WIDER CIRCLE MEMBER HANDBOOK 2015­2016 Table of Contents WELCOME SECTION 1: INFORMATION ABOUT NESA Introduction NESA Center Staff The Professional Development Advisory Committee NESA Board of Trustees Contact Us SECTION 2: THE WIDER CIRCLE Statement Composition of the Wider Circle Membership Commitments Membership Selection Process NESA Support for the Wider Circle SECTION 3: COMMUNICATIONS Wider Circle Pages on the NESA Website NESA News Facebook Page SECTION 4: WIDER CIRCLE MEMBER RESPONSIBILITIES Throughout the year 1 For Conferences SECTION 5: SEC TEACHER WORKSHOP PROCESS Responsibilities Guidelines Process SECTION 6: DATES AND VENUES Conference Dates and Venues 2015­2016 Conference Dates and Venues 2016­2017 SECTION 7: PLANNING CALENDAR 2015­2016 SECTION 8: BACKGROUND INFORMATION The Office of Overseas Schools (A/OS) NESA Awards NESA Collaboration Grants Glossary 2 WELCOME! As your school’s “Wider Circle” member you are the primary channel of communication between your school and the NESA Center staff and the Professional Development Advisory Committee (PDAC). This handbook is intended to support you in outlining the scope of your role and guiding you in its successful execution. It contains background information about NESA, guidelines for the year’s tasks, answers to some frequently asked questions, information about membership, and the list of communication platforms that support our work. Although we’ve tried to include as much as we can, we’re bound to have missed some things. Please do not hesitate to ask us for details, clarification or additional information. As a member of the Wider Circle you are an essential part of the NESA Team as we work to provide our members with the best professional development possible. 3 SECTION 1: INFORMATION ABOUT NESA A Brief History of NESA NESA has evolved from a group of dedicated administrators meeting informally into an organization whose programs affect thousands of school children. In the early 1960s interest in the education of children of US State Department employees prompted the International Department of the National Education Association to initiate an evaluative study of existing schools in the Near East and South Asia (NESA) region. The study was directed by Dr Finis E. Engleman, then recently retired executive secretary of the American Association of School Administrators. Dr Engleman and his team visited 39 schools in 18 countries, and as a consequence of their report, published in 1964, the Office of Overseas Schools was established in the US Department of State, and Dr Ernest N. Mannino was appointed director. The geographical boundaries of NESA were fixed to encompass the area from Libya, Greece, and Egypt in the west to Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the east including the Saudi Arabian peninsula. Schools that qualified as "American Sponsored Overseas Schools" were eligible to receive financial assistance from the US government. The requirements stipulated that the school be a nonprofit, nonsectarian institution using American curricula and instructional materials and have a system of local controls and management. In the early 1960s NESA began to sponsor annual conferences, with leading American educators invited to speak to keep NESA administrators abreast of current educational innovations in the US. Over the following years, the need for a more structured organization to provide a cohesive 4 element to overseas education became evident, and in 1964 the first by­laws were drawn up. In 1968, the Near East South Asia Council of Overseas Schools was established. In 1974, an executive secretary was appointed, and in 1976 NESA was incorporated as a nonprofit organization in the State of Delaware. The following year the NESA board of directors established offices for the organization in Athens, Greece. In 1978 Dr. Stanley Haas, superintendent of the American Community Schools in Athens, was appointed executive director, and the offices were moved to their present location on the campus of the American College of Greece, a NESA associate member institution. Following the death of Dr Haas in 1995, David Chojnacki, then superintendent at Cairo American College, was appointed executive director in 1996. Currently, NESA includes 41 Members and 110 Affiliates. ​ ​ It is an organization encompassing over 30,000 students and over 2,000 ​ ​ professional educators. NESA Center Staff David Chojnacki [email protected] Executive Director Bridget Doogan [email protected] Director of Professional Learning Jill Kalamaris [email protected] Director of Operations Laura Canellopoulou [email protected] Aristea Evangelou [email protected] 5 Maria Boutzarelou [email protected] L­R: Aristea, Maria, David, Jill, Bridget, Laura The Professional Development Advisory Committee The Professional