CAC High School Principal’s Notes
Dear High School Parents,
Welcome to this week’s edition of Highro-Glyphics!
Thanks to everyone who made it to the Virtual Coffee this week, as well as to the meeting for parents of seniors. I do hope we were able to answer your questions and provide some helpful advice. The next Principal’s Coffee is scheduled for November 18, but we will be holding grade-level meetings for parents every two to three weeks. We will announce the dates and times in this weekly newsletter. We think it is important to keep channels of communication open, and we hope you will be able to participate.
Thanks also to the 11th and 12th grade students who supported the counseling team with their Freshmen Seminar on Tuesday. The students gave great advice to the 9th graders about how to be successful in a blended learning environment: get enough sleep, keep a regular work schedule, find a distraction-free space to work. All of that will be particularly important in October, which is a busy month!
This week we rolled out some socially-distanced athletic activities for students to enjoy at lunch. Thanks to Ms. McCall and the several teachers who helped put it together.
Stay safe!
Principal’s Notes Highlights:
● NESA Parents as Partners Webinars
● Skyward Gradebook
● Upcoming Tutorial Day Changes
● October 8 Holiday
● Pre-ACT/PSAT
● Parent-Teacher Conferences
● Health and Safety Checklist
NESA Parents as Partners Webinars
NESA, the Near East South Asia Council of Overseas Schools, has been hosting a webinar series allowing parents “to hear from distinguished specialists and to explore and learn new strategies in support of your child as a learner.” I have heard good reviews from our parent community. CAC is a NESA member school, and parents can register for the series with Zoom HERE.
Skyward Gradebook
Skyward is the secured student information system used at CAC. The gradebook section of Family Access allows students and parents to view student progress. With students attending classes fewer days than normal, we think students and parents can find it a useful tool. We will open Skyward the morning of Sunday, October 4 and leave it open until the morning of October 18, when progress reports will be completed. Though teachers will update grades regularly, they are not expected to update grades continuously, and students should keep track of their own assignments and progress.
Upcoming Tutorial Day Changes
The Armed Forces Holiday, the PSAT/Pre-ACT exams, and Parent Teacher Conferences will all affect upcoming Tutorial Days. Please see the respective announcements below.
October 8 Holiday
As Dr. Harris has announced, CAC will celebrate the Armed Forces holiday on Thursday, October 8. There will be no tutorial day that week. The rotation for the week will proceed as follows:
Sunday, Oct. 4: A1
Monday, Oct. 5: A2
Tuesday, Oct. 6: E1
Wednesday, Oct. 7: E2
Pre-ACT/PSAT
On Wednesday, October 14, all sophomores will take the Pre-ACT exam on campus. All juniors will take the PSAT on campus. More details will be announced next week. The rotation for the week of October 11 will be as follows:
Sunday, Oct. 11: A1
Monday, Oct. 12: A2
Tuesday, Oct. 13: E1
Wednesday, Oct. 14: Grade 10 Pre-ACT, Grade 11 PSAT,
Grades 9 and 12 Tutorial Day
Thursday, Oct. 15: E2
Parent/Teacher Conferences
Parent/Teacher Conferences will be held online after school on Monday, October 19 and Tuesday, October 20. On October 11, parents will be able to start scheduling appointments. Instructions for how to book meetings will be sent next week. There will be no Tutorial Day that week, as students will be encouraged to attend conferences with their parents online.
Health and Safety Checklist
Please regularly review the checklists for students and parents (click here) related to health and safety. It is important we do not become complacent.
Jerry Duggan Rachel McCall
HS Principal HS Assistant Principal
Counseling Department Announcements
October 1
Covid-19 Wellness Resources
Families, please take a look at Center4Health for ideas and resources for managing wellness during the global pandemic.
Save the Dates:
Monday, October 5 at 5:00 pm Cairo Time
Boston University will be virtually visiting CAC to provide some essay writing tips, the best way to apply during a global pandemic, and to provide an overview of BU.
Please register directly by clicking here: BU Visit to CAC.
The link to join the event will be sent to you after you submit the registration form.
Monday, October 5th at 5:30 pm Cairo Time.
University of Toronto will have an open webinar for any senior or junior students in Cairo as U of Toronto will be going through the application process, admission requirements, and general information about the undergraduate programs at the University of Toronto. Learn more and register here! This particular event is not facilitated by CAC.
Monday, Oct. 12th at 7:30 pm Cairo time
University of California, Davis, will host a session specifically for CAC students about applying to the UC system and their new test optional policy. Registration details will be sent out next week.
Standardized Testing Update
As you know, the SAT in Egypt is cancelled for the 2020-21 application season, and the ACT is limited. 1,550 US universities are test optional for this year’s cycle and beyond. However, we know some parents are planning ahead for their younger students who may want to take part in a test prep course for future years. We want to make you aware of an opportunity to pursue test prep- which is online for now- and can resume in person here at CAC post pandemic. Higher Ground Learning offers standardized test prep options for CAC students, including 1-on-1 tutoring and small online classrooms. All of their services start with a free consultation; contact colton@highergroundlearning.com to craft an approach that fits your timeline and goals.
