IC Ain Aar Middle School New Leadership

Up the hill at IC Ain Aar is a new set of talented leadership for the middle school team. Middle School Director Lara Kmeid, Assistant Dean of Students Rony Asmar, and Assistant Director Katia Aranji are proud to be a group of leaders bringing a positive campus climate for their students up at Ain Aar. All three wonderful women have been a part of the IC family from their own early days. Lara Kmeid was a former IC science teacher. Not only now is she a director, she is also a proud mom at IC. Katia Aranji was an English teacher, and is also an IC alumnus and an IC mother! Rony Asmar is also a former IC student, and she returned back to teach at IC for 33 years. In fact she laughs and says that Katia was her student at one point. Given their own personal background and love for the school, these wonderful ladies are proud to be back at school in their roles as leadership, to have an opportunity to make a difference in the place they call home.

In particular, middle school students are at a pivotal time when it comes to learning about themselves and the world around them, as it’s during these years that these children develop foundational personality skills. “Middle school is where they start shaping their personality. Where you should give them space to express themselves and to really guide them in a way where they can go and develop skills. If we don’t give them a safe environment to express themselves and actually tell them to have their voice, they will not be able to go and be the leaders of tomorrow”, Lara Kmeid says. The restorative program is a collective part of the whole school in IC Ras Beirut and Ain Aar as a restorative initiative to be implemented. This is why, having an approach that involves student participation in the process of discipline and accountability has been introduced by the new leadership team to Ain Aar. This is called the Restorative Program, and its effects have been dynamic in just the short period of time that the middle school has been implementing it. What exactly is the Restorative Program? Rony Asmar explains that it’s an interactive and restorative approach to discipline that gives students the space to reflect on their behavior while working together with teachers to implement accountability. Rony elaborates on this point. With an approach like this, it creates a chance for a child to reflect on his behavior. It also makes room to see what are the underlying reasons for misbehaving. “There’s always an underlying reason. Sometimes we have no clue of what’s causing the behavior. Once we know, we can help them out much more”.

“We sit and we have a plan of action. The child has to be in with us. It’s his idea. Usually I ask the child, how do we repair the damage we caused. They come up with ideas. When it comes from the child, they abide by it because they are convinced”, Rony states. While being in the space to share what the problem is and reflecting, children are not just feeling like they are getting in trouble and facing a consequence. Instead, they will find an effective solution to the problem with the leadership team, and in the long run they will be able to apply these ways of thinking and better choices on their own terms. “I love working with kids. I love giving second chances. I love hearing kids out. I always like to hear the students’ side when they face problems. I believe in repair, not just consequences’’, Rony Asmar states. When the approach to discipline isn’t just about the actual punishment, it allows for students to actually reflect on the issue at hand and take accountability without having to be evasive or fearful. Furthermore, on an administrative end, taking into consideration what may be causing the issue at hand, which can be a myriad of things. “When I understand the student’s reason, I can plan the consequence and repair”, Katia says.

An activity Rony shares is the treatment agreement, which is a fun way to present the rules and regulations They’re done in the beginning of the year. There is the Tree Activity, to find out the students’ expectations as well as the underlying causes. The activity was to write down 3 inappropriate behaviors that can take place at school. On the branches, write down the things that are currently done to deal with these behaviors. On the roots, students write down 3 reasons that drive these behaviors and what is the unmet need.

Creating a space within an administrative or leadership section where students feel respected and heard makes all the difference. This is why the restorative approach makes room for all sides of the story in a conflict to be heard. There’s also an establishment of trust and respect between one another. “They have their own space here. They’re always welcome here, they’re always heard. We listen to them a lot”, Lara Kmeid says.

Just in the past few months, the middle school leadership team tells me there has been quite a noticeable change from their students. “There’s honesty. They’re not hiding things”, Katia says. Essentially, students are feeling comfortable enough to own up to their mistakes. Rony feels that the root of this comes from having created a space of kindness and understanding for these students. “I believe that empathy, The best way to cultivate a community is through honesty and compassion, and the restorative approach is just one of the ways for Ain Aar to keep building and creating a safe space for their students.“IC Ain Aar is really a family. We are all teachers from the community, we’ve been here a long time. There’s a lot of transparency”, Katia says. And this is what makes Ain Aar unique; it is its own community within the IC branch. This is why for Ain Aar leadership, maintaining IC spirit while also catering to the individual needs of the community dynamic here is important. Just this year, there have been 26 new teachers added to the Ain Aar team, and almost 45 new students. “The community is getting wider and more diverse”, Lara Kmeid states. For Lara, community development is one of the most important goals she has as director. “It’s actually to build this community and build this trust. To build a culture of Ain Aar. We really care about preserving it”, she adds.

As a whole IC, Ain Aar’s middle school leadership team has an impressive feat going for itself, and takes into account the needs of the school as they go along. “We build our advisory program on the needs that we have in our school”, Rony tells us. Lara Kmeid elaborates on this as well, as she proudly tells us about the activities, hands-on approaches, field trips, and career oriented elective program that school has implemented. The school has become more technology oriented, and in the process of accommodating those needs, the leadership team is playing their part to show up wherever is relevant. “We work closely with the ed tech coordinator to make sure teachers are trying to implement technology into their classrooms”, Katia states. From the classroom level and observations, this new leadership team is doing their best to make sure that students and staff alike have all the skills and resources they need to keep growing and moving forward. All in all, the Ain Aar middle school leadership team works hard in what they do for their students. “We care a lot about the well-being of our students. Their safety, well being, their happiness”, Rony says. The restorative method approach has brought more productivity and communicative and honest students, which is how progress is being measured at the moment. As the year goes on, we are so excited to see how Ain Aar’s community flourishes, and how the leadership team brings new ideas to the table to maintain this positive spirit and family dynamic.