1Newsletter 02/2016 | © Berlin Metropolitan School

NewsDear Families and Friends of the Berlin Metropolitan School,

We would like to use the start of the second semester as an occasi-on to provide you with an update on the developments at BMS. Our school has become a complex structure that is characterized by a high level of dynamism. This momentum is the foundation of our continuous development and success. The first semester was very successful for BMS on many different levels.

We began this school year with three strategic objectives:

The reevaluation of our Primary Years Programme in October 2015 by the IBO and the first continuous evaluation of our pro-gram from Kita through to Grade 5.

The preliminary visit of CIS (Council of International Schools) and NEASC (New England Association of Schools and Colleges) in January 2016 and the approval to begin the accreditation process.

The graduation of the first Grade 12 class with the IB Diploma at our school, which will be held in May and the Graduation on June 3, 2016.

We have already been able to successfully master two of these three strategic objectives this year.

The successful reevaluation of our academic program from Kita to Grade 5 took place in October 2015 and was an important mi-lestone for us as it was the first time that our academic program

February 2016Quarterly

UPCOMING EVENTS24./25.02.16 Secondary: Parent-Teacher-Conf.

03.03.16 World Book Day

08.03.16 Parent-Info: Kick-off Building Project

09.03.16 Secondary: IB DP Subject Expo

10. 03.16 Friends of BMS: BMS Reception

14.03.16 Secondary: IB DP Art Show Week

16.03.16 Prim. Parent Info: Exhibition Grade 5

17.03.16 School finishes at 1pm

18.03.16 School closed: Prof. Development

21.03.16 First Day of Spring Vacation

04.04.16 First Day of School

11.04.16 Primary: Grade 5 Camp Week

12.04.16 ELC: Parent Rep Meeting

20.04.16 Roundtable: Digital Citizenship

22.04.16 Sec.: Formal Dance Grades 9-12

26.04.16 Sec.: IGCSE Exam Start

27.04.16 Primary: Student-led Conferences

27.04.16 Secondary: IGCSE Subject Expo

02.05.16 ELC: Action Gallery

02.05.16 Secondary: IB DP Exams Starts

02.05.16 Primary: Grade 3 Camp Week

05.05.16 Ascension Day

2Newsletter 02/2016 | © Berlin Metropolitan School

as a whole, from Kita through Grade 5, underwent an in-depth inquiry. Due to our organic growth thus far, through the development of our school grade-by-grade, the alignment of our program in its entirety is the next necessary step in our further development. The consistency of the program, the transitions bet-ween grade levels, as well as the commitment to our methodology from Kita to Grade 12 is the long-term goal. The first step in bringing greater congruency between the Early Learning Center and the Primary School will be followed by the alignment of the Senior School and Middle School as soon as the school’s development is complete. The feedback from the IBO was positive and motivating. The suggestions for the next development steps regarding our curriculum represent a logical next step and in line with our own assessments. The teams from the Early Learning Center and Primary School are creating a concrete action plan based on the feedback from the IBO, which will be the foundation for the further development of our curriculum. The Co-Curricula Program team is both part of the success and part of the next step, as they provide an important contribution to our overall concept. To date, CCEP offerings have proven to be assets in and of themselves in every authorization/accreditation we have conducted. Particularly the activities and offers for our students and how these align with the academic program, as well as the direct collaboration of the different teams, positively distinguishes us from what other schools have to offer.

The second important project this school year was the preliminary visit of CIS and NEASC that took place in January. Both of these organizations are institutions recognized worldwide that certify schools as a whole using international standards. Both of these accreditation processes focus not only the curriculum and instruction, as is the case, for example, with the IBO or Cambridge University. CIS and NEASC eva-luate the institutional quality of the respective school. The latter includes all areas of school organization and school operations. CIS and NEASC evaluate each school by means of a complex criteria catalogue of standards defined for all areas of school operations – starting from the structure, focus, and philosophy of the institution, to the accounting systems, sustainability, and maintenance of the buildings. The safety and provision of health care for students is a focus just as much as the consistency of academic quality, the availability of resources, and a transparent, effective organizational system with clearly defined re-sponsibilities.

