Special Back to School Edition August 26th 2020

Director's Welcome Message

After months and months of being away, I'm thrilled and happy to be back to Casablanca. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your wonderful messages and support. These past few months have been rough on everyone and I am happy to be back to my home in Casablanca to tackle this new year together!

We as educators realize the importance of having children attend school. Their cognitive development, social development, emotional development, development of relationships with peers and adults are of utmost importance to us. Here at CAS we are also concerned with their maintenance of their Cultural identity so that they both know and respect their culture and not lose their groundings. We are most concerned with our N-Grade Two students losing language development as a result of not attending school where English is the language of instruction. This is why we want our students to return to school as soon as possible, but safely.

We have received some guidelines from the Ministry of Health which are very much like guidelines that CDC (Center for Disease Control) in the United States has issued with regards to safely opening schools. Because we are an American School and one that is use to obtaining information from several sources, we will be using CDC guidelines along with the Moroccan Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education. We shall also be using guidelines from American State Schools of education and EU countries to make sure that we cover our bases as much as possible. We also have guidelines from our United States Department of State Office of Overseas Schools and the regional organizations to which we belong like Mediterranean Association of International Schools, European Council of International Schools, and New England Association of Schools and Colleges which accredits CAS.

Although the Ministry of Education has informed everyone that schools will be open beginning September 7th, they have not as yet provided any specific guidelines for doing so. Therefore, we will, in the interim, develop our own guidelines and make any adjustment to them as we progress.

As soon as we feel that we are able to safely accommodate our children to be physically present at CAS, we shall provide a notification to parents about bringing students back to school.

Initial Plan to Re-Open School*

*subject to change

School starts online Tuesday, September 1st 2020

We plan to begin on-line learning for all students/grade levels beginning Tuesday, September 1st. Nursery through Grade Two will initially be receiving distance learning in keeping with what we did from March to June.
Face-to Face instruction will occur just as soon as we are ready to safely receive students on campus and this will be communicated in due course.
Since our present Grade Three students did not have distance learning with Chromebooks before, we shall be providing instructional sessions for them so they become acquainted with Chromebooks and online instruction.

Chromebook Distribution

Parents of Grade 3-6 will be contacted by our IT Department together with our Lower School Principal when to pick up Chromebooks on Friday, August 28th or Monday, August 31st

Requirements for Safe Opening of our School

Health & Safety Considerations

Restricted entry onto campus

We shall be restricting entry onto the CAS campus to students, faculty and staff only. Only those (parents, visitors or guests) who have prior appointments will be allowed to enter.

Temperature Checks & Sanitizing

All parents, staff, students and guests if entering from the front main entrance must use the hand sanitizing station provided and stop to be checked by the school’s temperature imaging camera qnd or hand held digital temperature devise prior to entering the school. All those entering from the rear gate will be required to use the hand sanitizing station and be checked with a portable hand held digital thermometer.

Anyone exhibiting a temperature of 38 degrees and above will not be permitted to enter the school.

Masks are mandatory

All Adults, including educators, administrative and support staff, are required to wear a mask/face covering or a face shield.

Students age three (3) and above are required to wear a mask/face covering that covers their nose and mouth.
Student masks must be provided by their parents and they must come to school with a replacement mask so they may change out masks during the day.
Masks are recommended for children ages two to four, when developmentally appropriate.
Masks/face coverings must be worn by all faculty, administrative and support staff and students school transport buses.
Face shields may be an alternative for those students with documented medical or behavioral challenges who are unable to wear masks/face coverings. The same applies to staff with medical or other health reasons for being unable to wear face coverings. Face shields worn in place of a face covering must extend below the chin and back to the ears.

Hand Hygiene

All students, faculty and staff in the school must receive training in proper hand hygiene.
All students, faculty and staff must wash hands or use sanitizing gel upon entering the school campus, before and after eating, before and after donning or removing a face mask, after using the restroom, before and after use of playgrounds and shared equipment, and upon entering and exiting a school transport bus.
Frequent washing of hands with soap and water is strongly encouraged also.

Physical Distancing & Facilities

All Adults must maintain 6 feet (2 meters) of distance from others to the extent possible. Maintaining 3 feet (1 meter) of distance is acceptable between and among students when combined with the other measures outlined in this list of safety requirements.
Six (6) feet (2 meters) of physical distancing is required for students while eating snacks and lunch, as students will be unable to wear masks at that time.
The school will designate A “medical isolation space” (separate from the nurse’s office) for students/staff who exhibit COVID-19 symptoms during the school day.
Adequate ventilation is required for classrooms, with faculty and interns having flexibility in implementation such as using properly working ventilation systems, ductless AC/Heat, or outdoor air exchange using fans in open windows or doors. Groups in any one area, room, or classroom must not exceed the gathering size limits.

