Giving through the Holiday Season

Dear CAISL Community,

For most Americans, the time between Thanksgiving and New Year’s is one frantic rush to finish eating left-over turkey, to brave the shopping crowds in search of seasonal gifts, and to prepare yet more parties and feasts and organize a variety of celebrations.  Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanza are all celebrated during this period.  Other religions have holy days at other times of the year.  Whatever your beliefs, there is one common thread among all of the tradition—giving.  We give gifts to family and friends and we help others less fortunate. 

In this season when we are reminded of the importance of giving, all too often we ask children what they want.   I propose that a better question is what they want TO GIVE.  Take the focus off of selfishness and put it on selflessness. 

We all want things and surely one of the joys of parents and other caring adults is watching children joyfully open presents which we have chosen with love.  But how much more joy it would be to watch the child choose with love and care to give to others. 

At CAISL, we give to those less fortunate all through the year but in this season particularly we are reminded of how important it is for us as a community to do so and how important it is to instill the “spirit of giving” into the students.

Box for Toys for Tots in front of the Main Library

Let me call your attention to the following giving opportunities:

Toys for Tots:

The Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts, and the High School Community Service Club are collecting “Toys for Tots.” (Tot is a nickname in the USA for child). 

Toys for Tots is an annual campaign by US Marines, conducted in both the USA and around the world (http://www.toysfortots.org/).  

Please bring a new toy which will then be wrapped and distributed to local orphanages.  Collection boxes are in both the Secondary and Elementary atria and in front of the main library. 

What a good way of teaching your child about those less fortunate—having him or her choose the toy and bring it to the collection box.

Make a Wish Foundation (http://makeawish.pt/ ):

“We grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy.” (http://worldwish.org/en/ )

Make-a-Wish Stars and raffle prizes, along with some of the children's
handcrafted Holiday Cards.

The Elementary and Middle School students focus on raising money to support the Portuguese branch of the “Make a Wish Foundation.”   

Make-a-Wish stars for Christmas tree ornaments will be sold at the Winter Concert.  The Elementary students are also handcrafting Christmas cards and will be holding a raffle.   Kindergarten is planning a cupcake sale.  The Middle School is donating a portion of their Holiday Dance ticket sales and organizing additional fund-raisers. 

One of the groups that worked during the weekend
 for Banco Alimentar.

Banco Alimentar (http://bancoalimentar.pt/):
Over the December 1 & 2 weekend, CAISL teachers and High School students gave of their time to participate in the food collection drive which occurs all over Portugal on two weekend of the year.  Banco Alimentar is an effort which unites people from all over Portugal in an activity which provides basic foods to those less fortunate.  

A Month in the Life of a Busy School

Dear CAISL Community,

As some of you head off on mini-vacations to take advantage of the upcoming All Saints’ Day holiday on November 1 and the "ponte" day CAISL is taking on November 2, let me outline for you some of the upcoming events in the life of CAISL, its students, parents, and staff.

 

By the time you get this the Halloween festivities will likely be concluded with the Elementary Parade and Parties. Although Thursday and Friday are "no class" days, there are two major activities which will be occurring over this long "no class" weekend.

One is the Varsity Volleyball Tournament. CAISL is part of AMAC "the Association of Mediterranean Activities Council" which organizes 3 tournaments each year, one Volleyball, one Basketball, and one Soccer for Varsity students.



The AMAC Volleyball Tournament was scheduled to be held in Tunisia, hosted by the American Community School of Tunis (ACST). As you may be aware, ACST was recently vandalized quite severely, with the elementary wing of the school and the elementary library gutted by fire and most movables such as computers taken from the secondary. Therefore, ACST was not able to host the tournament nor, considering the political unrest, would CAISL have attended. To ensure that the AMAC Volleyball Tournament went ahead, CAISL offered to host and this offer was accepted by the other schools. So on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday students from Rabat, Tunis, Cairo, and Barcelona will join CAISL students for the Tournament. The schedule of games is available here.

In addition to offering to host the tournament, CAISL is engaging in fund-raising activities to help ACST rebuild. ITAU, CAISL’s catering company, will donate its profit from its lunch service during the tournament to ACST and various CAISL student groups are organizing other fund-raising activities.

