school advisory board (sab) 2018-2019 end of year report ... · b. ms. clements shared with the...

AUS...A Better Choice

American United School of Kuwait/Jassem Mohammad Al-Kharafi Road/ Sabah AL Salem, Kuwait 1 | P a g e

School Advisory Board (SAB)

2018-2019

End of Year Report

American United School



SCHOOL ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS ......................................................................................................... 3

SCHOOL ADVISORY BOARD OBJECTIVE ......................................................................................................... 4

SCHOOL ADVISORY ACTIVITIES FOR 2018-2019 ........................................................................................... 4

SCHOOL ADVISORY IMPROVEMENT OPPROTUNITIES FOR 2019-2020 ........................................................ 5

APPENDIX I .................................................................................................................................................... 6

APPENDIX II ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 16

APPENDIX III ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 19



The members of the 2018-19 Student Advisory Board (SAB) respectfully submit this annual report.

SCHOOL ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS VOTING MEMBERS:

SAB Chair Person:

o Ms. Lama Albabtain

o Ms. Amani Abulhasan

The President of PTSO :

o Ms. Kathy OlAbaid

Corporate Stakeholders Representative:

o Mrs. Shaima Salmeen (Schlumberger Representative)

The American Embassy Representative:

o Mrs. Tarina Speidel

President and Vice President of the High School Student Council:

o Miss Sara AlGanhim

o Miss Noor AlSabah

Parents from Elementary, Middle School and High School

o Mrs. Reem AlMazidi (ES Parent)

o Mrs. Tammy Ali (MS Parent)

o Ms. Usha Narayanan (HS Parent

Secretary

o Mr. Daniel Leritz

ES Teacher Representative

o Ms. Ansley Thurber-Elbakry

MS & Teacher Representative

o Ms. Leland DuNomes

o Mr. Daniel Leritz

NON-VOTING MEMBERS:

AUS Director:

o Dr. Jennifer J. Beckwith, Ph.D.

Associate Directors

o Mrs. Mona Fairley-Nelson

o Michael Wininger

ES Principal

o Ms. Taryn Pereira



MS Principal

o Ms. Brenda Clements

HS Principal

o Mr. Craig Ross

SCHOOL ADVISORY BOARD OBJECTIVE The objective of the School Advisory Board (SAB) is to uphold the school vision and mission for

the present and the future, work cooperatively and effectively with the AUS administration for

the improvement of the school.

SCHOOL ADVISORY BOARD MEETINGS October 24th, 2018

November 28th, 2018

January 23th, 2019

May 15th, 2018 (Co Chairs Only)

SAB Sub Committee Meetings for Accreditation Recommendations

February 20, March 27, April 2, and April 9

SAB Meetings were held at AUS Grey Room 7

SAB Meeting Agenda & Minutes are located:

https://docs.google.com/documents/d/

SCHOOL ADVISORY ACTIVITIES FOR 2018-2019 Each meeting the Elementary School, Middle School, High School, PTSO, Student

Council, and Director & Associate Directors provided reports on various school events,

important dates, and accreditation updates to ensure understanding and

communication to all members of the board.

Reviewed guidelines for the operation of the School Advisory Board.

Improved documentation of attendance and utilized sign-in sheets for each Student

Advisory Board meeting.

Improved usage of Google Drive for the SAB as well as confirm all members have the

appropriate level of access to all documents to improve effectiveness.

Discussed and provided feedback on Endicott Survey Results.

Reviewed and aligned on the MAP results of the school for 2018-2019 school year.

Participated in Accreditation team visit.

Provided support to committees and staff to ensure successful accreditation.



SCHOOL ADVISORY IMPROVEMENT OPPROTUNITIES FOR 2019-2020 Fill vacant School Advisory Board positions

Continue to review and ensure alignment of Accreditation report and any

findings/recommendations provided.

Re-establish Committees to focus on continuous improvement.

