High School
August 26, 2021
From the High School Principal's Desk
Dear High School Community,
Monday and Tuesday were the days we have all been waiting for: the return of our students. It was wonderful to see so many smiling faces (well, half faces). Our classroom and corridors come alive when they return. It was good to get them back to liven the place up!
We take this opportunity to congratulate the Class of 2021 for their outstanding academic accomplishments in the AP and IBDP examinations. They continued and surpassed our stellar performances over the past four years. Please read what our coordinators have to share below.
In the meantime - enjoy some of the photos of the first days back for our students…
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.
AP Updates
We have a great deal to celebrate about our Class of 2021 Advanced Placement exam results! As a result of the efforts of our talented faculty and students:
ASD maintained its excellent 3.6 average student score, almost 20% higher than the world average
89% of students scored a 3 or higher, which was an all-time ASD high
214 total students, also an all-time high, achieved a score of 3 or higher
54% of our students scored a 4 or 5
An all-time high 20 AP Capstone diplomas were awarded, a 33% increase from last year
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
Celebrations abound for the Class of 2021 IBDP Results! After a year of many challenges, our faculty and students were able to work together to achieve outstanding results including:
First time ASD History 100% pass rate of all Full DP and DP Course Students with the world pass rate at 88.9%
The Diploma score average: ASD students scores an average 37.4 points versus the world diploma average of 33.0 points
23 students earned 37 points or higher. This means 54.7% of our students earned 37 points and above versus the world percentage of 6.01% of students
14 students earned 40 points and higher. This means 33.3% of our students earned 40 points and above versus the world percentage of 4.77% of students
The pass rate for diploma candidates 2021 - 100% pass rate for all ASD students with a world pass rate at 88.9%
If you have any questions or you would like additional information please do not hesitate to contact the IB Coordinator, Ms. Katrina Charles at katrina.charles@asd.edu.qa
Welcome Back Parent Zoom
Please find HERE, a recording of Sunday’s parent Zoom meeting. Please note that there has been an update to our protocols around students participating in after school activities. It has now been decided that only vaccinated students will be allowed to participate in tryouts and subsequent training sessions.
Pocket Learn
It’s a pleasure to share a tremendous achievement by two of our talented High School students, Ashwarye Yadav (left) and Omar Abdallah (right). Pocket Learn is an EdTech start-up founded by these tech-savvy stars. Their start-up recently won an award from Qatar Foundation RDI which allocated funding towards the start-up. This funding has provided an additional boost towards the boys creating an accessible, sustainable, and comfortable mathematical hand-held device for children in Kindergarten to Grade 5. We are expecting a launch in the near future!
Key Upcoming Dates
Wednesday, September 15: Back to School Night
Wednesday, September 22: Curriculum Night
Thursday, October 7: Parent Advisory Forum
Details of these meetings will be shared with you closer to the dates.
Teneen Communication from the High School to Parents
Please remember that we update Teneen with news items each Sunday and share the Sahifa each Thursday. Teachers also communicated with parents via PowerSchool and email.
Weekly/Monthly Calendar
Our day rotation schedule can be found here. Please note it will be updated as per directions from the Ministry of Health when necessary.
Teaching and Learning Moment
The general biology class had an interactive session during the first week, discussing Biomimicry (how we can design materials, structures, and systems modeled on biological structures). From Plant burrs to Velcro... Tree sap to Elmers Glue. They then worked on procedure design and implementation. It was great to see students back in the lab!
day 1 bio .mp4Service Updates
As we get underway, I would like to remind all parents and students about ASD’s Service graduation requirements. All IB Diploma Candidates must complete CAS in order to graduate.
If students are NOT in the IB Diploma Program, they must meet our Service Requirements for Graduation.
Students entering High School at ASD in Grade 9 or 10 need to demonstrate two, year-long service commitments for their time in High School.
The Service Commitment is meant to last a significant portion of the school year and is meant to be done in Grade 9 and 10. The Commitment can span multiple years (recommended) but must be presented each year (see below). Sustained, meaningful service is the goal. Commitments may be done individually or in groups.
