Dear High School Community,

Surprise, surprise - there was a lot going on this week. We had a Pumpkin Patch, PSATs, a Service workshop, EDIJ work, a parent workshop on grading in the High School and some fantastic teaching and learning. We thank all of our parents for their ongoing involvement and our faculty and counselors for ensuring things remain smooth and learning continues to thrive.

COVID-19 Updates

Thankfully we report that there were no cases in the High School this week. However, we remind parents to keep your child at home if they are sick. We have a high vaccination rate in our division but we remain vigilant and determined to sustain a safe learning environment for all our students and staff. Thank you.

We reiterate our plea to parents not to send their children to school if they exhibit symptoms related to COVID-19. Please err on the side of caution and take them to be tested.

PSAT

The PSAT was relatively uneventful beyond a visit from the Civil Defense authority to check our alarm bells. Thankfully the bell testing was in short bursts and our students carried on regardless. We thank everyone for their support running the PSAT this year. We could not have done it without all of the support from faculty and staff as well as our parents and students. CollegeBoard will email students when the results are ready--this is usually around December or January.

Jr/Sr Pumpkin Patch

The Pumpkin Patch returned in all its glory this week! Here are some photos of excited students and busy parent volunteers. Thanks for everything you do!

High School Curriculum Parent Workshop

Based on parent feedback and questions, the Curriculum & AP Coordinator led a parent workshop this past Wednesday, Oct 27. This workshop focused on our ASD curriculum and program, with particular attention to assessment, grading and student learning. Many thanks to those parents who joined this meeting and provided feedback to us about their children’s learning experience here at ASD! The slides used in the presentation can be found here and a recording of the workshop can be viewed here. We welcome conversations and questions about this, and these can be directed to joshua.giddens@asd.edu.qa

EDIJ Update

EDIJ learning and curriculum reviews are underway. To highlight some of the learning currently happening in our division, the EDIJ Coaches, Dr. Jones and Ms. Stacy have created an interactive learning board. The board features celebrations that include but not limited to: sharing of resources, who's involved in current professional learning around EDIJ, what the coaches are reading, and thought-provoking quips and quotes. Stay tuned to more updates and happenings related to EDIJ and for the EDIJ HS Curriculum Coaches Teneen page that will replicate the learning board.

Student/Parent/Teacher Virtual Conferences

Due to continuing safety protocols, conferences will be held via Zoom for all divisions on Wednesday, November 3 and Thursday, November 4. The HS timings are:

Wed, Nov 3: 4:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Thu, Nov 4: 8:00 am - 12:00 pm

Early next week we will send out invitations to parents in order to sign up for these conferences. The invitations will be emailed with guidance on the virtual conference system. Parents will receive a Zoom link for the conferences signed up for.

There will be no school on Thursday, Nov 4 for students due to the conferences. We ask that parents and students prioritize the teachers they would like to meet with, as schedules will fill very quickly and it may not be possible for parents and students to meet with all of their teachers. We strongly encourage students to attend the conference with you.

As we are asking parents to sign up in advance for conferences, teachers will not be able to accommodate an unscheduled conference. Conferences will be limited to five minutes, in order to ensure that all parents have the opportunity to meet with their son/daughter’s teacher in a timely fashion.

In summary:

• Parents will receive an email invitation to sign up electronically (with instructions) for teacher conferences. A Zoom link will be provided for conferences.

• Parents will be able to sign up for conferences with a limited number of teachers that parents feel warrant a conversation. It is not required that you meet with every one of your child’s teachers.

• Space is limited and parents should prioritize the teachers they would like to meet with.

• Parents are encouraged to schedule conferences any time they feel the need to speak with teachers. So, if you miss this opportunity, just contact the teacher and set a time with them in the future.

AP Updates

This week we want to celebrate the outstanding achievement of one of our AP students and Class of 2021 graduates. The text of the email from Mr. Trevor Packer, head of The Advanced Placement Program follows:

I'm writing to share some exciting news about one of your students. Titilope Akinade's performance on the AP^® Research Exam in May 2021 was so superior that it falls into a rather select category. As you know, Advanced Placement^® Exams are scored on a scale of 1 to 5. Titilope not only received the top score of 5 but was also one of only 375 students in the world to earn every point possible on the AP Research Exam, receiving the maximum score on each portion of the exam. This outstanding accomplishment is likely a direct reflection of the top-quality education being offered at the American School of Doha. We applaud Titilope's hard work and the AP teacher responsible for engaging students and enabling them to excel in a college-level course. We hope you'll take the opportunity to celebrate this remarkable achievement!

