Essential Emails

Head of Secondary/High School Principal Ms. (EJ) Elizabeth Johnston ejohnston@aisegypt.com

High School Office hsoffice@aisegypt.com

Announcement for April 11th

Dear Parents and Students;

The recent announcement from the ministry will have some impact on our current practices. Starting on Sunday April 11th, the following will go into effect for the High School:

As per policy, any work assigned during any period would be due by 10pm on that day so students unable to attend either physically or synchronously, can still submit the work.

Please remember the health protocols for school attendance, do not come to school if you have any symptoms. Please contact the clinic if you or any member of your household becomes ill. For those of you dealing with COVID in your families, you continue to be in our thoughts.

Announcement for March 24th

Please remember to stay safe next week and limit your interactions with others as we head into the Spring Break. We plan to return to campus in Hybrid mode on April 11th with Cohort A.

For those of you dealing with COVID in your families, you continue to be in our thoughts.

Covid Update March 20th

Students in the IB program grade 11 and 12 are isolating at home due to exposure to two separate positive cases. As a result of those exposures, we also have a number of teachers who are isolating at home. They will continue to deliver online lessons according to our current bell schedule throughout this week.

Sunday March 21st, we welcome back to campus our grade 9 Cohort B students from their isolation at home.

There are rumors of Senior Proms being organized by students at other schools. AISE does not condone attendance at any such event, particularly as numbers are rising in our community. We hope that parents will ensure our students do not attend any large event which would put the rest of our community at risk.

Ministry Exams fro Grades 10 and 11 on Thursday March 11th - Uniforms required

Students are permitted to leave as soon as they have completed the exam and are not expected to need the full time scheduled

Grade 9 is Quarantined

from Tuesday March 9th until Saturday March 20th and may not come to campus. Grade 9 students will have zoom lessons with their teachers according to our regular schedule and will remain off campus until March 20th.

• Cohort B will be able to resume classes on Sunday March 21st.

• Cohort A will be able to resume classes on Sunday March 28th.

Should anyone in grade 9 begin to show symptoms, please report these immediately to our clinic.

There are no physical or virtual HS classes scheduled for Sunday March 7th ONLY the grade 9 Arabic exams and G12 IB mock exams are on campus. Last Thursday we had online classes to replace tomorrow's classes. No students in HS are having classes tomorrow, if they are not writing an exam on Sunday, they should be home working on long term assignments from their teachers or studying for their upcoming Arabic exams.

Due to Ministry Exams, the return of all HS students in Cohort B is postponed one day to Monday March 8th.

Sunday March 7th will be a “dig in day” for grades 10, 11 and 12 American Diploma students with no scheduled zoom classes with their teachers as teachers will be invigilating both the Ministry Exams and the IB Mock exams. Thursday March 4th will be an online attendance day for all students following our regular bell schedule to replace the Cohort B Sunday that will be lost to the Ministry exam.

NOTE: ON March 4th, Y2 IB Chemistry and Y2 IB Business will attend their special sessions on campus but everyone else will attend online from home.

A Gradual Return to Onsite Learning Begins February 21st

Welcoming Students Back!

New Bell Schedule

We will be implementing a new bell schedule which will remain our schedule from now through the end of the school year. It was developed based on feedback from parents, students and teachers. ALL students in Cohort A and B follow this schedule.

Mandatory Attendance

Attendance at the start of each period is mandatory for all students (both cohorts). Students will check in at the start of class and teachers will take attendance, clarify instructions and/or go over the tasks for the day. The at home cohort will then go off and work independently until 2pm when they will be able to check back in with teachers. For the next two weeks as American Diploma students in grades 10-12 are still at home, teachers will be holding synchronous classes according to the bell schedule above, beginning with the same concept of balancing a check in with independent work but also working with small groups from the class as needed throughout the 65 minutes.

ONLINE Learning Begins January 10th

Closing Grade 12 for 14 days

In order to isolate a large number of highly suspected Covid-19 cases and in response to 3 positive cases in grade 12, all grade 12 students will study online beginning Monday November 9th. Please see the email from Ms. Johnston for more details.