The four-day long visit of representatives from these two organizations was successful for our school, and, as a result, we received admission for the accreditation process. With this, we have taken the first important step and will begin the 18-month accreditation process with the start of the second semester. The accreditation visit will take place in November 2017 and we will submit the preliminary documents in Summer 2017.

BMS strives for an accreditation from CIS and NEASC because we wish to achieve this institutional quality for our school; with this quality, the value of a school diploma from BMS will improve for our students within an international context. The process that lies before us up until the final accreditation visit will challenge every team and all BMS employees in the coming 18 months and will demand a high level of their commitment. In mixed teams, we will work on different standards to produce the quality necessary to successfully pass the accreditation in November 2017. As a result of this process, BMS will grow as an institution and will reach the next level of quality for these various standards. The work in mixed teams will contribute to the alignment of all areas, departments, and grade levels with the same quality criteria, which will mark the consistent alignment and transition between schools, as desired by all stakeholders of our school. Our students as well as our parent community are of course also part of this accreditation process, which is why we will be approaching you at one point to ask for your active support. I would like to thank you in advance for your confidence and support.

The third – and the most important objective for our Grade 12 students as well as for our team – is the successful completion of our organic school development phase with the first IB Diploma examinations at

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BMS. Our 45 Grade 12 students are currently demonstrating their abilities in the last preparatory exams before they go on to complete their final exams in May. It is not without good reason that the IB Diploma is among the most demanding school leaving qualifications worldwide, as our 12th graders are currently experiencing first-hand. In addition to exam preparations, applications are being submitted to universities, the deadlines and structures of which vary depending on the country. Our University Counselor is working intensively with students in order to support them with their applications and in the application process. We share in the excitement of students who have already received offers from notable universities and will do our best to support all students in the realization of their goals.

In order to implement these strategic objectives and to continue the success we have had to date on an ongoing and consistent basis, we are working on many operational issues that will improve what we have to offer and our overall position as an international school. An important milestone on this path is our school’s governance structure. It is our goal to build a robust organization that is transparent and ef-fective and makes the involvement of all stakeholders possible. The BMS Advisory Board is of particular importance in this regard, as it is the highest supervisory committee in which all stakeholders are repre-sented. In coordination with the current members of the Advisory Board, we are presently revising the structure and organization of the Advisory Board so that new elections can be carried out in April of this year. With newly elected representatives from the parent community and together with employees and a student representative, it is our main goal to enter into the phase of evaluation and performance measure-ment of our current strategic development plan in May, with a clear focus. Our mission here is to define, parallel to and and in alignment with CIS and NEASC accreditation, new developmental plans for BMS. To ensure that our newly established Advisory Board can work in a coordinated and aligned manner, we are again planning a training session in June 2016 for the members of the Advisory Board. We will publish the new statutes as well as the process for the election of new members in March.

As we prepare for these next strategic steps in our development and growth as an institution, we have already fulfilled a change with the start of this semester. Our colleague, Jenny O’Fee, took over leadership of the Primary School from Mr. Hubert Keulers, who as Director of the Board, will take responsibility for the restructuring of our Advisory Board as well as for the process of the CIS and NEASC accreditation. In her function as Primary School Principal, Ms. O’Fee, in collaboration with ELC Principal, Ms. Knowles-Thompson, will ensure the implementation of the objectives from the PYP reevaluation together with her team and will also be responsible for the qualitative further development of our program in the Primary School. The focus for both this and next year lies in the further alignment of the Primary School curriculum with the objectives of the Secondary School. Especially with the integration of Grade 6 into the Primary School, the conditions for the transition of our students will change. The Primary and Secondary School teams are working together to structure this transition in a way that is best suited for our students.

Another personnel change will take effect for the coming school year. On August 1, 2016, we will welcome a new Secondary School Principal at our school. We are pleased that with Paul Churchill, we were able to hire an experienced colleague for BMS, who possesses both many years of experience in the field of curriculum development as well as in school organization, and who is looking forward to his new role with great enthusiasm. Mr. Churchill is coming to BMS from the International School of Paris, where he successfully operated in his position as Vice Principal for more than 7 years. Teachers, students, and parents were involved in the selection process for filling this important position. We are looking forward to our collaboration with Mr. Churchill and thank everyone who supported us in this process. We would especially like to thank our school representatives for their tremendous contribution. We are pleased that the diverse measures of our school development are starting to bear fruit over time. These fruits are becoming measurable for us on many different levels.

