A few weeks into the beginning of the year

Dear CAISL Community,

Welcome Back Picnic 2013 photos

Three weeks of school have already come and gone—and how busy they were!  Last week, particularly, was quite full with two Open Houses, one for Secondary parents and the other for Elementary parents, as well as the Parent-Teacher Organization annual Welcome Back Picnic with grilled hamburgers, lots to eat and drink, games for the children as well as sports matches (including Baseball!) and a bouncy castle/slide.  Many thanks to those who worked quite hard planning the event as well as to those who pitched in on the day to make it a great success.  What a wonderful way to kick off a new school year!

(To see more photos of the picnic please follow this link)

One of the themes of CAISL—and one you heard at both Open Houses and will continue to hear throughout the year—is the focus on individual effort.  No matter how much innate ability a person has, no matter how talented he/she is, little can be achieved without effort.  This is a one of the core concepts CAISL works to instill in our students.  For this reason, you will hear the terms “formative” and “summative” assessments.  The purpose is to allow students to put effort and energy into their learning without being fearful of making mistakes.  “Formative” assessments are for learning.  “Summative” assessments are also given and these occur after the student has had “formative” learning and practice and is ready to show what he/she knows and can do.  

Much of the philosophy which underpins this distinction can be found in the work of Carol Dweck and those who have subsequently built on her work.  The essence is that a person with a “fixed” mindset only wants to show how smart or talented he/she is and thus shies away from challenges.  A “growth” mindset person seeks to learn and challenges are a good way to learn to that person seeks them out.

There are so many excellent resources available for parents who wish to know more about, particularly about how to foster a growth mindset in their children.  Of course, a major source is the original book by Carol Dweck, called Mindset, The New Psychology of Success:  How We Can Learn to Fulfill our Potential.  (Ballatine Books, 2006).

 Below are some other sources, shorter and more focused on specific aspects of this topic:

•  Carol Dweck website with links to many articles and resources is http://mindsetonline.com 

• Video Clip: This short clip from YouTube is entitled “Growth vs Fixed Mindset”, posted by Matthew Metoyer in October 2012.
  

Print articles available online:

• Krakovsky, Marina The Effort Effect  Stanford Alumni web site.  March/April 2007                                       
• Gladwell, Malcolm.  The Talent Myth:  Are smart people overrated?  The New Yorker. July 22, 2002.
• Bronson, Po.  How Not to Talk to Your Kids:  The inversepower of praise.  New York                                     Magazine.   August 3, 2007.   

Faculty Comings and Goings for Next Year

Dear CAISL Community,

The end of the school year is rapidly approaching and, as always, I would like to take this opportunity to provide you with an “update” of faculty changes for next school year. Below, you can find a brief introduction to the teachers who will join CAISL as well as a farewell to the teachers who are leaving us.

The following new staff members will join CAISL next year:

High School Social Studies Department
Joel Summerhayes joins CAISL to teach the IB Economics and IB Business and Management courses. Joel has an MBA from the University of Liverpool as well a teaching license in Business and Economics from Portsmouth University, in the UK as well as a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Business with Engineering. He has worked at schools in Kuwait, England, and Thailand in posts which included Head of IB Economics. In addition, he has also been a business training consultant, most recently in China.

High School Science Department
Maria Muñiz Valcárcel will be teaching High School Chemistry, including IB Chemistry, as well as serving as Coordinator of High School Sciences. She has her Master in Education from the University of Bath (UK) and a Master in Chemistry from Argentina as well as an Advanced Teaching Diploma for High Level Sciences from Argentina. Currently she is at an international school in the Ukraine where she is teaching IB Chemistry (HL and SL) and prior to that she was at the American International School of Buenos Aires where she also taught IB Chemistry as well as High School Chemistry and Physical Science. She is also an IB HL/SL Chemistry Principal Examiner and HL/SL Senior Moderator

Edite Briosa will be teaching High School Physics including the IB Physics program
She has a PhD in Physics as well as two Masters degrees, one in Medical Physics and one in Physics for Schools) as well as a Licenciatura in Biochemistry. She has most recently been Professor of Physics at the Instituto Superior de Saúde do Alto Ave – ISAVE. We were most fortunate to have Edite with us this spring as she became acquainted with our program and our students.

