  Hi and welcome to the Principal’s corner.
To my mind an educational institute is not just about bricks, mortar and concrete, but about building character, enriching minds and about enriching experiences that last a lifetime.
Life, at Civilizations, is not a set of instructions but is a series of experiences and learning process. The staff and parent community at Civilizations are what make this place so special. Our staff is student-centered, caring, and motivated toward the success of all students.
The students are why we are here. They not only excel academically, but are also learning about respect, ethical values, and social skills, which we at Civilizations consider to be equally important. We strive to create an environment where students feel safe, comfortable, and respected.
Together, all of us help to make this school a rich, diverse, and inspiring place to be. It is a pleasure being a part of Civilizations, and I welcome your feedback and insights about ways we can continue to improve and to make this school all that it can be.
Sincerely, Principal I READ TO THE PRINCIPAL- May, 2008
Students in our school make an appointment to read a book to me. When they come to me to read, I give them a special bookmark they can take home.. In addition, I log the child's name on a poster on my wall, and put up their pictures on the mobile board to let the school know about the special event. Reading to the principal is a great way for principals to connect with students and to get to know how well they are reading. As instructional leader, doing this activity helps me set the bar high for all students. My students truly love spending time with me to show off their reading skills.
THE STORY OF AMMAR - July, 2008
 Yesterday, I spent my day at College Station, Texas. I went there to see my son Ammar's university, Texas A & M. Driving on the I-10 freeway, through the ranches of Texas, towards one of the most educated towns in the USA I suddenly saw the tall tower looming in the sky saying, "Welcome to Aggieland", Aggies being the nickname of the students of the University. Visible from a long distance was also the football stadium of the university, the biggest in the United States, with a capacity of 85,000 spectators. Ammar tells me it is packed during a match, especially if the competitors are the the 'longhorns', the students of UT Austin, the traditional rivals of the Aggies.
 I was awestruck at the size of the campus, thinking of Ammar's alma mater, Aitchison College, whose 185 acres campus seemed to me a town in itself. On that scale, the 5,000 acres of Texas A&M would make it a city, indeed, it has its own airport! But size is not all, this is also a powerful university; its dean has recently been appointed the Secretary of Defense of the United States.
We parked the car near a mosque and started walking through the university amidst sports fields, departments and libraries. I was overwhelmed by the campus's size and quality. Texas A & M is one of America's top ten universities, in petroleum engineering it's the world topper. Suddenly, Ammar pointed at a humungous structure. "That's the Colosseum!" I looked up at the Roman architecture and was rendered speechless at the grandeur. My eyes misted as I saw myself two years from now, sitting inside watching Ammar going up to collect his degree on graduation day, wearing his grad coat and cap. What a long and tough path my son has traveled, I thought, as I saw through the mist the five year old Ammar that I had taken for admission to Aitchison. Ammar was tiny, amongst the youngest in his class in a school overly rigid about age specification. I remember the headmistress looking at him and then at the principal at the admission test and wondering what to ask such a small boy. As he passed the admission test, Ammar embarked on a journey of struggle and frustration in an atmosphere where everyone was judged by exam results. The first report card showed him at the 22nd position in a class of thirty. I was ashamed at Ammar's performance. Ammar hated every minute in a school where he was constantly judged but never helped. I remember going to his parent conferences, year after year, and meeting the same expression of rejection on his teachers faces. It gave me no pleasure to go from there to the classroom of Ali, my second son, the blue eyed boy of Aitchison. Ali was the darling of the teachers, always placed in the high-performing A section in a school where you could not afford to be average. I often did not wait for home to take out my frustration over Ammar's result. I thought that somehow the teachers' attitude was Ammars fault!
