CAC High School Principal’s Notes
It was such a pleasure to see our talented performers back on stage in this year’s High School Production, “The 25th Annual Putnam Spelling Bee”. Huge congratulations to the cast, crew and directorial team for putting on a show that was polished, professional and very entertaining! Special thanks and kudos should go to Mr Rob Lazar and Mr Ian McCuaig for their leadership and inspiration. Well done to all!
It was also wonderful to officially start the transition process for our rising Grade 9 students in a series of events this week. The HS counseling team hosted a parent information session about the high school for 8th grade parents and followed this up with a special assembly for the Grade 8 students today. Next week, 8th graders will need to start choosing the subjects they wish to study in high school next year. This is always an exciting, if slightly daunting time of change.. At CAC we work as a team to ensure the move between schools is as smooth and stress free as possible. We believe that sharing information, talking with students, answering their questions and dispelling some of the myths all help towards this aim.
High School Parent-Teacher-Student Conferences
On March 15 and 16, we look forward to our second round of Parent-Teacher-Student Conferences of the year. There will be regular school for students on Tuesday, March 15th with online conferences taking place from 3:30-5:00 p.m. after school. However, there will be no school for students on Wednesday, March 16th as this is a full day of online conferences from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Students are highly encouraged to attend the conferences with their parents.
Appointments with teachers are scheduled through the online sign-ups on Skyward.. The window for parent sign-ups for conferences begins on Tuesday, March 1 and runs through Sunday, March 13 closing at 8:00 a.m., giving you the opportunity to select your own time slots to meet with teachers. The virtual conferences will take place on the WebEx platform. For the WebEx Meet links to be valid, parents must be logged into their CAC Google accounts at the time of the meeting. We strongly encourage you to log into WebEx in advance, to ensure a smooth conference day. More information will be sent to parents on Sunday.
Skyward Update
Skyward will be open for family viewing from tonight until Thursday, March 3rd, the last day of Quarter 3.
WWW Updates
Payment for WWW trips and activities may be made in the cashier’s office starting on March 1st, and due March 15th. Payments will be accepted in USD or LE. Similar to tuition, payments can be by check, cash or wire transfer.
Dates for your diary
• 1 Mar: Begin submitting payment for WWW in Cashier’s office
• 3 Mar: End of Quarter 3
• 6-10 Mar: Spring Break Holiday
• 13 Mar: School resumes after Spring Break, Quarter 4 begins
• 13 Mar: latest date to receive full Covid vaccination (for overnight travel with CAC)
• 14 Mar: Quarter 3 Progress Reports available on Skyward
• 15 Mar: WWW Final Payment Due
• 15 Mar: Parent-Student-Teacher conferences (after school, 3:30-5:00)
• 16 Mar: Parent-Student-Teacher conferences (all day, no classes for students)
• 20 Mar: HS IB/AP Art Exhibition Opening, 3:30-5:30 p.m. (HS Top Floor Hallway)
• 21-24 Mar: HS IB Art Show All Week (HS Top Floor Hallway)
• 26 Mar: Girls Get Strong! event on campus
• 27-31 Mar: Week Without Walls
Yours in partnership and learning,
Andrew Buckman Rachel McCall
HS Principal HS Assistant Principal
Counseling Department Announcements
Week of Feb 24, 2022
Course Registration Verification Forms – Rising G10 and Rising G12
Rising Grade 10 (current grade 9) and Rising Grade 12 (current grade 11) students can pick up their Course Registration Verification Forms in the counseling office starting at lunch time on Sunday. These forms must be taken home and reviewed with families, and returned with signatures from both a parent and student. If you have any questions, please contact the counseling office.
CAC is now an ACT Test Center
CAC is pleased to announce that our campus is now an ACT Test Center. Upcoming ACT offerings this semester will be held on Saturday, April 2nd at 8 am (check in at 7:30 am) and Saturday, June 11th at 8 am (check in at 7:30 am). If you plan to take the April 2nd test, register by February 25th to avoid late registration fees.
For students who wish to register to take the ACT at CAC, please go to this site.