Indeed, we want to acknowledge the outstanding efforts of Titilope and her teacher, Dr. Nathaniel Hayes, and the work of all of our students and talented AP faculty here at ASD. Congratulations! If you have any questions about our AP Courses or the AP Capstone Diploma program, please contact our AP Coordinator at: joshua.giddens@asd.edu.qa

IBDP Diploma Updates

The IB exam registration for May 2022 will be completed by Sunday, October 31. It is important to note that all senior students must sit the final IB exam to complete this two year programme. The IBDP Coordinator will be in touch with students and families in the coming week with further information on the process. In the meantime, our Junior IBDP students have been introduced to the Extended Essay by our Extended Essay Coordinator Ms. Anita Abrams. This is one of the core subjects that our full IBDP students must complete to access the full IB Diploma. Students will aim to have this completed over the next year and a half. If you have any questions or you would like additional information please do not hesitate to contact the IBDP Coordinator, Ms. Katrina Charles at katrina.charles@asd.edu.qa

Teaching and Learning Moment

This week, students in Ms. Gautran’s French III class focused on aspects of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, accessing learning about these goals through the French language. To deepen their learning and to make it more relevant to their lives, pairs of students worked together to determine the carbon footprint associated with various activities, from individuals’ internet searches to business manufacturing and production. Students were then able to compare the relative impact of these activities on the environment, and even isolate recommendations or solutions in some cases. These case studies are now displayed in the World Languages wing for others to learn from. This was a brilliant example of authentic learning, as students were able to demonstrate their capacity to communicate effectively in French while learning more deeply about global issues that they care about and seek to improve.

Service Updates

In our desire to ensure our parent community has more access to Learning Service information, we have provided access for parents on the “Learning Service” tab on the HS Office Teneen page. The same information is available on the HS Student Teneen Page for students. Supplementary information can also be accessed on our Learning Service Libguide. This page is now updated and live.

This past weekend, our ASD Art Club visited Embrace Doha’s Culture House in the Al Wakra Souq, in Al Wakra with members of our ASD faculty. The Mission of Embrace Doha is to engage the expatriate community with Qatari Heritage, history and culture. The focus of this trip for the Art Club was on Embrace Doha’s work in preserving and documenting the art of Suda weaving. Students had a chance to watch and speak with a Suda weaver and learn more about Bedouin culture. Students also had a chance to touch and interact with many of the artifacts in Embrace Doha’s collection. In addition to this, the nuances behind local etiquette, customs and practices were discussed in the “safe space” provided at the Culture House. We will also have ASD students volunteering with Embrace Doha, helping with translation and curation as they settle into their new location. A big thanks to Shaima Sherif, our contact at Embrace Doha.

And as another gentle reminder, as our clubs are fully getting underway, if your child has not heard from a club that they have signed up for, please have them email the contacts on the club’s slide on the Virtual Service Job Fair. If they have done this and have not yet heard back, please have them email Mr. Shang (cshang@asd.edu.qa) who will help them get in touch with the teacher sponsor of the group.

Additionally, if you are the parent of a Grade 9 student, we have officially opened up our Managebac Portal for Freshmen. Managebac is the platform that service commitments are tracked on at ASD. All Grade 9 students should have received a link sent to their ASD email account. If they do not see it, this may have ended up in the Spam folder. At this point, we need students to click that link to activate their accounts and set their passwords. They do not need to do anything more than to activate their account by clicking on the link and setting their passwords. They will complete the setup of their accounts with their chosen service club at an upcoming club meeting. The detailed instructions for this are here. We are asking students to complete Part A ONLY. Their club leaders will guide them through the remaining steps at a subsequent meeting. They should not go beyond part A in the instructions.

For questions about service or IB CAS at ASD, please contact Mr. Shang at cshang@asd.edu.qa.

Counseling

Counselor Coffee

Thank you to all that attended the Counselor Coffee this week. We did hear from a number of you that you like having the Zoom option, so for future Counselors' Coffees, we will make sure to have a Zoom option to allow more parents to join us.

Senior Counselor Course

We finished our senior counselor course this past week! It has been great working with the seniors and seeing where they are applying. We know there is still a lot of work ahead and we are looking forward to continuing to work with the seniors as they apply to universities around the world.

MaiaLearning

MaiaLearning is a program we use in the Counseling Department. We use it extensively in Grade 11 and Grade 12 through the university process, but it is also used in our Grade 9 and Grade 10 during Counselor Courses for different personality and career inventories as well as the creation of students' 4 year plans! Please check this video on how to access your account

Jacobs University

Matthew Poet from Jacobs University gave a presentation to our students and parents about studying in Germany and Jacobs University Programs. Both sessions were delivered in person and via zoom. You can find the recording and his email address on this link.

Resources

We encourage students and parents to check out the HS Counseling Teneen page within the Main HS Office as it has lots of resources available for students and parents.

Thank you