15 Jan 2024

Superintendent's Office

Dear ACS Community,

Welcome back! I trust that you and your families had a rejuvenating and peaceful vacation.

You might be curious about my choice of location for this message. Upon my return, I was greeted by the sight you see in the photograph below. From our front entrance area down these stairs and beyond the ground was torn up and extensive work was being done. This is part of a significant, three-phase project to overhaul our school's sewage system.

I'm here for two reasons. Firstly, to express my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has contributed to the maintenance fees. Your support has been pivotal in advancing this crucial infrastructure project.

Secondly, I want to draw a connection between this practical work and our ongoing strategic planning. Over the past twenty years, our school expanded and modified its facilities, often without a comprehensive plan. The current maintenance we are undertaking is, in part, a consequence of those piecemeal decisions. This highlights a broader need: strategic planning is essential, especially in managing our physical infrastructure. Reactive or unplanned maintenance can lead to inefficiencies, or worse, necessitate rework. To prevent such issues, a robust facilities master plan is indispensable.  The creation of such a plan is specified in our 2019-2024 strategic plan, but it will be integrated with our new overarching strategic planning process, ensuring a more cohesive and forward-thinking approach to every facet of ACS.  The strategic planning process, of course, is not limited to facilities and is critical to all areas of the school to drive forward our educational mission. 

Your involvement in this process is crucial. The strategic planning steering committee will soon be hosting focus groups with various community members to gather diverse perspectives and insights. I encourage you to participate in these discussions. Your input will be invaluable in shaping an ACS that is resilient, efficient, and prepared for the challenges and opportunities of the next two decades.

Thank you for your ongoing support and commitment to our school's future, and have a great week ahead.

Yours,

Andrew




Estimada Comunidad de ACS,

¡Bienvenidos! Espero que ustedes y sus familias hayan tenido unas vacaciones rejuvenecedoras y tranquilas.

Se estarán preguntando sobre mi elección de ubicación para este mensaje. A mi retorno, fui recibido por la vista que pueden ver en la fotografía de abajo. Desde nuestra entrada principal, bajando por las gradas y más allá, el suelo se encontraba destrozado y se realizó un trabajo extenso. Esto es parte de un importante proyecto de tres fases para renovar el sistema de alcantarillado del colegio.

Me encuentro aquí por dos motivos.  En primer lugar, expresar mi más sincero agradecimiento a todos los que han contribuido con los gastos de mantenimiento. Su apoyo ha sido fundamental para avanzar este crucial proyecto de infraestructura.

En segundo lugar, quiero establecer una conexión entre este trabajo práctico y nuestra planificación estratégica en curso. Durante los últimos veinte años, se amplió el colegio y se modificaron sus instalaciones, a menudo sin un plan integral. El mantenimiento actual que estamos llevando a cabo es, en parte, consecuencia de esas decisiones graduales. Esto pone de relieve una necesidad más amplia: la planificación estratégica es esencial, especialmente en lo que se refiere a nuestra infraestructura física. El mantenimiento reactivo o no planificado puede generar ineficiencias o, peor aún, requerir un doble trabajo. Para evitar estos problemas, es indispensable un plan maestro sólido de las instalaciones. La creación de dicho plan se especifica en nuestro plan estratégico 2019-2024, pero se integrará con nuestro nuevo proceso de planificación estratégica general, asegurando un enfoque más cohesivo y con visión a futuro para cada faceta de ACS. El proceso de planificación estratégica, por supuesto, no se limita a las instalaciones y es fundamental para todas las áreas del colegio para impulsar nuestra misión educativa.

Su participación en este proceso es crucial. El comité directivo de planificación estratégica organizará pronto grupos focales con varios miembros de la comunidad para recopilar diversas perspectivas y conocimientos.  Los animo a participar de estos debates. Sus aportes serán invaluables para dar forma a un ACS que sea resiliente, eficiente y esté preparado para los desafíos y oportunidades de las próximas dos décadas.

