November 7th- November 14th

From the Board of Governors

Thank you to the parents, faculty and staff members who attended the meeting organized by the Board of Governors on October 27th. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss opportunities for engagement in the school’s governance.

The Board of Governors thanks all of the participants in these sessions, and looks forward to future opportunities for engagement with the community.

Sincerely,

Board of Governors

The Strategic Planning Committee held an information session for CAS parents, faculty, and staff members yesterday, Thursday, November 10th. Findings from the community-wide stakeholder engagement phase of the Strategic Planning Process were shared. Thank you to all who attended.

Director's Message

Thank you to our amazing and incredibly creative PTC members for organizing Halloween Night. We broke the record with 1500 Halloweeners. The PTC offered Games, Food, Music and the Spooky ambiance was just amazing. Congratulations to Mamoun Bensouda, the lucky winner of our Costume Contest. Mamoun won the costume contest partly because he created and wore exactly what he won! Congratulations goes also to Camelia Khamlichi, and Maria Bennani for ranking 2nd and 3rd consecutively! Please make sure to visit our Halloween Pictures gallery.

It’s with such a relief that we would like to inform our community that Amine Medbouh, our U.S. Music teacher, has undergone his heart surgery successfully. He is still with us in part thanks to our diligent and conscientious nurse, Ms. Lekfy, who rushed Amine to the hospital during his heart attack. We wish Amine a quick recovery.

Next week, CAS will host the architectural consulting firm, Education Design International, EDI. Louis Sirota and Rebecca Keel will be on site to hold workshops, visit classrooms, audit, meet and have feedback from students, parents, faculty, administrative and support staff. We thank all of you who confirmed their participation as we build and shape the future of the Casablanca American School!

Finally, Morocco celebrated on Sunday, November 6th, one of its historic moments, Green March Day. In 1975, HM Hassan II called for a Green March of 350,000 unarmed patriots to show an unpreceded support to the recovery of the Moroccan Sahara by the mother land, Morocco.

We would like to share a photograph with all of you of David Fischer, the former U.S Ambassador to Morocco, who stands before a new US State Department map of Morocco recognizing the territory of the Moroccan Sahara as part of the Kingdom of Morocco.

Have a great weekend

Sincerely,

John Randolph

Veteran's Day Celebrations

November 11th is Veteran’s Day in the United States and this day coincides with Armistice Day which marks the end of WWI. As is the tradition here in Casablanca, the French Embassy organizes visits to the cemetery of Ben Msik Sidi Othmane to pay tribute to all those soldiers who paid the ultimate sacrifice and died in wars. Because of the major contribution to WWI by the United States, the Casablanca American School has always been invited by the French Embassy to take part in this ceremony. Our US and LS students honor this occasion by laying a wreath at the American Memorial and reciting poems about war. They are accompanied by some CAS Administrators and Teachers. This year, we are thrilled to have the following CAS veterans participate:

Veteran, John Randolph, United States Army Special Forces

Veteran, Brittany Davis, United States Airforce

Veteran, David Klemp, United States Marine Corps

Veteran, Catherine Huey, United States Army

Our veterans were accompanied by the following students and staff members:

Ms. Philllips, Mr. Sarhane, Reda Bennani-Smires (Grade 6), Betul Topal (Grade 11), Yahya Haitami (Grade 12)

Academics

From the US Principal

We are proud of our Upper School students as they show their involvement through the different clubs and committees that they have formed this year. All these young men and women are true ambassadors in the field they are representing. In this edition, I would like to feature one of them:

National Honor Society:

The purpose of the CAS National Honor Society chapter is to create enthusiasm for scholarship, to stimulate a desire to render service in the community and beyond, to promote leadership, and to develop character in the student members of the NHS-CAS Chapter.

Entry requirements: Grade 10 to 12 students who have 5.8+ grade average with no BE/AE on report cards and have good teacher recommendations.

Membership is open to all grade 10 to 12 students who demonstrate outstanding qualifications in scholarship, service, leadership, and character.

