Dear High School Community,

It was the week that saw our second hot dog lunch event - always a highlight for students and faculty alike. Here are some photos of the event. Thanks to the Booster Club for their admirable logistical talents!

COVID-19 Updates

Unfortunately, we have had a COVID-19 positive case this week. We thank all those affected for their understanding and patience. We also stress the importance of parents not sending 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.

Major Formative Assessment in PowerSchool

As you may be aware, this year we have introduced a new system where every course’s summative assessments are preceded by a major formative assessment that is placed into PowerSchool with a grade. This formative assessment is expected to be a preparatory assessment opportunity that enables students to more formally practice for the upcoming summative assessment. The major formative is accompanied with feedback from the teacher to help support student preparation. This week, we surveyed all High School students on their experiences of the new system. Once the survey is closed, we will analyze the data and share the key findings with stakeholders.

Parent Advisory Forum

We will host our next PAF meeting on Thursday, December 9 from 8:30 am - 9:30 am. Currently, we are hoping to hold our first in person PAF for quite a while! As such, we invite parents to complete this attendance form. This PAF meeting will take place in the HSPR - just like old times! We will share the agenda with everyone early next week.

Tri-M

We were fortunate enough to enjoy a Tri-M performance today. Here are some photos. Thanks to all the student performers and the faculty who helped facilitate the event.

Production Updates

TICKETS ARE NOW ON SALE for Little Shop of Horrors

Click HERE to purchase your tickets! Recommended for ages 8 and up.

AP Updates

There are many wonderful examples of engaging and stimulating learning activities going on in AP Classrooms across the High School! AP Research students are focusing their research topics, gauging the feasibility of their methods, consulting their expert advisors, and considering possible ethical ramifications of their research topics on their subjects or members of our community. AP Comparative Government & Politics students took part in a spirited simulation of the Prime Minister’s Questions from the UK Parliament, with two brave students taking the challenging role of the Prime Minister and fielding the (sometimes angry or confrontational) questions that their classmates had prepared about real-world issues. AP Environmental Sciences students perhaps took the practical application of their learning the farthest when they planted corn in the soil in order to test and observe the real-world nature of soil science, the nitrogen cycle, biodiversity, and the interconnection of earth’s systems. Even more stimulating (dare we say fun?) Learning activities are coming up and we celebrate our faculty’s approaches to learning and our students’ engagement and application of what they are exploring in their AP courses. 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

This week our full IBDP students submitted their 4000-word Extended Essay(EE) on a topic of their choice. This submission marks the final culmination of hard work, extensive research and critical analysis that spanned just over one year. Students worked assiduously with their assigned EE supervisors and our phenomenal EE Coordinator Ms. Abrams. This work is equivalent to a university level of research and our students must be commended on a job well done. 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.

ForGirlsSake Service Collaboration

Some of our service groups have been collaborating with NGO, ForGirlsSake to provide support for Afghan refugee children currently residing in Qatar. Our students created educational and interactive lessons that have helped shape the childrens’ recent learning. We are proud of our students and thank ForGirlsSake for their ongoing support of the refugees.

Teaching and Learning Moment

This week in AP Computer Science Principles, students engaged with theory in a practical way, exploring questions about the Internet: What is the Internet? What real-world implications do internet speed, access, and security have? What hardware do we need to build the Internet? Students discussed the connections that the Internet can foster between people around the world, allowing us to share data, music, movies, and more. Students also learned about the historical background of the Internet (formed in the context of Cold War security concerns and with an initial purpose of connecting science researchers) and considered how the Internet can simultaneously create networks between people with similar interests but also isolate groups of people from other viewpoints or information. Then students participated directly in a hands-on exercise using strings to explore how connections can be made most efficiently, securely, and achieve the stated goal of forming connections between groups of people around the world. Thanks to Ms. Olawo and her curious and engaged students for creating such an engaging learning environment.

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.

For the last two weeks, students from our IMPACT and EFFECT clubs have been making learning packets to support For Girl Sake, which has been working with girls who have been evacuated from Afghanistan. The packets covered the topics of nutrition and environmental sustainability.

Girl Up has been busy this week with its annual Fauxtique which was able to operate in person again. This is a clothing sale that raises money to support Girl Up’s projects in Nepal. Girl Up supports one teacher salary and a hot lunch program at the Chamunda School in Bandhipur Nepal. This is also the host site of Girl Up’s service trip in normal years and they continue to support them from here. Girl Up also kicked off its Speaker Series this year which will be based around Menstrual Health in the Developing World, with a focus on Bardia, Nepal. Their first speaker was youth activist Yajaswi Rai who gave an overview of the stigmas surrounding Menstrual health in rural Nepal and the efforts to combat this. Her presentation and Q&A can be found here. In addition to menstrual health, Yajaswi has worked extensively with various UN organizations on issues related to gender equality.

By now, all Grade 9 and 10 students should have formally joined a service club and have met. 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.

Also by this point in time, all Grade 9 and 10 students should have loaded their service commitments into Managebac. Please check with your child. In most cases, students should have done this through their service club at one of the meetings. In case they were not able to, the detailed instructions for this are here. Students should have completed Part A and B ONLY (Part C will be done at the end of the year)

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

Counseling

Overseas School Project

Thank you to everyone that joined us on Zoom with the overseas school project.

Counselor Course

This week our Grade 9 students learned about stress, self-awareness as well as how to advocate for themselves with teachers and how to write effective emails! It has been so wonderful getting to know our students in Grade 9!

Book Study

Are you interested in participating in our first book study? If so, please register your interest by completing the enclosed form. The form will be open for the entirety of next week and more information will be communicated out after that. If you have any questions, please get in touch with Dr. Jones at aaron.jones@asd.edu.qa.

University Visits

Education City will be visiting us on Monday, December 6 during break! This will be a great time for students to come and learn about the amazing institutions here in Qatar!

Please check out our teneen page for virtual university visits and fairs that are happening around the world!

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.

Enjoy the weekend.

Michael Roberts

High School Principal

American School of Doha

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED for Booster Club Holiday Market! Please sign up for a shift through the sign-up genius link HERE. No experience is required.