Development Advisory Committee (PDAC) works with the NESA Center Staff in organizing our conferences and institutes. Made up of curriculum specialists from around the region, the PDAC meets three times a year to identify speakers, suggest topics and strands and to provide input from the field as to what’s needed by our membership in the way of professional learning. Members: Gail Seay ( Chair) American School of Doha, Qatar 6 Kim Bane American International School­Chennai, India Tracey Carey Saudi Aramco Expatriate Schools, Saudi Arabia Renee Couturier American International School­Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Lisa Emborsky American Community School of Abu Dhabi, UAE Michelle Kuhns American School of Dubai, UAE Mishka Mourani International College, Beirut, Lebanon Emily Sargent­Beasley Walworth Barbour American International School in Israel Tara Waudby International Schools Group, Saudi Arabia David Chadwell Cairo American College, Egypt Kerry Harder The American International School of Muscat, Oman Jennifer Hughes American Community School, Amman, Jordan The PDAC at its meeting in Istanbul, (l­r) Bridget Doogan­NESA Director of Professional ​ Learning, Emily Sargent­Beasley, Gail Seay (PDAC Chair), Mishka Mourani,Tara Waudby, Renee Couturier, Michelle Kuhns, Kim Bane, Lisa Emborsky,Tracey Carey, David Chojnacki­NESA Executive Director. 7 NESA Board of Trustees The NESA Board of Trustees, made up of heads of nine member schools elected to two­year terms on a staggered basis, sets annual conference fees and makes the final decision regarding conference dates and sites. The board relies heavily on input from the NESA Center Staff, the PDAC and the Wider Circle. PRESIDENT: Kevin Schafer The American International School of Muscat, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman VICE PRESIDENT: Rose Puffer International School of Islamabad, Islamabad, Pakistan SECRETARY: Harold Fleetham, Lincoln School, Kathmandu, Nepal TREASURER: Brent Mutsch, American School of Dubai, United Arab Emirates Members at Large: Robin Heslip, American Community School of Abu Dhabi, UAE; Andrew Hoover, American International School­Chennai, India; Craig Johnson, American School of Bombay, Mumbai, India; Brian Matthews, American International School ­ Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (NB: the ninth position will be filled at the Fall Leadership Conference in Abu Dhabi.) Ex­Officio: Beatrice Cameron Regional Education Officer, Office of Overseas Schools, US 8 Contact Us Near East South Asia Council of Overseas Schools (NESA) Gravias 6 Aghia Paraskevi 153 42 Athens, Greece Tel : +30 210 600­9821, Fax: +30 210 600­9928 [email protected], [email protected] www.nesacenter.org 9 10 SECTION 2: THE WIDER CIRCLE Statement: ​ The Wider Circle is an extension of NESA’s Professional Development Advisory Committee (PDAC). The Wider Circle assists the NESA Center Staff and the PDAC by acting as the chief point of contact between the PDAC and individual member schools in matters pertaining to professional development. Composition of the Wider Circle: The Wider Circle consists of one representative from each NESA member school who is appointed annually by that school’s chief administrator for the purpose of being the primary channel of communication between the school and the NESA Center Staff and the PDAC in matters pertaining to professional development. In the following exceptional cases, the school’s chief administrator may designate additional circle members: ● In schools with multiple campuses, a member may be appointed for each campus. ● Schools whose Wider Circle member also serves on the PDAC may select an additional faculty member to serve on the Wider Circle. In that case the request should be sent to [email protected]. ​ ​ Member Profile: To serve on the Wider Circle, an individual should: ➔ be nominated by her/his head of school 11 ➔ have an understanding of her/his school’s K­12 professional development priorities ➔ have the support of her/his chief school administrator, including: o financial support (airfare & hotel) to attend the two day winter ​ ​ meeting of the PDAC (if possible) o permission to promote NESA conferences, institutes and ​ ​ projects at the school by speaking at faculty meetings, sharing notices and publications from NESA about these events, etc. Membership­­­Commitments: Members of the Wider Circle are expected to: ➔ Disseminate news, announcements and publications from NESA to the school community. ➔ Respond to occasional requests from Bridget Doogan, NESA’s Director of Professional Learning, for information regarding professional development. ➔ Stay active by regularly checking and participating in the relevant Wider Circle and PDAC Google pages and sharing sites ➔ Work in a spirit of collegiality,