PTSA Annual Report 2013-14

PTSA ANNUAL REPORT 2013-2014 American School of Dubai

A LOOK BACK: 2013 - 2014

CONTENTS Who Are We? _______________________________________________________________ 1 To Our Families _____________________________________________________________ 2 Financial Summaries _______________________________________________________ 3-4 What’s New With PTSA ______________________________________________________ 5 Meeting Our Mission _______________________________________________________ 6-9 The Heart of Our Mission _________________________________________________ 10-12 PTSA's Partners _________________________________________________________ 13-15 Support ASD ______________________________________________________________ 16

Salwa Wahba-1st Vice President, Paulina Berzingi-Vice President Events, Em Howle-Vice President Communication, Betsy Barnwell-Secretary, Stephanie Buck-President, Aparna Mehta-Treasurer, Marta Fonseca-Vice President Volunteers, Susan Elmasry-Vice President Education Liaison, Jane Elliott-Parliamentarian

WHO ARE WE? The Parent Teacher Student Association is comprised of members of the American School of Dubai community who are directly involved in enriching the lives of those who attend, work and visit our school. The PTSA’s mission is as follows: The PTSA mission is to build community and enrich student learning. We fundraise to support events and programs that benefit ASD students, faculty, and staff.

The PTSA membership includes all parents or guardians who have currently enrolled students, school personnel, including teachers, instructional assistants, librarians, and other school personnel directly involved in student education, as well as students currently attending ASD.

2013-2014 Executive Board Members: Stephanie Buck, President

Paulina Berzingi, Vice President Events

Salwa Wahba, 1st Vice President

Jane Elliott, Parliamentarian

Betsy Barnwell, Secretary

Standing Board Members:

Aparna Mehta, Treasurer

Lara Knight, Grants

Susan Elmasry, Vice President Educational Liaison

Robin Proctor, Hospitality

Marta Fonseca, Vice President Volunteers

Tiffany Ristroph, Welcome Co-Chair

Em Howle, Vice President Communications

Kim Bayoumi, Welcome Co-Chair

The Executive Board is made up of nine executive members and four standing members. The board’s function is to implement PTSA’s mission and ensure that all events and programs support ASD in a meaningful way. We work with the Board of Trustees, administration, parents, students and other school organizations to help make ASD the best it can be. This group of dedicated parents gives countless hours to ensure that PTSA is supporting, facilitating, and giving back to ASD in a meaningful way.

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TO OUR FAMILIES Dear Friends, As we look back on another year full of exciting PTSA events and programs, I can’t help but be amazed at how far we have come in our short time at ASD. It is hard to believe the PTSA has just completed its 7th year on campus. The unwavering support of the community has been the key to the organization’s success.

The members of the PTSA are thankful to our Board of Trustees, Superintendent Brent Mutsch, the administrative team, parents, staff, and students for their partnership and support. We have accomplished so much over the past year.

The PTSA serves to support ASD, its mission, and core values. Whether we are hosting community events such as Halloween, Wild Wadi Nights, Santa’s Workshop, Carnival, Staff Appreciation Week, or engaging in giving back through our Grants Program, Guest Speakers, Visiting Authors, and Above the Influence, we continue to meet ASD and PTSA’s missions.

This Annual Report is dedicated to all of our volunteers who took time away from family, school, and daily life to give ASD the best you have to offer. Your hard work has not gone unnoticed and is greatly appreciated.

Thank you all for an outstanding 2013-2014 school year!

Stephanie Buck

PTSA President

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FINANCIAL SUMMARY

2013-2014 Programs vs. Admin. Expenses 16,185, 4%

Programs

General and Administrative Expenses

352,047, 96%

2013-2014 Program Expenses 33,504 34,136 Enrichment Recognition Community

284,407

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FINANCIAL SUMMARY

2013-2014 Enrichment Expenses 16,359

11,990

Grant Program Guest Speakers

50,000 135,878

Above the Influence Visiting Authors

70,180

ES Enrichment

2013-2014 Grant Beneficiaries

21,141

ASD Community

29,800 17,288

ES MS 67,650 HS

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WHAT’S NEW WITH PTSA? In the Fall of 2013, the PTSA ratified its new By-Laws. The revision process had begun a year earlier. With the assistance of the Superintendent, Board of Trustees and parent volunteers, the By-Laws were successfully amended. The purpose of the revision was to make changes that were in line with the direction of the school as well as the PTSA. As our school grows, so should the association.

