Primary SY2021

Essential Emails:

Principal: Mr. Brandon Rogers - brogers@aisegypt.com

Assistant Principal for KG1 & KG2: Ms. Lavesa Devnani - ldevnani@aisegypt.com

Assistant Principal for Grades 1-3: Ms. Elizabeth Anis - eanis@aisegypt.com

Assistant Principal for Grades 4-5: Mr. Matt Novak - mnovak@aisegypt.com

Admin Assistant: Ms. Sarah Shahien - sshahien@aisegypt.com

Primary Counseling Department:

KG1 & KG 2 Guidance Counselor: Ms. Nada Habashi - nhabashi@aisegypt.com

Grades 1-3 Guidance Counselor: Ms Youndie Williams - ywilliams@aisegypt.com

Grades 4-5 Guidance Counselor: Ms. Chante Cross - ccross@aisegypt.com

Welcoming Students Back to Campus on February 21, 2021

Dear Parents,

Please read the following information from the Primary School.

Cohort E sign up link is included below.

Arrival: Time For Primary: 7:45-8:00am. All classes will begin at 8:00am. Please make sure that your child has enough time to transition from being dropped off to walk to the classroom. This means that your child should arrive before 8:00am. We suggest 7:45 just to be sure.

For parents accompanying students entering through gate 1 the drop off location will be the stairs of the main entrance. Parents will not be allowed to enter inside the building. Respective grade level teaching assistants will be on duty to welcome your child and escort them to the classroom.

Dismissal: Busses will leave the campus at 1:30. Parents are welcome to pick up their non-bus riding student from 1:30-1:45pm in the cafeteria for grades KG1-Gr1 and at gate 4 for grades 2-5.

Mask: In order for increased safety, we are requiring all students to wear a mask. Face shields will no longer be allowed as a means of covering. For younger students, we would appreciate it if you could send in extra masks in your child’s backpack.

Learning at home: At-home cohort synchronous instruction will begin the week of February 28th for grades 1-5. Additional details and schedules will be shared next week.

Health and Safety: We ask you to be socially responsible by keeping your children at home if they are unwell. Any child sent to the clinic with COVID-like symptoms will be sent home and may require a negative PCR test upon reentry to school. Additionally, if you or any members of your family are sick, we appreciate your cooperation in informing us immediately so that steps can be taken to keep everyone safe.

Cohort E Sign Up

It is very important that you carefully read the instructions and information on the form before committing to cohort E.

(No later than Saturday 20th Feb 10:00pm)

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/16F1nhHbR_CiBBFOQMPuLvcpCJI5rIJrF0R9KBdqMMl4/edit

Please be on the lookout for the schedules for afternoon sessions, beginning February 28th.

Respectfully,

Brandon Rogers

Primary Principal

January 2021: 100% Online Learning

KG1 and 2

Online Classes

Each homeroom teacher will have a morning meeting at 8:45 followed by, small groups between 9 – 11 am. Our goal is to provide small group lessons in age appropriate chunks of time throughout the day.
Arabic and specialist time will be in the afternoon. These subjects are important parts of your child's education. Please be sure to attend. We have increased the Arabic time from 1 period to 2 periods a week. In addition to this, you may schedule a 1:1 10 – 15 min meeting with your specialist teacher for more instruction. The specialist teachers will share their links with you soon.
Your child’s teacher will also work with your child(ren) 1:1 or 1:2 in the afternoon to review any concepts and skills.
Assignments for all subject areas will be posted on Seesaw. Please make sure your child is submitting assignments.
When not teaching on zoom, your child's teachers will be looking over submitted assignments and providing feedback once a week. In order for them to do this effectively, they need to see what your child can do independently. Please do not assist your child with their work other than answering simple questions and making sure they have the resources they need.

Preparing for class

Structure and routines are really important in order for your child to be successful. We need your help to ensure your child's environment is conducive to learning.

Wake up early each morning (7:30-remember you woke up earlier than that when bringing your child to campus). Ensure your child gets at least 8 hours of sleep.
Eat breakfast before class (not during).
Please dress appropriately. We encourage children to be in school uniform if possible.
Have an appropriate place to work with supplies on hand such as paper, pencils, crayons etc. Sit at a table or desk.
Support your child in logging into Zoom. Plan to log in about 5 minutes before the scheduled start time. This will ensure that if you are experiencing any connectivity issues, you can get it sorted prior to the start of class. While we understand the need for parents to help log in and out of classes, it is important that parents work as partners with their child’s teacher to help with the logistics.
Allow your child space to attend class and complete assignments independently as much as possible.
Parents, please be around to support technical issues but allow your child to engage with the teacher independently.

