AISJ publishes a newsletter each week during the academic year, except during extended holidays.

To see the current complete School Newsletter for 3 June 2010, as a PDF document click here (2.05 MB).
OR
You can read the newsletter by scrolling down and opening the appropriate PDF documents where necessary.

Dear Parents:

This will be the last newsletter of this school year—and my last letter as Acting Director.  Dr. Page-Smith will take over the helm soon and I will leave on vacation, returning in July to again serve as High School Principal.  It has been interesting to try to balance the dual responsibilities of Director and High School Principal, and I appreciate the support I have received from everyone. 

The letter we sent out on Monday regarding the new schedule for next year generated a number of responses, some them positive and some of them critical.  We certainly acknowledge that the process was flawed, and we also understand that the schedule will create some complications for staff and parents alike.    I wish that I could convince every parent that the new schedule will benefit students by providing quality professional development time that will increase our teachers’ effectiveness, but I am realistic enough to know that we will need to show this next year—through regular communication on how we use the time, improvements in student performance and reports home from students about what is going on in their classes.    While we may disagree on the best schedule to support professional development and meet the needs of students, staff and parents, I think we are all in agreement that improving student learning in a safe, supportive environment is our primary goal. 

To our departing parents—thank you for entrusting your child(ren) to AISJ during your stay in South Africa.  To our returning parents—whether you are travelling abroad, visiting other parts of Africa or staying here to experience the excitement of the World Cup, have a safe and enjoyable time in June and July.  The first day of school (August 11) will be here before we know it!

Sincerely,
Jon Walker
High School Principal/Acting Director

Dear Parents

The last few weeks of school are always a time of transition.  As we are wrapping up the current school year and reflecting on what worked well and where we want to improve, we are, at the same time, looking ahead to the next school year. 

This year, with a new incoming director the leadership team has been considering changes that will allow us to be more effective and more focused.  During Dr. Page-Smith’s visit in April we met and looked at many of the things we do at AISJ and asked if these habits and behaviors truly suited our purpose as a highly effective international school.  We explored how to better align our structures and systems to foster a climate focused on teaching and learning.  Through careful deliberation and in consultation with the Board of Directors and PTO we decided that the most significant structural and cultural change would be to integrate weekly collaboration and professional growth time.

Therefore, we have decided to alter the school’s timetable starting in August 2010. Early release at 1:30 pm for students will be on Wednesdays throughout the year.  This release time will allow all AISJ faculty members (at both campuses) to have common collaboration/professional growth time from 1:45 to 4:00.  As a result the other four days of the week will follow a normal schedule with classes ending at 2:50 pm.

We are very excited about the opportunities this weekly collaboration/professional growth time on Wednesdays will provide.  In order to take AISJ to the next level as a professional, world-class educational organization we need time to learn and share and work together as a staff.  This time will provide significant professional growth opportunities to:

• Engage in regular reflective practice and dialogue
• Acquire deeper understanding  of curriculum, learning theory and child development
• Work with colleagues on unit planning and/or curriculum design and assessment
• Pursue own professional learning and support the professional learning of colleagues
• Share expertise and approaches to teaching and learning
• Communicate, collaborate, and form a professional learning community in pursuit of continuous improvement

We recognize that losing the Friday early release is a change for all of us.  However, in the best interest of student learning we strongly believe this new schedule needs to be implemented starting in August.  Additionally, we recognize the importance of creating a calendar that allows for flexibility for travel and other business.  Therefore, we have scheduled several 1:30 pm early release days (in addition to Wednesdays) throughout the 2010-2011 school year. Due to our long school day we can comfortably add these while ensuring we easily have sufficient school hours throughout the year.  These will be denoted on the community calendar as “early release.”

At AISJ, we are dedicated to providing quality, ongoing collaboration/professional growth for our staff to improve student learning.  We hope you agree that this new schedule will give us the time to make this happen.

Sincerely

Terry Burns, ES Principal
Robyn Schilling, MS Principal
Jon Walker, HS Principal
Ben Weinberg, Pretoria Principal
Liz Hargreaves, Curriculum Coordinator
Andy Page-Smith, Director