The PTSA constantly strives to ensure it is serving the ASD community in the best way possible. This year we sought to better organize ourselves by revising job descriptions and policies. In some cases, we created new policies to ensure continuity within the organization as well as ASD. In doing so, we provided better clarity for its volunteers and future members of PTSA. In May, we conducted a survey to gather feedback from the ASD community to better serve our members. The association gained valuable insight into the thoughts of parents, faculty and staff.

We have implemented changes based on the results, such as changing the format of some of the General Meetings and even the day they are held. Further review of the survey is ongoing and we hope to positively refine ourselves with the feedback received from the community.

Small changes sometimes have a big impact. In May, the PTSA Board voted to make the Grants Chair into a Vice President position. The Vice President of Communication became a standing board member. The reason behind this was simple. The Grants Chair coordinates a sizable portion of the financial resources generated through our fundraising. Educational Grants is one of PTSA’s most important programs, and the new Vice President position reflects the commitment being made in this area.

Another small change is the name of Vice President Educational Liaison. The PTSA Board voted to change it to Vice President Community Enrichment. This simply better defines the responsibilities of the position.

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MEETING OUR MISSION: PTSA FUNDS AT WORK This year, the PTSA had two grant cycles. The Grant Committee met during each grant cycle to evaluate proposals and make recommendations to the PTSA Board. Only grant applications that aligned with the ASD and PTSA Missions were considered for funding. Priority was given to those projects that enhanced learning for a significant portion of the ASD community.

Grants 2013-2014 •

ASD Library - AED 7,560 which converted yearbooks to CD's for archival purposes.

•

Elementary School Fourth Grade Teacher Dan Minchin - AED 8,675 AED toward Elementary School Student Council for initial costs and teacher stipend.

•

Middle School Music - AED 40,000 for a visiting vocalist program. Voces8, a professional vocal group which led Middle and High School student workshops and presented a community concert.

•

High School Drama Department - AED 3,000 which provided performing and auditioning workshops for our High School theater students.

•

Mu Alpha Theta - AED 2,050 start up money for an Invitational Math Competition hosted by ASD's Mu Alpha Theta chapter that was held in the Spring of 2014.

•

Musical Art Program - AED 23,975. The program facilitated a week of music learning for all Elementary School students as well as curriculum development with our music educators.

•

HS GAIA - AED 10,000 which purchased recycle bins that were placed in hallways and common areas around campus.

•

IT Department - AED 35,000. Robotics kits were purchased for an Elementary School after-school program in conjunction with the school's design technology goals.

•

Alex Khoury, Eagle Scout Project - AED 1,000 for materials he used to construct storage lockers on the ASD tennis courts.

•

HS Principal Dr. Michelle Remington and Service Learning Groups - AED 12,300.

With the help of ASD carpenters, collection/donation stands are to be placed at all school gates. These will be used by all service learning groups for their various projects.

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MEETING OUR MISSION: Grants

VOCES 8 working with our Middle School students

Elementary School Student Council

Mu Alpha Theta Invitational Math Competition

“Without the PTSA Grant Program, Voces8 would not have been possible. We hope to continue this program so that ASD may annually bring in a person or group to enrich our already strong vocal program.”

Adam Hart, Middle School Music Department “The PTSA Grant funded us with every aspect of the event and we really could not have done any of this without them…. Thanks to the PTSA funds, we were able to make the competition not only very attractive for more than 70 students to join, but also a high quality competition that we can develop from and continue in the future.”

Dong Ho Shin (Class 2015), Mu Alpha Theta President

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MEETING OUR MISSION: Guest Speakers, Visiting Authors, and Publishing

This year ASD & PTSA had the good fortune of hosting Dr. Michael Thompson, New York Times Best Selling Author and clinical psychologist. Dr. Thompson joined us for three days and spent time with parents, teachers, and students speaking about various topics such as homesickness, the pressures of school, and peer relationships. The highlight of his visit was the Breakfast with Dads. Over 150 fathers turned out to listen and engage in meaningful conversation dealing with work-life balance. In creating this event just for fathers, we realized that there is a great opportunity to further the relationship with ASD dads by facilitating events just for them.

The PTSA is extremely proud to partner with ASD's library staff to assist in bringing world renowned, award winning authors to ASD. The 2013-14 school year brought us husband and wife team, Eric Rohann and Candace Flemming. For eleven days, Ms. Flemming and Mr. Rohann worked with all three divisions to mentor, teach, entertain, and interact with our students and teachers.