Personal Protective Equipment

Additional safety precautions are required for school nurses and/or any staff supporting students in close proximity, when distance is not possible, or when student require physical assistance.
These precautions must at a minimum include eye protection (e.g., face shield or goggles) and a mask/face covering.
Classrooms and/or areas that have been used by an individual diagnosed with Covid-19 must be closed off until thorough cleaning and sanitization takes place.

Covid School Facility Precautions

Cafeteria & Other common areas

Classrooms

Administration Areas

We are expecting to employ plexiglass barriers in designated areas of the school (as samples shown above). Signange will be posted everywhere on campus signaling flow of direction, entry/exit points, sanitizing steps to carry through regularly and so forth.

Symptoms Screening at Home

Before Coming to School

Symptoms to watch out for daily

Students (parents/caregivers) and staff members must conduct self-checks for symptoms prior to departing for school, boarding buses or entering the school campus or school buildings each day.

People with COVID-19 have had a wide range of symptoms reported – ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness. Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus.

People with these symptoms may have COVID-19:

Fever or chills
Cough
Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
Fatigue
Muscle or body aches
Headache
New loss of taste or smell
Sore throat
Congestion or runny nose
Nausea or vomiting
Diarrhea

This list does not include all possible symptoms. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) will continue to update this list as we learn more about COVID-19.

Return to School after Illness

Our Policy

Sick staff members and students must use home isolation until they meet criteria for returning to school. In all cases the school nurse must be notified immediately if anyone is tested positive and they will then be informed by her when they can return to campus.

Cafeteria & Uniforms

Cafeteria

Our Cafeteria Committee worked extremely hard to investigate companies to provide us with better service and selections for your children and our staff. The name of the new provider chosen by the Committee is Art Cantine.

School Uniforms

We shall communicate the date/time when parents can come in to purchase their child’s/ren uniform or any alternative method to obtain the uniforms directly. You may also contact Kenza Belbacha directly if you choose.

Academic Supply Lists

Lower School Academic Supply List

Welcome to the 2020-21 school year. This year promises to be interesting and exciting and we are all looking forward to it! The Parent Portal has been reactivated!

Click here to access the supply list which has been created for the various school scenarios (on-campus, hybrid, and Distance Learning).

Upper School Academic Supply List

Each teacher will communicate with their respective classes the supply list in due time. Thank you for your understanding!

Welcome to our new CAS Faculty

Natasha Van Meer

2nd Grade Teacher

Jonathan Trudeau

LS Intern

Will Tyler

7th & 8th Grade Science Teacher

Maria Pochard

Upper School & Grade 6

French Teacher

Eileen Achaoui

Kinder Teacher &

Pre-School Coordinator

Hasna Dadi

Upper School Math Teacher

Marwa Berrada

Grade 6 Teacher Assistant

Katrina Enoch

US English/Humanities Intern

Imane Abderahim

LS French Teacher

Tara Ann Carter

US English Teacher

Jeffrey Syed Ahmed

4th Grade Teacher

Céline Adhemard

French Teacher US & Grade 6

Meriem Guertoumy

US Science Teacher

Community News

We deeply regret to inform you of the passing of Elizabeth Phillip's mother this past July. Elizabeth is currently in the US with her family and will return to CAS on September 12th, 2020. We send our deepest condolences to her and her family.

Congratulations to Youness our former chef and Cecilia Cracknell (Grade 2 teacher) for their recent engagement. We wish them a happy life :)

Our amazing Josh Winnicki and Kaitlin O'Connor, former CAS faculty, are parents to a wonderful little boy. Congratulations!

Congratulations to Blair Cochran and Chris Gutteridge for the birth of their newborn son, Lucas Amine!

Do you follow us on Instagram and Facebook?

Please click on the below links to follow us on our official pages on social media:

- Instagram (@cas_official1973)
- Facebook (@cas.ac.ma)

Together We Can: Partenariat entre les parents

We have created a page on our What's Up Cobras entitled: Together We Can, which enlists all of our parents affiliations submitted so far. Please click HERE to access it. If you are interested in being part of it, please send us a small descriptive and the logo of your company by email. The purpose is to encourage parents to do business with one another taking into consideration their areas of expertise or business.

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