Directors Blog

Dr Austen’s Blog 20 November 2009

• Last Monday’s Grand Opening was a huge success. Over 200 people attended, including ex-students, faculty, current families as well as local dignitaries. The US Ambassador Mr Thorne, on his first official visit to Lombardy, honored us by doing the official ribbon cutting of the new facilities, as well as Mrs Santomauro who inaugurated the Science laboratories. The event was an opportunity for us to thank all those who have participated in this huge construction project: all those in the Facilities Committee, donors and many, many more.  

  Ambassador does ribbon cutting for ASM	Grand Opening

• The search for my replacement in 2011 is underway. Board member Eliana Zoia is heading up a Search Committee which has taken the first steps to get the process started. A recruitment professional has been engaged and the first applications are coming in. All sections of the community will be represented and we will keep you posted on the progress.
•  The MYP accreditation visit from the IB is over. Jane Segre and Sarah Corfield did a magnificent job of leading us through this process involving students, staff and parents.
• The Strategic Plan for the future is also well on its way and is being led by Board member Tim Gaffney. Focus groups recently met with an outside consultant, who has now drafted a report with suggestions for the Board on issues to include in the Strategic Plan. This means that a number of changes and improvements will be implemented in order to make ASM an even better and more competitive environment in which students can thrive and go onto universities around the world.

Much is going on at school right now. As we grow into our new spaces, once again we are busy with a host of new projects. Here are just some of the more important ones:

• We are putting the finishing touches to the landscaping outside so that the campus returns to its former green and leafy glory!! The lawn has being laid in the front areas and soon the remaining areas at the rear of the school will also be landscaped.
• The Strategic Plan: this will be drafted by the Board of Trustees with the help of parents, teachers and students, to lay the plans for the school's all-important future. We urge you to be involved in the process and follow it carefully as we move into a new era of ever better and exciting times at ASM.
• In November we will receive a visit from an MYP team, here to review our IB Middle Years Program, assess its efficiency and ensure that it is being carried forward with due diligence. Some parents are part of this accreditation process, as are faculty and students. A team of teachers has been working on this for many months now refining documents and preparing for this visit.
• We are also in full swing with our Middle States Association Accreditation process. The MSA accreditation ensures that our programs reflect the required standards as an American School and ensure that our students can attend American universities. This process has been ongoing for several months, led  by Mr. Khoury with the help of Ms Dorta our interim Elementary Principal as well as a committee of parents, students, teachers and staff.
• As you can probably see, all of these processes described above are vital to ensuring the stability and success of all our programs at ASM. We encourage you to get involved, attend focus groups and join in sub-committees. We will continue to inform you of the progress as we move forward
• We hope that many of you have noticed our new Mission Statement: 
  

 

• We will be launching it officially at the upcoming Grand Opening (see below). We believe that the new Mission Statement is much more a reflection of who we are as a school, of the students we have at ASM today and what they and their parents aspire to for their futures. Keep an eye out for the Missions Statement as we hang them around school - they are currently being designed by our Upper School Digital Art students.
• The Grand Opening will be held November 16th at 11am when we expect the new US Ambassador who will be opening the new facilities. Invitations will be sent out next week!

Nobody can have failed to see the excitement on their children's faces after the first day of school. The new areas of the school look impressive, to say the least. Here are just some of the changes:

• The Elementary school has a new science laboratory with lots of equipment and a brand new interactive whiteboard, as well as its very own science teacher, Mr. Wicks! From this year all Elementary students will have class in the new laboratory at least once a week.
• Interactive whiteboards have been placed in all the new classrooms and the new lecture theater. Look out for the videos on how we use them - we will soon be posting them on the homepage!
• Six state-of-the-art science labs have been installed in the Middle and High School and are all in full use.
• Have you seen our new website? As well as a new graphic design, you should find it to be more navigable and more informative and it will allow us to showcase more student activities
• Outside we have a new blue basketball court. We are currently installing our new tennis courts as well. These areas, along with the landscaping will be completed by Monday, October 19^th
• Lastly, I encourage you all to come and visit the school and see all these new areas. Parent ambassadors will be available by appointment in the mornings at around 9.10am to show you around. Please email the school on director@asmilan.org to arrange a tour!