The PTSA endeavored to help enrich the Elementary School curriculum, by working through its Publishing Program. Without adding more work to the classroom, PTSA volunteers printed and bound one story for each student. Some classes published class books, collection of stories to share, or individual books. This year, we published 421 books for 336 students. That is 13,182 pages of orginal student work!

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MEETING OUR MISSION: Above the Influence and Calendar

Above the Influence, Substance Awareness Week, touched the entire ASD community. ATI, in partnership with Freedom from Chemical Dependency (FCD) and several outside experts, provided informative forums for faculty, parents, and students in grades 5-12. Goals of the program included: the latest information about abuse specific to Dubai, awareness of risks of drug and alcohol abuse, dispelling myths among peer groups, prevention strategies, as well as an open forum for discussion.

PTSA's popular Calendar is a bridge between building community and giving back. In past years, the association has been a financing and creative partner with ASD to create a printed calendar that details life at ASD. This year we partnered with the school to take on the entire financial and design aspects of the calendar. We are pleased with the turnout and consider this an important part of the ongoing traditions at ASD.

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THE HEART OF OUR MISSION: Community BUDDIES

MOMS

CHEERS AND TEARS

The purpose of the Buddy Program is to help incoming families new to Dubai or ASD get better acquainted with our school as well as our city.

New families were paired with returning ones based on children’s grades and sometimes, common hometowns. The buddies offered help in settling new families and many friendships have been established over the years. Since the Buddy Program was launched three years ago, the Welcome Committee has matched over 300 buddy families!

Moms on the Move (MOMs) was established as a natural extension of our Buddy Program.

Monthly outings are organized for parents to get to know Dubai and the region better. Some of the field trips included DIFC art galleries tour, the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, Pearl Museum, and shopping excursions around town. This remains one of our most popular and enjoyable programs.

Whether you are cheering for "back to school" or having a little harder time sending your children off, the PTSA is here for you! The first annual Cheers and Tears gathering took place the first day of school. This was the perfect way to reconnect with returning families or welcome ASD's newest members.

A smaller gathering is held in January for families who join us midyear.

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THE HEART OF OUR MISSION: Community WILD WADI

HALLOWEEN

What could be better than having the entire water park to ourselves? Twice this year at Wild Wadi, we were able to do just that.

Through the generosity of Chris Perry and his team at Wild Wadi, ASD had two exclusive, discounted nights. The evenings served as a fundraiser as a portion of the proceeds from ticket sales come back to the PTSA to further enrich school programs. This year over AED 36,000 was raised.

Halloween Trick or Treat Night is one of the most popular and well attended occasions at ASD. This night brought all grades to campus for a fun night of trick or treating. Decked in a variety of costumes, students visited tables that had been decorated by teachers, administrators, parents, and school groups. This year, over 1,500 people attended.

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SANTA'S WORKSHOP

Keeping it simple was the goal this year for Santa’s visit. We simplified the event by having just a few craft tables, a delightful hot chocolate bar kindly donated by the Media Rotana Hotel, and of course a visit with the man in red. New to the event this year was PTSA's special partnership with Booster Club. We paired with the parent athletic group as it had a Holiday Booster Bazaar. The two groups forged a successful partnership that hopefully will become a longstanding tradition.

This is a fully funded PTSA event.

THE HEART OF OUR MISSION: Community STAFF APPRECIATION

CARNIVAL

By far the most popular week at ASD. This event is dedicated to the faculty, staff, security team, and maintenance crew that help make ASD the best school in Dubai. Each day of the week had a little something for the faculty and staff who take care of our children and school.

The week culminated in a catered lunch with plenty of special touches.

Carnival is PTSA’s main fundraiser of the year. The main purpose is to build community with an event that draws everyone to campus for a night of family fun. The theme this year was Around the World With ASD! Carnival night attracted over 2,600 people to campus, 12 food vendors, 15 school groups raising awareness or money for their organization, an Elementary School class project auction that raised nearly AED 50,000, many, many games and attractions to keep everyone entertained. With 18 corporate sponsors, revenue from ticket sales, class project sales, as well as 22 Falcon Families, PTSA successfully raised over AED 580,000 that goes directly back to school.

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PTSA’s PARTNERS Synonyms for partnership include cooperation, collaboration, fellowship, connection, and relationship. Below you will find the names of businesses, individuals, and families that embody the true definition of partnership. We are grateful for all who have contributed to the association, which in turn directly benefited the ASD community.

