My blog from Houston, Texas. Updated most weeks, usually on Sundays.
I am normally reluctant to fill Awty’s parents’ in-boxes with e-mails. It was therefore unusual that I sent two mass e-mails this week. Then again, it has been quite an extraordinary week.
No-one who works in an American school could have failed to be shaken by the terrible shooting in Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. In the aftermath of that terrible, senseless tragedy, we have been spending many hours scrutinizing and re-scrutinizing our own security arrangements. In that context, I sent the following e-mail to our school community on Monday:
Unbelievable though it seems, we have witnessed yet another school shooting. For parents and school administrators alike, the senseless nature of such an act committed against defenseless and innocent children defies any reasonable explanation.
Friday's incident in Newtown, Connecticut, reminds us all that that none of us can ever entirely guarantee our own safety, or that of our children, our teachers, our colleagues or our friends. We share shock and disbelief, sorrow for the victims, anger at its unfairness, and of course most of us think immediately about how to be helpful to our children.
In the interest of not overwhelming ourselves, we adults limit the exposure to the media coverage and hope that the children are protected from that as well. Our children and students may know about this event and may ask questions. In consultation with our Counseling Department, I recommend that you listen carefully to their concerns and remember that it is okay to say “I don’t know, it is impossible to understand.” You might offer reassurance that they are safe, that all the adults work hard every day to ensure their safety. The links at the bottom of this message may also be helpful if you would like more information.
In view of Friday's tragedy, I have asked the task force to convene again and thoroughly reconsider all aspects of campus security, bearing in mind that our children's safety and security is our number one priority, barring none.
As our president said in his speech on Friday, “Let’s hug our children a little bit harder today and each other as well,” and let’s remember how lucky we are.
It was a much happier note that I sent my second message. We have had a brilliantly successful term under somewhat challenging circumstances, and I wanted to share some of the successes with our parents. I did so in the following message:
The winter holiday is almost upon us, and I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone in the Awty community a happy and safe vacation period – wherever in the world you may be spending your short time away from school. I would also like to thank our faculty, staff, parents and students for helping to make our first semester such a successful and productive time together.
I encourage you to take a moment to reflect on the very healthy state of Awty International School at the moment.
The good news started just before the new school year began when we learnt that in May this year Awty achieved the best IB Diploma results in its history, while the French Bac students continued their tradition of success with a 100% pass rate for the 11th year in a row. Perhaps not surprisingly, these results were followed by arguably the best set of university and college offers the school has ever seen.
The strength of our admissions figures is a measure of the strong reputation our school enjoys in the Houston community and beyond. We currently have an enrollment of almost 1500 students, making us the largest independent school in Houston and the largest international school campus in the United States; at this time last year we ranked 3rd and 2nd respectively on these measures. Continuing very strong demand for places at the moment will make entry even more competitive for applicants to the school who wish to join us in 2013-14.
This semester we have started to enjoy the fruits of the two major building programs that were underway last year – the new Levant Foundation Building (comprising classrooms, student facilities and administration) and the new 440-space parking garage. Both building projects were completed under budget and ahead of schedule, and we are indebted to Don Davis and his team for their superb oversight of two large, simultaneous building programs.
The new BYOD (bring-your-own-device) program has been successfully introduced into the Middle and Upper Schools, enabling technology to become a natural part of any lesson where it has the potential to improve learning outcomes and expand the range of learning styles to meet a wider span of individual student needs. Our preliminary surveys have shown that laptops and similar devices such as iPads are being used in a little over half of many students’ lessons.
The +Works (Positive Works) program that was introduced so successfully in the Lower School last year has been extended into the Middle School, while +Works continues to expand and grow in the Lower School. We are already finding that +Works is helping us to build character among our younger students, leading to a calmer environment and supporting the adoption of more refined and sophisticated conflict resolution skills among our students.
Awty’s long-standing and highly regarded Community Service program is being combined with Environmental Service into a new, more extensive, integrated educational approach called Service Learning, under the leadership of Brian Kelley. Although the process of building our Service Learning program has only just begun, we have high hopes for its effectiveness because it explicitly links Community Service and Environmental Service with the work that is being done in the ‘mainstream’ academic curriculum of the classroom.
