CAC High School Principal’s Notes
At the open Board of Trustees meeting this week, I had the opportunity to speak for a few minutes about the highlights in the high school since the beginning of the year. Putting together this short summary was a great way to reflect on everything that has been going on (and it’s a lot!) and to see the themes and threads that tie these seemingly disparate pieces together.
From Spirit Week and Peace Day, to daily meetings with teachers, parents and students; through sports matches, activity visits and assemblies; collaborating with the Student Council, PTO and Booster Club; monitoring COVID mitigations; and visiting many classrooms and lessons, the daily life of a school principal is certainly busy and it can be easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. The same is true for the students with their busy and varied schedules.
The CAC Strategic Plan and the four pillars contained therein, provides an overarching guide and direction to the myriad of things happening simultaneously on campus. As we progress through the year, themes and topics such as Student Wellbeing, Diversity Equity and Inclusion, International Mindedness and Innovative and Sustainable Spaces and Programs will come up regularly and we will explore these ideas with our student and parent community. International Education is rich and complex and finding viable and relevant routes through the complexity with a vision and clear aims is critical to the success of any international school and all of its students. We embrace this work fully at CAC and your children are the beneficiaries of the collective commitment to an “exceptional education” guided by our mission, core values and the strategic plan.
This week, our CAC alumnus, Saifallah Ghazi’18, was part of an online Purdue University session for CAC High School students, discussing preparing and applying to U.S. engineering programs. It is Saif’s last year as an engineering student, and we couldn’t be more proud of him. A big thank you to Saif for continuing to inspire and support our students! Wishing him all the best with his final year in university! (Engy Rabie, Alumni Relations and Stewardship)
PTO News
Below is a link to a recording of an interview conducted by high school student Kavin Shrimali with Christine el Guindy from AbuElReesh Children’s Hospital. One of the PTO’s goals this year is to raise awareness about this hospital and to find ways to further support this deserving cause. The PTO Community Service committee will be developing a plan of action and we will share it with parents soon. In the meantime, please enjoy the recording. Well done to Kavin who did a great job as the interviewer!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MJzlKsR6rdG0P-6b3MwDJ7YnTipwsMPd/view?usp=drivesdk
NESA Parents as Partners webinar series
A reminder of the opportunity to join with parents across the NESA region to hear from distinguished specialists and to explore and learn new strategies in support of your child as a learner. Session 3 of the NESA Parents as Partners Webinar Series is coming up next Tuesday, October 5, 3:00 p.m., Topic: In Our Classrooms, In Our Schools: What is the Story of Learning?
Dates for your Diary
• Skyward Gradebook Open: Today. 4:00 p.m.
• CAC Talk (Don’t Worry, Be Happy: Raising & Teaching Happier Kids): Sunday 3 October. 5:30 p.m. (Zoom)
• Principal’s Coffee: Tuesday 5 October. 9:30-10:30 a.m. (MS 116)
• NESA Parents as Partners Webinar: In Our Classrooms, In Our Schools: What is the Story of Learning? Tuesday 5 October, 3:00 p.m.
• Armed Forces Holiday: Please be reminded that the Armed Forces Holiday on Wednesday 6 October may move to Thursday 7 October (school closed pending government announcement)
• PSAT Test (Grade 10 & 11): Wednesday 13 October (morning)
• Grade 9 Wellbeing Retreat: Wednesday 13 October (morning)
• CAC MUN: 14-16 October
• Quarter 1 Progress Check Reports posted on Skyward: Monday 18 October
• Parent-Teacher Conferences: 25-26 October (more details soon)
• Early Release Day: Wednesday 27 October (11:30 dismissal)
Yours in partnership and learning,
Andrew Buckman Rachel McCall
HS Principal HS Assistant Principal
Counseling Department Announcements
Week of Sept. 30, 2021
New Students. New student lunches were held this past week on the Nile Terrace. This was an opportunity for new students to come together and recognize most are now nearly two months into their new school, and to be able to attempt to identify where they are with this process. Third Culture Kid (TCK) and Cairo resources are available in the library. If you feel your student is having a tough time adjusting to their new environment, please do not hesitate to reach out to your student’s counselor.
Freshmen
Freshmen Seminar was held this past week in the library. This was an opportunity for students to become oriented with Ms. Ennis and the library, specifically related to what 9th graders need to know about what resources are available to them, including expectations with regards to proper citations/references on assignments they may have.
Seniors
College Application Workshop Drop-In Dates. As college application season is fully underway, counselors will continue to hold these application workshop sessions in the Cairo Room during Flex blocks, lunch, and after school throughout the fall semester. These dates will be communicated with students ahead of time.
University Visits and Upcoming Events
Purdue University. CAC Students and Families had the pleasure of welcoming Purdue University virtually last week for an info session. This session primarily focused on Studying Engineering in the US, and a CAC alumni, currently a senior at Purdue was able to join us and speak to his experience! The recording of this session can be found here.
Dutch Webinar Series (Netherlands), Sunday, October 3rd. This virtual fair is a unique opportunity to connect with more than 30 Dutch Research Universities and Universities of Applied Sciences. Students and families may register here.
*this event is not facilitated by CAC*
Cairo Virtual University Fair, October 18, 6PM. This event is in an attempt to replicate CAC’s typical annual in-person college fair. Currently 55 universities from Canada, France, Greece, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, USA, and the UK will be participating. This will be a great opportunity for students and parents to explore a wide variety of universities and programs. The Novva platform allows for great interaction between the universities and students, so you will be able to ask questions and meet the counselors who would eventually read applications.
Other upcoming virtual events happening around the world can be found here.
Claudia Bean, Kasey Semler, Cameron Simon
HS Counseling
General Announcements
From Swimming
CAC Swim-A-Thon Fall 2021
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1G1m_u22AuP6pE8DN0eHvf-NDgakLqvjaOqM7Ge5a0KI/edit
Aquatics Office
From the Library
Read Books Online with the Sora App, our digital library open 24/7
All CAC patrons with a CAC google account can access our online collection of books. Read on your computer by going to soraapp.com or download the Sora App on your phone. Here are more detailed instructions on how to access Sora (note that Kindle books are not available to us in Egypt because of digital rights management). If there is a book you would like to request for Sora, please email Ms. Ennis (mennis@cacegypt.org)
o When you are asked for a Follett account, use your CAC single sign-on
Free Subscription to the New York Times
CAC patrons with a CAC Gmail account can access our school subscription to the NY Times online. Follow these detailed instructions here. Subscriptions must be renewed every year.
Parent Hours for the MHS Library
Parents are welcome in the MHS library just before and just after school to come check out books Sunday-Thursday. If you would like to spend more time in the library, please visit us on Saturdays from 10am to 2pm. Thank you.
Meghan Ennis
MHS Librarian
CAC Talk – Sunday, October 3, 5:30 p.m.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84779716980?pwd=c3JoWE1yQ2w1em5uS1pKbDhxNGRvUT09
Meeting ID: 847 7971 6980 Passcode: 168709
CAC PTO
PTO DEI Cookbook Submissions Form
Call for Recipes: The PTO DEI Committee kindly invites recipe submissions to be published in a cookbook in December. The theme of the cookbook is “Family Favorites.” A family favorite is a dish you love to make and your family loves to eat! The dish may be savory or sweet, and may but does not have to originate from your family background. The recipes should be simple to follow, and original or adapted from a cookbook, blog, website or other source.
To submit your family favorite recipe, please complete this form. Thank you!
The PTO DEI Committee