What next?

Your journey from Admissions to orientation session and the first day of school

Families starting school later in August / September

In June

First few key things to finish off at the earliest

By this time, in June, a majority of incoming families would have received their 'Admit' letters, paid their school fees, and arranged their child's transportation logistics.

Non UK passport holders would have provided the school with a copy of their proof to remain & study in the UK.

Middle, Upper and High School students would have completed their course / elective selections and arranged any 'placement testing' requested.

Upper & High School students would have also provided a copy of their official school transcript or academic record.

If any of these things are still pending, kindly action them at your earliest. The points of contact regarding questions or further information on these is provided below:

Middle School Course / elective selections and placement testing (Grades 5, 6 , 7, 8): Ivo Lazic on ilazic@acs-schools.com

Upper & High School Course / elective selections and placement testing (Grade 9, 10, 11, 12): Will Ryan on wryan@acs-schools.com

Official transcripts / report cards to: Amanda Turner on aturner2@acs-schools.com. This is required for all students in Grades 9, 10, 11 and 12.

School Transportation: Contact Louise Culley or Ann Fellowes on cobhamtransport@acs-schools.com; and see more bussing information on THIS PAGE

Please note that the school is closed for summer holidays from 20 June. Most Divisional teams will be available for a few days afterward, and will then be away until August. The Transportation & Admissions offices will remain open through the summer.

New Families' WhatsApp Support Group

Many families may have also joined the 'New Families' Support WhatsApp Group' run by our parents. If you haven't already, please feel free to join using THIS LINK. This group remains active through the summer and families find it hugely helpful to start making connections and have FAQ's answered as they settle into the community.

There is also the option of requesting a Buddy Family if you feel you might benefit from 1-1 contact with one of our current families who may have kids in the same grade, with similar interests etc. Click here to request a Buddy Family.

Webinar for Boarding Families

New Boarding Families have been invited to join a Welcome Webinar, on the 18th June at 2 pm UK time. Families would have received an email with the details already. Please also see the registration link for the webinar HERE. A recording of the webinar will be made available after the 18th.

More information about the Boarding Houses can be seen on this page

In July

PowerSchool & Schoology Activation

In early July, you will receive your 'PowerSchool' Activation letter from the IT team. PowerSchool is a parent portal where you can log in and see information specific to your family including your child's report cards, grades, weekly schedule, attendance; and where you also provide personal information to school in a section called PowerSchool Forms (explained below).

You will also receive instructions on this letter to activate your 'Schoology' account. Schoology is the School Intranet where you can see the school wide activities calendar, the weekly school newsletters, as well as group messages sent to all families by different parts of the school - your division, your grade, sports teams, performing arts, medical centre, counsellors, transport, catering, etc

Logins, and any notifications from above platforms are linked to your email address. One or both parents can choose to set up these accounts. For any questions or issues with the activation of these accounts, you can contact the Cobham Technology support team on CobhamTechSupport@acs-schools.com

PowerSchool Forms - very important!

In the same email above, you will also be requested to complete your PowerSchool Forms (detailed how-to instructions will be included). This important section in PowerSchool holds all the key family information you provide to the school. e.g. contact details, emergency numbers, allergy information for your child/ren, medical consents, trips & media consents, etc. It is CRITICAL that all sections of these forms are completed before the orientation day in August, and always kept up-to-date with any changes thereafter.

The contact for questions / any issues on PowerSchool Forms is the same as above: CobhamTechSupport@acs-schools.com

ParentPay Activation

You will receive a ParentPay activation letter from the Finance team, also in early July. ParentPay is our parent portal for all school payments - for lunches, residential trips, yearbooks, etc. Once you are on ParentPay, you will be able to link it to your bank account for any future payments or automatic top-ups.

For any questions or problems with set up of ParentPay, you can reach can out to Michelle Green on mgreen4@acs-schools.com.

MacBooks for Upper & High School Students: please purchase these from the EduTech store by 28th July

All students in Grades 9 to 12 are required to have a MacBook for daily learning. Please ensure that you have acquired this MacBook for your child in time so that it is available for IT onboarding on the orientation day in August.

We strongly encourage families to purchase devices through EduTech to ensure compatibility with our school systems and support services. All purchases made by 28 July at the very latest will be delivered in good time - they will come to school directly, and will be prepared, and ready for students to collect on Orientation day.

For more information, please click: ACS Managed Device Programme for Grades 9 to 12.

Contact for any questions - CobhamTechSupport@acs-schools.com

Note:

Please note that there are several PowerSchool & Schoology introduction sessions over zoom in the first two weeks of school - these are optional, and will help you understand better how to navigate these parent platforms.

Before the orientation day, kindly just ensure that you have activated your access to these platforms; and filled in your PowerSchool Forms!

In August

Summer Get-together

Thursday, 07 August - 11:00 to 12:30 PM is the New Families Get together arranged by the PSO - Parent School Organisation (our PTA). A great opportunity to meet the current ACS families and the school Leadership team in an informal setting. This is held in the Lower School Playground, which is a big open area, so little ones can be kept busy. Siblings are very welcome to attend.

See detailed information and RSVP here

For Lower School Families only - class teacher contact, and Fusion onboarding code

Thursday, 14 August - Lower School families will receive a welcome email from their child's class teacher (with details of what to expect in the first weeks, what to bring to school, class list etc)
Lower School families will also receive an 'onboarding code' from the Catering team to activate their 'Fusion Online' account. Fusion Online is a lunch order app you can download on your phone - to make daily menu selections in advance for your children.

Orientation Day in School for all new families: Friday, 15 August.

Detailed Information is included on this page

Alternate placement testing day

Only for Upper or High School students who have not been able to complete this via their previous school: Saturday, 16 August at 10 AM. For Middle School students, this can be managed after the start of school.

First Day of school for all students

Monday, 18 August

Families starting school later in August / September

For families starting school after the 18th August, a mini orientation session will be held on the same day as the start of school for your child. Please contact the Admissions team to confirm this start date, and your orientation schedule.

Next Page: Orientation Day