Dear CAC Community,

As we look forward to the last day of School this calendar year and a well-deserved winter break, I wanted to take a moment to express my gratitude for the commitment, passion and time you invest into making our community strong and united. I am excited to announce two major developments as we make strides towards accomplishing this year’s board goals and CAC’s vision of providing exceptional education in a diverse and caring environment. We are proud to announce the inauguration of CAC’s Early Intervention Center. We are also thrilled to be collaborating with a partner organization to establish a CAC Campus in New Cairo. 

The Early Intervention Center, opening in January 2024, will provide preschool children ages 2-5 with neurodiverse needs an opportunity to bridge developmental gaps through individualized programs. 

CAC has been strategically studying the possibilities of establishing an additional campus in New Cairo since 2004. After careful consideration, monitoring and in-depth analysis about educational trends impacting Cairo, the Board has committed to establishing an additional purpose-built campus in New Cairo. The long-term strategic planning process suggests that the new campus will be inaugurated in August 2025. 

We will share more information about both initiatives in the coming months as we vow to expand educational opportunities to children in Cairo and beyond.

Along with our plans for a CAC campus in New Cairo and an Early Intervention Center, renewing and enhancing our Maadi campus continues to be a priority. Four new projects have been approved by the Board for completion in 2023-2024. The CAC Swimming Program is one of the most well-known and successful international swim programs in the world, having won the European International School Championships 20 times over the years. The planned project will completely refresh and update the pool deck and drainage system. Our fitness center, another highly frequented CAC community facility, will receive a renewal as we upgrade the cardio equipment.  Nine cardio machines will be replaced with new advanced models, in addition to new machines to target core muscles. 

Following up on COP27, CAC will undertake a large-scale solar project on campus, installing an expansive array of green energy panels in the open roof spaces. The renovated HS building has already been retrofitted with the required mounting brackets in anticipation of this green project. Solar energy will help to significantly reduce CAC’s carbon footprint and is aligned with our long-term sustainability goals. 

Lastly, the Board is delighted to support an academic innovation proposal to re-establish CAC’s celestial observatory. The observatory will be used for teaching and learning as well as community astrological events, connecting CAC’s community to the wonders of space!

In addition to our enhancement goals for CAC facilities, we continue to update, refine and align our policies with best practice for independent schools and the recommendations of the accreditation team. Upon these recommendations to ensure institutional stability and strategic focus, Board elections will be held biennially hedging on long-term sustainability. 

The involvement of our community is our greatest asset and integral to our success ensuring that we continue CAC’s tradition of excellence. To honor our community’s involvement, the CAC Board of Trustees every year seeks to recognize members of our community through the CAC Community Core Values award. This award is presented to members of our community who exhibit the CAC core values by making exceptional and varied contributions to the CAC community through volunteering their time, expertise and love for CAC. The CAC Core Values are: Compassion, Creativity, Courage, Integrity, Perseverance, Respect, and Responsibility. 

If you know of someone who has made a difference in the lives of our CAC community while exhibiting these core values, please nominate this person for the Core Values Award. The nomination form is available here.  Forms can also be obtained from the Board Executive Assistant, Nawal Gamal, on the 3rd floor of the Admin Building or via email board@cacegypt.org. Nominations are due no later than 3:00 pm on February 2, 2023.  All members of the parent community - not currently on the Board of Trustees - are eligible to be considered for this award. Faculty and staff can also be considered so long as they make contributions to the community that are above and beyond their regular, expected duties. Thank you for taking the time to acknowledge the contributions of outstanding members of our CAC community. 

Finally, with a heavy heart, I would like to extend our sincere condolences to the entire community of family, friends, students and colleagues of Menna Ashraf, who tragically passed away on Saturday. Menna joined CAC in December 2017 as the HS counseling department assistant. Menna is remembered for the warmth that she brought to the school, her outstanding professional contributions, and her deeply caring personality that radiated to all those with whom she interacted. On a personal note, Menna generously and enthusiastically provided support and guidance to my own children during their stressful college application process as she patiently did for all HS students. As tragedy affects our community, we draw on our collective resilience and compassion to cope with this tremendous loss.

With my warmest wishes for a restful holiday season and a peaceful 2023,

Warmly,

Maha ElShinnawy 
CAC Board Chair

2022-2023 CAC Board Members: Hassan Abdou (Appointed), David Chi (Apache), Maha ElShinnawy (Board Chair, AUC), Stuart Farquhar (BP), Ericka Galegher (Secretary), Nawal Gamal (Board Executive Assistant), Jared Harris (HoS), Hassan Khalifa (Elected), Dalia Khorshid (Appointed), Sam Levin (NAMRU), Tarek Sakr (Elected), Chahrazed Sioud (US Embassy), Amal Soliman (Treasurer), Tarek Zaghloul (Facilities Committee Chair).