Director Message
Posted on May 19 2020
Dear Parents and Colleagues, Thank you to all the participants in the virtual meeting last week using the Thought Exchange Platform. Many of us are…
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Director Message
May 19 2020
Dear Parents and Colleagues,
Thank you to all the participants in the virtual meeting last week using the Thought Exchange Platform. Many of us are becoming accustomed to Zoom and Google Meets. Unlike these virtual meetings the Thought Exchange platform allows for recording, categorizing and prioritizing the comments and thoughts instantly. This provides for both qualitative and quantifiable reflection on the exchange of thoughts and ideas.
Below is a word cloud of the thoughts from the two meetings that were conducted first in English and then in Spanish. The platform allows for a range of ideas to be automatically translated so we are no longer limited to one or two languages.
As with many of the conversations we have been having with parents and colleagues, there are a range of thoughts regarding the current and future status of learning within the context of COVID-19. As you can see from this word cloud the centre of all our thoughts are children and learning. Other important factors are health and safety. Concerns with the economy are on all of our minds and it is something the Board and administration is taking very much into account also as we develop our strategies for next year.
We are currently finalizing broad learning models that can adapt to essentially three scenarios, that we are required by the authorities to start school virtually through continued distance learning, that we are able to re-open the campus, or most likely a combination of these, with contingencies for periodic closure if the situation with the pandemic thus requires and provision for continued learning support for students who are unable to attend school. There are many models of schools in other regions reopening with these same broad parameters.
We have a fantastic team of educators and parents working together and understanding that this is a situation beyond individual control. We will be communicating further details and opening up to more exchange of thoughts on specific elements of health and safety, learning and solidarity as a community that together is navigating challenging social, technological and economic waters, but also with plenty of opportunities to adapt and excel in this new reality.
Some statistics from last week’s meeting:
We had 145 participants. Not bad for our first try with this. We plan on having more similar meetings to gather thoughts and ideas from different members of our community, including students. Over 200 thoughts received nearly 6,000 ratings. It is through such generous input that we are able to most precisely identify areas mostly highly shared as well as other less shared, but nonetheless important ideas or questions,
87% of participants identified themselves as Academia Cotopaxi only, 5% from IMAGINE and 8% from both. The majority of participants were parents but a large number of faculty also participated, providing an opportunity to see different perspectives.
For parents the most frequent thoughts were with respect to health and safety. These are also our priorities. Health and safety is the fundamental focus of all our decisions. There was not a lot of variance in the categories of thoughts and questions, all are considered important, but overall second to health and safety was the type of learning models that will take place next year followed by financial/economic issues.
For our faculty the primary concern is their employment status next year, which is directly related to the thoughts parents have regarding the economic impact of this crisis. If anything beneficial is coming out of COVID-19 it is that we are realizing how interconnected and reliant we are on each other. Noone is an island and we all are navigating the same storm.
What best describes you?
Just as we are gathering data and ideas from our community we are reaching out to industry, other schools and ministries of health and education here and around the world to learn from, adopt and adapt the best practices with respect health, learning and management of our resources for the benefit of you, your children and our faculty and staff. We look forward to continued dialogue and sharing our models of learning with you with a constant understanding that we all need to be adaptable and conscious of the evolving nature of this situation.
Finally, on a much lighter but enjoyable note. I would like to share with you a couple examples of the creativity of our middle school students. This is an example of how the technology we have on hand today, more importantly, that our children have, opens opportunities we could never have imagined when we were young.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/15SkvJ60n5rtZ2kLSIJaU7fJtCJLOtxsL/view
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cDevmoR_Aqe0LS0DiDqHVgzb8zm9yMQL/view
Thank you Juan Andres and Kamile in sixth grade. Two future George Lucas or Steven Spielberg learning their trade through the COVID-19 experience?
Sincerely,
Robert van der Eyken
Director
Elementary School News
Posted on May 19 2020
Dear Families, Thank you for engaging in powerful conversations with your children’s teachers during conferences. I am sure you have shared the…
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Elementary School News
May 19 2020
Dear Families,
Thank you for engaging in powerful conversations with your children’s teachers during conferences. I am sure you have shared the highlights of conversations with your children celebrating their resilience, their responsibility and their effort; and encouraging them to continue growing! We have received a bit over 150 responses to the feedback survey and appreciate your input. We are analyzing and will summarize in next week’s newsletter.