Potential Service Commitments may include but are not limited to:
• Awareness/Advocacy Campaigns
• Fundraising Campaigns
• Volunteer Campaigns
• Extension of a Service Trip
• Active Role in Various Service Club Projects or in the Club itself (Girl Up, Environment Club, Tri-M, etc)
An active role is defined as engaged participation within a service group or activity. An active role may include but is not required to be, leadership or executive role.
For most students, the service commitment involves being an active member of an ASD service club for a school year. These opportunities are presented during our Service Club Job Fair in September. This year, the job fair will be virtual and be released to students on the week of September 13 after which clubs will take sign-ups and offer informational meetings giving students a better idea of what they do before they choose one (or more) to work with. All of ASD’s service clubs align and support one or more UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Incoming Grade 11 and 12 students can either complete one service commitment as described above or can transfer 20 Service hours from a previous school to meet ASD graduation requirements. This needs to be verified by a letter on the previous school's letterhead, or by an email from the previous counselor or principal from a school email. Students entering ASD in the Grade 11 and 12 without any transfer hours need only demonstrate one service commitment for their time at ASD. The same criteria for service commitments apply.
All Service Commitments need to be reviewed and verified by supervisors in Managebac as a final step. The Instructions for Managebac are here. Students who have been marked as complete for ASD Service Graduation Requirements will see a green banner on their Managebac CAS screen indicating their completed status (see below image).
We also proudly announce the start of our partnership with Baladna Farms. In addition to internship course opportunities for students that will commence shortly, they have indicated that they would be willing to support our IB Extended Essays and Internal Assessments through sharing source data for their use in these assessments.
Subjects of interest would include the sciences, economics/business, quality control, marketing and market research. For students interested in water quality or sustainability, they will have the opportunity to engage with industry experts in manure management and recycling since Baladna also refines animal waste into biogas. We thank Baladna Farms and in particular Mr. Mohamed Kourjo for their support!
Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Justice (EDIJ) and Service in the Curriculum
As we shared with parents on Sunday we have appointed coaches to help with our increased focus on EDIJ and Service within the High School curriculum. There will be more from our coaches, Dr. Jones, Ms. Stacy and Ms. Kelly as the year goes on.
Counseling
First of all, we’d like to say: Congratulations to the Class of 2021, who gathered 564 college acceptances!!! We are so proud of them!
As the year begins, the counseling department is so excited to have students back on campus. We’ve welcomed about 100 new ASD Dragons to the High School this week and it has been a great time helping them adjust to ASD and High School.
Add/Drop
We will have a two week add/drop period this year. All requests are being made through a google form using ASD student emails. The period started on August 23 and will close at 3:00 pm on September 6. Students were informed about the following when making any add/drop requests:
1. Students must follow your schedule unless otherwise notified.
2. If a change takes place, it will come into effect the next school day.
3. Counselors cannot honor schedule changes that request certain blocks or certain teachers
4. Just because a student submits a change request, it does not mean we will be able to make the change. We have to look at class numbers, the number of students in the class on day A or Day B and we need to make sure there is space.
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.
Have a great weekend,
Michael Roberts
High School Principal
What's on HS
Updated Every Friday in Teneen!
Be sure to visit our HS Teneen page, for up-to-date information.
What's On HS
Sat, Aug 28
SAT at ASD, registration required
Sun, Aug 29
MS/HS Day 1A
ASD Bus Services Begin
Mon, Aug 30
MS/HS Day 1B
Tue, Aug 31
PACT, dismissal at 12:30 pm
MS/HS Day 2A
Wed, Sep 1
MS/HS Day 2B
Thu, Sep 2
MS/HS Day 1A
Sahifa Editions
Check out our section on Teaching and Learning
Message from ASD Nursing
Greetings From ASD Nursing,
We are excited to welcome students back to campus this year. We want to give some reminders to aid us in keeping our ASD community healthy:
Quarantine Upon Arrival to Qatar
Please be mindful if you are traveling back in the country that you adhere to the quarantine rules that Qatar has implemented. We understand that people are given various instructions in regards to quarantine based on where they have traveled from, vaccination status, age, etc. We at ASD ask that you are honest and follow the below quarantine guidelines based on MoPH directives:
Returning from a Red Country- Unvaccinated children aged (0-17) traveling with their fully vaccinated parents shall be subject to a home quarantine of 10 days.
