Week 23 February 1 to February 5

Director's Message

Dear Parents,

CAS during Covid Times:

While 50% of the Upper School Students are attending school Face-To-Face, yesterday we have welcomed back our Nursery through Grade 2 students. It is a pleasure to have them back as it is urgent to have them attend school Face-To-Face to prevent any more language loss! I’m sure they will get acclimated to their new school settings quickly and just fine. This said we thank the parents our primary partners in the COVID battle for sticking to the mitigation measures set forth in the COVID Handbook. Only together can we mitigate its impact on our CAS Community. We also thank parents who have been keeping their children home when they are sick and who have been informing us about COVID cases among their family members. It indeed takes a great deal of energy to be educators and parents during this new era, which we hope will fade soon so that we all can regain a normal life once again. Speaking of this, we have some good news to report that some of our instructional staff members will receive their first vaccine shot this Wednesday, with the 2nd one in the next coming weeks. This implies that the Moroccan authorities are very proactive in inoculating teachers first and are trying to address this pandemic's impact upon education. Many school events are still happening online as is the case with today’s Ordinary General Assembly and the sessions that I have been having with parents. Indeed these sessions allow us to reflect on what is working during these times and what needs improving. Actually, I hope that sooner than we think these Randy’s Fireside Chats will be face-to-face. Seeking some normality in our daily life, I’m so proud of all our students and especially some of seniors and juniors with their humanitarian actions they whole heartedly and respectively take upon their shoulders; Breast cancer awareness and the CAS Blood Drive. Cobras make things happen at CAS and nothing can keep us down!

Parent-Teacher Conferences

As announced by the LS and US Principals, we will hold our Parent-Teacher conferences tomorrow, Wednesday, February 10th. While students are working off campus, some parents will be meeting with their children’s teachers to discuss their academic achievements and progress. These interactions are crucial as they allow both teachers and parents to understand how best to serve those students who struggle in or outside the classroom. This said, any parents, including those whose children demonstrate academic excellence are encouraged to ask for such meetings as ultimately they will impact students in a very positive way. Best of luck tomorrow with these meetings!

Cafeteria Services:

Now that we will be gaining some normalcy, hopefully in the near future, Cafeteria services for those who are not on this plan will be available after February Break. If you are interested in this service, please contact Ms. Sabrine Sekkat asap at: artcantine@gmail.com

Tuition Fees Deadline:

Please remember to contact the Accounts office for the 2nd semester Tuition Fee as the deadline is February 15th.

Special Thanks!

I also would like once again to thank Mr. Said Mohamed Fadile for his generous gesture towards our instructional staff by offering each one of them a personalized Moroccan cookies plate that I’m sure was much appreciated during these difficult times.

John J. Randolph

Covid Update from the school director

Covid 19 Teacher Vaccinations

The Ministry of Health has just informed us that we must bring our teachers to be vaccinated tomorrow, Wednesday February 10th. Since we have many teachers at CAS, we do not know how many days that this will take. We are awaiting the time for departure to the vaccination site. Meanwhile, please be advised that you might have to have your Parent-Teacher Conference rescheduled should your child's teacher be required to go for vaccination tomorrow. We have not been provided with a time for our vaccinations, but the Ministry of Health wants to vaccinate all teachers first to protect them against COVID-19.

Have you seen our Fall 2020 Re-Opening page on our website? It pertains many key information as well as a copy of our Covid Handbook available for download. Please click Here to access it.

Academics

From the LS Principal

This week, we welcomed our youngest learners to campus everyday, all day. Everyone has enjoyed this- teachers and students. Even more life has emerged on the CAS campus! We converted the cafeteria into Grade 2 classrooms, which goes to show learning can happen anywhere! I am so thankful for our staff who rolled with the proverbial punches and went above and beyond for the continuity of learning despite rapid changes and new information.

In order to maintain daily attendance, it is critical that all community members adhere to safety measures of wearing masks (correctly) sanitizing, and distancing. As much as we would like, we are unable to accommodate G3-6 students daily.

Elizabeth Phillips

Grade 2 moved to the cafeteria to accommodate all the students!

From the US Principal

Dear Parents,

We are pleased to greet a greater number of our students on campus. Despite the challenges related to having more students on campus, it has been a successful transition toward a more regular school week. It feels so great to see more life and action in the school!

We have started our virtual meetings with each grade levels this week. These conferences are running smoothly and we appreciate your support and comments! It is really nice to hear from all of you.