Your children’s participation in the live sessions has been outstanding! Being involved with both synchronous and asynchronous learning allows for a complete learning experience and supports your children’s social emotional well being and the well being of the class community. We have heard from the Ministry of Education regarding requirements for end of year reports and are happy to share that children’s SeeSaw journals meet the guidelines for portfolios which is the requirement for all elementary students. I will be sending you more information regarding the end of year and how you can contribute to the celebrations of learning.
Reminders:
- Wednesday May 20, 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. - Grade 5 Parent Transition Meeting with Middle School - Meeting link: https://cedia.zoom.us/j/97256167262
- Monday May 25 - Holiday observed - No school
- Friday June 12, 11:00 a.m. - 5th Grade Moving on Ceremony and Last day of school for all students
Always together,
Paola
Elementary School Principal
Middle School News
Posted on May 19 2020
I hope that you and your personal community are doing well. I was introduced to a word last week that I think is very relevant for all of us - the…
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Middle School News
May 19 2020
I hope that you and your personal community are doing well. I was introduced to a word last week that I think is very relevant for all of us - the “corona-coaster.” It is normal for life to have ups and downs, and these past two months have certainly contained a roller-coaster of emotions. This might be a good word to introduce to your family, and a way to talk about feelings with your Middle Schooler.
Counselor’s Corner - Aubrey Jordan
On Wednesday, May 20 at 9:00 a.m. I will be hosting a Parent Workshop (zoom link) geared towards families who will be leaving AC at the end of the school year. (This does not mean families who are staying cannot attend!) The workshop will look at transitions, moving, and how to help your child in “leaving well.” Although goodbyes are never easy, this year it is exceptionally different as we are constrained by new rules and restrictions, and I would like to provide you with some tips and concrete steps on how to navigate that for yourself and your child. We will be looking at this process using the RAFT acronym: Reconciliation, Affirmation, Farewell, Think destination.
I also wanted to provide you with information about an upcoming parent education opportunity led by FCD (Freedom from Chemical Dependency) on Wednesday, May 20 at 8:00 p.m. - Quito time. This webinar titled “Prevention in the Family: An Online Q&A for Teen Health Promotion” is meant to be an informative session to answer questions such as “Where do the main pressures on kids to use drugs come from?” and “How much impact do parent attitudes and modeling have on teen use?” The webinar is free and registration can be found here.
Service
Please check out our bonus May edition of Service Learning in the Middle, which highlights two MS students.
As per the calendar, there are no class meetings on Monday, May 25. Enjoy the upcoming three day weekend.
With kind regards,
Sheryl
Sheryl Gruber
Middle School Principal
sgruber@cotpaxi.k12.ec
(593-2) 382-3270 ext. 2001
"We are responsible for being informed global citizens who understand and affect positive change."
High School News
Posted on May 19 2020
Dear High School Parents and Students, Thank you for your continued effort and commitment to our distance learning programme. Here is our HS…
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High School News
May 19 2020
Dear High School Parents and Students,
Thank you for your continued effort and commitment to our distance learning programme. Here is our HS newsletter for this week. Be safe!
June
The last week of June will be dedicated to a few things:
-Last meetings with teachers
-Sharing the summer work
-Capstone presentations with mentors. As always, parents are invited to join. Students will be reviewing the parameters of those presentations this Wednesday in mentors. Please encourage students to attend the session with their mentors at 12:00 p.m. on Wednesday.
June Schedule
Below is our last week’s schedule:
College Counseling: Requesting Letters of Recommendation from Leaving Teachers
If you are an 11th grader wanting to request a letter of recommendation for your college applications next academic year, you need to provide your teachers with three weeks of advance notice. This means, you must officially request these letters of recommendation by next Friday, May 22. In order for your recommenders to do the best job possible, please make sure you share your Interview Sheet with your recommender. The more time you put into your Interview Sheet, the better job your recommender can do. Questions on this protocol? Please reach out to Mr. Wasser.
Meet with Teachers - Schedule Appointments
We will continue to encourage students to set up appointments with teachers. Please do not hesitate to reach out to meet with our teachers.
CAS at Home
Mr. Shulman and Ms. Faidutti have created a google classroom to share ideas of cool CAS experiences that can be done at home. The CAS code is cmtf4ra. Those ideas will contribute to maintaining a healthy and balanced life.
Reminder of Netiquette
It is crucial that, together, we maintain strong and positive ways to interact and to present ourselves online. Please support us so that students respect the following netiquette.
Thank you,
Fred Bordaguibel
High School Principal