Gracias por su continuo apoyo y compromiso con el futuro de nuestro colegio y que tengan una excelente semana.

Atentamente,

Andrew

Open Message

Urgent Action Items

  • 5 Jan. tuition was due
  • 17 Jan. Maintenance Team Appreciation
  • 19 Jan. @ 8:15 AM; ES Parent Coffee - Mathematics
  • 22 Jan. - Holiday
ACS This Week Newsletter  
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ACS Calendar

  • Tue – Math Restructure Group Meeting (14:10 - 16:00)
  • Wed – Maintenance Appreciation Event during PD
  • Fri – ES Parent Coffee on Math (08:15 in the Auditorium)
  • Mon – PLURINATIONAL DAY (OFFICIAL HOLIDAY)
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Elementary School

Dear Elementary Parents,


Happy 2024! From all of us here at ACS, we wish you and your families, happiness, health and continued learning and growth this year! I trust that you enjoyed your long break over the holidays and found time for friends, family and laughter during this time. I enjoyed a trip to Buenos Aires over the New Year holiday and was so impressed by the friendly atmosphere, beautiful weather and large selection of restaurants and cafes. Some quiet time to read and relax was wonderful, but I was very happy to return to La Paz, this place my family has come to know and love over the past 6 months. 

Enough about me! On to the ACS events on the horizon:

Parent Coffee: Different Ways to Think About Math is on for this Friday, January 19th at 8:30 am. Presented by our Math Consultant and ACS community member, Nicole Fedio, this presentation will look to enrich our ideas about math, and the way that math learning affects our lives outside of the classroom. This event was postponed in December due to low parent turnout during that time, due to the holiday season. We hope you can join us and we truly hope to see you there!


PEPP: I would also like to announce our Positive Elementary Parent Partners for the remainder of this year:

  • María Alejandra Siles 
  • Ana Valeria Escobar Romano 
  • Gina Carranza
  • Rocío Unzueta
  • Jose Gerardo Rojas Saavedra 
  • Juan Pablo Cáceres 
  • David Montecinos 
  • Carmen Choque
We are so thankful to these volunteers for their eagerness to join this group and help grow our elementary program!

We have lots more to look forward to in the coming semester, but for this week, I will keep it light. Wishing you a cool and breezy week!

Sincerely,

Eric Crabtree
Elementary Principal

Open Message

Secondary School

Dear parents,

Here is a recap of the emails that were sent home last week:

When there is an absence:


  1. Contact Carolina Soliz, Secondary Assistant, by phone or email. She will notify the appropriate teachers. 

  2. Absent students are responsible for arranging for additional instruction and/or make-up work with their teachers upon their return. Teachers are available on selected days after school and will work with students to help them get caught up, but students must initiate and follow through with this.

  3. Students who plan to be absent for any reason are expected to complete a Pre-Arranged Absence Form. This requires that students have conversations with each teacher 2-3 days prior to the absence. Forms are available in the Secondary Office. 

  4. Keep in mind that our 70-minute classes meet only three times each week, so each absence results in a significant loss of learning time.

  5. Excessive absences for any reason may result in decreased grades or a loss of credit due to the lost learning time.


Here are a few additional recommendations about supporting your child’s learning:


  1. Talk with your child regularly about what they are learning, and ask them to show you the Google Classroom page for each class. These are the best ways to know what is happening in each class and to stay informed about assignments and other expectations.

  2. When you have questions about a specific class, contact the teacher directly. Don’t wait to reach out to teachers - early communication is the best way to prevent misunderstandings and to support a successful experience for your child.


Also, we are seeking your interest in helping us to evaluate and rethink our Experiential Learning/Classroom Without Walls program. We are looking to assemble a small committee of teachers, students, and parents (3-4 from each of these groups) who are willing to think broadly about the needs of our students, our school, and our community, and explore new and creative ways to build on the strengths of the program. If you are interested in being part of this limited committee, please click this link to respond by Friday, January 19, 2024. Committee members will be notified by Friday, January 26, 2024.


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