Grades 1-5

Online Classes

Each homeroom teacher will have a morning meeting followed by mini lessons, small groups, and independent work from 8:30-11:30. Our goal is to provide structure to the day that is familiar to students. At the same time, we hope that chunking this time in the morning will help you schedule your day.
Arabic and specialist time will be in the afternoon. These subjects are important parts of your child's education. Please be sure to attend.
Assignments for all subject areas will be posted on Seesaw or Google Classroom. Please make sure your child is submitting assignments.
When not teaching on zoom, your child's teachers will be looking over submitted assignments and providing feedback to help your child improve. In order for them to do this effectively, they need to see what your child can do independently. Please do not assist your child with their work other than answering simple questions and making sure they have the resources they need.

Preparing for class

Structure and routines are really important in order for your child to be successful. We need your help to ensure your child's environment is conducive to learning.

Wake up early each morning (7:30-remember you woke up earlier than that when bringing your child to campus)
Eat breakfast before class (not during).
We are requiring that students wear their school uniform. Our students associate uniforms with their school routine. We believe that wearing their uniform will put them in the correct mindset for learning. If you are traveling and do not have a uniform, please get solid (no words or pictures) white or navy blue clothing for them to wear. If your child attends class out of uniform, no discipline action will be taken and they will still be allowed to participate, but the teacher will remind them of the expectations and ask them to put on their uniform before the next class.
Sit at a table or desk.
Ensure your child has supplies with them, such as paper, pencils, and anything else your teacher requests.
Plan to log in about 15 minutes before the scheduled start time. This will ensure that if you are experiencing any connectivity issues, you can get it sorted prior to the start of class.

Please note that attendance will be taken each day by the homeroom teacher.

It is expected that every student is in attendance every day.

Our absence policy will still be in effect.

Now more than ever, we need parents and teachers to work as partners in their child’s education.

Thank you and we look forward to seeing you on Sunday.

This school year we are changing the structure of our school. From Early Childhood to grade five will now fall under one school, Primary School, Under the direction of Mr. Brandon Rogers and three vice principals. Lavesa Devani will be with Early Childhood, Elizabeth Anis grades 1-3 and Matt Novack will be with grades 4 and five.

A structured timetable to provide certainty each day

Primary school students differ from upper school students in many ways, including their ability to work independently, use a device for learning, and attention spans. We have planned for online learning prioritizing developmentally appropriate practices. Therefore, following a "normal" school day timetable is not something we will expect of our younger learners.

Continuity of curriculum with ongoing and active support

- The students will have the opportunity to view recorded lessons for each of their subjects. This will allow the child to watch again in the event he/she did not understand. The teacher will then be available for immediate feedback via video, Class Dojo, or email. In the first phase of online learning, the teacher will be there to support if needed. In the second phase of online learning, 1:1 or small group conferring will be expected weekly for each student.

Philosophical Foundation

We have organized our reopening plan around three models and have structured the plan to ensure a smooth transition from one model to the other:

Hybrid (50/50: students attending in alternating weeks)
100% online
Face-to-face

A key priority in all of the models is building relationships with students to encourage motivation and social-emotional growth. This means a repurposing of the previous advisory program to ensure each student has a mentor-teacher who connects with them daily and focuses with the student on his or her academic progress and social emotional wellbeing.

Last year, the the structure of AIS Main began to reframe our learning culture with an emphasis on five components of learning

The Learning Culture work continues and is foundational to each of the three models in the reopening plan.

Philosophical Foundation

We have organized our reopening plan around three models and have structured the plan to ensure a smooth transition from one model to the other:

Hybrid (50/50: students attending in alternating weeks)
100% online
Face-to-face

A key priority in all of the models is building relationships with students to encourage motivation and social-emotional growth. This means a repurposing of the previous advisory program to ensure each student has a mentor-teacher who connects with them daily and focuses with the student on his or her academic progress and social emotional wellbeing.

Last year, the Primary School at AIS Main began to reframe our learning culture with an emphasis on five key areas:

The Learning Culture work continues and is foundational to each of the three models in the reopening plan.

Social Emotional Well-Being

Relationships are foundational for learning. Even in remote environments, students must feel connected to, cared for, and inspired by their teacher and peers. Fostering positive student-teacher, student-student relationships and establishing remote classroom communities that create a sense of belonging for all is critical for students’ overall well being and academic success. Each student is registered in a daily Connections class with an advisor who will be his or her mentor-teacher.

Power Standards

All of our courses are aligned to internationally recognized standards and we have begun the process of identifying 10-12 “power Standards” for each course. Power standards are priority standards that have been chosen for their enduring value. They represent the essential knowledge and skills we want students to master. Each course also has numerous “supporting standards” that support the understanding of the power standards and teachers will use some of those to help students master the power standards.

