Board of Trustees

Dear ASM Community,

During the past academic year many of you kindly participated in our “Values Survey”. I would like to provide you with the results of that survey and an update on our values assessment to date.

The survey, whose aim was to better understand who we are today and where we want to go in the future, was carried out by the Values Task Force as part of a broader endeavor begun by the Board of Trustees two years ago--that of defining and implementing a set of ASM-specific values.

In terms of survey responses, these were very positive as 408 members of the ASM Community replied, of which 243 parents, 96 students and 69 teachers and staff. With regard to results, 3 Core Values emerged from the Survey:

1. Accountability  - You are responsible for your actions
2. Empowerment - You have the confidence and the freedom to take risks and solve problems
3. Respect            - You accept and honor diversity and encourage others to feel valued

We are presently working on these 3 Core Values and implementing them at ASM. As an example, our Middle School students have explored why these values are essential to being good students and effective adults. They then searched within their own families for evidence of these values and how adults demonstrate and carry out these values in their daily lives.

A newly formed Steering Committee will oversee the continued work on values and intercultural understanding at ASM. Thus, the Values Project is a work-in-progress, developing day by day within our Community.

Please do not hesitate to contact the Advancement & Communication Committee for further details on the Values Project and the recent Survey Results.

The Facilities Committee is pleased to announce the ASM Cafetorium Renovation Project to improve the kitchen and lunch areas for our students. Approved by the ASM Board of Trustees, this exciting new renovation project will be carried out next summer and overseen by the Facilities Committee.

Extensive renovations to the cafeteria’s kitchen and lunch areas will provide ASM students with a cleaner, safer, more colorful and more comfortable environment in which to enjoy their meals. Moreover, the renovations aim to reduce both the time spent in lunch lines and the noise level in the cafeteria. Furthermore, a more modern kitchen will allow the cafeteria personnel to expand its offering to include self-service menus and sandwiches and to prepare gluten-free meals for celiac students.

To be funded from the ASM Building and Maintenance fund and operating budget, the ASM Cafetorium Renovation Project will be implemented in conjunction with the 2012-2013 Annual Fund for Excellence. The goal of the Annual Fund will be to raise funds to improve the “auditorium” portion of the cafeteria in order to modernize ASM’s performing arts program and presentation facilities. Without the support of the Annual Fund, we are unable to upgrade the auditorium and thus a two-pronged approach to the Cafetorium renovations will allow us to modernize the entire area.

Further information will be announced in the coming weeks. We would like to thank you in advance for your cooperation and support in making the ASM cafeteria a safer and more pleasant environment for our students and for supporting the Annual Fund project that will benefit the entire ASM community.

The ASM Advancement Committee is pleased to announce that its proposal for the 2012-2013 Annual Fund for Excellence--to modernize the auditorium portion of the Cafetorium--has been approved by the Board of Trustees.

The goal of the 2012-2013 Annual Fund is to create world-class performance, meeting and presentation facilities in the ASM Cafetorium. Funds raised will allow ASM to revamp the auditorium portion of the Cafetorium in conjunction with the larger school-funded Cafetorium Renovation Project that will be carried out next summer and whose aim is to modernize the kitchen and lunch areas of the cafeteria.

Each year the ASM Annual Fund allows the school to make enhancements to our curricula and facilities that directly benefit our children in the short-term and that cannot currently be funded through our Building and Maintenance Fund. Specifically, Annual Fund contributions will be utilized to re-engineer and upgrade the existing auditorium by installing professional lighting, professional sound and state-of-the art theater technology. These badly needed improvements to the lighting, sound and projection capabilities will greatly enrich the theater, performing arts and public speaking curricula at ASM. These enhancements will also enable ASM to host outside speakers and to improve the logistics and overall experience of all ASM events-from school assemblies to the annual graduation ceremonies.

Watch your email for more information on this exciting project and on how you personally can contribute to making this happen.

An Annual Fund Task Force, comprised of Board members, Parents and Staff, has been created to promote the Annual Fund and to answer your questions about the project. As usual, all gifts (private and corporate) are welcome and accepted via the ASM Advancement Office.

Thank you in advance for your support that we count on to accomplish this important mission.