At the same time as the Volleyball Tournament. CAISL is hosting the Mediterranean Association of International Schools (MAIS) teachers’ conference. MAIS is a regional organization whose sole purpose is to provide professional development opportunities. MAIS is held annually somewhere in the Mediterranean region and this year it is CAISL’s turn to be the host school. The conference, held at the Palácio Hotel, is on Friday and Saturday with eminent guest speakers from the USA. Almost all of CAISL’s faculty will attend.

 

After this very busy long weekend, Ms. Katie Morris, Elementary Principal, and Mr. Nate Chapman, Secondary Principal will hold a workshop for parents about MAP (Measures of Academic Progress). This will be held on Tuesday, November 6, at 08h45. The purpose of this workshop is to help parents understand MAP and how to read their own child’s report. More information on this workshop will be sent shortly.

After this very busy long weekend, we move rapidly into two more events. One is the visit of EmTech, an IT consulting firm which is going to do an audit of IT services and programs at CAISL. EmTech did an audit of our IT about 10 years ago and its resulting feedback helped guide us in our organization and planning. We look forward to EmTech again providing us with feedback on how our network infrastructure, our IT services, and our educational program can be improved and with guidance on planning for the future. EmTech will be on campus on November 7 and November 8.

Overlapping by a day with the EmTech IT audit is the Iberian Model United Nations program, which is held at CAISL beginning the afternoon of Thursday, November 8 (a half day of classes) and continuing all day Friday, November 9, and Saturday, November 10, at Centro Cultural Belém. IMUN is one of the premier programs at CAISL. Under the leadership of Mr. Peter Andrews, MUN Coordinator, students learn about the world, about politics and economics and geography, about diplomacy and debate, how to organize and lead.

This year, 350 students are coming from 22 schools in 12 countries. (see this link to learn about the participant schools and countries) Each student comes prepared to represent the political views of a country not his/her own in formal debate.

In addition to engaging in debates, CAISL students organize the conference with the support of Mr. Andrews and, once the conference starts, it is completely "student-led"—meaning that the students are responsible for ensuring that everything that needs to be done is done and for organizing, monitoring, coordinating, and supervising the work of the student delegates.



Last year's team with teacher Peter Andrews



Such roles include



The Student Officers, who run the conference and have authority overall. All are CAISL students except for the Vice-President of Security Council who is from the International School of Stavanger in Norway. (Secretary-General: Guilherme Reis; Deputy Secretary-General: Francisco Gonçalves; President of Special Conference: Bernardo Branco; Vice-President of Special Conference: Diogo Anliker; President of Security Council: Carlos Gonçalves; Vice-President of Security Council: Rachel Ecclestone.)

The Administrative Staff, under the leadership of Mariana Matias, ensures organization and logistical coordination.

The Student Press, with Editors-in-Chief Mariana Domingues and Inês Lacerda, will publish both print and online newspapers before, during, and after the conference.

2011 CAISL Thanksgiving Dinner

The Fall Tournament for Boys Basketball and Girls Soccer for Divisions 3, 4, and 5 will be held at CAISL from Thursday, November 15, through Saturday, November 17.

Followed quickly by the PTO-organized Thanksgiving Dinner at Centro Cultural de Cascais the evening of Tuesday, November 20, leading on to the 4-day weekend of American Thanksgiving which is on Thursday, November 22.

The Life of the CAISL Community is not always quite so busy but is always filled with community spirit, opportunities for students to engage, learn, and grow, and opportunities for us to support their activities and enjoy them and learn from them as well. Thank you for being part of the CAISL Community!

CAISL and School Rankings

Dear CAISL Community,

On Saturday, October, 13, Publico published the annual “rankings” of public and private Portuguese schools.  Someone is sure to ask where CAISL is in these rankings or why CAISL is not in the rankings at all. 

The answer is very simple—CAISL students do not take the tests on which the rankings are based and so, of course, does not appear in the rankings at all.   Schools which follow a non-Portuguese curriculum do not take the tests and thus are not in the rankings.  A few of the international schools also have separate Portuguese sections and these will be in the rankings. 