• Sign up for an account and then navigate to the International Test site page. Our center is listed under our test center number: 866070, location Maadi.
• Sign up for the Non Writing Option (there are only 5 universities in the US who require ACT writing)
• CAC is an open test site and capacity is limited. If your student plans to take the test, please book your seat ASAP before the spaces are filled.
Please talk with your counselor if you have any questions about registering for the ACT. You may also refer to the CAC Counseling Resources page under the ACT section for more information.
Grade 11
Please have your student schedule the individual university planning meeting that should take place during the students’ flex period before April 21, 2022. Those who were unable to attend the University Kick Off, you may find the recording of the session on the Home Page of our CAC HS Counseling Resources Webpage.
University Events, Summer Programs, and Scholarships
Highlighted Event: Arts Week 2022 from the School of Arts, hosted by University of Gloucestershire. This week-long event (Feb 28-March 4) is dedicated to the creative industries and packed with sessions in a vast array of subjects for you to enjoy virtually. Please learn more and register here.
As the semester progresses, we will continue to update the HS Counseling Resources Website with upcoming virtual or in person events, as we receive word of them.
As the semester progresses, we will continue to update the HS Counseling Resources Website with upcoming virtual or in person events, as we receive word of them.
Claudia Bean, Kasey Semler, Cameron Simon
HS Counseling
General Announcements
Moving on from CAC at the end of the year?
We are in the process of finalizing plans for the next school year. If you already know that you will be moving on from CAC at the end of this year it would be much appreciated if you could let us know at this time. You can use the link below as a withdrawal notification.
https://cacegypt.org/index.php/withdrawal-request
Thank you very much for your help.
Registrar’s office
NESA Parents as Partners Webinar 4 – Recording & Feedback (2nd Semester)
Thank you for joining us for the NESA Parents as Partners Series Spring Semester: Webinar 4, “Why Service Learning Matters to Schools, Your Children, and YOU: Bringing Learning to Life” with Cathryn Berger Kaye.
The webinar recording and resources from the February 22, 2022 session are now available on the Parents as Partners Info Hub.
If you have not already, we ask that you take a few minutes to share your thoughts on the webinar.
WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU AT THE NEXT SESSION ON MARCH 8.
March 8, 2022 | 4:00-5:00pm (GMT+2) [VIEW LOCAL TIME]
Building a Parent Pandemic Partnership: Strengthening Your Wellness, Self-Care and Self-Compassion
Presented by Fran Prolman
President, The Learning Collaborative
Join Dr. Prolman as you strengthen a psychologically safe community of support for each other, and strengthen yourself from within to train for this marathon endemic run. By the end of this session, you will strengthen your own wellness, self-care and self-compassion by analyzing the six categories of self-care, building a vocabulary of self-care and self-compassion, affirming that we are not alone, embracing our loss as we move forward to a healthy, wholehearted and adaptive future and believing that you are enough.
PLEASE NOTE
To join this session, you don’t need to re-register. You may use the same link you used previously. Or, you may register again to receive a new email/link.
RE-REGISTER – ONLY IF YOU NEED A NEW LINK
An Inspirational Alumni Story Reflecting CAC Core Values – Emmanuel Ghali ’02
“We couldn’t be more proud of our inspirational alumnus Emmanuel Ghali ’02 (AKA: “Mano”). Eighteen years ago, Mano was in a tragic accident that left him fully paralyzed from the neck down. Doctors told him that he wouldn’t be able to do anything in life. Yet, we have seen him become an example of perseverance, courage, and resilience; earning even three post graduate degrees from prestigious universities around the world, working as an international translator, currently earning certification to become a counselor, and many other amazing achievements. In light of February Valentine’s month, Mano was recently featured in a TV interview as a “role model of perseverance & love of life” in which he truly showed everyone wisdom, love, and being up to challenges no matter how difficult.
Mano- “I am so proud to be part of the CAC Community. CAC has had such a positive impact on who I am today”.