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On the one hand, various accreditations and evaluations serve as indicators of our quality; on the other hand, external benchmarks act as a comparison for our own performance. In the area of academic results, we are comparing ourselves with different tests in various grade levels – starting with the ISA tests in the Primary School, through to the Cambridge Checkpoint Tests in the Secondary School. Moreover, we are measuring the exam results for the MSA and IGCSE with respect to local standards as well as international benchmarks. Comparisons with other international schools from the Association of German International Schools (AGIS), in which we ourselves participate on an annual basis, serve as a means of comparing institutional key figures – such as, for example, teacher/student ratio and the like. With respect to these key figures, we find ourselves strategically well positioned; in terms of the academic results, we have surpassed our own expectations as well as the benchmarks to be achieved. In addition to these various quality controls that are in each case underpinned by our own goal measurements, the satisfac-tion of our students, parents, and employees is the most direct and important indicator of our quality, as well as for the attractiveness of BMS for new families and potential employees. In addition we will contact you in March to ask for your feedback regarding the CIS and NEASC process. Our internal school-wide audit will take place under the responsibility of our advisory board in Spring 2017.

We can see that our efforts for the continuous development of our school program are positively reflected in the students numbers and especially in the contract duration periods of BMS families. As a result of this very positive development, we will surpass our growth forecast. We are pleased with this development and will ensure that all necessary preparations are made to meet this development adequately. The latter impacts our space capacities, which were already tight and will reach maximum capacity in the coming year. Given our positive growth as a school, we will begin the previously announced construction work for the expansion of BMS in March 2016. This construction project will challenge us for 18-20 months, but its result will ensure that we can accommodate the demand, but – more importantly – that we can offer our students qualitative spaces to fully experience our diverse school program. The priority therefore lies in the creation of better and more versatile spaces and rooms, such as, for example, larger libraries and media libraries, study rooms, and theater spaces. These construction measures also include the transfor-mation of our yard areas and the redefinition of our entrances accompanied by appropriate safety and se-curity concepts. The rough plans are already complete, as these were the basis on which the permits were obtained. Currently, the respective service providers are working on detailed planning and implementation concepts. Part of the implementation concept is also the accompanying building site communication, ensuring that parents, students and colleagues are always informed, can express their questions and concerns, and can receive timely answers. The issue of safety is the leading theme of our construction project, as we must undertake this extensive construction work of our building structure while remaining fully operational. Against this background, we will do our utmost to make our project plans, approach, and our safety measures as transparent as possible. Throughout March, we will be approaching you with information regarding the topics outlined above.

In addition to our long-term projects, we are using the second semester to secure all of the best teachers on the market for open positions, to coordinate the school calendar for the coming school year, to update our handbooks and curriculum guidelines, and also to already begin the first preparations for the coming school year. Topics, such as the further development of our House System in the Secondary School, the revival of our Life Skills program, the further integration of IT in class instruction and the ex-pansion of digital learning offerings for students of all age groups, the sustainable implementation of the “Restorative Practice” approach, as well as the further improvement of our Pastoral Care and Student Support Program, are on our agenda so that we can continuously improve our school program.

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I hope that you are able to recognize our efforts and the qualitative development of our school in your child’s joy of learning and learning success. Projects, such as participation in the Skypathon with Eaton College London, the collaboration with the company Fox and Sheep on creative coding, and the upcoming Hackathon from Rainmakingloft are all expressions of a stimulating learning environment.

It is of course our goal and at the same time a challenge, to always ensure a good balance between the day-to-day program, individual care, and best possible advancement of every student, as well as essential strategic work.

We look forward to our continued collaboration with you and to an exciting, successful semester with your children. Many thanks for your confidence and for the constructive collaboration!

Silke FriedrichExecutive Director