Upper School Hybrid Learning Rotation

February 8th- February 12th

International Baccalaureate news

May 2021 IB Examination:

IB considers the difficulties schools face nowadays as a result of the COVID pandemic. Besides removing some examination components (which was announced in September), the IB also considers offering an alternative examination path if it is evident that a school can not run "in-person" exams. Recently schools were asked to update IB on their opening situation and recommend, based on the country and community situation, to have or not the exams "in-person" in school. After thoughtful consideration of comments coming from all community members at CAS, we informed the IB that we could not be confident about administering in-person exams for the May 2021 Examination session. The IB organization provides extensive documentation on what the “non-examination” route can be, and an official request to choose which path we will follow is to come before mid-February. More detailed information on the new procedures received from IB will come in the next few days via email.
Submission of the examination materials: French A HL; English A HL Essays and the Extended Essays are finalized and submitted for examination. Congratulations to the teachers for guiding the candidates and good luck, students!

IB Juniors (Grade 11):

Our active EE Coordinator, Mr.Klemp, organized a virtual seminar, still called “Extended Essay Subject Preference Cafe”. Juniors had the opportunity to speak with various teachers about the possibility to write an extended research in their subject. Congratulations Mr. Klemp and good luck with your choice, juniors!

10th Grade English Highlights

Digital Portfolios

Mr. Rose's Grade 10 English students produced digital portfolios of their work for trimester one. They have designed their own websites using Weebly as their digital platform. Students collected exemplars of their work that demonstrated progress toward mastery of the skills covered in the first trimester. Students then reflected on the strengths and growth areas of their work, setting goals for further progress in the new semester. Students then presented their portfolios to their parents, who were given the opportunity to provide feedback on their child's learning. They will continue to add to their portfolios over the course of the school year.

You can discover some of our student's work if you visit our school website . The homepage features the department news section where you will see this post.

Grammar Skits

At the end of the term, 10th graders have reviewed the grammar concepts covered by working in teams to write and perform skits about the grammar rules studied. Students created vignettes, music videos, rap songs, and newscasts that both modeled the grammar principles and explicitly stated the rules.

You may watch here the Grammar Gazette by Douae Aichour, Alia Kafil, and Sara Raitab and Grammar Packet by Jacob Lydon & Linnea Finegold.

N.B.: These have also been posted on our Instagram & Facebook pages.

CAS families are invited to start the application process rapidly for the 2021-2022 academic year.

During the application process, make sure to meet the deadlines to ensure an easy enrollment for your child.

Please feel free to contact the Admissions office at ,with questions about the admissions process.

Samira Peters

Admissions

If you know of any family who align with our Philosophy and Objectives, please encourage them to contact us to be eventually part of the CAS bigger family. The number of families willing to join CAS is growing larger, but we do have some space in some classes.

John J. Randolph

Community News

When students initiate activities...

Our students on TV!

The Breast Cancer Project is ongoing and coming close to an end! Our students have joined the Amis du Ruban Rose last week on World Cancer Day to distribute the unsold masks they had designed and were produced by one of our community members, Mr Boudih (kmama.ma ). The TV show 2M was present and they filmed and interviewed the present members.

Congratulations to our seniors Hiba El Hansali, Sabrine Benzakour and Ahmed Al Saleh for their ongoing efforts. They raised approximately 14000 dh from selling the pink masks. They are currently in the process of assessing the exact needs of the different oncology centers assisted by Les Amis du Ruban Rose. Once we have more information on the donations that they will provide these centers thanks to the funds risen over the past two years we will share them with you!

CAS Blood Drive

Blood Drive v2.MP4

CAS community, it’s our turn to make an impact on our community and help save lives! Now, more than ever, the current pandemic has depleted Morocco’s Blood reserves and thousands of people are daily in need of blood.

People to People is organizing a blood drive on Saturday, February 13th 2021 in collaboration with the Centre Régional de Transfusion Sanguine AT SCHOOL. This is our opportunity to make sure we’re helping the ones in need!

We’re counting on everyone in our CAS community: Alumni, Staff, Teacher, Students (above 18 yrs) and family to sign up. We need a minimum number of YOU to sign up in order for this action to take place on campus.

⚠️ All COVID-19 mitigation measures will be taken to ensure a safe environment.

If you would like to donate blood, you must be 18 years of age and need to sign up here.