Several years ago, the CAISL faculty who teach Portuguese as a Native Language suggested that we should take the Portuguese Language tests.  We explored this with the Ministry of Education which said we were not allowed to take one test only.  If we took one, we had to take them all.  And we would not be allowed to have only some of our students take the test and not others (i.e. only those in the Portuguese Native Language Program but not those who do not speak Portuguese!).  Obviously, we dropped the idea.

Many of you have heard me expound before on one of my personal, strongly-held frustrations with education—the use (and misuse) of school “rankings” or, as they are called in the UK, “league tables.”

Tests serve two purposes educationally—

1.       to assess a student’s academic achievement so that the educational program can be tailored to needs of each student.  This is called formative assessment as it helps “inform” the next steps in a student’s educational program.

2.       to judge a student’s academic achievement—to put a grade “on the record.”   This is called summative assessment as it “sums up” achievement.

To use a blunt analogy:  formative assessment is like a medical diagnosis while summative assessment is the autopsy.

Rankings/League Tables are based on summative assessments. 

So what is so wrong about “ranking” schools based on summative assessments?

I could give a lot of reasons (and pages and pages of writing!) to answer that but the most basic answer is that there is no way to know which students are being tested.  Two examples follow.

First, obviously, schools have different student populations.  Public schools enroll students from a wide variety of social and economic backgrounds—and increasingly in Portugal linguistic backgrounds.  Private schools have admissions requirements often based on prior achievement including ability in the language of instruction.  Additionally, there is the fact that only those who have the economic resources can go to private schools (except for the rare scholarships) and every study ever done on academic achievement shows a correlation between economic resources and academic achievement. 

Second, there is no way of knowing which students a school decided to test.  Were ALL students in the grade tested?  Or did the school not test students who, for example, have special educational needs or who are not fluent in the language of instruction?   Did the school test only those selected students likely to do well?  Usually testing rules forbid this but it still happens.

I am always interested to read the rankings and the league tables as there are frequently schools praised for “going up a lot in the rankings” from the previous year.    On occasion, a school will jump from a low to a high ranking and then invariably the press will hold that school up as a model for others.   I refuse to believe any school can go up fast in the rankings through increased effort, curriculum revision, professional development of faculty, etc.  The only way to rise in the rankings very fast is to ensure that only students who are predicted to score well take the test.   This is done by just selecting students who will take the test or forcing students to transfer to another school.

 

CAISL students in grades 2 through 9 are currently finishing their fall MAP tests.  These Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) give teachers and parents detailed information on each child’s knowledge and skills in English Language Arts and Math.   These are formative assessments.   If you would like to read more about these tests, the web site is http://www.nwea.org/.

A workshop on MAP will be held on Tuesday, November 6, at 08h45.  This will be conducted by Katie Morris, Elementary Principal, and Nate Chapman, Secondary Principal.   The purpose of this workshop is to help parents understand MAP and how to read their own child’s report.   More information on this workshop will be sent shortly.

 

 

 

 

 

Upcoming Events and Recent Successes

Dear CAISL Community,

After 4 days of school, we are truly back in the swing of things.   I know I just posted a blog a few days ago but wanted to start the school year with some information about upcoming events and a reflection on our recent successes.   

New Family Coffees

Parents new to the CAISL community are invited to a “New Family Coffee”.    These informal sessions are designed to provide you with additional information about the school and to answer any questions which have arisen.  I also want to hear from you about your and your children’s introduction to CAISL, first few days of school, and your thought on what went really well and what we can improve on to help future new families.

These New Family Coffees are scheduled for

Tuesday, September 25, 08h45

Thursday, September 27, 18h00

Thursday, October 4, 08h45

Those of you who are new to CAISL this year will shortly be receiving an invitation and a request to choose a date. 

IB Diploma Student Successes

CAISL’s pass-rate for the IB Diploma Exams for May 2012 was 90%.  This is an excellent result as the average pass rate worldwide for May 2012 was 78%.  You can find further information on the May 2012 results as well as an overview of CAISL’s IB Results for the past 10 years on the CAISL web site here

Our results are particularly distinctive when you consider that CAISL does not refuse to allow students to try for the IB Diploma.   It is quite common—in the highly competitive world of international schools—for students who are not predicted to “help” the school’s results to be refused entry or dis-enrolled part-way through the program.  CAISL encourages students to try and only rarely and in extreme circumstances dis-enrolls students from the program.

