October 7, 2021
From the Office of The Director Steve Razidlo
Dear ASD Families,
Week 7 of the 2021-2022 ASD school year opened to 2200+ students coming back to campus for daily school. A and B groups across grades 1-12 joined and all week we have been about the work of building classroom communities and turning our instructional models back into the classroom. We are thankful and excited to have students back every day, and it is understatement to again offer our thanks to you as parents for your support over the last 18 months working toward this week when we could once again come together -- all of us -- to daily school.
Learning again and learning anew how schooling happens at ASD, and taking care to explicitly teach expectations, routines, and practices inside classrooms full again with students has been an area of great focus. Elementary school teachers shared with me that their classrooms are louder now -- by design -- and secondary teachers shared their relief and readjustment as we moved immediately away from ‘room and zoom’.
Throughout the week, we have recorded zero new cases of COVID-19, the third consecutive week with no community cases. As part of the 100% reopening of Qatar schools, MOEHE has requested and received lists of ASD students who are eligible for vaccination but not yet vaccinated. MOEHE has further clarified for us that we must be ready to enforce their new rule that all unvaccinated students 12 years and above must show proof of rapid antigen or PCR tests in order to attend school. Thankfully, the great majority of our students eligible for vaccination (over 80%) have turned in required records to our ASD Nursing department. Our enforcement of this rule will begin October 17. Please see the helpful link below regarding vaccination records and PCR/antigen testing.
The week has been wonderful, and though next week is short we have a number of additional key points to share regarding our return to 100% school attendance:
VACCINATIONS/TESTING -- ASD continues to follow MOPH rulings which require eligible students to be vaccinated or provide proof of testing. We hope to learn in the upcoming weeks how specific directives regarding testing should be executed and reported. We appreciate all parents who have had their students 12 and up tested if they are not yet vaccinated. If you have not provided vaccination documentation for your student please do so here or click on the photo below.
DROP OFF & PICK UP -- Parent Drop off and Pick up returns next week to 7:40 am, and requires all parents, drivers, etc. respect others and move safely and carefully through our drop off zones. Please note THIS special memo from our Security team on dropping off and picking up children. Note: All parents/guardians/drivers who enter ASD for pick up must be vaccinated.
PARENT GROUPS RETURN TO CAMPUS -- Thank you to our wonderful parent groups, who are beginning to hold meetings and approved events back on campus! Congratulations to the PTA on a successful, in-person Book Fair! Thanks to the Arab Mothers Association for holding a fully attended in-person meeting in the ASD Board Room! Thank you to Boosters for reopening the Booster Store to our HS students! Thanks to Junior/Senior parents for launching a safe, first ‘Senior Surprise’! Congrats to Black Family Heritage Association for holding a first group meeting and best luck launching sign-ups for membership! Click HERE to sign up!
MS ACTIVITIES REOPENING -- After consultation with Activities Director Dave Farmer regarding MOPH/MOEHE rules, MS students will be able to begin after school activities on Sunday, October 17 after the upcoming break.
MASKS, BUBBLES, Etc. -- ASD hosted a joint meeting with 8 international school heads on October 5, where part of our agenda included review of the new Ministry rules for schools. Like all other schools, we are maintaining masking and ‘bubbles’ but working carefully and quickly to establish rules for when and how often students can remove their masks. Lunch, recess, Physical Education classes are the first targets for relaxing this requirement while maintaining masks inside school buildings remains the rule across Qatar.
World Mental Health Day
Please see the poster below from our MS Counselors regarding World Mental Health Day:
Thanks to all for a wonderful week; vacation is coming soon!
Steve Razidlo
Director of the American School of Doha
What's On ASD
Sun, Oct 10
MS/HS Day 2
Mon, Oct 11
MS/HS Day 3
Tue, Oct 12 - Sat, Oct 16
FALL BREAK, No School for Students
Check out our section on Teaching and Learning
Message from the Leadership Team
AstroCon21
Date: October 8 & 9
Location: Al Thuraya Planetarium at Katara
Social media: @USEmbassyDoha, @YearsofCulture
The astronomy convention “AstroCon21” returns to the Al Thuraya Planetarium in the Katara Cultural Village October 8 and 9, 2021. It is the only convention in Qatar that focuses on astronomy and space discovery. AstroCon21 brings together international and local scientists and experts in this field creating a space of discourse and networking for specialists, academicians, students, and space enthusiasts.
