Dear ASD Community,

As we conclude our final instructional day before the break, my primary goal is to provide everyone with as much clarity and predictability as possible during these unpredictable times. To that end, the ASD Leadership and Board of Directors have finalized our operational plans for the coming weeks.

Extension of Remote Learning Through April 2

The ASD Leadership and Board of Directors have confirmed that we will continue with our Remote Learning Model through at least Thursday, April 2nd. We recognize that the fluidity of the current situation makes long-term planning difficult. Our goal is to provide everyone with a rolling two-week planning horizon, refreshed weekly, to ensure you have the predictability needed to make informed decisions about your location and arrangements without the stress of day-to-day uncertainty.

School Timing After Eid & Spring Break

When we resume learning on Sunday, March 29, we will transition back to a full instructional day model, with both synchronous and asynchronous learning activities. This structure will feel familiar to many of you, as it mirrors the successful frameworks we utilized during both the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

• 8:00 AM – 12:45 PM | Synchronous Learning: This block will consist of live, scheduled instruction with teachers and peers.  We will follow our established Ramadan start and end timings for this synchronous portion of the day.

Note on Scheduling: We have purposely designed this synchronous portion of the day to be contiguous. We recognize that a percentage of our students are currently navigating this period from locations outside of Qatar. Introducing large asynchronous blocks between live sessions would be unnecessarily prohibitive for students in disparate time zones; whereas a consolidated block would allow for better engagement for all students, regardless of their physical location.

• 12:45 PM – 3:00 PM | Asynchronous & Support Time: This afternoon session is dedicated to independent work, teacher "Office Hours," and targeted individual support from teachers and specialists.

This balance is designed to maintain high academic rigor and curricular progress while ensuring that students and staff have the necessary support and flexibility within a remote learning environment.

While the overarching timings are consistent school-wide, each division has tailored its approach to meet the developmental needs of its students. Detailed schedules, expectations, and instructions for each division are available on our dedicated Remote Learning Sahifa page: ASD Remote Learning Plans & Updates.

Roadmap for a Return to Campus: Our Decision Matrix

The Leadership Team and the Board of Directors have developed a standards-based decision tree and analytical framework to govern our eventual resumption of on-campus operations. This is a gated framework that prioritizes the preservation of life over all other factors.

The Four Gated Decision Phases

Before we can consider welcoming students back to campus, we must clear four specific thresholds:

• Phase 1: Governmental and Diplomatic Clearance: We require official authorization from the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MoEHE) to rescind the distance-learning mandate. Simultaneously, the US Embassy must lift its shelter-in-place and evacuation recommendations for American citizens.

• Phase 2: Security and Infrastructure Assessment: There must be a sustained, verifiable cessation of hostilities in the GCC. Furthermore, a physical inspection of the ASD campus must confirm the absence of structural damage or debris from intercepted munitions.

• Phase 3: Operational Readiness: We must verify that we have sufficient instructional, medical, and security personnel on-site to operate the campus safely. Additionally, regional supply chains must function sufficiently to ensure the school can sustain itself with food, water, sanitation, and emergency medical supplies.

• Phase 4: Community Readiness and Duty of Care: Our return must be restorative rather than rushed. This phase is dedicated to staff preparation, specifically focusing on the trauma-responsive skills needed to support students and the wider community that has experienced significant regional conflict.

I want to emphasize that this threshold for returning to campus is purposefully high. We are committed to ensuring that when we do issue a return-to-campus decision, it is undeniably aligned with our institutional duty of care.

Essential Reminders and Resources

• Rescheduling Parent-Teacher Conferences: High School conferences will now take place on April 8 and 9 (one week later than initially scheduled). In line with our established practice for HS, these meetings will remain online. LES, UES, and MS conferences will be moved to late April to prioritize the impact of face-to-face interaction, with the date and details to be determined.

• Health, Safety, and Operations Sahifa Page: To ensure you have easy access to these updates, we continue to maintain our dedicated page for timely school-wide updates. This notice, along with all of our updates since the conflict arose, are on that page.

• ASD Wellness Padlet: We also have a curated Wellness Padlet that serves as a library of support resources for families. It includes coping strategies for managing stress, mental health contacts, and engagement activities for both students and adults.

• Travel Notification: If your family has recently departed Qatar and you have not yet notified us, please complete the ASD Temporary Family Departure Form. You do not need to complete this if you have already informed us of your travel plans.

In Closing

I understand that the transition to virtual learning, combined with regional uncertainty, has been taxing for everyone. We all need a moment to step away from our screens and recharge.

Throughout the break, our Leadership Team will continue to coordinate with relevant authorities and the US Embassy to ensure our planning is informed by real-time security and situational assessments. While our goal is for everyone to have a restorative break, please rest assured that I will reach out with any vital information or shifts in our planning as they occur over the next two weeks.

I wish you and your family a peaceful and safe break ahead.

Warmly,

Dr. Victor Guthrie

March 17 - 28

• NO SCHOOL - EID AL FITR/SPRING BREAK

Sat, March 28

• Rescheduled SAT - For any questions, please email the SAT Coordinator, Rachel Rust, at rrust@asd.edu.qa.

Sun, March 29

• UES/MS/HS Day 4

Mon, March 30

• UES/MS/HS Day 5

Tue, March 31

• UES/MS/HS Day 6

Wed, April 1

• UES/MS/HS Day 7

Thu, April 2

• UES/MS/HS Day 8

Reminders:

• ES 2025-2026 Yearbook Pre-sales Don’t miss this opportunity! Price: QAR 100

• HS 2025 -2026 Yearbook Pre-sales Don't miss this opportunity! Price: QAR 220 *Please be sure you have a balance in your DragonCard*