For the 2013 – 2014 School Year! 

We are sending this message to all ISD families, those returning and those who are joining us for the first time.  Our regular messaging is done using our Website newsletter, the Jaguar Journal, but for the start of the year we begin with this letter for the opening of the school year.  The Website address is www.isdakar.org.  The Jaguar Journal link is on the bar to the right of the page. 

Our teachers and operational staff have been busily preparing for the start of the new school year.  New teachers have arrived early for orientation and now all teachers are fully engaged in setting up their classrooms and lessons for the first week of school.  I imagine students are quite eager to start school on our wonderful campus and to see all their old and potential new friends. 

I am Paul Olson, recently appointed as the interim director for this school year.  You can learn more about my background at the school’s website.  To be brief, I have been a teacher, principal, and director in a number of schools in the following countries: Congo (Kinshasa), Tanzania, El Salvador, Somalia, Arizona in the US, Rwanda, Brazil, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe.  Most recently, I served this past semester as interim principal at the American School of Kinshasa.  I look forward to meeting you in the coming days and weeks, and working with the ISD community to further the development of its fine physical resources and educational programs.  See outlined below the main events scheduled for the first week of school.   

Monday, August 19, 2013, OPENING DAY Ceremony from 2 – 3 PM assembling in the Gymnasium.  This event is a long-standing tradition at ISD, where parents and students gather in the gym briefly to be welcomed to the school.  New faculty members will be introduced.  After opening remarks, the students will be released to their classroom teachers in Elementary School and to their homeroom teachers in the Secondary School.  Parents will accompany our youngest students in Pre-K 3 and 4 when their names are called.  All other parents and teachers will stay in the gym for an opening address from yours truly. The class orientations will be relatively brief with dismissal by 3 PM. 

Tuesday, August 20, 2013. FIRST DAY OF CLASSES, starting at 8:30.  Vehicles bringing children will be directed to circulate and drop off students at assigned spots.  Our gates open at 8:00 AM.  Please refrain from bringing students before that time, as we do not provide supervision on the grounds until 8.  Dismissals will be at 12 for PK 3 and 4 and at 3:20 for Elementary and Secondary students. 

Tuesday through Friday, August 20 to 23, will be regular school days.  There will not be after school activities at this point.  Please arrange to pick your children promptly at the end of the school day. 

Regarding lunches.  Students may bring them from home.  They can also be purchased at school.  Parents of Elementary students may register for lunches with Shady Shack using a form available from the receptionist.  The form is also in the Jaguar Journal. Middle and High School students may complete a lunch form in their homeroom class, and these forms will be sent to Shady Shack.  Preparations for the new kitchen have been delayed, so the current service has been extended in the meantime.  

Welcome to ISD!  We wish you an excellent start to the school year. 

Sincerely,

Paul Olson