AstroCon21 invites people of all ages to attend this fifth edition, which promises to be the best one yet. Each day will commence with a speech by a keynote speaker, followed by space and astronomy workshops. The audience will have the opportunity to participate in workshops as well as different interactive activities, among them, space-themed performances. AstroCon21 is organized by the Astronomy Club at Qatar University and the Astronomy branch of the Qatar University Alumni Association. It is held in strategic partnership with Al Thuraya Planetarium in Katara and is sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Qatar as a gold sponsor, and Qatar Youth Hostels as a tourism partner.
To register to the events, please visit: https://quastrocon.com/registration/
A message From the ES Library
**This schedule will begin on Sunday, October 17, 2021.
We are pleased to announce the reopening of the Elementary School Library after school for adults. We will be open from 3:00pm – 4:00pm Sunday through Thursday with the exception of PACT Tuesdays (closing at 12:30pm).
Parents can come in to check books out, return books, and have a quiet place to read with your child.
If you do not yet have a parent account to check out extra books for your student(s), we can take care of that when you come in.
**Students are only allowed in the library after school with a parent or MS/HS sibling.
A message from Aquatics
Dear ASD Community,
My name is Amanda Allen and I wanted to introduce myself to the community as the Aquatics Director. I am very pleased to inform you that ASD's Aquatics facilities are now permitted to operate with full programming! You will notice in the upcoming weeks that you will find information from your child's Physical Education teacher regarding swimming embedded within the curriculum. In addition, we will also be communicating after school opportunities from the ASD Athletics Department in the near future. The entire ASD Aquatics team is very excited to welcome back students and support your child's continual progress within the Aquatics curriculum.
Kind Regards,
Amanda Allen
Aquatics Director
American School of Doha
A message from Admissions
Dear Parents,
Is your son or daughter turning three or four years of age by August 31, 2022? Are you interested in applying for our Pre-K 3 or Pre-K 4 programs for the 2022-2023 academic year? If so, please complete our online application as soon as possible!
If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact the Office of Admissions at admissions@asd.edu.qa or by phone at +974 4459 1511.
We look forward to receiving your child’s application soon!
Sincerely,
Scott Barnwell
Director of Admissions
From our School Community
CAST is BACK and we need YOU! Are you a parent that would like to volunteer for CAST (Creative Arts Support Team)? Do you have a love for the Arts? Costuming? Front Of House? Design? Or Hospitality? Would you like to join a fun and creative team? If so, please fill in the google form or reach out to Jennifer Bendriss jbendriss@asd.edu.qa for information. We cannot wait to work with YOU!
Our PTA Book Fair was a huge success! Thank you to all the parent volunteers, teachers, and staff who helped get many books into the hands of our kids!
Booster Club Parent Volunteers Needed!
The Booster Club consists of parent volunteers whose primary goal is to support the Athletics and Activities program across all the divisions at the American School of Doha. Booster Club's main goal is to promote the school spirit within the ASD community and beyond. Please let us know if you can spare any of your time to help our community and join us by filling out the form HERE. We have specific areas of need or you can just sign up to receive any of our community emails.
Booster Club Online Store
Our ASD Booster Store Online Catalog includes the store's most popular items so be ready to show your dragon spirit. The Booster Club provides positive support and assistance to the American School of Doha Athletics and Activities Program for all school divisions.
Shop Online by clicking on the link below; pick up your purchased items at school! The orders will be delivered on a weekly basis to each student and ASD staff.
Please fill out THIS form to purchase your items after you have explored the Catalog below!
Click HERE for the Booster Club catalog.
AMA welcomes back the ASD community and wishes you all a wonderful year ahead.
Please visit our page to see all the activities AMA is involved in.
If you would like to be added to the AMA registry to find out more about what we do, please join here
If you would like to contact us, have ideas to share or would like to volunteer on the committee please email ama@asd.edu.qa