A Year in Review

A YEAR OF RESILIENCE & GROWTH

The 2019-20 school year was filled with unexpected twists and turns, but resulted in tremendous growth and innovation.

At the start of the new year, among the many annual community building events our PTA organizes, the New Family Reception welcomed 100+ new families into our ACS community. Over 70 HS students participated in Kidzone to engage young children of our new families.

97% of our High School students experienced the power of beyond-the-classroom learning during Viper Venture 2.0 in November. Our youngest Elementary students welcomed visiting authors and world leaders and raised money for children in orphanages around the world at Holiday Extravaganza by selling their pre-owned, pre-loved toys. The ACS Technology Team, led by our new Middle School Technology teacher, Brad Flickinger, had the idea to re-imagine the Middle School tech program to motivate students to be active creators giving them a voice and choice, inaugurating a new innovative space for technology in the Middle School – Backstage Techttoo Studios. The Techttoo Studios was one of three new spaces dedicated to Technology and Innovation including Ideaspace Studios, our new TV/Film Production studio and the Fab Lab 2.0, for design tech classes.

And then in March 2020, following spring break, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, ACS closed its campus for the first time in its history and faculty and students transitioned to remote learning. School events, athletic seasons,

1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8

SEP 6

New Family Welcome Reception

organized by the PTA New Family Committee welcomed 160 new family parents to ACS. This year’s chairs Annika Duer and Sara Lane really outdid themselves.

SEP 14

UAE Ambassador of Chile, HE Jorge Andonie Daccarett

visited ACS and donated Prosa y Poesía Escolar book to the ACS library.

SEP 24

Excited guests joined us for the 2019-20 Excellence Fund

Launch. Student ambassadors welcomed guests inside the classroom to share how charitable contributions support their learning.

OCT 31

Fall Festival – A legion of volunteers including our HS students organized a Spooky haunted house for the elementary students, with lots of games and treats! Thank you PTA!

NOV 7

Honourable Helen Clark, Former Prime Minister of New Zealand

challenged our students to be engaged global citizens to ensure a more sustainable future.

DEC 5

Holiday Extravaganza featured the

first-ever ACS Toy Drive organized by Grade 1 student Jeffrey Tachajain and his father Georges to inspire a culture of giving in children even at a very young age.

DEC 9-12

ENI Art Debate Competition in

Rome, Italy – ACS High School students were selected to compete in the ENI Contemporary Art Debate Finals in Rome, Italy as part of the 17th Quadriennale d’arte.

JAN 24

Picnic in the Park – A great day for

raising awareness about great causes that our High School students are passionate about.

FEB 6

UAE Roots and Shoots Awards

& Jane Goodall – Jane Goodall, Primatologist and anthropologist praised our Grade 4-5 students for their “no car idling initiative” at the Roots & Shoots Award ceremony.

graduation celebrations, and our annual gala, were cancelled or completely reimagined.

Despite the challenges of distance learning, ACS community members demonstrated resilience and creativity. Taking advantage of available technology, students shared their work through virtual art exhibitions, passion projects and musical performances. Faculty and teaching assistants enhanced their digital proficiency and supported colleagues as they all made the transition to deliver online curriculum. Our technology team provided hundreds of hours of support for our community as they transitioned to remote learning in their homes and ensured every student from Kindergarten to Grade 12 had a device to access their online lessons. And in May, our PTA Mental Health Committee curated three informative webinars on the impact of the pandemic on our own and our children’s mental health.

During the summer vacation, school educators completed 85 online professional development opportunities logging in 1,500 hours of digital training. And more than 500 alumni from the 1970s to 2019 joined the 2020 Summer Virtual Reunion Tour during the summer in lieu of in-person reunions including the 25th Anniversary of the 1995 graduating class.

ACS, in its 48th year, demonstrated true resilience and courage, grew as a community, and continued to accomplish great things!

9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16

FEB 10-12

Visiting Authors – Our Elementary students welcomed, via interactive Skype call Jeff Kinney, famous author of Wimpy Kid book series and interactive presentation with author and illustrator Matthew Holm.

FEB 20

International Day – ACS welcomed

special guests: Ambassador of Egypt, Consul from Lebanese Embassy, 2 representatives from the U.S. Embassy, and special officials from ADEK. International Day celebrated over 80 nationalities represented at our school enjoying food, performances and traditions from our international community.

FEB 28

H.E. Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, UAE Minister of

Tolerance, visits ACS to share the creation and significance of the Human Fraternity Document with our Grade 7. Our Grade 1 students performed a song in Arabic about their love for ACS.

MAR 7

Remote Learning Transition for

the entire school in five days. 4.2 million minutes of online engagement and top marks in all evaluation areas in a virtual Remote Learning inspection conducted by ADEK.

MAY

As part of Mental Health Awareness month, the PTA Wellness

community together in order to support parents care for themselves, their families and their community.

JUN 6

2020 Virtual Graduation

Ceremony honored 93 ACS graduates with time honored ACS traditions. Featured guests included the US Ambassador to the UAE, John Rakolta Jr., H.E. Omar Saif Ghobash, and John Hackworth, the first ACS High School Principal.

JUN 13

Virtual 25th Reunion of the Class

of 1995 – The 25th Anniversary Committee, Sanu Puthankatil, Shefali Jashanmal, and Adib Mattar welcomed 21 of the 26 graduates from the Class of 1995. Alumni and special guests attended from Kentucky to Hong Kong.