Evaluation of CAISL

Over the past 18 months, CAISL has undergone external evaluation by 2 accrediting agencies as well as participated in the “Foundation Census” instituted by the Portuguese government.

Foundation Census:  

The Portuguese government instituted an intensive review of entities constituted as “foundations.”  The school CAISL is governed by the not-for-profit Fundação Escola Americana de Lisboa (FEAL) and thus was part of this census.  The results, published in early August, were widely publicized by the local media as well as available on the Portal do Governo.  

I am quite pleased to tell you that CAISL was ranked the 8^th best-run out of 190 Foundations.   The criteria were 

Pertinência / relevância                       Pertinence/Relevance

Eficácia / eficiência                                 Efficiency

Sustentabilidade                                     Financial Sustainability

Accreditation by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) and the Council of International Schools (CIS)

The NEASC and CIS Visiting Team came to CAISL the last week of March 2012. 

Many of you attended the Sunday afternoon community reception and/or the open-invitation meeting with the team Tuesday morning.  

At the end of the week, the team met with the CAISL staff to summarize its findings but, since their report needed to go to the NEASC and CIS Board, they could not give much detail.

Accreditation is granted for 10 years (with interim reports and visits) and then must be re-applied for.  Since our most recent Accreditation dated from 2002, we were scheduled for a re-accreditation visit in 2012.

Accreditation is not required for a school to exist but seeking accreditation does indicate that a school is striving for quality. 

In June 2012, we were informed by both NEASC and CIS that we had been re-accredited for a further 10 years.  Our re-accreditation was a “clean” report with commendations and recommendations but no “red flags.”    In fact, having worked with the Accrediting Agencies myself for many years, both as a Chair and as a Team Member on the visits to other school and as a Director and Teacher at a school receiving a visit, I am delighted that there were more commendations than recommendations in the report (very unusual) and that the commendations were glowing and the recommendations mirror those we had already identified and support our efforts at continual growth and improvement.

Over the next two years, we will be analyzing and working to address the recommendations in the report.  This update is due to the agencies in 2014. 

The full report (quite lengthy!) as well as a summary of the Commendations and Recommendations is in the pass-worded section of the Parent Community tab on the CAISL web site here    (If you are a current CAISL parent and do not know the password, it will be emailed out again in the Friday newsletters this week or you can email me.)

Over the next weeks and months, you will see quotes from the Visiting Team appear around school, in the press, and as the “sign-off” line in our email signature. 

However, I think it is worth repeating just a few of the commendations and statements from the Team’s Conclusion below as they are truly glowing and I am quite pleased that the 10-member Visiting Team so quickly identified these as strengths of CAISL and that every aspect received praise:

NEASC and CIS Praise for

Our Program

CAISL has developed clear and broadly understood guiding statements; core values and expectations for learning that . . .help to create and sustain the engaged and energetic climate that characterizes the teaching and learning life of the community.

The Visiting Team commends the faculty and staff for their student-centered approach to learning.

Our School Culture

The Visiting Team commends the school for creating an environment between teachers and students that is respectful, caring and where all are excited about learning.

There is a pervading sense of calm, of students who are comfortable in their work and in their relationships with teachers.

Th[e] quality of ease ought not to be confused with a lack of vigor and challenge.

The school is a work place, but not one that wears students down. It is a busy environment, but not a hectic one.

Expectations are high, but a commitment to kindness is evident. Students clearly feel that this is their school.

Our Students

The Visiting Team highly commends CAISL students for their embodiment of the qualities embraced by the school’s Profile of the Learner.

The Board of Trustees

The Visiting Team noted the strong and sustained support of the School’s Board for all the efforts CAISL has undertaken. This small group has been steadfast, generous and diligent, through many difficulties, and continues to hold the school in trust in wise and essential ways.

Financial Sustainability 

The Visiting Team commends the school for maintaining a sound fiscal policy in uncertain economic times thus ensuring that the expected quality of education continue.

  

I look forward to seeing each of you at Open Houses, the PTO Picnic toward the end of the month, PTO Meetings and just “around” campus.  If you wish me to address any particular topic in this blog (or at a meeting or presentation), please post a comment or email me. 

