Dear
AISC,
Greetings
from AISC’s Board of Directors and welcome to the 2021-2022 school year!
It
is a pleasure for me to continue serving as the Chairperson of the Board of
Directors of the American International School Chennai. As of this year, I am an
alumni parent with both my children having been at AISC since 2006 and
graduating in 2018 and 2020. This is my second time joining the Board and I was
an elected member of the Board between 2008–2012, served as the Treasurer
between 2009–2011 and as Board Chair in 2011-2012.
The
timing of this note comes when we will soon be celebrating teachers across
India for National Teachers Day on September 5. Parents and students, join the
Board of Directors in continuing to extend our collective appreciation to our
amazing faculty and school leaders for adapting to our challenging
circumstances.
COVID-19
has forced all of us in the field of education to embrace technologies. I must
thank the committed faculty and leadership team at AISC who worked yearlong
developing and implementing Learning Models Framework which has allowed AISC to
open our “virtual” doors once again on August 2nd. We are so looking
forward to welcoming High School students on campus from Wednesday, September 1st.
Further,
thank you parents and students for your patience, flexibility, adaptability,
and resilience. We recognize that we have not chosen our circumstances,
however, we are engaging what we have with courage, confidence, creativity, and
compassion. Allow me to extend on behalf of the Board of Directors a sincere
thank you to everyone in our AISC community.
My
Board colleagues and I are often asked questions about the Governance structure
of the school and the workings of the AISC Board of Directors. I trust you’ll find this letter to be
informative, and provide answers to some of those questions. This will be the
first of regular updates and information that you’ll receive regarding our work
throughout the year.
Board Committees & Parent
Participation on Council of Advisors
In the spirit of
seeking ways to engage the AISC community to make a difference in the on-going
improvement of our school, the AISC Board of Directors is seeking expressions
of interest for a Council of Advisors (CoA) to the Board of Directors.
Members of the CoA will
serve in an advisory role through active participation on Board committees. CoA
members contribute a highly valued breadth and depth of experience and
perspective to committee work in support of Board priorities. In addition, the
Council of Advisor experience will help inform and educate AISC community
members for possible future Board service.
All Council of Advisors
members should be:
- likely to
stay in Chennai and have children at AISC for at least 2 more years (including
the current academic year);
- able to
commit to the requisite time for committee preparation and meetings – depending
on the committee, approximately 1 hour of preparation per meeting, and one
two-hour meeting per month;
- willing to
abide by the Board of Directors’ code of conduct. In addition, Council members
are encouraged to attend Board meeting open sessions.
Several members of the
2020-2021 CoA have already expressed an interest in continuing to serve in this
capacity. If you have not served on the CoA before and are interested, we ask
you to email Angeline Mohan directly (mangeine@aischennai.org) at your earliest
convenience to obtain an Expression of Interest form and to submit this form no
later than by 4:00 p.m., Friday, September 3.
Student Safeguarding
Advisory Committee
American International School Chennai School has remained
committed to providing a safe and secure environment for all its students. To
that end, we have always had a robust approach to student protection in place.
We are further enhancing our protocols to meet the legal requirements outlined
in the POCSO Act, 2012, as communicated by the Central and Tamil Nadu
governmental agencies.
Many of the requirements outlined in the Act
were already a matter of procedures at AISC. We complete thorough background
checks of all faculty and staff before they can begin working at our school.
Yearly, our faculty and staff complete a comprehensive Student Protection
Training and sign a pledge indicating their understanding of our expectations
and procedures as well as their duty to report suspected abuses. This training
includes instructions for suitable dress code and location/backgrounds for
faculty during virtual learning.
As was communicated earlier this fall, in
keeping with the Act, all online lessons and meetings involving students are
automatically recorded and saved to the cloud. These will be randomly audited
to ensure the safety and security of students.
As mandated, AISC has formed a Student
Safeguarding Advisory Committee (SSAC) comprised of administrators, faculty,
parents and a Board member. The SSAC will complete the random audits of virtual
recordings as well as undertake reporting any cases of child sexual abuse to
the Central Complaint Center (CCC).
Safety boxes will be placed in bathrooms across
campus to allow students to report abuse. Context for these boxes will be
communicated to students in an age appropriate manner. These boxes will be
checked regularly by the SSAC for processing for suitable action. All actions
will be recorded in an official register.
Finally, in November, AISC will observe a
nationwide Child Abuse Prevention Week (November 15 -22) to raise awareness
about this important issue.
Please rest assured that AISC is fully
implementing the POCSO Act, 2012, alongside our equally robust Student
Protection efforts to protect students against any and all forms of child abuse
or neglect.
September Association Meeting
The Biannual
General Meeting of the Association will be held on Wednesday, 8 September, 2021 at
8:45 a.m. virtually. Please mark your calendar and plan to attend this
important meeting. The Head of School will share his biannual
state-of-the-school presentation. The agenda is below:
|
Bi-Annual General Meeting of the
Association
Wednesday, 8 September, 2021 at 8:45
a.m.
Zoom
|
|
#
|
Agenda Item
|
Presenter
|
Time (a.m.)
|
|
1
|
Call to order
and establishment of quorum
|
Board
Chairperson
|
8:45-8:46
|
|
2
|
Opening Remarks
|
Board
Chairperson
|
8:46-8:50
|
|
3
|
Head of School
Report
|
Head of School
|
8:50-9:20
|
|
4
|
Financial Report
|
Board Treasurer
|
9:20-9:35
|
|
5
|
General
questions from Members of the Association
|
Board
Chairperson
|
9:35-9:40
|
|
6
|
Adjournment
|
Board
Chairperson
|
9:40
|
Please join us via the
Zoom link mentioned below. Please do not share this link with outside our
community.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://aischennai-org.zoom.us/j/97603558582?pwd=elhyVHZhdm1CNnJGY0FDaThnRWgwdz09
Meeting ID: 976 0355 8582
Passcode: AISC
I’ve
included below an FAQ regarding Board of Directors and Board meetings.
If
you have questions, I encourage you to connect with me directly via email at boardchairperson@aischennai.org.
I
look forward to an amazing school year with our diverse and engaged community.
Sincerely,
Sriram Sivaram
Chairperson, AISC Board of Directors
boardchairperson@aischennai.org
AISC Board of Directors
Q & A
Who is currently
serving on our Board of Directors?
Our Board is composed
of nine members of the AISC community. The profile of each Board member (and
all Board information) will be posted as Google Doc linked from the Board of Directors’
Blog. Agendas and summaries of
all Board of Directors’ meetings will also be posted in paper form outside of
Main Reception at the school when we reopen.
What is the role of our
Board of Directors?
The
role of the Board of Directors is to guard the school’s Mission by engaging
significant strategic issues relevant to the long-term well-being of the
school. As a group empowered with the stewardship of the school, the annual and
monthly work of the Board is highly relevant and meaningful to our current and
future students, faculty, staff, and parents. The Board of Directors does not
engage in the day-to-day running, management, or decision-making at the School.
This is the purview of the head of school and his teams. All questions
regarding the leadership and management of the school should be directed to
Andrew and his team.
When does the Board of
Directors meet next?
The
Biannual General Meeting of the Association is on Wednesday, September 8 (8:45
a.m. IST).
Who can attend Board
meetings?
The
AISC community is welcome to attend. Board meetings are noted on the electronic
Community Calendar and the first part of every Board meeting is
open to Association members, faculty, and students.