Review and upgrade AUS Strategic plan as needed based on feedback from

Accreditation report.

Continue to further define and support Global Citizen/Global Student initiatives

Open space technology with High Point University professors to assist our school

community in developing our strategic plan in October.



APPENDIX I: 2018-2019 SAB Meeting Minutes

SAB Minutes October 24, 2019

1) Welcome to Members of the SAB and Introductions

Dr. Beckwith called the meeting to order and welcomed all returning, and new

members of the AUS School Advisory Board.

Dr. Beckwith shared with the board Parts A and C of the self-study report with

comments and recommendations from the CIS/MSA accreditation visiting

team.

The School Advisory Board is now tasked with developing a new 5 year

strategic plan for AUS.

2) The resignation of the SAB Chair, Mrs. Megan Sofge

Former SAB Chair Person, Meg Sofge has resigned her position as chairperson

creating an opening for a new chairperson(s) to lead the SAB for the next 2

years.

3) Review SAB End of Year Report SY 17/18

Copies of the SAB year-end Report where made available for all members to

read and review.

4) SAB By-Laws

Copies of the SAB By-Laws were made available to all members to read and

familiarize members the purpose, rules and procedures for the SAB.

5) Voting on Vacant Board Positions

Ballots were distributed and votes were cast for openings in vacant board

positions and for committee

Results of the ballot will be posted soon.

6) Associate Directors Reports

Mrs. Mona Fairley-Nelson shared with the board the current AP offerings that

are going on at AUS.

In October we had our math and science consultants work with ES, MS, and HS

teachers. Elementary teachers are continuing their work with FOSS science

with implementation in upper grades next year

AUS will be hosting several academic events such as IAN (Informed

Administration Network), PEAK (Professional Educators Around Kuwait), and

we continue being a testing center for the SAT. We recently hosted nearly 200



students in early October and will host our first SAT Subject Tests on November

3.

Michael Wininger shared his report from the educational technology and

accountability. The Leadership Team recently went to the NESAC conference in

Athens Greece in which AUS was recognized by NESAC for our recent 10 year

accreditation from CIS/MSA.

An outside production team will make another visit to AUS to reshoot footage

for an updated promotional video.

Michael shared were the school is at with orders and other budget related

items that need to be ordered for the 2019-2020 school year.

7) ES/MS/HS Reports

Elementary School o This Week: Bully Prevention Week, Vision Screenings, Falloween

o New This Fall: TedEd Clubs, New Literacy Program, 4th & 5th Grade Band & Choir

o Upcoming: NWEA/MAP Fall Data, Annual Class Performance Dates

Middle School o This Week: Falloween

o 6th Grade Study Trip--Scientific Center o Bully Prevention Week (Oct. 28-Nov.1), Vision Screenings

o TedEd Club, Intro and Intermediate Band

o FOSS Science Implementation

o Parent Coffee Talk (Discussion on Teacher Changes)

High School o Graduation - May 29th o Senior activities o College fairs o U.S. Embassy Oct. 30th o MAP Testing - ACT/SAT testing o Science curriculum and equipment o Robotics and coding

8) PTSO Report

New PTSO Chairperson, Kathy AlObaid shared her report with the board. She

highlighted that the PTSO is going to focus on being more available to the



school community. Falloween activities were open up to the public for a small

fee

PTSO will continue with their coffee talks. This month they will have experts

sharing strategies with student anxiety, and reading strategies.

The PTSO would also like to promote healthy active choices by organizing

athletic competitions between staff/students/and parents.

9) Committees to be formed:

a. AUS Strategic Plan & New Strategic Areas of Focus

Ballots were distributed for members to write in candidates for the

positons. Results to be announced soon.

b. Recommendations of Accreditation Team for Sections A & C

This task will be reviewed by the SAB and delegated out to the

appropriate groups

Next Meeting: Next proposed meeting is Wed. Nov. 28th, 3:30 p.m.

