HEADMASTERS' BLOG
by Dr. Tim Howard
SUMMER NEWS FOR PARENTS
Saludos—I hope this finds your family doing well and enjoying a refreshing summer vacation! The month of June has been busy here at TASIS Dorado. Our own summer program has been a huge success and very well attended. Kudos to the teachers and staff who invested so much time and energy in it! In addition, this week we welcomed over 20 new students—mostly from England and Switzerland—for our 3rd TASIS Marine Biology/Spanish immersion summer program. Those students will enjoy our campus and Puerto Rico until the end of July. Our administrative staff has been busy ordering books and materials, planning PD, preparing schedules, calendars and handbooks, and hiring five new teachers. Furthermore, the TPA (TASIS Parent Association; formerly HSA) has been meeting and has a wonderful year of activities planned for our community!
You will also see visible changes to the school when you and your children return to campus. Several classrooms have undergone "extreme make-overs." Furthermore, progress on construction of the new Fab Lab/Elementary Office building is moving forward on schedule. It may seem counter-intuitive to be building in uncertain times. However, this relatively modest investment will relieve pressure on some large classes and provide a strong base to delve deeper into science and technology. The "return on investment" will be significant and enable us to grow and improve as a school in great ways.
I'd also like to take this opportunity to share our Strategic Plan with you. It can be viewed on our web page at http://dorado.tasis.com/page.cfm?p=698 and can be downloaded as well. I am very pleased with the outcome of the planning process and excited about the future of TASIS Dorado. This plan will guide our decision-making in the coming years. Once again, I am very grateful to the teachers, administrators, parents and students who participated with such dedication and enthusiasm on the committees—and to the rest of you for your contributions to the planning process through surveys and other means! Your voices were clearly heard.
One idea that came out of the strategic planning process was to offer a shuttle service for students between DBE/Plantation/Paseos and the School in the mornings and afternoons. If this is of interest to you, please send a brief email to Yiya Gil at gil.c@tasisdorado.com.
Later this summer, I plan to send you a more extensive reflection on the past school year, highlighting our major achievements and the areas we want to improve. Stay tuned!
At TASIS Dorado, we know the work we do with students is life-changing and vitally important. Our goal is to work together more effectively (smarter, not harder) and continually improve as a team, so that we can preserve all that is unique and special about TASIS Dorado and assure that our students in all grades grow and learn at higher levels than ever. I look forward to seeing you soon!