Start of the New Academic Year 2009/2010

The new academic year 2009/2010 started on Monday 28 September 2009. Teachers and members of staff worked through the month of September preparing for a fresh start. There were many changes this year. The addition of Grade 10 in the academic school was the most important one. There were many challenges to overcome before the start of the academic year. Mrs. Rita Chakrina, program coordinator of the academic school, worked tirelessly with her colleagues in coordination with Mr. Joseph Bou Simaan of the vocational school to prepare for this year. We shifted from the seven-hour (45 minutes) daily schedule to the six-hour (55 minutes) daily schedule as a result of the rising numbers of students which required us to have two sections for Grade 7. We were greatly encouraged by the increase in student numbers in the academic school in spite of the competition from newly opened schools in the region. Sadly student numbers in the vocational school decreased, and this year we do not have BP1 classes for industrial mechanics and carpentry. We will analyze the situation and try to find out the reasons for this decrease in order to address it.
The major worry this year was the H1N1 virus. As we have a boarding school we could not take any risks, so various meetings were held to prepare our teachers and staff to deal with H1N1. Strict measures were taken, and no student or member of staff will be allowed in school if displaying any symptoms of flu, cold, or influenza. Our school doctor attended the various meetings organized by the ministry of education in coordination with the ministry of health, and we complied with all the requirements.
We apologize to students, parents, teachers, and members of staff who were asked to stay at home when they had symptoms of sickness. This is a very necessary inconvenience that we need to take in order to protect our students. We thank everyone concerned for their understanding, and we urge all parents to comply with our requests to take children home immediately upon notification. We hope we can soon laugh at our unnecessary measures, but at the moment the policy is prevention better than cure.
This year is also very special as it is the year of preparation for the 150th anniversary of Schneller schools in 2010. We hope and pray that this academic year will be a happy, healthy, peaceful, and very successful.