Vote on proposed meeting dates for this school year

Things to Consider:

Possible Holiday on Thursday Nov. 22 for the Prophet Birthday- School Closed

Important Dates to Remember: Oct 22-25 HS MAP Testing

Oct 25 Falloween

Oct 29 Parent University @ 9 a.m. & 1 p.m.

Oct 30 Co-Teacher University

Nov 6 Early dismissal at 11:00/Teacher Work Day

Nov 7 & 8 Parent Conferences / No Classes

Official end time: 12:50



SAB Meeting Minutes October 24, 2018

10) Vote on October Meeting Minutes

a. Minutes from last meeting were read and approved

11) Director and Associate Directors’ Reports

a. Dr. Beckwith shared with the board of data showing teacher retention

numbers. Notable figures was in increase in retention of staff from 83% (17-18)

to 91% retention for (18-19)

b. Now that we are accredited this allows AUS to participate at larger, more

notable recruitment fairs

c. The first day of school of next year will be September 2, 2019. The remaining

part of the schedule is being worked on with Ramadan and Eid holidays falling

at the end of the school year

d. There will be no makeup days from the missed classes due to the recent storms

e. Mr. Wininger shared with the board the latest news on our promotional video

that we are in the process of filming. AUS hosted the IAN (Informal

Administrators Network) monthly meeting and we will be hosting the PEAK

(Professional Educators Around Kuwait) conference on February 2.

f. AUS is continuing its recruitment of highly qualified staff. AUS recently

interviewed teaching candidate via a virtual job fair and will be attending the

international job fair in Bangkok, Thailand.

g. There was some flooding and other minor damage from the recent flooding

that is being addressed.

h. Mrs. Fairley-Nelson shared with the board the plan for our inaugural impact

project which will begin sometime after the break. The impact project is part of

our schools global citizenship initiative. The theme of the project will be Global

food Challenge. Students from elementary through high school will address

certain aspects of the topic and apply it to their curriculum standards. The

project will take about 6 weeks in which students work on one lesson per week

on the topic.

12) ES/MS/HS Reports

a. Ms. Buffurine updated the board on upcoming events with the elementary

school. There will be a choir performance on December 13. On December 16 &

17, the elementary school will be celebrating World Arabic Day.



b. Ms. Clements shared with the board upcoming and recent events at the middle

school. During the month of December middle school and high school will be

collecting supplies for our cleaning staff.

c. The middle school will be offering the PSAT for students in grades 6-9

d. Winter concert for middle school will be on December 13.

e. AUS held its performance of HONK jr. on November 29th. Students from

elementary, middle and high school participated in the performance.

f. Dr. Ross shared with the board events and updates from the high school. The

high school recently held the PSAT for grades 10-11 on November 20-21.

g. AUS will be using part of the information center as our new AUS College Center

for students to get information from colleges that have left information

packets from our college fairs that they have attended.

13) Student Council Report

a. Noor Al-Sabah represented the student council and shared their recent

activities. They have recently raised 630KD for the Kerala relief Fund and

another 106 KD from a recent bake sale

b. The student council is sponsoring a charity contest between the grades (9th and

10th vs 11th and 12th) in collecting donations for the building workers (cleaning

and security staff). The donations will be packaged and distributed to the

workers during their worker luncheon on December 18.

14) PTSO Report

a. Kathy AlObaid shared the recent events organized by the PTSO. The PTSO

hosted its annual Falloween festival opening it up to the public for the first

time

b. The PTSO coffee talks continued with a presentation on child anxiety by Dr.

Juliet Dinkah. Local author, Chaitali B. Roy, shared with the group her latest

book The Woman of Kuwait and donated a copy of her book to the school.

c. PTSO will be hosting the AUS Winter Wonder Land on December 15.

