember that if you see an “N” in your student’s attendance in Skyward, it means their participation has been below expectations during that week. Please see the note below regarding the Skyward Gradebook.
● Teachers will continue to be available for office hours for a given class during the block that class would meet according to the two-day rotation. Of course, students may contact teachers by email at any time, but they should not expect to receive replies outside of regular school hours.
● It is very important that students also check email and respond to emails within 24 hours.
Moving on from CAC at the end of the year?
To help us with our planning for next year, and In order to prepare your records in time for your departure if you haven’t already done so, please use the link below to let us know if you are withdrawing from CAC at the end of this year.
https://www.cacegypt.org/index.php/cac-withdrawal-request
Jerry Duggan Rachel McCall
HS Principal HS Assistant Principal
Counseling Department Announcements
HS Parents, Common Sense Media is a website that has helpful articles about how students can navigate social media, school, and personal issues. This article is timely in that it offers suggestions on how to help your children during the pandemic:
Common Sense Media
10th and 11th grade HS families,
Over the years, CAC has provided students information regarding standardized tests that are traditionally used for US admissions (SAT & ACT). Along with holding the practice test each fall for students in Grades 10 and 11 (PreACT & PSAT), we have offered classes on campus from our preferred provider, Higher Ground Learning.
The application cycle and university admissions requirements will look very different for the Class of 2021 and 2022. Already at this point, more than 54% of US universities have dropped the requirement for standardized tests as part of the admissions process for Fall 2021 entry. The College Board and ACT are assessing if and where an in-person test may be offered next fall, and they are also looking into creating an online test option. However, if a university has already dropped the standardized test requirement for next cycle, they will not reinstate it.
Universities in the USA will continue to rely on transcripts, essays and academic resumes to assess their applicant pool.
Since many of you are applying to universities that may still require a test score, we want to make you aware of this test prep opportunity from Higher Ground Learning for next fall:
highergroundprep.com/enroll/CAC2020
At this time, it is not assured that Higher Ground Learning can send an instructor to Cairo to teach the class in person. However, they will be able to offer the course online. The link above gives details about the course including the fees. The registration deadline is June 5, 2020.
This is an individual decision, so please contact your counselor to discuss your circumstances so we can advise based on your plans.
11th Graders – Requesting Teacher Recommendation Letters
Please make sure to read Mr. Simon’s email that was sent on May 10th. This includes specific information about the process and deadlines you need to follow in order to request a teacher recommendation. A copy of that email can be found here.
Seniors, your counselors are staying up to date with the latest developments in university admissions for fall 2020. We will reach out to you with as much relevant information as possible. Also feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
Parents and students, please remember that your high school counselors are here to support you! We are a resource for questions that you may have about your classes, being organized for e-learning, future university goals, or just to chat about anything in general. We want you to know that we are here for you!
Claudia Bean, Stephanie Barker, Cameron Simon
HS Counseling
General Announcements
Moving on from CAC at the end of the year?
To help us with our planning for next year, and In order to prepare your records in time for your departure if you haven’t already done so, please use the link below to let us know if you are withdrawing from CAC at the end of this year.
https://www.cacegypt.org/index.php/cac-withdrawal-request
Registrar’s Office
Student Physical Reminder for 2020/2021
Dear Parents,
If your student will be entering grades 3,6 or 9 next school year, we ask that he/she is seen and examined by a doctor, and a physical completed and sent to the health office on or before the first day of school in August.
We are more than happy to accept early completed physicals as of now, either by email or hand-delivered to security at the front gate.
https://www.cacegypt.org/PDF/Student_Physician_form.pdf
Best regards,
Nagla and Claire
CAC Health Office
End of year dates
These dates have been modified to the new extended Eid holiday.
June 1st – last day of curbside delivery
June 4th – all library materials due
Please note that students who will be returning for the 2020-2021 may request to have their currently checked out books due dates extended to August. Students wishing to take advantage of this must email Mrs. Fitzgerald, librarian@cacegypt.org.
Students who do not clear their library accounts will not be able to access Skyward for their end-of-year report cards until they return all library materials or pay replacement fines.
FAQs for end-of-year MHS library procedures
Here is a list of frequently asked questions about the end-of-year procedures for the MHS library.
If this FAQs document does not answer your questions, please email Mrs. Fitzgerald, librarian@cacegypt.org.
Josianne Fitzgerald
MHS and Head Librarian
CAC PTO is happy to announce that the new Executive Board has been formed for the 2020/21 school year.
The CAC PTO Executive Board for 2020/21:
President: Ivana Lawrence
Vice-President: Tiffany Gaura
Secretary: Sara Salaheldin
Treasurer: Salma Zaky
ES CAF: Mariam Faltas
MS CAF: Tatyana Foda
HS CAF: Nada Doraid
Our current Board has lost several members already due to early departures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to ensure that PTO business goes on without interruptions, a few of the new members will step in to fill their new roles immediately, namely President, Secretary and Treasurer.
PTO