Jose Rocha will be teaching High School Biology, including IB Biology and Environmental Systems and Society. He has his Licenciatura from the University of the Algarve and is currently finishing his Master’s degree. He has 12 years of teaching experience in Biology, Environment, Sustainability, Health, and Geology.

High School English Department
Andrew Booth will be stepping into some of the High School English, including IB English, courses currently taught by Ms. Jaime Lynch (who will be assuming the role of College Counselor for the USA and UK applicants next year while continuing to teach a couple of classes). Andrew has a Bachelor’s Degree from Crown College, Powell, TN as well as a Master of Arts degree from Liberty University, Lynchburg, VA. Before coming to Portugal, Andrew taught High School English in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Secondary Arts Department
Mackenzie Boomer stepped into the Secondary Art position vacancy late in this year and will continue for the 2013-2014 year. Mackenzie will teach Grades 6 through 12 Art, including IB Art. She has her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art Education from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is licensed to teach both Primary and Secondary Art. Her most recent teaching experience before moving to Portugal was at HIGH TECH HIGH MEDIA ARTS in California.

Middle School
Jyl Nolan will be teaching 6th Grade at CAISL next year. She has her Master’s Degree from Humboldt State University in the USA as well as teaching credentials for all subjects for Elementary and Middle School from California. She is currently teaching Social Studies and Language Arts to 6th and 7th Graders in California.

Matt Nolan will also be teaching 6th Grade at CAISL next year. He has his Bachelor’s Degree in Biology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Master of Arts in Teaching from the University of San Francisco. He is licensed for Elementary and Middle School in all subjects and has a specialization as well in Science.

Elementary School
Sarah Bento will be taking over the role of Elementary Counselor during Ms. Carla’s two-year leave of absence. Sarah has a both a Bachelor’s Degree and a Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology from Instituto Superior de Psicologia Aplicada (ISPA) as well as Post-graduate work in the Specialization of Integrative Psychotherapy from Clínica Contemporânea and Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa (UAL). Sarah has long experience with CAISL, as a student and as a long-term substitute teacher and has been working in 2nd Grade this spring while also shadowing Ms. Carla to ensure a smooth transition.

The following faculty will be leaving CAISL:

Carla Silva Maia says, “After being at CAISL for 10 years, I’ll be moving to São Paulo, Brazil. My son, Tiago, and I will be joining my husband who was transferred there early this year. During our stay in Brazil, I will be the Lower School Counselor at Graded-The American School of São Paulo. We will miss CAISL very much and hope to return to Portugal and CAISL in the near future!

Justin Wallace is moving to Paraguay next year to teach Kindergarten at the American School of Asuncion. He would like to say a huge thank you to the CAISL community for 5 amazing years!

Kyle King and Mimi Ryan, with their daughter Paz, are moving to Bali, Indonesia, where Kyle will be teaching at the Green School. Paz will attend the school while Mimi focuses on non-profit work.

João Rangel de Lima, currently teaching High School Science at CAISL, leaves after 3 years to pursue other interests.

Doug Abshire, currently teaching High School Science at CAISL, will be joining the faculty of the American School of Madrid next year.

Tânia Mendes came to CAISL to fill a short-term vacancy in the Early Childhood Program. Her plan for next year is to become a mother for the 2nd time, with the baby expected in October.

Ricardo Oliveira was hired on short-term contracts to fill vacancies in the Early Childhood Program. He will continue to work with CAISL this summer by providing a Drama Program for Early Childhood.

Steve Maday arrived at CAISL in late September to fill a one-year emergency vacancy in High School Science and will seek new opportunities for next year.

Living “in the moment”

As we come back from spring break, we head into the last part of the school year and look forward to exciting times ahead.  The life of a school is always busy but it seems to speed up as we move closer to the end of the school year. 