15) Ministry of Education Inquiries:

a. Tuition Installment Dates, October 9 2018

b. School request to do online tests for Islamic Studies, January 9 2018

c. Student Expulsion, October 16 2018

d. Replacing and Not Including Grades from Other School in a Student GPA,

November 21 2018

16) Prioritize and Brainstorm Strategic Areas of Focus for 2018/2021, Assigned to the

Strategic Planning Committee



a. Committees will be created with volunteers (or assigned) to help update the

school’s new strategic plan with updated areas of focus now that the school is

accredited. Committees will meet in February and March, with a vote on the

plan in April.

17) Actions to be taken based on the Recommendations of Accreditation Team for

Sections A & C. Assigned to the School Improvement & Accreditation Committee

a. Along with the new Strategic Plan and Areas of Focus, the board will also by

committee look at strategies to address the recommendations for school

improvement by the accreditation committee for the assigned areas.

Next Meeting: Next proposed meeting is Wed. Jan. 23rd, 11:30 a.m.

Things to Consider: Attendance to Honk Jr. tomorrow @ 6:00pm Global School Initiative

Important Dates to Remember: Nov 29 MSHS Musical: Honk Jr. @ 6:00pm

Dec 13 4th Grade Choir at 1:30pm

MSHS Winter Concert at 6:00pm

Dec 15 Winter Wonderland, 12-6 p.m.

Dec 20 Early dismissal 11 a.m.

Dec 23- Jan 3 Winter Break - School Closed

Official end time: 5:00 pm



SAB Meeting Minutes January 23, 2019

18) Vote on November Meeting Minutes

Meeting was called to order at 11:30 by co-chair Ms. AlBabtain. Last meeting

minutes were read by the Dan Leritz (secretary) and approved by the present

members of the board

19) Director and Associate Directors’ Reports

a. Dr. Beckwith made a brief statement that we are headlong into the recruiting

season for new staff to join us in 2019. She will be attending recruiting fairs in

the US next month. Currently AUS is looking to fill 18 positions as well as

adding more Kuwaiti hires to meet government requirements.

b. Presentation on HS Sports Program & ES After School Activities Program, by

Derric Nelson- Activity Coordinator.

In Mr. Nelson’s presentation he shared the current involvement of AUS

students participating in after school activities, trends over the last 3

years of involvement by the students, and suggestions to help broaden

the appeal and support for AUS athletics and clubs through the school

community.

Members of the board inquired about the possibility of joining

organizations like NESAC, MESAC, and OAC. Mr. Nelson pointed out that

the schools that belong to these organizations need a minimum number

of activities that our school can support and active participation in

these activities to be admitted. Currently AUS would not meet these

guidelines, but would be in a few years if trends continue. The full

presentation will be posted on the AUS website.

c. Michael Wininger: Technology and Accountability

School promotional video is complete and now in its final technical

edits and enhancements.

The Audit from Ernst and Young is complete, waiting on Arabic

translation of the report.

National Day planning has started. Tim Waddell from Staged In Kuwait

(SIK) once again will assist in directing the national day performance by

our students.

As mentioned earlier, AUS is looking for new teachers to join us in 2019.

AUS has already filled 10 new positions for next school. Dr Beckwith,



and the administration team will continue to screen and interview

candidates until the vacancies are filled.

AUS will be hosting the PEAK conference on February 2.

d. Mona Fairely-Nelson: Curriculum and Instruction

Gifted and talented Presentation in Parent University. Focus Group

which includes, administrators, teachers, parents, and students

PSAT scores are out for MS/HS

Reviewing MAP Data to determine independent student growth.

Second round of MAP testing for the year has commenced in the ES and

will continue to the other schools in February.

Implementing Intervention Model for Math in all grade levels in the Fall

of 2019.

Consultant visit Jan. 27-31st with Dr. Craig Gabler (science) and Dr.

Corey Bennett (math)

20) ES/MS/HS Reports

a. Mrs. Taryn Peirera (ES Principal)

National Day preparations have begun, MAP testing, and the

elementary school (4th and 5th grades) had their first band performance.

