CAC High School Principal’s Notes
Dear parents,
The beautiful campus trees are just beginning to bloom, and the hope of spring is in the air.
It has been one year since COVID began to have an impact on our normal school life. Last year at this time, we had just concluded Parent-Teacher Conferences, which turned out to be the last normal event on campus. The next day, a rainstorm closed schools, and we piloted an e-learning program, not realizing we would not return to face-to-face instruction until August.
Much has happened since then, and we have worked hard to return our school life to as close to normal as possible. It will be a while before we reach normalcy, but with perseverance we will one day reach it.
We have a busy couple of weeks coming up, as the IB Visual Arts students prepare their exhibition, the musical rolls out its production (in a format to be determined), Season 2 sports programming ends and Season 3 begins, and Spirit Week returns. For all these events, we will continue with our stacked mitigation measures to keep moving forward towards a well-deserved Spring Break.
Have a wonderful week, and stay safe!
Principal’s Notes Highlights:
● NESA Parents and Partners 2.0 Webinars
● Early Release Day
● Spring Break
● Skyward Gradebook
● IB Exams Update for 2021 and 2022
● Second Semester Exams and Graduation
NESA Parents as Partners 2.0 Webinars
The next webinar is Tuesday, March 16, from 4:00-5:00pm on the topic of The Human Side of Changing Education.
The full schedule of upcoming webinars in this helpful series can be found by clicking here. You can register by clicking here.
Early Release Day
Thursday, March 18 is an Early Release Day. Teachers and staff will spend the afternoon engaged in work related to our CIS/MSA accreditation process. Classes will end at 11:30 am.
Spring Break
Spring Break is almost here! There will be no classes from March 26-April 4. We hope everyone has a safe and rejuvenating break. Classes resume April 5.
Skyward Gradebook
Skyward gradebook is open for student and parent viewing. Students are encouraged to reach out to the teachers if they have questions about assignments.
IB Exams Update for 2021 and 2022
Class of 2021: The International Baccalaureate has confirmed that schools in Egypt will administer exams in May as planned.
Class of 2022: The IB has announced that the May 2022 examination session will be adapted in light of the loss of learning due to COVID-19. Many of these adaptations are similar to those for the Class of 2021 and include removal of examination components, reduction in the number of questions on remaining exam papers, and modification of course content. Teachers will communicate these changes to students during class in the coming weeks. Please reach out to Mr. Williams with any questions.
Second Semester Exams
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 is being sent today to all seniors and their parents regarding graduation. This year’s Graduation Ceremony is on Friday, June 4.
Jerry Duggan Rachel McCall
HS Principal HS Assistant Principal
Counseling Department Announcements
Week of March 11
Sophomores
Course Requests: Next week, Skyward will open up for Grade 10 students to put in course requests for next year. This video describes how to register in Skyward: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkQiKTEiYes
Skyward will be open from 7 am on Monday, March 15th to 4 pm on Wednesday, March 17th.
Juniors
Next Steps: The counselors will be leading a next steps workshop with Grade 11 students during Flex Blocks on March 15th and 16th. Attendance is mandatory for all 11th Graders.
During this workshop, students will be given time to work on a Self-Assessment and give attention to application checklists and university timelines based on specific goals.
Family Meeting: Be sure to schedule your university planning meeting with your counselor and parent to occur by April 14th. Contact your counselor or the admin. assistants in our office to set your meeting day and time (45-60 minutes).
All Grades
Counseling resources in the MHS library:
See this link for the counseling resources housed in the MHS library that are useful for both students and parents. Topics include teen health and wellness, mental health, third culture kids, parenting, self-help and college resources. Please talk to your student’s counselor if you have a specific topic you want to discuss; we also have some resources in our offices.
Covid-19 Anxiety Handbook: This workbook contains tips, reminders, and resources for self-care and wellness. Please click on this link to view the handbook and to see if this might be helpful for your student.
Upcoming Virtual Events:
Canadian Universities Virtual Fair. March 12, 5pm Cairo Time.
Interested in learning more about studying in Canada? The Study in Canada Information Session will have 12 Canadian Universities present. Students and families may register here.
**please note this event is not facilitated by CAC**
Other Upcoming Virtual Events, Available Scholarships, and Summer Opportunities
See the CAC HS Counseling Resources Webpage to see the upcoming virtual events, available scholarships, and summer opportunities. This document is updated regularly: CAC HS Counseling Resources Webpage – Events
Appointment system: As usual, students can schedule appointments with counselors from the QR codes posted around campus.
Claudia Bean, Kasey Semler, Cameron Simon
HS Counseling
General Announcements
Transportation Office Announcement
After School Activities 4:20 p.m. buses are suspended till further notice due to the Covid 19 situation.
Transportation Office
Season 3 Signup:
CAC season 3 sport conditioning signup will take place online from Thursday, March 11 at 8:00 am, through Tuesday, March 16 at 3:00 pm.