Thank you to Ms. Rana Haroun, the NHS advisor and keep up the great CAS Spirit NHS Members.

Simohamed Sarhane

From the LS Principal

Things are running smoothly in the Lower School and it's about to get busy! The next focus in Choose Love is GRATITUDE. What better attribute to introduce than gratitude during the month of American Thanksgiving? Please see November's Choose Love's calendar...30 Days of Gratitude. This is a wonderful practice to have and discuss during family time around the dinner table.

The Family Outreach Committee's November event will be focused on Positive Discipline from Responsive Classroom. We have had Positive Discipline as the Lower School approach for the past several years. This event will be open to all parents. Be on the lookout for details!

Many events from the school and PTC are on the horizon as we head into the stretch leading to Winter Break. Be sure to read your child's classroom Weeklies, grade level newsletters, and the Principal's Announcements.

Have a good weekend

Elizabeth Phillips

Community News

Featuring Rania El Ouarrak

My name is Rania El Ouarrak. I'm in Grade 10, and this is my first year at CAS. Before joining CAS, I was in Raha International School in Abu Dhabi. When my family and I moved to Morocco, my parents were looking for an IB School and CAS is the perfect one! The advantage of being in an IB school is that when applying to universities, they look at applications to check if applicants come from an IB School.

CAS curriculum is similar to the one in Raha International school. It is a bit harder because I am in a higher grade.

Socially, it was a bit tough at the beginning as meeting new people with different personalities is challenging. I'm adjusting well though and making new friends.

My advice to any new student is to always come prepared, socially and academically and always have the required material.

Rania El Ouarrak

From the Parent-Teacher Committee

After an amazing spooky Halloween night, we are excited to announce and invite our Grade 1 to Grade 6 students to enjoy a Movie Night, this coming Friday, November 11th, starting at 6:30 pm SHARP. Students are welcome to come as early as 6:00 pm. It is an occasion again for our students and parents to join in and form everlasting bonds, enhancing once more CAS great Community spirit in front of a fabulous screen, that will catch the eyes of all! The Movie that will be projected will say it all!

Students are welcome to come in their pajamas with their favorite toy, blanket, pillows, and slippers. This event is exclusively for Grade 1 through Grade 6 students and their parents, grand-Parents, or nannies. Entrance is through the front main gate, where tickets for popcorn, water and other goodies will be sold. Comfortable seating in the GYM is guaranteed before sweet dreams at home.

Spread the word. You, your child/ children will love it!

Parent-Teacher Committee

Student Council Elections

BALZAM is a Student Council team here to present to you their goals and aspirations that they would like to execute this year. The video linked below gives you a brief overview before their speech Monday during assembly. Check out more of their content on their Instagram account @balzam.stuco. https://youtu.be/5ZdGwDCTGEo

VOTE BALZAM!

From the Athletic Department

November 4th marks a new record in High Jump

Omar Alioui grade 10 set a new school record in the high jump after clearing 1.65 cm the previous school's record of 1.60 cm was shared by Omar Abdelfadel (2013) Mehdi Bennani smires and Reda-Benjeloune (2018), An, Juheok (2019) and Soulayman- El jerari (2021)

What an amazing achievement!!!!

From the Admissions Office

Dear CAS community,

Halloween was such a treat and it was wonderful to see all of the community coming together to have so much fun. I especially enjoyed trick-or-treating with the Upper School and the Pre-School, who stopped by my office for some Mary Poppins candy. I would like to personally thank our PTC for doing such a wonderful job and remind all of you that you too can volunteer and create an enjoyable experience for our students, parents, teachers and staff. Please consider signing up for the next upcoming event. Your help will be much appreciated by all of us. Through solidarity, respect and positivity we can maintain this beautiful CAS spirit. With this in mind, I invite you to talk to your friends and neighbors about our school and help us continue building our community.

Cordially,

Zaineb Sajid- Admissions Officer

CAS in a glance this week!!!!!

Another Successful Halloween!!!!

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 .

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!

KEY DATES

November 18th

Independence Day - No School

November 24th and 26th

Thanksgiving Break

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