Update Term 2-Week 8 - American International School - Christmas, community and classmates

Hi, it’s Charles Nolan here as we enter the final school week before Christmas.

It was great to see the article in the Sydney Morning Herald on Eunice Cheng, one of our talented pre-schoolers, playing at the Sydney Opera House with the Babies Prom orchestra. Our children and students are our reason for being, and it’s great to see them doing well in the community. One of the defining factors of our American International School is that we seek to develop the individual within the community, not confine them with conformity. And that goes for all sizes of student. Congratulations to Eunice, and proud parents Dora and Joseph – all credit to you and your family.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/arts/little-bow-peep-has-lost-her-music-class/2006/12/10/1165685550816.html

Seeing our students (and parents) doing well is something that all our community can share. It’s the international diversity and individual opportunity that attracts many of us to American International School. Our students arrive individuals, retain that individuality, yet leave as global citizens. That bit of magic in between is your community, your aspirations and, most of all, your involvement. We develop this school and community together, so the greater the mix, the greater the result – for the process is the same. The co-education, culture, curriculum, content and class sizes define us as a community, not an institution. And we get to see the results in our own families for the rest of our lives.

Our own family is heading in to Christmas with an international flavour. Patrick is off to China with a school friend, to spend the Christmas five hours north of Beijing (at thirty below!). The friends our children make at American International School are spread throughout the world, and this sharing of home and holiday is one small example of the benefits of our global school community. This extends beyond their time at school. I see the names of past students continually appearing on the computer MSN screen, or faces laughing on camera, from islands and continents far away - in our home each day. The global village is here now, and our school, students and children are our own link together. Get on that internet chat yourselves, so that you too can keep connected for a lifetime of international community, that your American International School brings but a small part of the world picture.

Last Saturday saw us socialising, (some say proselytising when they see me in action with our school cards and message), at the American Consul General’s residence, for American Society Christmas cocktails. It was good to see groups of parents there, as well as other members of the community that support your American International School. Expatriates and their families are a very supportive and inclusive group, with individuals from many different countries. Very much like your American International School – not just American, not just International, not just a School.

Tuesday night will see us at the school tuning up the new remote access technology, ready for next semester. We are looking to bring the entire school computer desktop into your homes for your students use after school. We are just tuning the “friendliness” and security ready for the launch next year. And Friday will see me at school all day, to talk with parents, wish all families Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and to celebrate a great year’s efforts with your American International School teachers. It will be a great day for me. One in which I can share in your American International School, where “International Education is for Everyone”, and if not a right, is surely an aspiration.

Please feel free to pass this email on to friends and colleagues, and let me know if anyone is missing out. It may be the opportunity for their family to join our American International Community, and see the difference that an international education, and an international community, can bring to their family and their lives.

See you on Friday, see you in the holidays or on the world-wide web.

Regards,

Charles