Corporate Partners Infiniti of Arabian Motors

The Nail Spa

GE

Play-A-Round

MetLife

Coca-Cola

American Garden

Crown Relocations

TBWA\RAAD

Sabina Designs

PepsiCo

N Style

Nestle

Zaks Uniforms

Nemmoco

Sapori Di BiCe

Subway

Lands’ End: Did you know that with every uniform piece purchased from Lands’ End a percentage comes right back to the PTSA? We are proud of the relationship with Land’s End and the partnership we have created. This year the partnership generated AED 7,377.

Wild Wadi: We would like to give a special thanks to Chris Perry and Wild Wadi for giving our school the opportunity to create a new tradition of exclusive nights just for ASD.

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Falcon Families Renwar & Paulina Berzinji

Tim & Em Howle

Ahmad & Lara Beydoun

Charles & Aida Laubach

Mike & Stephanie Buck

Brent & Maggie Mutsch

Christos & Joumana Economakis

Robert & Ngozi Onyejekwe

Tim & Jane Elliott

Jerry & Leslie Todd

Tarek & Susan Elmasry

Saad & Angela Toma

Geoffrey & Cyrena Fink

Mustafa & Neemat Abdel-Wadood

Edward Graham & Marta Fonseca

The Wahba Family

Fawaz & Randa Al Ghussein

Mehdi & Pooneh Yamini

Tariq & Carla Zakhem-Hassan

The Younan Family

Roger & Katrina Head

Abu & Sadia Zeya

In Kind Donors Jam Jar

Seattle’s Best

Media Rotana

Vox Cinemas

Mars Candy

ZaatarW’ Zeit

Pepsi

Some families choose to remain anonymous in giving to ASD and PTSA. We would be remiss if we did not include a note of gratitude. Thank you, for your kind donation.

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Raffles Donors Al Zahra Hospital

Emirates Airlines

N'Style International

Crown Plaza Yas Island

Essa Beauty

Phoenix Black Belt

Tortuga Restaurant

Ginger Lining

Riot Art Gallery

Al Fayrooz Restaurant

Grosvenor House

Rocks & Ice

American Garden

Andiamo Restaurant

Sadiyat Beach Gold Club

Angelique.me

Hard Rock Café

SenAsia Urban Spa

At The Top

Hilton JBR

Ski Dubai

Beshtar

IAS Media FZ-LLC

Tennis 360

Bob's Fish N' Chips

Jacqueline Kent

Mazzina Restaurant

Body Smart

Jinja

Na3Na3

Bookworm

Julian Barton Portraits

The Els Club

Burj Al Arab

Kempinksi

The Track @ Meydan

Cara Jewelers

Khushee Jewelers

Tips & Toes

Caritas Al Qasr

Maya Restaurant

Tooth Smiths

Carrol Boyes

Liali jewelry

Viceroy Hotel Yas Island

Chez Sushi

Lili Pond Spa

Vox Cinemas

ChoCoa

Loca

Blue Orange Restaurant

Colored Sugar

Observatory Restaurant

Mina Seyahi

Dalamal Family

AZUR Restaurant

Wild Wadi

Desert Diamonds

Saray Spa

Zen Yoga

Éclair

Mathnasium

Elekta

Media Rotana

The PTSA is proud to partner with our friends and families within our community. We recognize the importance of these relationships to better support and enrich our school.

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SUPPORT ASD Where would ASD be without the support of so many?

“In order to build community, we must clearly honor community and each other in meaningful ways, and sharing our collective genius is the gold standard of this empowering program.”

Iris K. Barratt

A large part of being a member of ASD is being involved. We simply would not be the school we are today if it weren’t for the countless hours given by faculty, staff, parents, and students contributing time, resources, and ever valuable input. With over 1,600 students and 1,000 families at school, the need for participation has never been greater. At ASD, the lines are thankfully blurred between home and school. ASD has a campus that openly welcomes you, invites you in, and encourages engagement at many levels. Being involved can range from donating baked goods to chairing a committee, to being a leader of an organization with many opportunities in between. This is your community, your school.

How will you lend a hand?

This is a call to action. Be involved. Be invested. Be present. Be a part of the future that is your child and the journey that you and your family are on. We are ASD.

PARENT TEACHER STUDENT ASSOCIATION

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P.O. Box 71188, Dubai - UAE, Tel: +971 4 395 0005, Fax +971 4 395 0008 www.asdubai.org