CAC High School Principal’s Notes
HS Play 22-23
Helping your child feel ready for exams
As we all know, semester exams are approaching fast. In preparation, this week in homeroom teachers have been working with students to help them feel more prepared for exams. In addition, Ms. Stiles has been running specific sessions for Grade 9 students to introduce them to effective study skills and help them plan out a study schedule. Some of our National Honors Society students from Grades 11 & 12 attended these sessions to share their advice and tips for success with the younger students.
Exams, and the build up to them, can be stressful times for students. At home, you can support by talking calmly to your child about the exams, encouraging a well-thought through approach to study time at home and reassuring them that their hard work and effort will lead to success. Please also help them to keep things in perspective by understanding that the semester exam represents one additional piece of assessment evidence that is used to determine the semester one grade. Effective learning is a journey and process with many markers along the way.
Feeling some stress around the time of exams and major assessments is normal and is actually quite healthy and useful. Healthy stress levels are the body’s way of preparing a person to go through a strenuous or challenging time. As such, some increased stress ahead of exams is normal and helps a student to get prepared. However, if someone begins to experience too much stress, it can have a negative effect on well-being and performance. If your child is feeling a lot of stress or anxiety, engage them in a conversation to discover the “why?” What steps might you be able to take to reduce the stress they are feeling? Who can help with this?
Some signs and symptoms of unhealthy stress are:
• Eating too much or not enough
• Procrastinating or neglecting responsibilities
• Worrying incessantly
• Feeling overwhelmed
• Unable to concentrate
• Anxious or racing thoughts
• Agitation, inability to relax
• Irritability, moodiness
• Not sleeping well or feeling exhausted
What are some strategies for stress relief?
• Exercise when you feel symptoms of stress coming on. Even a short walk can boost your mood.
• At the end of each day, take a moment to think about what you’ve accomplished — not what you didn’t get done.
• Set goals for your day, week and month. Narrowing your view will help you feel more in control of the moment and long-term tasks.
• Consider talking to a counselor, teacher or your homeroom teacher about your worries.
• Make a plan and stick to the plan. Study for exams in short but regular sessions. Start early.
What are some ways to prevent stress?
Many daily strategies can help you keep stress at bay:
• Try relaxation activities, such as meditation, yoga, tai chi, breathing exercises and muscle relaxation.
• Take good care of your body each day. Eating right, exercising and getting enough sleep help your body handle stress much better. (Teens need 8 hours of sleep on average per night).
• Stay positive and practice gratitude, acknowledging the good parts of your day or life.
• Accept that you can’t control everything. Find ways to let go of worry about situations you cannot change.
• Learn to say “no” to additional responsibilities when you are too busy or stressed.
• Stay connected with people who keep you calm, make you happy, provide emotional support and help you with practical things. A friend, family member or neighbor can become a good listener or share responsibilities so that stress doesn’t become overwhelming.
Adapted from: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/11874-stress
Dates for your Diary
• Mon 5 Dec: Booster Club Hot Chocolate 11:15 – 12:00
• Tue 6 Dec – Winter Concert Part 2 5:30 p.m. Theater.
• Dec 5-8 – Exam preparation days in classes
• Sun 11 Dec – Thu 15 Dec – Semester One Exams – Please do not make travel plans that depart before final exams are finished.
• 16 Dec – 7 Jan – Winter Break.
• Sun 8 Jan: School resumes (it will be an A day)
• Thu 12 Jan – Semester One Report Card Issued
Andrew Buckman Rachel McCall
HS Principal HS Assistant Principal
Counseling Department Announcements
Week of December 1, 2022
Grade 9 Seminar – Getting Prepared for Semester Exams. This grade 9 seminar included reviewing the exam schedule and procedures for the upcoming semester exams. Students learned from NHS students who spoke about their experiences and recommendations for studying. Additionally, each student developed a study plan for the next few weeks. We wish all grade 9 students the best of luck on their first semester exams of high school!
ACT Prep Course
CAC has partnered with Higher Ground Learning to offer a 2-weekend in-person ACT prep course at CAC in March. To learn more about registration and the cost, please click here. There must be at least 5 people enrolled for the course to take place.
ACT Test information:
Students may register for the upcoming 22-23 test dates at CAC, or other test locations in Cairo. Please go here to find out more.
Grade 12
Upcoming Applications: Students should continue working on applications for the later USA EA & RD submissions, The Netherlands, and UCAS.
Students should continue to check application portals on a regular schedule after an application is submitted, to see if there are any additional requirements or SRAR (Self-Reported Academic Record) forms to fill out.
Document Request Forms: Seniors submitting applications must be sure to submit a Document Request Form (DRF) to the counseling office. This form ensures we know exactly what documents are needed to send to each of the different institutions being applied to.
Application Drop-In Seniors are able to drop in for help with their college applications! A counselor will be in the following locations on these days and times for college application help. Students are encouraged to stop by if they have a question, want feedback on an essay, or want a quiet space to work on their application. (details here)
Claudia Bean, Jody Stiles, Kasey Semler
HS Counseling
General Announcements
Moving on from CAC before the winter break?