Blannie Curtis, Director

CAISLisbon.

Welcome to a New School Year

Dear CAISL Community,

Welcome to a New School Year.  It was wonderful to welcome our new students and their families at yesterday’s New Family Orientation and to see again after the summer break so many of our returning families.  

BLOGGING

Last year I started a “blog” in which I commented and reflected on happenings at school that I thought would be of interest to you.  I will continue that this year and hope you will post responses or questions in the “comment” section of the blog.  When a question is posted, I will respond although I may wait a while to post a response to see if others post related questions.   

You can sign up on the blog to be notified whenever a new comment (by me or others) is posted.   If you have suggestions for topics you would like to see me address, please post your suggestion or email it to me.  I do not promise to post a new blog on any rigid regular schedule but plan to do so 3 or 4 times each semester.   The link to the blog on the home page of the web site will always be to the current version.

As always, however, there are some parameters within which this blog will operate. If you have a question or concern which directly relates to your own child, other children, a specific teacher or other CAISL employee, you will need to address that privately with the person most able to respond--the teacher or other employee first, then the Principal (or Business Manager or other direct supervisor if the employee is not a teacher). Please do not comment on individuals in this blog. 

There is also an “online suggestion box” (linked from the www.caislisbon.org web site) on which you can provide your insights and suggestions in a private manner.  

However—this blog and the online suggestion box are only provided as additional means—not the primary means--of communication.   The primary communication should be person-to-person dialog.  A conversation is always the best way to get a question answered or to resolve a concern.

COFFEE MORNINGS AND OPEN FORUMS

Last year I began holding monthly “Coffee Mornings” which were informal “question and answer” sessions.  Some had pre-set agendas, derived from the topics which were most posted on the blog and some were “open” sessions with no agenda.  These were held in the morning on campus.  I will continue with the “Coffee Mornings” although also plan to relinquish some months to Katie and Nate who wish to begin holding their own Open Forum sessions. 

Additionally, the Board of Trustees holds two Open Forum sessions for parents, in the evenings, one during 1^st semester and one during 2^nd semester.  There are no pre-set agendas for these.   The Trustees will continue with their two sessions during the year. 

All of these will be announced via the Friday newsletters as well as posted on this blog and on the web calendar.  I hope to see you at these.  If there are topics you would like to see addressed—by me or others—please post a comment/question or email me directly.

REMINDER:  PARKING LOT OPENS!

As you have already read in the Elementary and Secondary pre-school opening newsletters, as of the first day of school, Monday, September 3, the parking lot to the side of the Secondary Building will be open for parent and staff use.

Please read and follow carefully the instructions at these links:

English version 

Portuguese version

NEXT BLOG:        Wednesday, September 5. 

  

June 19: Next Director's Coffee Morning

The next Director’s Coffee Morning will be on Tuesday, June 19, 08h45 to 10h00, in the 'old' Elementary Art Room. There is no agenda for this meeting.   We revert to the 'Open Forum' format.

I hope to see you there.

Blannie Curtis

Next Director's Coffee Morning: Thursday, May 3, 08h45 to 10h00

Now that the Visiting Team for Accreditation has departed and we are back from a well-earned spring break, let’s get back on a once-per-month schedule of “Coffee Mornings.”   The next one is scheduled for Thursday, May 3, at 08h45.

The comments section of this blog is open for posting comments, questions, and/or suggestions for agenda items for May 3.  Please let me know what you want to be discussed or what you want to know more about or what questions you have. 

In the meantime, I hope that each of you will be able to come to the “Speaker Series” the evening of Thursday, April 26, at 19h00.  An area of interest to all of us, I’m sure, and one I have spent a considerable about of time researching—as a teacher and school administrator and for my High School class in Psychology this year—is how we help students become successful.   What are the skills they need, what are the attitudes and habits they need which will provide them the means to achieve success—academic success, personal success, career success.   Is one’s IQ a determiner of success?   What is the impact of effort and perseverance?   What role does patience play?     Feel free to bring friends who are not part of the CAISL community. 

I look forward to seeing you at, hopefully, both events. 

Blannie

Accreditation Visit and Invitation to Parents and new Online Suggestion Box

At the Director's Coffee Morning on Wednesday, February 29, there were two parents and the discussion was mainly informational about the upcoming visit from two of CAISL's accrediting agencies--the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) and the Council of International Schools (CIS). 