5th Grade students will be conducting there was museum presentations

on January, 30

b. Ms. Brenda Clements (MS Principal)

National Day preparations and MAP testing 2nd week of February

c. Dr. Craig Ross (HS Principal)

National Day preparation and MAP Testing 3rd week of February.

AUS students will perform the play of “Arsenic and Old Lace” on

January 30.

AUS recently hosted a college fair for schools in the UK.

AP classes have started their respective AP Saturday session (AP

Bootcamp). These are designed to help students review past content

and practice skills needed to score well on the AP Exams.

The HS is looking at taking the Field Day off campus for the first time.

21) Student Council Report

a. Sarah AL Ghanim and Noor Al Sabah



Student council fundraising efforts in the fall and winter were able to

make 118 gift bags for our workers and support staff. Gift bags were

presented to each recipient at a special luncheon just for the workers.

Student Council is working with HS admin and PTSO to have more

opportunities for students to during lunch and after school. The idea is

to have after school clubs were students can participate in areas of

interest.

22) PTSO Report

a. Cathy AlObaid (PTSO Chair)

PTSO continues to do an excellent job with hosting events such as

winter wonderland and raising money for various programs. Currently

the PTSO’s balance is 6,326 KWD after expenses paid for winter wonder

land.

Starting in February, PTSO is launching an initiative aiming at more

healthy interaction between kids and parents called “Basketball vs

Fortnite.” The concern is over the amount of time kids spend on games

and devices and challenging parents and kids to be more active.

PTSO is looking to get very involved with our first graduating class.

Plans are in the works to help with AUS Spirit Day and work with

seniors on TED talk topics around global citizenship.

23) Committees meetings will happen on February 20 & March 27. Each committee of the

below mentioned committees will meet on the same date and time but in separate

venues. Agendas as follows:

a. Strategic Planning Committee: Prioritize and Brainstorm Strategic Areas of Focus

for 2018/2021, suggested areas:

Increased awareness on global citizenship and international responsibility

(AUS Community)

Teaching & Learning

Extracurricular Program for Students K-12

b. School Improvement & Accreditation Committee: Actions to be taken based on

the Recommendations of Accreditation Team for Sections A & C.

Next Meeting: Next proposed meeting is Wed. Feb. 20th, 3:30 p.m. (Committees Meetings)

Things to Consider:



Important Dates to Remember: Jan 27-31 Consultants Visit

o Dr. Cory Bennett (Mathematics)

o Dr. Craig Gabler (Science)

Jan 30 Kuwait Counselors Meeting 10a.m.-12:30 p.m., Hosted by AUS

Jan 31 Teachers In-Service Day / No Classes

Jan 30 Arsenic and Old Lace Play

Feb 2 PEAK Conference

Feb 21 National and Liberation Day Celebrations

Feb 24 Teachers In-Service Day / No Classes

Feb 25-26 National and Liberation Day Holidays

Official end time:

Meeting was adjourned at 1:00 pm



APPENDIX II

School Improvement and Accreditation

Committee

Section A: Guiding Statements

Standard

I Significant

Recommendation

(or Focus Area if applicable)

II Rating C or IP or PF or R

III What we did… for

rating C. What we plan to do … for ratings

IP and PF. Why we rejected … for rating R.

IV Actions were/will

be completed by …. date

V Person(s) or

Dept. responsible

V1 Success Criteria –

emphasizing

improvement in student outcomes

VII Other

Comments if any

A1

The school Leadership Team creates a process to measure the implementation of their Guiding Statements.

