Dear ACS,
First, a Happy Mother's Day to all! I am glad it is on a Saturday- whether you are a mother, have one nearby, or very far away- you have time to celebrate who and what mothers are for the world. Mothers are one of the common connections for all of us.
And, at this moment, community and connection is everything. This week at ACS we saw an incredible increase in engagement of interactions online as well as sharing what is making it difficult during this period. We are grateful for everyone who has leapt and tried something new, even if not successful, and supported each other along the way. And so how do we lean into compassion? How do we become more motivated to be compassionate and suffer together? I am not sure there is one way, and yet I think our community, who holds both its international and Lebanese identity so close, could be poised to do so. I think what we have been trying to share these past weeks- take care of yourself, take care of others, and take care of the space around you- is the right place to begin. Perhaps when we are asking something of another stakeholder in our community, we can first think about their questions. When we think about the expectations we have for our students, we think about their safety and their loss of control. When we request something of a teacher, we think about how they are dealing with the unpredictability and pressure to serve others. When we wonder about a parent reply to our calls, we must think about how they are dealing with the novelty of this situation and the burden they have as caretaker of their children (and often their extended family as well). I have read that compassion is our strongest instinct, sometimes stronger than our own self-interests; even Darwin argued that compassion would spread through natural selection, for "the most sympathetic members, would flourish best, and rear the greatest number of offspring." Something to think about on Mother's Day.
In the coming weeks we will make further decisions and announcements about our reporting, our continued improvements in our virtual learning protocols, and next steps for planning for 2020-21. In the meantime, as a community, we will do our part in both taking care of each other and leading by example. We remain in contact with the Ministry of Education to share what we have learned thus far, and we continue sharing our resources and learning as a school with other international schools east and west. We are keeping up-to-date with IB, with College Board, and with other international organizations that are both working through similar issues as we are and benefitting from each other's wisdom. Most importantly, each our principals, with their teams, share information about learning for our students, updates on how our students and families can take care of themselves and others, whether through our school-wide counseling and support team or just staying connected with a teacher. Our four newsletters for this week:
Early Years | Elementary School | Middle School | High School
Thank you all who took a moment to complete a SHOUT-out; each message will be sent to that individual and we awarded a few prizes as an extra boost. We have our second round this upcoming week, so please do take the time to thank someone here (www.acs.edu.lb/SHOUTout)
This upcoming Wednesday, March 25, we will observe the official holiday (Observation of Feast of Annunciation) and not hold online classes, google meets, etc., and hope we can turn off and turn to each other even more.
And, of course, one more virtual hug to all of the mothers in our community. We are relying heavily on you right now and you seem to be up to the task. Greg L. MacGilpin, Jr. Empowering students to solve problems with creativity and integrity, to lead well-balanced lives, and to serve Lebanon and the world community with understanding and compassion. American Community School Beirut Beirut | 67 Nigeria Street, Jal El-Bahr +961 (1) 374370 |