NEASC/CIS Accreditation Visiting Team--invitation to parents.

CAISL will have its 10-year visit by a team consisting of professional educators from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) and the Council of International Schools (CIS) from 24 through 30 March.   This is part of the on-going process of school improvement and validation of programs and activities which is so important to ensure that a school continues to strive for and achieve the highest levels of excellence. 

There are two events related to this Accreditation Visit which are of particular interest to parents. 

On Sunday, March 25, from 16:00 to 18:00, CAISL will host a reception for the entire school community in the Snack Bar.  This is an informal "meet and greet" to welcome the team.  All parents are invited to attend but it is vital that you RSVP to info@caislisbon.org no later than Monday, March 19.

On Tuesday, March 27, from 08h45 to 10h00, the Visiting Team would like to meet informally with parents in a roundtable discussion.   There is no need to RSVP for this event which would have the format of an "open forum" although in this case it is likely to be the Visiting Team asking the questions of the parents.  This meeting will be held in the small classroom outside the gymnasium.

After the team has left, they will finish the report they must write to their respective governance boards and subsequently, probably over the summer or early next school year, we will get a detailed report which will give commendations for things we are doing well and make recommendations for areas we can improve. 

I look forward to many of you meeting with the Visiting Team.

Online "Suggestion Box"    CAISL values the opinion of each member of our community and wishes to hear from you and to answer your questions, to work with you to solve any problems which might arise, and to know what you are thinking. 

With that in mind, we are creating yet another way for you to provide us with input.  Dialog and discussion are always the most effective way to resolve issues of concern or to bring suggestions for improvement to our attention.  However, recognizing that some may prefer another vehicle to do this, we now offer the "online suggestion box." 

The CAISL Senior Management Team (Blannie, Katie, Nate, and Mark) and CAISL's Community Relations Coordinator (Maria) will read the comments.  You may choose not to give your name and, in which case, you may be assured that your input is anonymous and even those of us with passwords are not able to determine who submitted the survey answers. 

Please understand that, because it is impossible to enter into dialogue to gain complete understanding, anonymous comments may not always receive the attention they may deserve. 

The link to the survey is on the home page of the CAISL web site.

Blannie Curtis

Director

CAISL

Next Coffee Morning: Wednesday, February 29, 08h45

Dear CAISL Community,
Last night (Tuesday, February 7), the Board of Trustees held an "Open Forum" for parents.  Trustee Open Forums are held twice a year and are an opportunity for the parent community to sit with the three Trustees to ask questions about the school and the role of the Trustees.  There is never a set agenda and the meetings are a dialog of questions and answers.  Last night, 3 parents came to the Open Forum and there was a wide-ranging question-and-answer session with the role of the Trustees explained by Michael de Mello, Board President, and a further exchange in which the parents were asked to share with the Board their experiences at the school.  A suggestion was made that perhaps an opportunity could be arranged for the PTO and the Board to meet together at some point.  Further discussion was held about the upcoming visit of the Accreditation Teams from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges and the Council of International Schools which occurs at the end of March.    Once the Visiting Team has shared its preferred schedule with us, more will be posted on this blog about the Accreditation Process and the opportunities for parents to meet with the Visiting Team.

The next "Coffee Morning" will be held on Wednesday, February 29, at 08h45.  Because we are turning the "old" elementary cafeteria into the "new" Early Childhood Library over the next couple of weeks, we will need to find a new meeting place but I will figure that out and announce it before we meet.

Please post your suggested agenda items on this blog which will be open for agenda items or general comments until Thursday, February 23.  The agenda items will then be posted in the Friday newsletter that week.  If another parent posts a comment, question, or agenda item which interests you, please post a comment expressing your interest.  This way I will have a sense of the level of interest in particular issues which arise.  I will not respond immediately to posts as I do not want to cut off discussion and an exchange of ideas but, when a question is posted, I will wait a week or so (to give other parents time to comment as well) and then I will post a response.

I look forward to hearing from you.  All parents of the CAISL community are welcome to attend (and, in fact, encouraged to attend) the Coffee Mornings.
Blannie Curtis
Director