However, for one group of our students, life might seem to be standing still, somewhat frozen on the brink of an unknown and unreal world—called the future.  Our Seniors--finishing High School and moving into the next phase of their lives, having to focus on exams while still trying to figure out what they will do AFTER exams—for the rest of their lives.

Universities loom as exciting and scary things—but first you have to get in (grades, essays, exam scores, entrance tests, and on and on).   And no matter how good your grades, how well you do on exams, how brilliant your essays are, there are hundreds and sometimes thousands of others also with good grades, exams, essays vying for the same university spot.  This is likely one of the first times when a person comes up on the truth of the statement that “not everything is in your control.” 

Students tend to think that they are going through these anxieties alone—that no one feels or has ever felt as nervous, as anxious, and as stressed as they are feeling right now.  What they usually do not realize is that their parents are also going through stress—but of a very different type.  The child that they loved, nurtured, kissed good night is going out of their lives forever.  Not, let me be quick to say, the person but the child, now an adult.  Childhood is rapidly becoming just a memory.

While it is only natural to look forward to and sometimes fear the future, let us not forget to be “mindful” of the present.  Every day brings pleasure if we will only take a moment to look for it—the majesty of a thunderstorm, the beauty of a rainbow, the laughter of a child, the gentle words or touch of a friend—how often do we miss these because we insist on focusing on other things.  Yes, it is important to plan and to strive for a good future, but it is also important to appreciate today—to be mindful of the present moment.

One of my favorite articles on this is by Bill Bryson, author of many books including one I’m a Stranger Here Myself (the title in the USA) or Notes from a Big Country (the title in the UK).  

In this book is an essay about his own experiences of seeing his eldest son go off to college.  It is well worth reading—whatever the age of your child. 

Excerpt from “ON LOSING A SON (TO COLLEGE)”

For the full essay, click here:  http://palmersworld.blogspot.pt/2006/05/on-losing-son.html)

This may get a little sentimental, and I'm sorry, but yesterday evening I was working at my desk when my youngest child came up to me, a baseball bat perched on his shoulder and a cap on his head, and asked me if I felt like playing a little ball with him. I was trying to get some important work done before going away on a long trip, and I very nearly declined with regrets, but then it occurred to me that never again would he be seven years, one month, and six days old, so we had better catch these moments while we can.

So we went out onto the front lawn and here is where it gets sentimental. There was a kind of beauty about the experience so elemental and wonderful I cannot tell you--the way the evening sun fell across the lawn, the earnest eagerness of his young stance, the fact that we were doing this most quintessentially dad-and-son thing, the supreme contentment of just being together--and I couldn't believe that it would ever have occurred to me that finishing an article or writing a book or doing anything at all could be more important and rewarding than this.

Now what has brought on all this sudden sensitivity is that a week or so ago we took our eldest son off to a small university in Ohio.

"Once they leave for college they never really come back," a neighbor who has lost two of her own in this way told us wistfully the other day.

This isn't what I wanted to hear. I wanted to hear that they come back a lot, only this time they hang up their clothes, admire you for your intelligence and wit, and no longer have a hankering to sink diamond studs into various odd holes in their heads. But the neighbor was right. He is gone. There is an emptiness in the house that proves it.

I hadn't expected it to be like this because for the past couple of years even when he was here he wasn't really here, if you see what I mean. Like most teenagers, he didn't live in our house in any meaningful sense--more just dropped by a couple of times a day to see what was in the refrigerator or to wander between rooms. . . but mostly he resided in a place called "Out."

My role in getting him off to college was simply to write checks--lots and lots of them--and to look suitably pale and aghast as the sums mounted. I was staggered at the cost of sending a child to college these days.

So you will excuse me, I hope, when I tell you that the emotional side of this event was rather overshadowed by the ongoing financial shock. It wasn't until we dropped him at his university dormitory and left him there looking touchingly lost and bewildered . . .that it really hit home that he was vanishing out of our lives and into his own.

