Tel: (237) 23342 1437 www.asddouala.com

Editor and Design : Jacqueline Bindzi

IN THIS ISSUE:

LS Principal News, AGM, Student Council Elections, MAP Testing, College Counselor Corner, Special Needs Coordinator, Second Grade News.

American School of Douala

Edition 2015-2016 Issue 7 October 2nd, 2015

The election for 2015-2016 Student Council Members were held Friday, October 2. The results are as follows:

President - Tiara Class of 2017

Vice-President – Annela Class of 2016

Secretary- Treasurer Eva Class of 2017

TALKING DRUMS

TALKING DRUMS

Accredited by

PreK B Students learning about where the different taste buds are located on the tongue

Greetings Everyone!

The school year is well under way and it is exciting to see all the great teaching that is happening in our classrooms. As part of our focus on literacy and math instruction this year, we had a visit on September 30 from Alison Davis, a specialist and trainer for our Journeys and Math in Focus programs. Ms. Davis conducted training in both programs prior to the start of school. During her visit, teachers were able to ask questions and share ideas about the best ways to use the materials. As the year progresses we will continue with further staff development related to these two important curriculum areas. Progress reports were sent home last week. Even though we have conferences scheduled for November 4-6, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher if you have questions or concerns. We are happy to make appointments and discuss student progress at any time. Please plan to attend conferences. Lower School teachers will have a great deal of information to share regarding assessment results, individual student progress and goal setting for the year. We believe that by working together we can create the best learning environment and opportunities for each child.

Mr. Dave Fuller Lower School Principal

FROM THE LOWER SCHOOL

PRINCIPAL

UPPER SCHOOL STUDENT

COUNCIL ELECTIONS RESULTS !

Edition 2015-2016 Issue 7

Tel: (237) 23342 1437 www.asddouala.com 2

October 2nd 2015

The Annual General Meeting has been rescheduled for this coming Wednesday October 7. beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the new auditorium.

Pictures of candidates and a brief resume will be sent home with students on Tuesday, October 6, as well as a ballot, for those who wish to vote but who cannot attend the meeting. There are three current Board Members running for reelection. We also have two additional vacancies due to Board Members being relocated.

The Board is also proud to announce that Mr. Stuart Wilson will be our U.S. Ambassador’s Representative on the ASD Board. He and his wife, Laura , have a son, Wyatt, who has joined our 8th grade.

Quarter 2 begins -

Parent Teacher Conferences

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

RESCHEDULED

Social Director -Simon Junior Class of 2017

Class Rep Class of 2016 Jamel

Class Rep Class of 2017 Manon

Class Rep Class of 2018 Lauryn

Class Rep Class of 2019 To Be Determined

Class Rep Class of 2020 To Be Determined

Class Rep Classes of 2021 To Be Determined

and 2022

Congratulations to all who ran for office!

Oct. 26th –

30th

Mark your Calendars!

FALL BREAK - NO SCHOOL-

Quarter 1 ends -

Nov. 2nd

Nov. 4th – 6th

Oct. 23rd

Oct. 7th Annual General Meeting - 6:30

pm in the new auditorium with

Elections of the Board of

Governors members

Nov. 27th

American Thanksgiving

Observed

Hello! My name is Chris Guttridge, generally known as Mr. Guttridge to ourstudents (I’m also married to Ms. Blair).

I worked as a special education teacher in New York City, while I completed a master’s degree in elementary/primary and special education. After that I lived in Boston where I had ESL and inclusion classes for grades 2 and Kindergarten. I was also an ESL teacher for grades K-3.

I am enjoying working with my colleagues and students here at ASD, and the work we did on DIBELS reading assessments has led us to create small-group and in-class support to help our students reach their learning goals. After living in primarily Anglophone countries (the UK, Gambia, Ghana and, originally, South Africa), I am eager to improve my French!

CHRIS GUTTRIDGE - SPECIAL

NEEDS COORDINATOR

Edition 2015-2016 Issue 7

Tel: (237) 23342 1437 www.asddouala.com 3

October 2nd 2015

These are a very busy few weeks as our students in Kindergarten 5 through Grade 11 are taking the Measure of Academic Progress (MAP). The results of this assessment are very important to the school as we use these results to inform and guide our instruction.

MEASURE OF ACADEMIC

PROGRESS (MAP)

Mrs. Fuller has found a great article concerning college scholarships for International Students and Non-Citizens by Allen Grove. In the article he states:

“A lot of colleges say they love international students, but the reality is that they have the most love for those international students who can pay full tuition. At some colleges and universities financial aid is hard to procure if you’re not from the U.S. Luckily, there are a lot of private scholarships available for students who are not U.S. citizens. You can sign up for the free scholarship matching services at cappex.com.”

Coming next week…… 8 steps to studying in the United States after graduation.

THE NEXT SAT TEST DATE IS NOVEMBER 7TH.

THE EARLY REGISTRATION DEADLINE HAS PASSSED. THE FINAL DEADLINE IS OCTOBER 9.

SEE MRS. FULLER RIGHT AWAY IF YOU NEED HELP.

Check this out! Free world-class SAT practice is available at https://www.khanacademy.org/sat.

COLLEGE COUNSELOR CORNER

Chris Guttridge – Special Needs Coordinaror

Edition 2015-2016 Issue 7

Tel: (237) 23342 1437 www.asddouala.com 4

October 2nd 2015

Ms. Rahma Sargi

The second graders in Language Arts have been learning about sentences. They defined the sentence as a group of words that tells a complete thought. They were able to recognize complete sentences and fragments. Students differentiated between statements (telling sentences) and questions through learning about the purpose and the characteristics of each type. They worked in pairs to write a dialogue which contained both types of sentences. While completing that task, a group of students asked wh-questions and the other group successfully answered those questions with statements with subjects and predicates. Students formed and punctuated their statements and questions correctly. They were encouraged to include the two types of sentences in their paragraphs to make it more interesting for the readers to read. Next week students will be introduced to the other two kinds of sentences; command and exclamation.