CAC HS Counseling Resources Webpage
Now available in the CAC single sign-on for students and families in grades 11-12, the CAC HS Counseling Resources Webpage. On this webpage you will find senior night programming information, including instructional videos and information for when students are applying to universities in the United States, UK, and Canada. Please also be sure to watch the videos on financial aid for US universities and how students should upload their university list to Maia Learning. Please utilize this webpage and feel free to leave feedback/suggestions by filling out the form embedded in the home page.
For students/families in grades 11-12, the link should be on your single sign on. An example of what it might look like for you is below:
Claudia Bean, Kasey Semler, Cameron Simon
HS Counseling
General Announcements
Student Physical Reminder for 2020/2021
Completed physicals are accepted at the health office, by email at cgallagher@cacegypt.org or nosama@cacegypt.org or hand-delivered to security at the front gate.
https://www.cacegypt.org/PDF/Student_Physician_form.pdf
CAC Health Office
Athletics
2020, CAC Fall Sports Conditioning Sessions- High School Students
CAC will start a fall sports conditioning program while still in phase 1 of the CAC reopening plan. The option will start for HS student athletes (G9-12) in volleyball, soccer, and cross country. Sessions will run with PE class mitigation procedures. The program will prepare students for a possible phase 2 move where mitigated sports practice sessions will start.
Sport conditioning times:
Group 1: Sunday and Wednesday, 3:15-4:15 pm
Group 2: Monday and Thursday, 3:15- 4:15 pm
Timeline:
• Sunday/Monday, October 4 and 5- online sign up period.
• Tuesday, October 6- Create pods of students for sessions.
• Wednesday, October 7- Set schedule/determine logistics for sessions.
• Sunday, October 11- start fall sports conditioning sessions for group 1 students
• Monday, October 12- start fall sports conditioning sessions for group 2 students
• Pre-season conditioning program in sport specific groups.
• This is not the beginning of the season 1 athletic program.
See the following link for information by sport:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1C9mFKI-7tRTYJarZGosxPHTvCClCZRh_jUGkZasS0Qc/edit
Sign up at the following link on Sunday and Monday, October 4 and 5. Please complete the signup process by midnight on October 5:
https://forms.gle/3hawLQ8aocFdVY6W6
(link will be open on Sunday morning through Monday at midnight)
Scott Fitzgerald
Activities & Athletics Director
Open Saturdays in October
The CAC libraries will be open on Saturdays on October 3, 17 and 24.
Please book a 30-minute appointment slot on the CAC parent dashboard’s: Campus Facilities Online Booking” form by 7 pm on Friday evening. You will need an appointment to enter campus and the libraries.
Josianne Fitzgerald
MHS & Head Librarian
The Booster Club Spirit Store would like to announce a limited opening coming October
4th until our online store is ready. For the next two weeks we will open our on-campus
shop in a Covid-safe manner. We will be selling 3 products:
PE UNIFORMS (limit 2 per child)
MASKS (limit 6 per family)
PTO DESK CALENDARS
The schedule for opening will be 8:30-11:30am and go by last name. PLEASE come on the day of the first letter of your last name as to avoid large groups. Here is the schedule:
Sunday, October 4 – Last Name A-F
Monday, October 5 – Last Name G-L
Tuesday, October 6 – Last Name M-R
Wednesday, October 7 – Last Name S-Z
Thursday, October 8 – School Holiday
Please line up outside Gate 7 that is beside the Spirit Store (it will be marked). The gate will be opened at 8:30am and we will allow 3 people inside the gate to shop with a provided order form. You will receive your items and pay through 2 open windows (only Booster Club Volunteers will be allowed inside the store).
Payments accepted are: USD, EGP and USD checks (from a US bank). Please respect the rules so that we are able to remain open for our community. Please go to the Booster Club’s Facebook page to see mask designs. Thanks so much
for your support!
The Booster Club
Let’s put our ideas together “THE IDEAS TANK”
Get Inspired by others! The below are some amazing ideas that were submitted earlier in response to the question; “How can we contribute to the community while maintaining physical distance & managing our own safety? explain by giving examples.”
1. Stay healthy and improve your immune system during covid-19 cooking class. Also learning quick, easy healthy meals for University. (done on zoom). – HS Student
2. Organize useful zoom talks, provide value through meaningful, yet safe involvement in community service, promote togetherness through projects that can be taken online, meet in small groups outside. – Parent
3. We can plan online and act in a small group that can go to different organizations. – Staff
4. Making a list of the best quality arts and crafts shops in and around Maadi made by disadvantaged people in our community. – Faculty
5. Maybe we can make a “love of wings”, a cloth that has two wings, each wing is one meter long, so it can keep the social distance. – MS Student
A NEW Question!
Proposed by a HS student
“What is your experience with initiating or participating in service projects in the Maadi/Cairo community?”. Click here to send your ideas: THE IDEAS TANK.
If you have any questions, please contact Ms. Ereeny Gawdat, Service-Learning Coordinator, egergess@cacegypt.org.
Service Learning Office
PTO CAC Talks
Salma Zaky is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting:
https://fundforteachers.zoom.us/j/91240179957?pwd=dmdwRW55aFVxLzBHMGhvTndCTElUQT09
Meeting ID: 912 4017 9957
Passcode: 866934