TV Interview- https://youtu.be/hgOkpu7wgPo
Engy Rabie
Alumni Relations and Stewardship
From the Library
Something’s missing from the front gate! CAC’s Little Free Library is getting a makeover! Stayed tuned for updates on its new look.
Meghan Ennis
MHS Librarian
Ramadan Boxes & Well-Being Products / Clothing Donations
Ereeny Gawdat
Prek-12 Service Learning Coordinator
Booster Club
The Spirit Cafe will be open again every Thursday from 3:05-5pm! Hope to see you there. Please note that the Spirit Store will continue to be closed to shoppers, with purchases made through the window until further notice.
The Booster Club
Girls Get Strong is Back!
Dear Community Members,
Adolescence is a critical time period for developing healthy habits, especially for girls. Despite an overwhelming amount of research highlighting the importance of physical activity, there is a significant decline in activity levels for adolescent girls. With the support of Cairo American College (CAC), Girls Get Strong (GGS) was founded in 2016 to empower girls to be socially, emotionally, and physically healthy. After not hosting the event in 2021, I am excited to share that this year’s event will take place on Saturday, March 26th. I invite you to join us for a day of empowering girls in all aspects of their lives through connections with positive and inspiring community role models like yourself!
In the past, Girls Get Strong has welcomed experts in health, fitness, and athletics to lead workshops and fitness activities that empower CAC students and other students from various international school communities throughout Egypt. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s event is only open to our current CAC students and the ID-holding community. We envision this year’s event to draw upon the voices within our own community to advocate for what is necessary for our female students to succeed. By restricting this year’s event to our CAC community only, not only will it be easier to uphold our current mitigation measures, but it also allows a unique opportunity for students, parents, and faculty to lead workshops and activities throughout the event. More details about our COVID mitigation measures are to come, but we are committed to following the recommendations laid out in our manual and maximizing our time outside.
If you would like to support this year’s event, please complete the following Google Form.
Details of the event are as follows:
Date: March 26, 2022
Location: CAC High School Building, HS Field, and Athletics Facilities
Grade Level: 5th-12th Grade
Time: 9 am – 1:30 pm
HOW CAN YOU GET INVOLVED?
Event Volunteers:
Community volunteers provide critical support throughout the conference. This is a great opportunity for anyone interested in supporting Girls Get Strong to get involved. Tasks for volunteers include: setting up, registration, assisting with activity transitions, and assisting with serving lunch.
Workshop Facilitators:
Workshop facilitators will plan and coordinate a 45-minute workshop that targets students’ social, emotional, or physical well-being. All workshops should empower girls with the knowledge, confidence, strength, inspiration, and/or leadership skills to be healthy. Workshops will have a maximum of 15 girls. Previous conferences featured workshops led by experts and professionals in education, medicine, nutrition, physiotherapy, psychology, and personal training. Workshop topics included: gender bias, leadership, nutrition, perseverance, posture, self-image, and strength training.
Fitness Leaders:
Fitness leaders will plan and lead a 30-minute group exercise activity. Exercise activities should empower girls to be physically active. Workshops will have a maximum of 15 students, depending on the facility, equipment, and activity. Previous conferences offered the following fitness classes: aerobics, agility ladder training, barre, body attack, body pump, Bollywood, circuit training, cheer aerobics, CrossFit, kettlebell training, meditation, TRX, yoga, and Zumba.
Sponsors:
As a non-profit organization Girls Get Strong relies on its community members to support its mission of empowering girls to be physically, socially, and emotionally healthy. Financial assistance is needed to support the conference as well as provide attendees with conference memorabilia and a healthy lunch.
Girls Get Strong is a collaborative, educational, and hands-on organization that unites students, coaches, and community members. It is designed to support the development of girls’ physical, emotional, and social well-being within health, fitness, and athletics. Through this organization, Girls Get Strong strives to increase collaboration between coaches, community members, students, and teachers to empower girls.
As someone who has had their life shaped by athletics, I am so thankful for the support our community has shown for this important cause. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to discuss your involvement further. I look forward to having your support in delivering a safe and empowering event to our community.
Rebecca Riddle
PE Teacher