Please use the link below to let us know if you are withdrawing from CAC this semester so that we can prepare records in time for your departure. Please note that this semester’s middle school report cards and the final high school transcript which includes this semester’s grades will not be available until mid-January 2023.
A few days before your departure, a withdrawal form that includes several signatures must also be completed by middle and high school students in order to clear any outstanding obligations, and turned in to the Admission/Registrar’s Office to release records.
https://cacegypt.org/index.php/withdrawal-request
Registrar’s office
CAC Winter Concert Series 2022
CAC Music Department presents: CAC Winter Concert Series 2022
Two nights of choral and instrumental music.
Thursday December 1st: MS/HS – Choir & String Ensemble
Tuesday December 6th: MS/HS – Bands
Free Admission – CAC theater
Doors open at 5:15pm
Show times begin @ 5:30pm.
Ian McCuaig
MS/HS Choir/Band
From The Aquatics/ SOFTIES
Softies season is OPEN!!!! For all swimmers in MS/HS, we would like to take part in the winter swimming season. Practices are Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday from 3:10-4:10. Please use the link.
Aquatics Office
HS Library
The Library is open this Saturday!
The library is open until 4pm on Sunday/Monday/Wednesday and 10am – 2pm on most Saturdays! Stop by to check out books or get some work done.
It may be time to RENEW your CAC NY Times Subscription.
CAC’s Libraries offers a free subscription to the NY Times for all CAC email holders. However, this subscription needs to be renewed each year. If you want to sign up for the first time, or renew your subscription, use this link: https://myaccount.nytimes.com/verification/edupass/check
Meghan Ennis
Library
500 GIFTS to ABU AL REESH KIDS!
Dec.4 – Dec.14
Abu Al Reesh is the biggest public children’s hospital in Egypt in downtown, Cairo. The hospital provides FREE medical services for children from low-income families. Last year, ES students packed 450 GIFT BAGS adding a thoughtful message for their friends at the hospital. This year, we are hoping to make 500 GIFT BAGS to add a smile to those precious faces. You can drop off your contribution in the red donation boxes on campus between Dec.4 – Dec. 14. Click here to know more about the hospital & the Gift criteria!
Semester exams are a stressful period of time for all HS students. SLEC wants to encourage you to donate to this cause and use it as a stress reliever during this pressing period. Let’s do some good and spread some holiday cheer!
ANNOUNCED BY SLEC
If you have any questions, please contact:
HS SLEC Team (Service Learning Executive Committee) – Tia Fikry (25tfikry@cacegypt.org)
25afaheem@cacegypt.org
25afikry@cacegypt.org
HS SLEC Team
Girls Get Strong
This year’s Girls Get Strong event will take place on Saturday, December 3rd, from 8 am-2 pm. The theme of this year’s event is “All Day, Every Day” and was selected by the GGS Student Leadership team after a thoughtful discussion on how to best empower our female students. This year’s theme reflects a commitment to help empower girls with the confidence, knowledge, inspiration, leadership, and strength to live a healthy lifestyle every day of the year.
Registration for this year’s event closed on Sunday, November 27th. The event is free for all female students at CAC in grades 5-12, thanks to a generous donation by the Booster Club and our community sponsors. Each participant will be provided with a conference t-shirt and lunch. More details about the event schedule and activities can be viewed on the conference website https://girlsgetstrong.org/2022-2023-conference/.
As this is a community event, volunteers are needed to help with the registration process and oversee the various activities throughout the day. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Ms. Riddle at rriddle@cacegypt.org.
Rebecca Riddle
PE Teacher
NESA Parents as Partners 22-23: Webinar 2 Recording
Thank you for joining us for the second session of NESA Parents as Partners 2022-2023: Manage Your Family’s Screen-Time So It Doesn’t Manage You! with Joy Marchese.
The recording and slides from the November 16 session have now been added to the Parents as Partners InfoHub.
We look forward to seeing you at the next and final webinar of this first semester series on:
Tuesday, December 6, 2022 at 4pm Athens, Greece time (GMT+2).
Please note: If you have already registered, you do not need to re-register to join the next session. You may use the same personalized link you were sent by email. Or, to receive a new email/link, you may register again here:
https://nesacenter-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwufuyvqzssGtyPFUlaraZnb0rNFQZHv4d_
Thank you,
The NESA Team
Parenting Together With Positive Discipline
Join Carey Harris for a parenting course designed for CAC parents!
The 8-week long course meets weekly to…
• address real issues for parents of today’s tween & teens
• learn over 50 long-term, take-away tools for parenting during the adolescent years
• create a support network for parents of the Cairo American College community
Parenting Together Course – Sign Up
To learn more about the course visit: https://parentingtogether.edublogs.org/
Carey Harris
ES Guidance Teacher / School Counselor
Positive Discipline Parent & Classroom Educator
CAC PTO