With the return of the students

in the Pre-school and Primary divisions on Monday, we enjoyed our first full week of classes for the new academic year.  We have begun the year in an unexpectedly strong position – we expected to begin with an enrollment figure of about 1265, but instead the figure is 1301 students.  We have strengthened our position as the second largest international school in the United States.

On Monday morning, I attended a ‘welcome back’ function sponsored by the APPA (our parents’ association).  At that gathering I wanted to emphasise the importance of working together to focus on and advance Awty’s vision and mission statements. 

The personal challenge that I faced was that while these statements express truly excellent objectives, they are somewhat wordy and thus difficult to memorise.  I suspect that even the most ardent teacher or board member would struggle to recite our vision and mission statements!

To illustrate my point, Awty’s official vision statement is “A world-class international school, on a welcoming campus, with a unique school spirit, which

challenges and inspires all of our students to achieve their ultimate potential”, and the mission statement is “The Awty International School provides a challenging education, leading to either the International Baccalaureate or the French Baccalauréat.  Within a friendly and nurturing environment, which encourages learning and the pursuit of excellence, Awty celebrates linguistic, cultural and international diversity and seeks to maximize the potential in all of our students as they grow to become responsible world citizens.”

In an attempt to make things a little easier to remember (for me as well as the parents who were present), I tried to distill the

vision and mission statements into the four key characteristics, or “pillars”, that I have identified during my short time at the School:

1. 1.Internationalism – With over 50 nationalities represented within its student body, Awty embraces a cultural, linguistic and ethnic diversity that is unique in Houston.  That makes Awty uniquely well-placed to prepare its students for the globalised society and economy within which they will function in the decades ahead.  This is because Awty allows students to hear, understand and appreciate others’ perspectives and world-views as a natural part of their everyday activities.
   

2. 2.Academic excellence – Awty offers a distinctive

   

   combination of academic programs, culminating in the International Baccalaureate and the French Baccalauréat – arguably the world’s two most rigorous pre-university courses.  Because it sets high very expectations for its students, Awty supports its students in stretching themselves beyond their comfort zones, thus encouraging them to embrace excellence – not only in their results but as a general outlook in life.
   
3. 3.Total formation – Awty is concerned with much more than narrow academic tuition.  We encourage students to develop the full range of their talents and abilities, and so the balance of sports, arts, ethics, leadership, creativity, generosity and community service – to name just a few facets – assumes a greater importance at Awty than in most other schools.  Our approach is to provide opportunities for students

   

   to try new endeavors and to develop these to the fullest extent possible.
   

4. 4.Community and partnership – In my short time at the School, I have already discovered that Awty is much more than just a School.  We are a committed community of professional educators, support staff , parents and friends, who play an active role in working together in partnership towards our shared common goal – providing the very best education for our students.
   

So these are my four pillars.  I hope that when any Awty parent or teacher is challenged to identify the ways in which the School is unique, these four characteristics might spring to mind – (1) internationalism, (2) excellence in academics, (3) total formation, and (4) strong sense of community and partnership.