Volume 10: March 7- March 11th

Director's Message

Dear Community Members,

We hope you had a restful break and we welcome you back to another stretch of this school year. Hereafter, follow our updates for this week:

Antigenic Tests:

Exactly two years ago in March 2020, Morocco declared its first COVID-19 case, followed by a lockdown. Since then, like the rest of the World, Morocco has taken a whole host of measures and enacted mandates and protocols to protect its population. At CAS, we have been closely following the guidelines provided by the CDC, the WHO and the Moroccan Ministries of Health and Education Departments. We have added one additional CAS layer to the above by periodically administering Antigenic Tests to protect and isolate positive cases, and thanks to this measure, the spread of the virus never obtained a foothold on our campus.

Once again, we administered our Drive-By Antigenic tests this past Monday, March 7th. Only two cases were reported and those were isolated to the Upper School. Thank you to all of our parents who maintain collaboration with CAS regarding this matter and thank you to all of our Staff who have been helping with the testing sessions including Ms. Mouna Lekfy and Ms. Asmaa Araskad at the nurse's office.

First Evacuation Drill of the year:

We had our first Evacuation Drill of the year on Wednesday, February 23rd. The purpose of these drills is to prepare students and staff in case of an emergency evacuation amongst other emergencies which could befell the school. Normally, best emergency practices recommend 3 drills in the year.

Ramadan Starts and School Hours during Ramadan

Ramadan in Morocco will start either Saturday, April 2nd or Sunday, April 3rd. The Moroccan Authorities will announce the exact date once this is confirmed. During Ramadan, if we change the school hours to serve those students who observe the holy month of Ramadan, it will be communicated to you after discussions with our Senior Administrative staff and our Board of Governors.

Ramadan Food Drive:

In relation to Ramadan, last year’s Food Drive for CAS workers was a big success!! They were thankful for the generosity many parents displayed especially that most of these hard working support staff have extended families to assist. We plan to run another Ramadan Food Drive for this year. If you would like to contribute, these are the basic items to make a nice basket: Rice, Chickpeas, lentils, Milk, Coffee, Tea, Sugar, Cooking oil, Flour (riz, pois chiches, lentilles, lait, café, thé, sucre, huile, farine).

Please check the Ramadan section in this edition for further details.

Ramadan and Day Light Changing time in Morocco:

With the holy month of Ramadan approaching fast, Morocco will end Daylight Savings Time on March 27th. clocks and electronic devices will be moved one hour backward. Please remember to change the time on your devices if it does not happen automatically. Daylight Savings Time in Morocco will end May 2nd and at that time, clocks and electronic devices will then move one hour forward.

Condolences:

We extend our condolences to the El Ouakhchachi family for the loss of Mr. El Ouakhchachi, father of Kenza in Grade 8, and Selma who graduated from CAS in 2018. Mr. El Ouakhchachi passed away this weekend after battling cancer. Our prayers and support are with his family.

Congratulations

Congratulations to our Upper School Math teacher, Ms. Hasna Dadi, for her new born. Both mother and baby are home enjoying each other’s company.

Congratulations go also to our new Plant Manager, Mr. Zakaria Anbaouy for the birth of his daughter, Joudia.

John Randolph

Academics

From the US Principal

Dear Parents, students, and our wider community,

It is great to be back and even greater to know that Covid cases in the US division are lessening.

In this edition, I would like to welcome new family members to our Upper School division:

Park Yein (Grade 7) and Yeshin (Grade 9), Jacob Imad and Jacob Safa in Grade 10 who joined us right before Winter Break. We hope that these new students will adjust well to Morocco and to CAS in particular.

Today March 8th, as we celebrate Women's International Day around the World, it’s more a celebration of equality in gender, achievement, and opportunities to succeed in life.

The following article, published by United Nations Women, linking the labor of Moroccan Fisherwomen to Climate resilient practices is worth reading, especially that CAS thrives to form Global citizens who care about Climate change and Human rights, including those of women. I urge especially US students to read it and reflect on it.

https://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/feature-story/2022/03/in-morocco-fisherwomen-adopt-new-climate-resilient-practices

To all the women out there, our mothers, sisters, grandmothers, female friends and cousins, we wish you a wonderful Women’s Day! A special one goes to the US Assistant, Ms. Amina Alami, who goes beyond and above to keep the US division in order.

This year, Morocco, is facing some serious drought exacerbated by Climate Change. Again, I urge the US students particularly to get out of their comfort zone, either at school or at home, and adopt a sense of accountability for their own water usage. As water shortages will affect us all in one way or another, simple gestures to protect and manage this precious resource by not overusing it will save lives.

Thank you for your feedback and input.

Simohamed Sarhane

From the LS Principal

As an international educator and having lived in Latvia, I have been closely following recent events in Eastern Europe. I have friends who are currently employed at the international schools in Kyiv and Moscow, all of whom had to leave. The situation is impacting millions. According to the UNHCR, there are now over 1,735,068 refugees from Ukraine (06/03/22). Families at schools in the CEESA region are hosting refugees and driving supplies to the border.

I am not writing to push any agenda. I simply want to let you know that if you are following the news and recent events in Ukraine and feel called to act, please refer to Pechersk School International. They have compiled a list of reputable, vetted organizations of which to contribute. When I was talking to a friend and former colleague, who is now their Upper School Principal, she referenced Art for Peace in Ukraine as a major initiative...Mrs. Gi and Mrs Sekkat will be working on this in their art classes in the coming days.

Elizabeth Phillips

College Corner

TRIVIA CORNER

We thank you and please watch out for more in the next edition!

Community News

Mazagan 2022 Rate for CAS Community

CAS has a special rate with Mazagan Resort and Spa. Please follow the link Mazagan-CAS Rates to check the offer that CAS parents and Staff are granted.

Save the Date

Who's who? Guess all Cobras in the poster and win tickets to the play!

First 3 correct entries / emails sent to Ms Sarhane Halima have tickets guaranteed for the contestant and a plus 1!

Sabina Sitoianu

US Drama Teacher

Admissions News

At CAS, we have started processing admission applications for the 2022-2023 school year. Screening dates for Nursery and Kindergarten applicants will be shared shortly. It is our pleasure to inform our community, as well, that some expatriate applicants have already been accepted in our Upper School Division.

The home of the Cobras is also the home of the Cobras' siblings. Therefore, please start the Admission process for 2022-2023 as soon as possible to secure a seat for your Cobra-To-Be Child provided all Admissions Criteria are met.

Thank you for your interest and feel free to contact me at speters@cas.ac.ma with questions about the admissions process.

Samira Peters

Admissions Office

If you have not seen our new faculty and staff biographies you can find them here. A link to this page is always available at the end of our what's up cobras.

Alumni Corner

We are currently working on updating our Alumni page on our website. Please stay tuned for it's official publishing soon to find out more about our Alumni!

Lost and Found

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

Lost and Found items will be displayed by the back gate EVERY Friday, from 2:00 to 3:00 pm. Please take the time to claim lost items .

Last call: Lost earing

KEY DATES

March 10

Kidproof & Protect ED Webinar

March 23rd

Professional Development and Students Early Dismissal

March 27th

Day Light Changing Time

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