Middle School Principal’s Letter
Dear Parents,
Thank you for taking the time to read this week’s version of the News and Views. It was a celebratory week in middle school.
The students were doing great work inside the classroom. In grade eight, Math students were working on solving inequality problems.
In grade seven Social Studies, students researched Population Pyramids with a partner in preparation for a debate about population control.
The girls’ and boys’ soccer teams had a successful experience this week with wins against the Metropolitan School. These match opportunities,l support and promote confidence building of the players as they prepare to participate in the CISSA tournament.
On Tuesday, we recognized the students who earned 5 E’s in semester one. We are proud of those students who have exceeded expectations.
We place a lot of emphasis on the ATLs to teach students to rely on the skills they are developing; therefore, this semester, we have created a new award to celebrate students who have received ATLs’ scores Consistently in all eight subjects.
Every semester we celebrate students with one of our seven core values. We recognized two students for each of the core values. The recipients are selected by their peers and teachers. An anecdotal blurb is shared and reads to acknowledge the recipient’s efforts.
I want to thank those parents who attended the Principal Coffee Morning on the topic of 2050 – Are you Ready for Grade Six? The seventh and eighth graders will participate in the Disruptive Innovation and Technology course, which will also spiral into high school. During the presentation, we shared the new elective courses that we have developed to help students participate in survey courses on AI (artificial intelligence), Metaverse, Blockchain, Green Energy, Genome Sequencing, and Autonomous vehicles.
One of the paradoxes we see in strategic planning is that schools work hard to prepare better for what the future holds based on information about what is happening today.
The paradox comes because the school’s current strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats result from things changing. Parental expectations have changed, and students and their experiences have changed. A new generation of teachers is entering the workforce, and what they think work means has changed. Of course, the economy, the culture, the demographic make-up of your community, and what is possible technologically have also changed, and will continue to change with time.
The world doesn’t stop changing because your team plans for the future. That’s the shortcoming of strategic planning: it only looks five years ahead. According to Oxford professor of philosophy and author William MacAskill, the future is our responsibility. We have a moral obligation to the far-reaching future in our daily decisions.
Thank you for your continuous support of the middle school.
In Partnership,
Courtney Bailey
The Middle School Principal
Announcements
CAC PTO Open Meeting
PreK & KG Open House – Jan. 30 (8:30 am)
PreK 3/4 & KG Open House Registration Link
Community Core Values Award
To honor our community’s involvement, the CAC Board of Trustees every year seeks to recognize members of our community through the CAC Community Core Values award. This award is presented to members of our community who exhibit the CAC core values by making exceptional and varied contributions to the CAC community through volunteering their time, expertise and love for CAC. The CAC Core Values are: Compassion, Creativity, Courage, Integrity, Perseverance, Respect, and Responsibility.
If you know of someone who has made a difference in the lives of our CAC community while exhibiting these core values, please nominate this person for the Core Values Award. The nomination form is available here. Forms can also be obtained from the Board Executive Assistant, Nawal Gamal, on the 3rd floor of the Admin Building or via email board@cacegypt.org.
Nominations are due no later than 3:00 pm on February 2, 2023. All members of the parent community – not currently on the Board of Trustees – are eligible to be considered for this award. Faculty and staff can also be considered so long as they make contributions to the community that are above and beyond their regular, expected duties. Thank you for taking the time to acknowledge the contributions of outstanding members of our CAC community.
NESA Parents as Partners Series
ON-DEMAND LIBRARIES OF WEBINAR RECORDINGS
2020-2021 / 2021-2022 / 2022-2023
You may access the libraries and their over 35 webinar recordings at this link.
Parents as Partners: Bringing Out the Best
WITH JOY MARCHESE
February 28, March 21, April 4, 2023
Four Sessions, Tuesdays 4:00-5:00pm (Athens GMT+2/+3)
VIEW INFOSHEET | VISIT THE INFOHUB
REGISTER NOW
Note: There is no cost to register. Register at any time before the session you wish to attend. You will receive a link to join in an email shortly after completing the form. You may use the same link to join all three sessions, or register again to receive a new link.
Bring Out the Best in Yourself, Your Child and Your Home
Continue to develop community practices within the home to increase your confidence as a parent and develop a plan for those (inevitable) challenging times. Learn practical tools and habits that anyone – a caregiver or not – can apply to their lives.
This 4-part series will explore effective communication, child development, wellbeing, behavioral psychology, and positive parenting as a way to create an environment where children (and adults) are encouraged and engaged, and feel a sense of connection, value and belonging.
About Joy Marchese
Joy Marchese is founder and director of Positive Discipline UK and co-author of Positive Discipline for Today’s Busy (& Overwhelmed) Parent. She runs a successful global educational consultancy and coaching practice, and develops SEL courses and products to teach social-emotional skills in homes, schools, and multiple organizations throughout the world.
From the CAC PTO
From the MS/HS Library
The Battle of the Books 2nd Elimination Round is Sunday! The Final is Wednesday!
Sunday January 29th – Lunch Time, MS Hall, will be the BOB 2nd Elimination Round. The top 4 teams will advance to the Finals on Wednesday February 1st.
Please remember to return your BOB books as you finish them!
MS Activities & Sports
Our MS Soccer Teams took their team photos this week! Good luck to our athletes as they compete for CAC!
Semester 2 MS Sports Schedule
Soccer has begun but stay tuned in the Morning Announcements for sign up forms for Basketball and Volleyball.
- Soccer Season Dates – Jan 9th – Feb 16th – 6 weeks
- Basketball – Feb 19th – April 6th
- Volleyball – April 10th – June 1st
If you have any questions about MS Sports or ASAs, please talk to Ms. Ennis (mennis@cacegypt.org).
Three Cheers
Three Cheers to the seventeen teams of six who are participating in the Battle of the Books.
Three Cheers to team leaders Ms. Harouny, Mr. Miller, and Ms. Torky for their leadership.
Three Cheers to the McCuaig family with the addition of baby Dylan.
Three Cheers to our athletic and activities coordinator Mr. Goetz
for his hard work in supporting the middle school.
Three Cheers to Ms. Fahmy and Ms. Urbiztondo
for their efforts in supporting students, teachers, and parents.