CAC High School Principal’s Notes
Dear High School Parents,
Welcome to this week’s edition of Highro-Glyphics!
The mood on campus has turned festive this week, with the appearance of the holiday tree and decorations, the colorful good will of the Kindness Rocks project, and the first pennants being posted on our university offers board!
Adding to the atmosphere were the wonderful lunchtime performances in the Balcony Music Series. Kudos to our students in choir, band, and strings (and thanks to Mr. McCuaig and Mr. Dzamashvili) for sharing their beautiful music with us!
Season 2 conditioning also began this week, with basketball and swimming training after school. It is great to see so many of our students participating.
Our students continue to demonstrate resilience and strength. We are proud of them every day.
Stay safe!
Principal’s Notes Highlights:
● Grade Level Parent/Principal Virtual Coffees
● Dressing for Colder Weather
● December Tuesday Rotation
● Semester Exams
● Skyward Gradebook
● Health and Safety Checklist
● Winter Break Travel Plans
● Registration, Second Semester Exams, and Graduation
Grade Level Parent/Principal Virtual Coffees
Thanks to the Grade 12 and 11 parents who made it to the coffees this week. Here is the schedule for the remaining grade level coffees this semester:
● Grade 10: Sunday, December 6, 10:00 am
● Grade 9: Monday, December 7, 12:00 noon
Parents will receive a Zoom link via email on the morning of the coffee for their respective grade level.
Dressing for Colder Weather
As the weather turns colder, remind your children to dress accordingly. As part of our COVID mitigation, we keep doors and windows open in classrooms. Typically this time of year, mornings are cool while afternoons are warm, so it is important for students to wear layers.
December Tuesday Rotation
Tuesday, December 8 will be an A-H day for Group 1 for grades 9-10 (though it is a Group 2 day for Middle School).
Grades 11-12 will have their last Tutorial Day of the semester on December 8.
On Tuesday, December 15 all students will be taking semester exams.
As a reminder, click here for the Phase 2 schedule.
Semester Exams
Students in grades 9-12 will have semester exams Sunday – Wednesday, Dec 13-16. New this year, 9th/10th graders will be expected to come to campus all four days for exams; we will use mitigation efforts to keep groups 1 and 2 separate during testing. Click here to see the exam schedule. Only those students with a medical emergency may be excused from school during exams week. If you have any questions regarding exams attendance, please direct them to Ms. McCall (rmccall@cacegypt.org).
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. Students should speak to teachers individually if they have concerns about assignments or grades in Skyward.
Health and Safety Checklist
Please regularly review the checklists for students and parents (click here) related to health and safety. Remind your children (no matter how many times they’ve heard it) to avoid the 3 C’s: Crowded places, Closed spaces, and Close conversations; and to practice the 4 W’s: Wash Your Hands, Wear Your Mask, Watch Your Distance, and Work Together.
Winter Break Travel Plans
If you are making travel plans for the Holiday Season, a reminder that the first day of Winter Break is December 18. The last scheduled final exams will be on December 16. Students should not plan to travel before their exams are concluded. Classes will resume again on January 10.
Registration, Second Semester Exams, and Graduation
Course Registration – Course registration for the 2021-22 academic year will start in February.
Second semester exam dates are May 31 – June 1 for seniors and June 2-7 for grades 9-11. Please keep in mind while you plan your summer travels that seniors are able to depart after graduation and underclassmen after their final examination.
Graduation – A memo will be circulated to all parents of seniors in early March outlining the events leading up to graduation. This year’s Graduation Ceremony is on Friday, June 4.
Jerry Duggan Rachel McCall
HS Principal HS Assistant Principal
Counseling Department Announcements
Mail: For high school students receiving mail (usually college brochures or notifications), the mail will still be delivered to the high school counseling office. Counselor’s will get in touch with students individually to have you retrieve your mail.
Seniors: No documents can be processed from CAC during the winter break (January 18-December 10). Please note that December 1st was the internal deadline to submit any document request forms to our office for any universities with deadlines up through January 15th, 2021.
Documents will resume being processed after we return from winter break on January 10. Students should familiarize themselves with the internal Document Request Form process here.