PF

a) The school to create a tool that measures Guiding Principles (i.e through external service support, digital portfolio, interviews) b) The school to conduct 360 surveys to stakeholders regarding perceptions of where the school is in meeting the Guiding Statements. c) School leadership team determine what the guiding principles (vision & mission?) look like in action of the learner profile.

a) Have a tool to measure this by May 2020 b) Determine tool to measure by May 2020 c) December 2019

Director, Leadership, Team, SAB (Exact titles assignments

TBD Fall 2019)

measuring tool will provide feedback towards the guiding principles (strength, areas of growth) actionable outcomes based on stakeholder feedback increased student participation in extracurricular student scheduling models student participation in community

Tools to explore for

this: Interactive

Data Partners use

of a dashboard



programs student demonstrate balance in tech integration and use

A2

Guided by the Leadership Team, the faculty embeds elements of internationalism in the curriculum, co-curricular activities and in their instructional practices.

IP

We are working on the Global Food Challenge, HS is working on Service Learning Projects and will be extended to MS and Elementary.

Implement K-12 Global Impact Project Annually Integrate global perspectives topics to all core subject area curriculum units

Principals, Grade Level

Chairs, Team Leads

Meeting high levels of the Global Perspective Implementation Rubrics (P21)

Drop in P21/ OxFam

rubric

A3

The school community continues to develop understanding of Global Citizenship throughout the school and implement the use of the Global Citizenship guides throughout the school.

IP

Implementation of service

learning projects through the

school (HS has service

learning requirement for

graduation) learning projects

Breaking down

the characteristics of what it means to

be a global citizen and

having the kids model, share

and demonstrate these specific

attributes

Explore plans of

Spring 2020 - HS

to plan first out of

country service learning

program/trip

MS/ES - Explore "Week Without Walls"

concept in 2020-

20211 to implement

in fall 2021 as

part of the Global

Principals, Grade Level

Chairs, Team Leads

Global Impact

Event at end of the

year

Artifacts/guides



networking with other

international schools (sister school concept,

week without walls) to

collaborate on cross-

cultural/international areas of

study.

Create the Global

Citizenship Guide and

profile.

Impact Project

A4 N/A



APPENDIX III

STRATEGIC PLAN GOALS ACTION PLAN

RESONSIBLE PERSON

1. TEACHING AND LEARNING 1 TEACHING AND LEARNING Principals

A. Curriculum A. Curriculum

Alignment of curriculum in all core areas

Professional development in the area of human centered design

Expand AP offerings in High School and Introduce pre AP in Middle School

Expand Electives offerings in High School

Critical thinking and problem solving by using human centered design

B. Professional Development B. Professional Development Principals

Bringing teachers together school wide

Plan professional development for new programs

Strengthen vertical alignment

Continue reinforcing professional development for new teachers on existing programs being used

Ongoing professional development for all programs in curriculum

Professional development for ongoing programs

Professional development for new employees

Strengthen vertical alignment

2. EXTRA CURRICULAR 2. EXTRA CURRICULAR

A. Sports A. Sports

Athletic Director

Expansion of athletic program Create sports committee with various stakeholders

Join local league

Join international league

Align seasons with other local schools

Develop clear yearlong sports plan



B. Academic teams B. Academic teams

Department Heads

Build programs for academic competitions grades 3-8

Create committee with various stakeholders

Build programs for academic teams in high school

Create offerings for Elementary and middle school such as speech competitions, math competitions,

spelling bee, geography bee etc.

Create and introduce offerings for high school such as AP Capstone diploma, Global Issues

Network, math competitions, Speech and debate competitions, etc.

C. Fine Arts/Drama/Music/Culinary Arts

C. Fine arts/Drama/Music/Culinary arts

Fine Arts Department Chair

Continuation and Strengthening of programs in fine arts, drama, music and culinary arts

Create committee with various stakeholders

3. GLOBAL IMPACT 3. GLOBAL IMPACT

Positively impact community through projects Administration

Expand service learning throughout the whole school

Become recognized for being a socially impactful school

Continue to raise globally aware students

school advisory board (sab) 2018-2019 end of year report ... · b. ms. clements shared with the...

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