Time passed painfully slowy for my eldest son at Aitchison. Years of criticism and rejection ensured a low self-esteem all through his school life. He was de-motivated and friendless. We were actually surprised when he passed his A' Levels exams. Ammar managed to get admission at NUST, supposedly the best engineering university in the country. He left home eagerly looking for a friendlier place. He soon found out that at NUST his academic career was no different. This was an education system where each student is treated with equal severity, even vengeance. As Ammar struggled to adjust to a different, military style atmosphere, he was also struggling with a deep personal trauma. The result of the emotional turmoil landed him in the bottom group in the university.  The faces of the teachers were the same as those at Aitchison, with sadistic smiles, waiting vulture-like to pounce on a fallen angel. I desperately tried to meet each one of them and explain the situation with tears in my eyes, but my cries for help fell on deaf ears.
I repeatedly urged Ammar to work hard telling him that I believed in him and he promised to do so, but the university heads said his efforts would be useless. Though the second semester result showed a marked improvement, the teachers forecasted Ammar to be doomed for life. No matter how hard he tried, the cumulative GPA would never rise beyond a certain point because of his first semester result. When he graduated with a bad gpa he would never get a good job so it was useless to try. We were all shattered! How can you be doomed for life because of one bad semester? How can there be no way out? How could the university punish a child for not growing up early enough? And what was the teachers' role in his career? Demoralised, Ammar kept on plodding for three semesters, getting a better result each time and discovering that it was fruitless. The whole university told him that he was wasting his time. His good grades would get him nowhere. I would ask myself, a hundred times each day, about the goals of these educationists in my country. They had put a label on my son that said 'FAILURE' and tried their best not to let him take it off. Finally, Ammar decided to leave for the USA amidst tears and frustration. He waved me goodbye, trying his best to look brave. Ammar enrolled in the first week at the community college in Houston. The counselors there rushed to help him choose his courses. The dean sat with him to design his career path. He told him he had a lot of talent. Ammar looked at him incredulously. This was the first time a teacher had encouraged him. Ammar's first GPA was 3.8! He called me, screaming on the phone. We both cried! A year passed and Ammar applied to some of the top few universities in USA. The teachers, heads and presidents helped him at every stage. He got admission offers from the best universities! The one he really wanted was UT Austin. They gave him an admission provided he supplied a letter from his university in Pakistan saying he had left without sitting the final exam and so his credits need not be transferred. It was just a letter that needed to complete a student file. Excited, I drove to the NUST building. I realized I had forgotten much about NUST. I went from room to room in bewilderment as everyone there told me it was not the policy of the university to furnish such a letter! In desperation, I told them about Ammars successes in the USA. How he was offered admissions in the best universities and the absence of this letter would shatter all his hopes. They looked at me with blank, impersonal faces. Army intelligence! These people had tried hard to keep a student from soaring, they couldn't give up now. After trying for days, I told Ammar I couldn't do it, that he must give up on UT Austin. Ammar broke down!  But this was a different Ammar, believing in himself and reassured by the positive attitude of those around him. He immediately accepted the offer from A&M's prestigious engineering programme. The programme is one of the toughest in America . Yet, Ammar is doing well in this very high pressure academic environment. His results are excellent. These days, Ammar is a highly paid intern at General Electrics, a coveted company for most students.
There are obvious lessons in all of this. The personal lessons I have learnt are evident in all the policies of Civi. I see the face of Ammar in every student of my school . People sometimes accuse me of not being strict enough in my dealings. Some feel it is a mark of prestige to throw out more students than you take in; to fail more students in the admission tests than you pass. The ego boosting phrase of the so called educationists "He is not good enough for us" makes me tremble from inside and I read it as "We are not good enough for this child, we must try harder."
It is our job to help students perform in school. Teachers must refrain from sadism, from labeling students as failures. You never know what a little bit of encouragement might do for a student. Motivation, encouragement, high self-esteem are the orders of the day, not only for these innocent kids waiting to conquer the world but also for us, for me. The lesson that I have learnt is that no child must suffer like Ammar did. As the Americans like to say "No child left behind." Houston, Tx |
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