Model in Practice

• The students will be divided into two Cohorts (A & B) schoolwide so that families are onsite in the same week

• Cohort A attends school in Week A and completes online work in Week B

• Cohort B completes online work in Week A and attends school in Week B

• IB attends every day (see special rules for certificate students)

• Teachers will flip the classroom with all resources uploaded on Google Classroom to guide the students. Teachers will use the continuous learning model to plan applications (both virtual and onsite) that dig deeper into conceptual learning of the power standards and employ a variety of strategies that deepen understanding such as problem-solving, concept mapping, case analysis, simulations, designing, socratic seminars, group discussions, etc.

  • The onsite cohort will have some time to complete some of the online portion of the material at the start of every class (some things will need to have been done/prepared as homework) after which the class will engage in practice, application, discussion, deepening of conceptual understanding, formative assessment and review/reflection activities.

  • The at home cohort will also complete the online portion of the material and engage in virtual application activities to deepen their understanding of the material.

Special Notes for IB Students

IB students will attend in both cohorts as they are smaller classes, larger classes would be accommodated either in a larger space or divided into two spaces on campus.

• IB certificate students will attend their full schedule (IB classes & AD classes) with their assigned cohort and will attend their IB classes with the alternate cohort (they are not to attend their AD classes with the alternate cohort). This means that certificate students may arrive at school for their IB classes during the alternate week and either go to the library (with a pass from the office) for self-study or they may return home (sign out in the office).

• If an IB student has extenuating circumstances that might prevent him or her from attending every day, he or she must make an appointment to discuss the issue with Ms. Issa and Ms. Gendy before Sept 6.

Student Attendance and Commitment to Learning

Students are expected to attend the onsite classes along with their cohort. They may not switch cohorts nor attempt to make up onsite classes in the alternate cohort’s week. The Deans at the various grade levels will monitor student attendance closely and have regular conversations with students who are showing a pattern of non-attendance. Inconsistent commitment to attendance may result in the student being asked to move to one of the online options for the next term. Please note:

• Grades assigned on the new POG/ATL rubric from onsite classwork cannot be made up regardless of the reason for absence.

• Technology provides opportunities for students not in attendance to submit work outside of class time. All students are therefore required to submit work by its due date regardless of being in attendance. Unless specified by the teacher, 10pm is the deadline for any day that something is due.

• For work ill-suited to electronic submission (e.g., large-scale projects requiring a physical visual, group presentations, etc.), a PICTURE must be submitted and the due date for submission would be the next day in attendance provided the student has made arrangements prior to the original deadline with the course teacher .

• Students need to connect with their teachers if they are unable to complete their work on time (within 24 hours). It is at the discretion of the teacher to allow an extension. All late work without teacher approval will receive a zero.

Optional Online-Only Program

We have two options for families not comfortable with on campus learning.

1. We will offer a “study along” plan where families can choose for a specific term that their child “never” attends the application and practice sessions on campus. They will miss out on experiences that deepen the learning in the onsite week but would complete all application activities assigned by the teacher. Those students would not have an opportunity to earn many grades in the ATL/POG rubric however these grades are going to be reported separately on the final report and not “averaged in” with the academic achievement grades. Once the deadline for starting this option has passed (August 27th for Term 1), students cannot opt in or out until the end of Term 1.

2. We will also offer a Project Based structured learning experience beginning in Term 2. Students opting for a PBL structure would complete a reduced number of assignments and learning events required by core course teachers combined with a transdisciplinary project, one per term, based on a Humanities/Electives model and a STEM/Electives model. The student’s work on these projects would be monitored and assessed by the online learning coordinator with grades being assigned to the appropriate subject courses. Once the deadline for starting this option has passed, students cannot opt in or out until the end of each term.

Students will need to complete this google form with their learning option (100% Online or 50% Hybrid Onsite) intention by noon on Sept 6th.

Learning Option Response Form LINK

(Due Sept 6th--the original due date)

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Q&A: Open Forum via Zoom for questions on Tuesday August 25 beginning at 3pm, here is the LINK

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