Engagement

Student engagement is essential. Online learning has reinforced our beliefs in student-driven learning, developing an engaging learning environment through real-world teaching and learning, encouraging the students to demonstrate authentic learning through authentic real-world engagement and planning meaningful activities and assessments.

Feedback and Assessment

Feedback should be the most significant part of assessment as it is formative and critical to deep learning. We believe it should occur as a cycle where feedback is given, and applied to new learning or revisions and given again. We also believe in multiple forms and sources of feedback with teachers, peers, and authentic audiences participating in the feedback process. Summative assessment should be authentic, with students demonstrating their mastery of skills and understanding of concepts. Assessment is no longer about students showing what they know but also “how and why” they know it. Teachers will design meaningful applications and demonstrations of learning that provide opportunities for students to demonstrate their learning (what they know) and defend its authenticity through a metacognitive process (how and why).

Approaches to Teaching and Learning

We continue to focus on developing the AISE Portrait of a Graduate traits based on the IB Learner Profile traits and incorporating IB based approaches to Learning (ATL). This year we will be using a specific rubric for assessing and reporting student growth in three key areas:

Commitment to Learning: Engages in acquiring knowledge and skills (Knowledgeable), through asking questions (Inquiry) and stretching personal limits (Risk Taking). Engages in Reflection (Reflective) as well as Critical and Creative thinking (Thinker).
Citizenship and Integrity: Demonstrates academic and personal Integrity (Principled) at all times. Models personal and social responsibility along with empathy for others (Caring). Embodies a Balanced approach to school and life.
Collaboration and Respect: Communicates respectfully with all individuals (Communicator) demonstrating an understanding of and acceptance of individual differences (Open-Minded). Respects the learning culture through demonstrating positive behavior and self management (polite, present, punctual, prepared and participating).

Social Emotional Well-Being

Relationships are foundational for learning. Even in remote environments, students must feel connected to, cared for, and inspired by their teacher and peers. Fostering positive student-teacher, student-student relationships and establishing remote classroom communities that create a sense of belonging for all is critical for students’ overall well being and academic success. Each student is registered in a daily Connections class with an advisor who will be his or her mentor-teacher.

Power Standards

All of our courses are aligned to internationally recognized standards and we have begun the process of identifying 10-12 “power Standards” for each course. Power standards are priority standards that have been chosen for their enduring value. They represent the essential knowledge and skills we want students to master. Each course also has numerous “supporting standards” that support the understanding of the power standards and teachers will use some of those to help students master the power standards.

Engagement

Student engagement is essential. Online learning has reinforced our beliefs in student-driven learning, developing an engaging learning environment through real-world teaching and learning, encouraging the students to demonstrate authentic learning through authentic real-world engagement and planning meaningful activities and assessments.

Feedback and Assessment

Feedback should be the most significant part of assessment as it is formative and critical to deep learning. We believe it should occur as a cycle where feedback is given, and applied to new learning or revisions and given again. We also believe in multiple forms and sources of feedback with teachers, peers, and authentic audiences participating in the feedback process. Summative assessment should be authentic, with students demonstrating their mastery of skills and understanding of concepts. Assessment is no longer about students showing what they know but also “how and why” they know it. Teachers will design meaningful applications and demonstrations of learning that provide opportunities for students to demonstrate their learning (what they know) and defend its authenticity through a metacognitive process (how and why).

Approaches to Teaching and Learning

We continue to focus on developing the AISE Portrait of a Graduate traits based on the IB Learner Profile traits and incorporating IB based approaches to Learning (ATL). This year we will be using a specific rubric for assessing and reporting student growth in three key areas:

Commitment to Learning: Engages in acquiring knowledge and skills (Knowledgeable), through asking questions (Inquiry) and stretching personal limits (Risk Taking). Engages in Reflection (Reflective) as well as Critical and Creative thinking (Thinker).
Citizenship and Integrity: Demonstrates academic and personal Integrity (Principled) at all times. Models personal and social responsibility along with empathy for others (Caring). Embodies a Balanced approach to school and life.
Collaboration and Respect: Communicates respectfully with all individuals (Communicator) demonstrating an understanding of and acceptance of individual differences (Open-Minded). Respects the learning culture through demonstrating positive behavior and self management (polite, present, punctual, prepared and participating).

School Contacts

Principal Brogers@aisegypt.com

EC Vice Principal ldevani@aisegypt.com

Susie Ghattas, Administrative Assistant sghattas@aisegypt.com

Grades 1-3 Vice Principal einas@aisegypt.com

Sarah Shahien, Administrative Assistant sshahien@aisegypt.com

Grades 4-5 Vice Principal mnovak@aisegypt.com