(Link, https://forms.gle/f9t1xsbhVU7rnFPc7)
The season 3 sports available for grades 9-12 signups are:
Boys’ Baseball, coaches Monte Davis & Phil Greene. Location: HS Field.
Girls’ Softball, coaches Scott Fitzgerald & Brad Benson. Location: MS Field.
Girls’ and Boys’ Tennis, coaches Hassan Bassel & Anton Pav. Location: The Field tennis courts.
Girls’ and Boys’ Golf, coach Courtney Bailey. Location: CAC MS lawn (Sunday and Thursday), Katameya Heights Golf Course (Monday and Wednesday). Busing will be provided from CAC to Katameya Heights and return.
Girls’ and Boys’ Track & Field, (grades 6-12 may sign up) coaches Hatem Mersal, Rebecca Riddle, Darren Kennedy, Passant Herky, Bassant Hazem & Bassem Reda. Location: CAC campus (Sunday and Thursday), Maadi Olympic Center Track (Monday and Wednesday). Buses will be provided from CAC to the Maadi Olympic Center track and return.
All practices will follow CAC mitigation guidelines in place.
All practices will be on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, from 3:15-4:30, until further notice.
CAC season 3 is scheduled from March 21, 2021, until May 27, 2021.
No late bus transportation will be provided.
Scott Fitzgerald
Activities & Athletics Director
CAC Libraries open Saturdays in March
The libraries will be open this Saturday and March 20. The libraries will not be open on either Saturday of the spring break, which means the next open Saturday is April 10. We will not be extending the 10 book checkout limit for the spring break, apologies.
Remember that you must book a 30-minute time slot on the CAC dashboard, but parents can only book for a Saturday appointment. (You can reach the booking system from the school app as well.) Bookings must be made by 7 pm on Friday.
Document with all Saturday open dates for the libraries can be found here.
Sora is open 24/7
Our ebook and digital audiobook library is open 24/7 to our CAC parents, students, faculty and staff. Download the Sora app, find our school by typing “Cairo American College” and use your CAC single sign on to log in. Books are checked out for 2 weeks and automatically returned so you never have to worry about overdues.
If you have trouble with your CAC single sign when logging into Sora, please contact Ms. Amira Youssef, ayoussef@cacegypt.org.
Josianne Fitzgerald
MHS Head Librarian
Booster Club Spirit Store – Cash Payments for Spare Account
The Booster Club Spirit Store will now be accepting cash payments towards your child’s SPARE account. Payments can be made any day during Spirit Store hours (8:30-10 and 1:30-2:45). Please review the following details before arriving at the Store:
1. You must have set up your account with the SPARE app to make a payment
2. Payments are accepted in EGP only
3. Please bring correct change
Booster Club Spirit Store
The Booster Club Spirit Store has resumed regular weekday hours, from 8:30-10:00am and 1:30-2:45pm. Entrance is at Gate 7 (next to the ATM). All transactions will be through the window with one customer at a time allowed inside the gate. Properly worn masks are mandatory when entering campus through Gate 7 (next to the ATM), with valid CAC ID. Temperatures will be taken at the gate. Customers will need to exit campus as soon as their store transaction is finished.
Please note that the payment methods accepted are only EGP and USD cash. No USD checks accepted.
Booster Club
Collecting Donations for Ramadan Packages for GSS
We’d like to overwhelm our General Services Staff at CAC with Ramadan Boxes this year. We are appreciative of all the hard work that’s taken place due to the circumstances we’ve all been living (and sending our children to school) through!
PTO wants your participation and giving hearts—please consider donating towards more than 1 box!
CAC Talks: Body Safety!
Join us Sunday, March 14th at 5:30pm for CAC Talks: Body Safety! Hear from our expert, Nancy Hadi, on how to talk to our children about body safety in a safe and nurturing way, and how to keep an open line of communication with our children to ensure their safety and understanding of their bodies. We will also hear from CAC’s Child Protection faculty committee to update us on goals, policies and curriculum at CAC. If you have questions for our Body Safety expert, Nancy, or our CAC Child Protection committee please send it via this anonymous link https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/JRT97VX or email us at cacpto@cacegypt.org.
Topic: CAC Talks with Nancy Hadi
Time: Mar 14, 2021 05:30 PM Cairo
Join Zoom Meeting
https://fundforteachers.zoom.us/j/96977086496?pwd=a0NKdGhPK21qRkRkbWw4OHZteWphUT09
Meeting ID: 969 7708 6496
Passcode: 754494
CAC PTO GRANT
Once each year we invite all teachers, parents, staff and students to submit ideas for projects that could make a difference to our school community. Proposals should always be framed by CAC’s core values. Priority will be given to projects that identify a specific need, have a clear purpose, and are innovative and beneficial to our CAC community or beyond. The budget for the grant program for 2020-2021 is $1,000. There is a limit on each grant request this year of $500 or less per grant. If you have a funding idea for the PTO that exceeds this limit, please email us for discussion. Email cacpto@cacegypt.org for more information.
PTO