On the sporting front, our students have been providing some brilliant displays of talent. In October, our Lady Rams Cross Country team dominated the competition, winning the TAPPS 4A state championship in Waco for the fourth time. Not to be outdone, our 8th grade boys’ soccer team won the GHAC championship with a 7-1 record. This is the third consecutive season the 8th grade team has won the championship, proving that soccer continues to be a huge strength at Awty –currently both our girls and boys upper school soccer programs enter the winter holiday undefeated, sitting on top of their district standings. I also want to mention our varsity swimming teams as they have earned a position in the top three at each meet in which they have participated, and look to make a huge “splash” as the state meet approaches.
Awty achieved a major coup in November when we signed a sister school agreement with Datong High School in Shanghai, China. This link will give Awty students unprecedented access to and understanding of the most dynamic region in the world as we negotiate specific arrangements for student exchanges in both directions between Datong and Awty. Datong High School is an excellent match for Awty as both schools are of similar size and our educational philosophies are remarkably similar (both schools emphasize academic excellence, all-round development, creativity in learning, the development of an international outlook, and Datong teaches both English and French as foreign languages).
Considerable work was done this semester to collate the findings gathered from the various community-wide consultations held between January and May to try and shape our new Strategic Vision. Various drafts of the Strategic Vision have been available online since August, and the current draft can be viewed at https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3656033/Strategic%20Plan%20Draft%203%20mod%20mini.pdf. The board has now taken over responsibility for the development of the Strategic Vision, and the next step in the process will occur on February 23rd 2013 when the board will receive submissions from the Division Heads before considering its options and deciding the way ahead.
I am hopeful that the successes of the past semester will continue into the future as we plan for the exciting times ahead.
For example, we are proceeding in the hope that we will be in a position to start construction of the Lower School extension in May 2013. Anticipated construction time will be about nine to ten months, after which it will be possible to demolish ‘Big Blue’ and open up some new green space (although the demolition will be done at a time when no students are around for safety reasons). Because of certain building regulations, the number of rooms in the new building will be slightly fewer than the number of rooms being used at the moment in Big Blue, so some thought is currently being given to the locations of some classes and activities. Nonetheless, we see a huge improvement in the quality of our learning environment after the Lower School extension has been completed.
The faculty in the Lower School have recently been considering ways of enhancing the curriculum in the International Section, and this generated a proposal that has been approved to seek authorization with the IB (International Baccalaureate) to introduce the PYP (Primary Years Program). Although there are some cost implications, such as additional professional development for faculty, application fees, and the appointment of a Curriculum Coordinator, these amounts have been deemed worthwhile because of the added value students will get from the rigorous, integrated, internationally-focussed philosophy of the PYP. Next steps will include liaising with parents and with the Admin Team to identify and work through any implications of introducing the PYP. The accreditation process will take about three years, assuming we receive satisfactory answers to some queries that we have.
In response to the enquiries I received from some parents, I can confirm that the board has affirmed that the issuing (and withholding) of enrollment contracts is entirely the prerogative of the Head of School, and it is not a board matter.
The Board has approved our budget for 2013-14, based on an enrollment figure of 1509 students. The budget allows for a 4% increase in tuition fees, and a 3% increase in staff and faculty salaries. In addition, the second of two $1500 increments will be added to the salaries of all full-time teachers to address the slow slippage of salaries compared with ‘like’ schools that had occurred over a long period of time. When the second increment is in place, we can be confident that the remuneration we offer our teachers will be fully competitive.
The board has also been looking at some different scenarios for the long-term school population size, together with the implications for maximum class sizes. Contrary to some rumors that have been circulating, the board has not yet formed a view on this question, although it has accepted a recommendation that the maximum size of classes in PK3 and PK4 in the International section be reduced from 18 to 16 from the start of the 2013-14 school year.
As I said at the start of this letter, we have enjoyed a great semester in a great school. Please enjoy your break, and I look forward to working with everyone when we return at the start of 2013 to help make our great school even better.
May I take this opportunity to wish you a wonderful holiday break.
One week, two messages
Sunday, 23 December 2012