Dear High School Community,

Finally, we witnessed our first production for over a year. It was an inspiring show and we commend all the students and faculty involved. Here are some behind the scenes shots of the show, some taken 5 minutes before the curtain was raised! Enjoy.

COVID-19 Updates

We had no COVID-19 cases this week in the High School, which is always good to hear as we approach the Winter Break!

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.

Major Formative Assessment in PowerSchool

As shared last week, we have surveyed our High School students to gain their insight on the value and consistency of the feedback they are receiving on the major formative assessments that precede summative assessments in their classes. Here is a snapshot of the feedback, based on 125 student responses spread fairly evenly across the four grade levels:

• 88% of students report that they do use the feedback from their teachers to prepare for summative assessments

• 78% of students find feedback to be either “somewhat” or “extremely” useful

• 76% of students reported that formative feedback is timely to assist in preparation for summative assessments

• The most useful types of feedback for students are verbal conferencing and extensive written notes

Additionally, we were able to glean a great deal of written feedback from students, which is guiding our improvement efforts as we make formative feedback a more embedded part of our school culture.

Parent Advisory Forum

Thanks to all those who attended our PAF session today. Here’s the recording of the event and the presentation slides.

AP Updates

This week we want to remind all AP students (and their parents) that the deadline for paying the AP exam fees is Sunday, December 12. Thank you to the many families that have already arranged payment, either by bank transfer or with their DragonCard. If you have any questions about how to do this important task, please contact the wonderful and helpful htziatas@asd.edu.qa in the Business Office, and she will clarify any questions you might have. 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 students are working on the completion of some of their major Internal Assessments(IA). The IAs make up a percentage of the final IB grade for students. As such they have an opportunity to work on an assessment piece that is guided by their teachers and allows them the opportunity to enter the examination with a grade already. We continue to be impressed by the work that our students are producing with guidance from their teachers. 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

Matt Smith, acclaimed Graphic Novelists joins IB Language and Literature classes for an investigation into political cartoons.

It has been an eventful week in IB Language and Literature, as Matt Smith, acclaimed graphic novelist and workshop leader for visual analysis joined Grade 11 students on Zoom for workshops focusing on the conventions and analysis of political cartoons. As part of the study on political cartoons the students are exploring Liza Donnelly, New York Times; Keith Knight, KChronicles; Khalid Albaih, Khartoum; and Kevin Kallaugher (KAL), The Economist. Political cartoons are an integral component in the framework of political journalism and provide students with an excellent opportunity to investigate signs, symbols and the way in which authors and artists create meaning.

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 has been a very busy week for Learning Service in the HS. Ms. May and Mr. Shang (The Global Citizenship and CAS/Learning Service Coordinators respectively) welcomed two educators from Colegio San Jose de Las Vegas all the way from Medellin, Colombia who are here to present at the WISE conference. They did a detour to come and see what ASD does in terms of sustainability and Global Citizenship Education. Their IT Director, Lillyana Uribe, and General Director, Gloria Figueroa were on site on Monday morning and we had a great opportunity to share ideas and learn from like minded schools.

Last week, we highlighted IMPACT and EFFECT’s efforts to support For Girl Sake’s work with unaccompanied girls who have been evacuated from Afghanistan. Co-Founder Sheryl Stotland came in to present to these two clubs and the St. Pius Educational Scholarship fund on Thursday afternoon about how exactly ASD created resources are being used and also on some of For Girl Sake’s work across the globe from Tanzania to India, all supporting education and gender equality.

Our Service Speaker Series continued this week with Dr. Peter Rogers, a wildlife veterinarian who spoke to our EFFECT and Conservation clubs about Cheetah conservation and repopulation. Dr. Rogers works with a project that is breeding Cheetahs for re-introduction to the wild. He also spent time talking about the challenges of Cheetah genetics as a result of a bottleneck event in recent history. Time was also spent on disease management from a conservation perspective.

Our African Student Union continued its celebration of African Heritage Month by hosting Senegalese film-maker and creator Samba Diop who discussed his experience in the entertainment industry.

And last, but certainly not least, Dr. Tatiana Vinardel from the Equine Veterinary Medical Centre came to talk about the profession of Veterinary Medicine with some of our AP Biology classes. As you might know, EVMC has generously extended a number of volunteer opportunities which we talked about in an earlier Sahifa and we look forward to expanding our relationship with them. We also had Dr. Aspa Chatziefthimiou, Ambassador for the International Society for Microbial Ecology speak to our AP Biology and APES students about mangrove ecology. Dr. Aspa will be taking some of our students out in the field later on and this was an introductory session.

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

Counselor Course

This week our Grade 9 students learned about time management. Counselors have also been meeting with all of their Grade 9 students individually and it has been so good getting to know about their transition into High School.

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

It was wonderful hosting Education City Universities. Students had a great time interacting with the representatives and learning more about the different 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.

Thank you.

Michael Roberts

High School Principal

American School of Doha

The ASD Giving Tree 2021 is here!

Every year ASD gives parents the opportunity to make a wish come true by shopping for a gift requested by one of our valued workers. These gifts bring a great deal of joy to the recipients.

Please consider taking a wish and shopping for one of the suggested gifts for one of our dedicated and hardworking Security Staff, Acciona & Rayyan (Maintenance), Nakheel (Gardening), Jazz Cafe, and Coffee Beanery workers.

Please click HERE to Join Us and Make Someone’s Dream Come True! If you need any further information please do not hesitate to contact reception@asd.edu.qa.

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