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- The deadline for the November issue of Cairo-Glyphics is Monday, October 20th. It will be available online on Thursday, October 30th.
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- CAC Switchboard #: 2755-5555/5520
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Superintendent’s News
Dear CAC Community,
I write this after coming in from a school wide assembly honoring the International Day of Peace. We were around 1500 people, most of whom were dressed in white, coming together with a determined sense of hope for the future of our globe. Listening to students of all ages – a treat in itself on a Pre-K-12 campus, sharing the power of a moment of silence, and listening to young voices sing the CAC Peace Chain song was very moving indeed.
At the beginning of every school year, we review our Strategic Plan, clarify the on-going goals and initiatives embedded in it, and consider new targets which we might consider in an effort to ensure that the plan is dynamic and timely. With that in mind, I want to provide you with an overview of where we are.
The CAC Strategic Plan is an evergreen five-year model – thus, this year it is dated 2008-2013. At present, there are five strategies, though that has changed over the years – sometimes there have been more, and there could be fewer. Each strategy is facilitated by a CAC Administrator and is monitored by a committee. The strategies are as follows:
Learning and Teaching:
The development and delivery of curriculum as well as our professional development programs are central to this strategy. It is within this frame that we conduct our five-year curriculum review cycle, revise our standards and benchmarks, do our curriculum mapping, and focus on instructional program initiatives. In the curricular domain, highlights this year are the completion of our Rubicon Atlas mapping, an external audit of our French and Spanish programs (scheduled for October 7-9), and both an internal and external review of our special needs program. This strategy also monitors our progress on our mathematics and writing objectives associated with our Accreditation for Growth goals.
Communication:
This strategy addresses the means and the effectiveness of our communication. Last year a number of you participated in a survey asking which home-school communication tools you find most useful and how you feel they might be enhanced. As a result of this feedback, we will shortly begin publishing Cairo-Glyphics quarterly rather than monthly, and we are working hard to ensure that the information on our website is current.
Technology and Information Services:
This strategy supports our goal of seamlessly integrating technology and information literacy into all areas of learning. Parents who have been at CAC for a few years will have noticed the increased amount of technology which has migrated into our classrooms. Mounted projectors, document cameras, laptop carts, interactive whiteboards, our wireless capacity – all of this and more represent work conducted within this strategy. Another is our current focus upon implementing the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) within the work of students, faculty, and administration.
Service, Citizenship, and Sustainability:
As you know through messages from me, initiatives at each division, and simply from walking onto campus, this has been an area of considerable growth here at CAC during the past few years. The work of our Green Team and the Peace Curriculum Academic Innovation project as well as growth in our service learning courses and the addition of such classes as the Global Initiatives Network represents increased attention on how we can all become more responsible both at home and beyond. One measure of this is that we have set ourselves a goal within the accreditation protocol of including student involvement in these areas. Students in grades 4, 7, and 11 will complete annual attitudinal surveys which will be complemented by the records we keep of service engagement to monitor how thoroughly these concepts have become woven into the culture of CAC.
Facilities and Finance:
Since major decisions in this domain are within the purview of the Board of Trustees’ standing committees, the usefulness of this committee is being reviewed at this time.
During the year, you will hear the results of a number of different efforts which are grounded in our Strategic Plan. My experience is that it is far more alive than any other I have worked with – no dust collecting on this plan! This is one of the great advantages of not waiting five years to review it – ours is an on-going effort to remain current, meaningful, and effective. Please feel free to contact me should you have any questions about our Strategic Plan or process.
We are heading into another amazing month – PRIME trips, HS Spirit Week, At-Risk student surveys, end of the first quarter, and much more. I hope you can take advantage of our Eid El-Fitr and October 6th break to relax and spend some special time with family and friends.
Monica N. Greeley
Superintendent
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