Upcoming Virtual University Events, Visits, and Webinars
See the CAC HS Counseling Resources Webpage to see the upcoming visits. This document is updated regularly: CAC HS Counseling Resources Webpage – University Visits.
Additionally, students and families may provide feedback and suggestions for the CAC HS Counseling Resources Webpage by filling out the form on the bottom of the home page.
Claudia Bean, Kasey Semler, Cameron Simon
HS Counseling
General Announcements
Moving on from CAC before the winter break?
To help us prepare your records in time for your departure, please use the link below to let us know if you are withdrawing from CAC this semester.
https://www.cacegypt.org/index.php/cac-withdrawal-request
A few days before your departure, a withdrawal form that includes several signatures must also be completed in order to clear any outstanding obligations, and turned in to the Admission/Registrar’s Office to release records. Due to the current circumstances the Middle and High School withdrawal form is being prepared by the Counseling offices and shared with teachers and student online.
Please note that High School transcripts including this semester’s grades will not be available until January 17, 2021.
Registrar’s office
THE BOOSTER CLUB is helping the campus get ready for the holidays and we need your help! In order to decorate our CAC Christmas tree we would like to ask each student to hand-decorate a face mask at home and bring it to school to hang on the tree in front of the security office. Feel free to get creative and have fun decorating either a cloth or disposable mask with paints, markers, fabric or anything that you’d like (please go to our facebook page to see some examples). Students in Elementary will be taken to the tree at certain times to hang their masks, while MS/HS students may go during break times or at lunch. Let’s all work together to make our 2020 Christmas tree one to remember! We can’t wait to see what you all come up with. Have fun and HAPPY HOLIDAYS from the CAC BOOSTER CLUB!!
CAC BOOSTER CLUB
PTO Satisfaction Survey
PTO Satisfaction Survey will only take a few minutes to fill out, and will help tremendously to steer our organization in the right direction. Please fill out this survey: CAC PTO Satisfaction Survey
CAC Talks: Nurturing the Emotional Intelligence of Boys
Dear CAC Community,
Please join us for our December Series of CAC Talks led by our very own CAC parent of two boys, Laura Valdez Pagliaro, Ph.D., on Monday, December 7th at 6pm. She is an educator and writer whose academic research focuses on representations of cultural identity and masculinity in literature and popular culture.
Her interdisciplinary presentation, “Nurturing the Emotional Intelligence of Boys: What their Favorite Books, Movies & Video Games are Telling Us,” draws from influential research on childhood and adolescent social and emotional development, as well as literary, gender and popular culture studies. The aim of the presentation is to raise awareness of the narrow range of emotions boys are permitted, to consider the harmful impact denying boys permission to express emotion has on their self-esteem and relationships, and to better understand how inextricably knit their sense of privilege is to their sense of powerlessness. Though the focus will be on boys, the interactive discussion is relevant to parents and teachers of girls, as well as to MS/HS boys and girls, because the goal is to clear a path for our sons and daughters to be the fullest versions of themselves.
Zoom Link: https://fundforteachers.zoom.us/j/94027797629?pwd=ZHhZM0lsSEdpRUFsUjZOdndOSWdyQT09
Please send any questions you have for Dr. Laura Valdez Pagliaro ahead of time to cacpto@cacegypt.org. We hope you can join us!
In Partnership,
Our CAC PTO
Grade 6 Annual Fundraiser (Nov.29 – Dec.10)
Since 2010, Grade 6 students have planned and prepared an annual fundraiser to support purchasing essential items for the children of the African Hope Learning Center (AHLC).
This year, they are trying to raise enough funds to purchase one gift bag for each student in AHLC. There are 330 students in AHLC and each bag costs LE 100, so their goal is to raise LE 33,000. Each bag will contain food and hygiene items and something for the children to indulge in, to bring a smile to their faces.
Click here to view a video to promote their drive. Video
Support the Grade 6 students and help them to reach their goal!
You can put your contribution in a sealed envelope labeled “African Hope” and put it in the donation box in front of the MS. (Please use recycled envelopes if you can).
To learn more about the African Hope Learning Center, please visit their website here.
Ereeny Gergess
Service Learning Coordinator