Returning from a Yellow Country- Unvaccinated children aged (0-17) traveling with their fully vaccinated parents shall be subject to a home quarantine of 7 days.
Returning from a Green Country- Unvaccinated children aged (0-11) traveling with their fully vaccinated parents are exempted from quarantine if they are coming from a green-listed country. Unvaccinated children aged (12-17) traveling with their fully vaccinated parents shall be subject to 5 days of home quarantine if they are coming from a green listed country
All vaccinated students are exempt from quarantine, however, depending on the country from where you traveled, there may be directives to have a PCR performed within 48-72 hours of arrival. If this is the case please do not send the student to school until they have received their negative PCR results.
Vaccinated Students
In addition, if you have a student that is fully vaccinated against COVID-19 please do not forget to fill out this form for EACH vaccinated student. (If you have more than one vaccinated student you need to fill out a separate form for each student) This will allow us to give you a better picture of what percentage of our students are vaccinated and aid us in keeping track of which students are vaccinated as well.
Absences Related to Sickness
Please remember if your student shows any signs of sickness to please keep them at home and follow up with a doctor. Last year the nursing department worked very hard to track absences related to illness and to ensure that students who were out sick were only returning to campus after obtaining medical clearance from a doctor. This year we will still be implementing this policy and will do our best to follow up on all sickness related absences to ensure that when students return to school they are safe!
Please keep in mind that keeping the ASD community safe from COVID-19 requires participation and compliance from all members of the ASD community. This will require continued transparency in regards to the health of our students, faculty and staff, and our households.
Have a Good Weekend!
A Message from ASD Bus Services
The ASD Bus Service will commence on Sunday, August 29 (Day A).
Bus schedules and route information has been sent to all parent emails. If you have not received your email please check your spam OR contact Bus Services busservices@asd.edu.qa
HS Musical: Little Shop of Horrors
From our School Community
QATAR LITTLE LEAGUE is a developmental league that offers baseball, softball and Challenger programs for boys and girls ages 4-18 throughout Qatar. Players of all skill levels and abilities are welcome. No experience necessary!
Online Registration is NOW Open for our upcoming season
NEW THIS YEAR
A FREE LEARN TO PLAY BASEBALL OR SOFTBALL CAMP
September 17 and 18
More information about our program is available at our website: QatarLittleLeague.com
Commonly Asked Questions
When does the season start?
Sunday, September 26, 2021, but there will be an optional Knock the Dust Off Camp for registered members Friday and Saturday, September 24 and 25, 2021. The season will run through the end of February.
What are the Age Divisions and how much does it cost?
Where do we play?
We will start playing out at the Doha Sports Park in Lusail. Our hope is that the ASD Baseball field will be available to us sometime during our season, however, the Doha Sports Complex is our current plan.
What is the time Commitment?
With the exception of Tee-Ball and Challengers who practice and play on Friday mornings, all other divisions have one weeknight practice and at least one game on Friday OR Saturday.
What equipment do I need?
QLL provides helmets, bats, catcher gear, a uniform top and cap. Players will need a glove, athletic shoes, baseball pants, or athletic pants, and boys must have an athletic cup. Due to Covid 19 protocols we highly encourage batting gloves and will expect a mask to be worn when not on the field.
Where can I find out more information and Register?
Visit our website qatarlittleleague.com to register for the season and the two camps. Also, follow us on Facebook QatarLittleLeague & Instagram: Qatarlittleleague. You can e-mail us at qll@asd.edu.qa or qatarlittleleague@gmail.com with any additional questions.
The ASD Booster Club welcomes all our DRAGON families to the new school year!
Be safe. Be kind. Be active. Let’s go DRAGONS!
Our ASD Booster Store Online Catalog is back! It 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.
The JuniorSenior Committee welcomes all the new parents of Grade 11&12 students to another exciting school year at ASD! We have many fun things planned for the year. If you would like to be a part of this great committee, please contact us at juniorseniorcommittee@asd.edu.qa.
Hope you had a restful summer! For PTA can we please include the following:
The PTA wishes to extend a warm welcome to our new and returning families, we look forward to meeting with you soon! Each year, the PTA publishes an Information Guide with some useful information about ASD and more information about the PTA. Please click HERE to check it out!