The hard and unexpected part is the realization not just that my son is not here but that the boy he was is gone forever. I would give anything to have them both back. But of course that cannot be. Life moves on. Kids grow up and move away, and if you don't know this already, believe me, it happens faster than you can imagine.

Licensing, Accreditation and Approvals.

You will have heard and read quite a lot this year about CAISL’s re-accreditation by two of the major accrediting agencies and the extensive commendations they gave CAISL as a result of their inspection.  Many members of the CAISL community have asked for more clarification as to what, exactly, accreditation is and why it is important.   

There are actually quite a lot of agencies which work in the area of school licensing and approval.  Below I will try to make sense of this for you.

Ministry of Education license

First, any school which operates legally in Portugal must have a license from the Ministry of Education to do so.  This is fundamental and without it a school is operating illegally.  The license (formerly called the alvará, now referred to as the autorização definitiva) will identify what type of program the school is licensed to offer.   CAISL is authorized to offer an American program for Early Childhood through High School Graduation American Diploma (Grade 12) plus the IB Diploma Program for Grades 11 and 12. 

Portugal has defined a system of entry for students coming into the Portuguese system (including University level) from schools following a program of studies of the USA.  This system applies to CAISL as we are licensed by the Ministry of Education as an American school.  The system also applies to students coming to study in the Portuguese system from other American schools, in the USA or outside the USA.    

This is important because CAISL’s American High School Diploma is a valid credential for entry into Portuguese universities and CAISL students can use their scores on some SAT exams as substitute for the Portuguese provas because CAISL is licensed locally as an American school.  

A license to operate from the Ministry of Education is fundamental but is not the same as accreditation. 

International Baccalaureate Organization Authorization                                                 

Schools with an IB program must be authorized by the International Baccalaureate Organization.  Such authorization requires a process of validation conducted by the IBO.  Without IBO Authorization, a school may not offer any of the IB programs and authorization by the IBO will specify which of the IB Programs a school is permitted to offer.  The IBO sometimes conducts its authorization process in conjunction with the Council of International Schools (CIS, see below) but it is not the same as Accreditation. 

Accreditation

A school which is striving for excellence and opening itself to external peer inspection and evaluation will seek Accreditation.   Accreditation can be vital for the recognition of a student’s credentials in the next school to which they apply, including universities in the USA. 

The main accrediting bodies for international schools are the Council of International Schools (NOT the European Council of International Schools—a different entity which is explained below) and/or the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC, a subdivision of which is for international schools) from the USA.   CIS and NEASC work together to hold joint inspection visits. 

Getting and keeping Accreditation requires adherence to standards set forth by these organizations and involves full inspection visits every 10 years and a “check-up” visit half-way through the 10 years and sometimes interim reports or visits as well.   You will sometimes see ECIS listed on the home pages and in the literature of a school.  ECIS is an excellent organization which works with schools on professional development.  It is not, however, an accreditation agency.  Many years ago, it was but ECIS split into two entities and CIS was formed to provide accrediting services. 

Support from the Department of State of the USA                                                 

The Office of Overseas Schools of the USA also works in the area of school approval and oversight.  It is not, per se, an accrediting body but it does choose to recognize selected American schools outside of the USA as worthy of support and, thus, regularly visits the school and speaks to the Department of State employees posted to Lisbon to gather information about the school and to ensure that the school continues to adhere to “best practice” and provide an appropriate education to US government dependents.  Schools which are supported by the Department of State may apply for limited funding mainly for professional development activities for faculty.     

What does CAISL have?

·         A permanent license from the Ministry of Education to offer an American curriculum program to Early Childhood through High School.  CAISL is authorized to offer both the American High School Diploma (which makes it valid for entry into Portuguese universities) and the IB Diploma.

·         Authorization from the IBO to offer the IB Diploma Program

·         Accreditation from CIS and NEASC.  The most recent full visit was in March 2012.  We were accredited through 2022.  The full accreditation report, including the summary of commendations and recommendations, is on the web site.

·         Support from the Office of Overseas Schools of the Department of State of the United States of America.

·         Membership in ECIS.