KEY DATES

Parent Teacher Conferences

Wednesday Feb. 10th

No School

February Break

Feb 22- 26

No School

Professional Development

Wednesday Feb. 17th

Early Dismissal

College Counseling

University Virtual Visits

Ms. Haroun organizes regular university virtual visits. These are open to students and parents of grade 10-12. Please look out for emails announcing future visits and sign up! It is a great opportunity for students to learn more about university options and the university application process.

Upcoming Visit

Class of 2021 - University Admissions

United Kingdom

United States

Europe

Canada

To Grade 11 students

Dear Students,

This is a reminder that you must register for the March SAT as soon as possible, in case you have not done so yet. If you have taken the December SAT, taking it once again will give you a chance of increasing your score. As you are half-way into your first year of the International Baccalaureate program this year, we want to ensure your success in this program so you can get into a competitive university and pursue your passions.

All grade 11 students must take the SAT at least twice this academic year (three times, if necessary). Waiting until grade 12 to take the SAT will be detrimental to your university applications as you might miss some important deadlines and score lower on the SAT.

While it is true that many universities went test-optional for the current graduating class (Class of 2021), there is no guarantee that it will remain optional for your class (Class of 2022). In addition, current admission results for the Class of 2021 show that students who submit a strong SAT score were more likely to be admitted than those who did not. A strong SAT score will make your application more competitive.

The two upcoming dates are March 13, 2021, and May 8, 2021. You must register for the March 13th SAT as soon as possible, as all seats for the 2020/2021 academic year might fill up fast. Please note that we are not allowed to reserve seats for CAS students and that registration occurs on a first-come, first-served basis. Here are the instructions to register for the SAT. We recommend that you register for the SAT with essay, as many universities require students to submit their essay scores.

Students must study for the SAT to optimize their scores. Please find resources to help you prepare for the SAT on our website (you will need your CAS login information to access the website). You can also review the SAT STUDY GUIDE.

Do not hesitate to contact me should you have any questions about testing or university admissions.

Sincerely,

Rana Haroun - College Counselor

Scholarship Award

Congratulations to Sijal Adnani for receiving a $ 2,000 scholarship to pursue a Bachelor's of Science in Computer Science at the University of Toronto in Canada. He also received a € 7,500 scholarship to pursue a Bachelor's of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Jacobs University in Germany. In addition, he received a $ 3,000 scholarship to pursue a Bachelor's of Science in Engineering at McMaster University in Canada

Congratulations to Ahmed Al Saleh for receiving a $ 23,500 scholarship to pursue a Bachelor's of Art in Political Science at Fordham University in the U.S.

Congratulations to Jubin An for receiving a $ 2,000 scholarship to pursue a Bachelor's of Art in Criminology at York University in Canada. She also received a $ 1,000 scholarship to pursue a Bachelor's of Art in Psychology at McMaster University in Canada

Congratulations to Juhyeok An for receiving a $ 13,000 per year scholarship to pursue a Bachelor's of Art in Graphic Design at California College of the Arts in the U.S.

Congratulations to Mamoun Bennani for receiving a $ 1,500 scholarship to pursue a Bachelor's of Commerce at York University in Canada.

Congratulations to Divisha Daswani for receiving a $ 2,000 scholarship to pursue a Bachelor's of Art in Criminology at York University in Canada. She also received a $ 1,000 scholarship to pursue a Bachelor's of Art in Criminology at McMaster University in Canada

Congratulations to Matilde De Lambert for receiving a € 5,000 scholarship to pursue a Bachelor's of Art in International Relations at John Cabot University in Italy.

Congratulations to Maria El Hanaoui for receiving a £ 1,000 per year scholarship to pursue a Bachelor's of Art in Product Design at Leeds Beckett University in the UK.

Congratulations to Hakim Filali Chahad for receiving a $ 66,000 scholarship to pursue a Bachelor in Business Administration at Pace University in the U.S.

Congratulations to Abigail Sarno for receiving a $ 10,000 per year scholarship to pursue a Bachelor's of Art in Animation at Columbia College Chicago in the U.S. In addition, she received a $ 20,000 per year scholarship to pursue a Bachelor's of Art in Animation at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in the U.S.

Congratulations to Malek Sibai for receiving a $ 3,000 scholarship to pursue a Bachelor of Applied Sciences in Computer Engineering at the University of Ottawa in Canada.

Alumni Profiles

Shout out to All Alumni!

We seek to share information on our Alumni to our community and it is also an opportunity for the Alumni to stay in touch! Please email us pictures and updates and we would be happy to share them!

We are eager to hear from you! Email us at the following email address: alumni@cas.ac.ma

What's Up Cobras