Dear ACS Families,

I arrived in Beirut on July 7, and I've enjoyed getting to know the neighborhood around ACS and the city over the past couple of weeks. I have also observed the enormous challenges and inconveniences that people are dealing with daily, and hope, like all of you, that better days are coming.

In the meantime, our priority is preparing for full in-person learning when the 2021/22 school year opens on September 1. Our Response Team (Covid-19 Task Force) has been doing everything possible to get our faculty and staff vaccinated over the summer. We are making steady progress; our goal is to reach 90% by early September.

We are also encouraging parents of students ages 12 and up to get their children vaccinated. Students 16 and older are eligible to be vaccinated in Lebanon. If parents of younger children who are 12 or older are traveling and have access to a vaccination while abroad, we strongly encourage you to have your children vaccinated. We know that the more of our community that is vaccinated, the better protection we will all have against Covid and the new variants.

If we can open fully for in-person learning, we are not planning to offer a Green cohort (remote learning). We will ask that all students, faculty, and staff be on campus for in-person learning. We will take all necessary precautions to ensure the health and safety of our community.

Aside from Covid, the financial challenges that our school is facing are becoming more complicated by the day. I want to thank all our families for paying their ancillary fee in fresh dollars. Not only is this fresh dollar increment permitting us to pay a minimum percentage of faculty and staff salaries in fresh dollars, but it is allowing us to pay an increasing number of vendors and service providers who are demanding payment in fresh dollars. This includes items like diesel for our generators, contracts for campus maintenance and improvement, and even health insurance premiums for our employees. Securing additional fresh dollars is a top priority for us, as we hope to increase the fresh dollar allowance for our faculty and staff in order to retain our employees and maintain ACS quality. Fundraising efforts have already been underway throughout the summer, and I look forward to sharing more about in September.

Above all, we are committed to ensure that the quality of our program is maintained and even improved. There is no doubt that this will be a very challenging year for everyone, but the future of ACS is bright. I so look forward to welcoming teachers back to campus the last week of August, and I'm even more excited for the new students/families orientation end of August and the start of school on September 1.

Wishing you and your families Adha Mubarak.

Sincerely,