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Director's Welcome
Dear Qatar Academy Parents,I want to welcome you back to the 2012 – 13 school year! As my first year of director at Qatar Academy, I readily identify with our newly hired teachers and our new students. Since the latter part of August 2012, our new teachers were engaged in new teacher orientation. Orientation topics included gaining an understanding of curriculum in place at Qatar Academy as well as an introduction to developing cultural competencies.
It is important that Qatar Academy continually strives to improve the education we offer to our students. We participate in accreditation as one method of improvement; it provides us with the opportunity to engage in deep reflection on our strengths and challenges. Renewing our accreditations also confirms that Qatar Academy is fully recognized, across the world, as a quality IB World School. During the 2011-12 school year, we engaged in a Preparatory Visit and this fall (November 16 – 22) we are putting the finishing touches on our preparation by welcoming the visiting team which represent three prestigious international agencies: the Council of International Schools (CIS), the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) and the International Baccalaureate (IB). If you have any questions on accreditation, please contact Diana Rosberg, drosberg@qf.org.qa.
Four years ago, we engaged in the process of developing a strategic plan to guide us in our continual development. We identified eight strategic goals for the school, including –
1. Promote the mission of the school
2. Building a stronger sense of community within Qatar Academy
3. Create support systems for students
4. Achieve operational interdependence with QF
5. Financial operational adherence to QF
6. Promoting Qatarization
7. Developing state of the art Information Technology
8. Enhancing Arabic language and Islamic studies
These goals have guided the school as we’ve strived to continuously improve. We are now at a point where we will begin re-examining our strategic goals. In the spring of 2013, we will engage the service of the Qatar Foundation Strategic Planning Directorate as we identify elements of our next 3 – 5 Year Strategic Plan.
Much of what we do, and will do, revolves around our school mission and vision statements. For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, our mission statement reads –
It is the mission of Qatar Academy (QA) to provide internationally accepted, comprehensive, English medium programs plus Arabic and Islamic studies from pre-school through to secondary graduation. QA develops independent critical thinkers, lifelong learners, responsible citizens, and empowers students to gain entrance to elite universities and colleges.
I look forward to seeing each of you this year as we strive to make the mission statement a reality for the students of Qatar Academy.
Warm regards,
Dr. Eric W. Sands,
Director
