Welcome to the 2020-2021 school year! What unusual and challenging times we find ourselves in. But God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, so we cling to His goodness and steadfastness, even in the midst of uncertainty and hardships. We recognize that many of us are walking with our children through loss and upheaval. Let’s walk together and support one another! We are a community of His grace and love.

We're gearing up for a year full of excellent learning and excellent loving! Our theme verse for this year is 1 Peter 4:10: "Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms."

We are so excited to meet those of you who are new to our community, and to reconnect with those of you who were part of Rosslyn Academy last year.

There is a great deal of information to be shared in the coming days, the majority of which will be communicated in written form or “virtually”, so the following is an overview of what to expect. 

First, if you have not yet returned textbooks or school property from last school year, please drop them off at the Rosslyn Academy main gate as soon as possible. We need these to distribute for the coming school year.

Here are a few dates/events to mark on your calendar:

1.    Aug. 21, Class lists will be finalized and shared with all ES families via email. 

2.    Aug. 28, Parent technology training. For those parents who would like some additional orientation to Google Classroom (our online learning platform) and related technologies, you are welcome (though not required) to join a live online meeting (“Google Meet”) at 10:00 am (for Elementary School parents) or at 11:00 am (for Middle School or High School parents). For information about this training, please contact Tyler Heugel at TylerH@RosslynAcademy.com Prior to this training, you will receive log-in information for your child’s Google Classroom account, and you will be asked to log in and explore a little to find out what you already know and what you still need to learn. (If you are the parent of a student who is new to Rosslyn this year you should already have received an email from gcsupport@rosslynacademy.com with personalized Google account details for your student(s).  If you have not received this email, please check your spam folder.  If you don’t see it there, please send an email to gcsupport@rosslynacademy.com with the name(s) and grade level(s) of your student(s).)

3.     August 28, 29, & 31, Books and supplies distribution. Between the hours of 2:00 pm – 6:00 pm, on any of these three days, you can stop by the elementary basketball court to collect necessary supplies and books for the coming semester. Everyone is required to please wear a face covering. Books and supplies will be arranged by grade. A staff member will be present to help. Those who were Rosslyn students in 2019-2020 can also collect their yearbooks from last year, and their art portfolios if they did not pick them up in May. In addition, our libraries will be open during those same hours so that you or your children can check out books to read in the weeks ahead. Finally, the lost and found items from January to March will be on display in case your child is missing their sweatshirt, water bottle, or lunch box.

4.      Friday, Aug 28, Welcome video for all elementary school families.  A link will be sent to parents Friday morning which will take you to a recorded welcome message from me regarding the upcoming school year and what to expect.  The message can be viewed at any time, but I do recommend watching it with your children.

5.      Monday, Aug 31, 11:00 am, Live Google Meet with students and parents who are new to Rosslyn Academy this year.  A link will be sent to parents new to Rosslyn on Monday morning inviting you to join this meeting.  General information that is useful for new students and parents will be shared along with a time for live questions and answers.  The expected time is 11:00-11:45. (These sessions are staggered so you are able to attend all meetings if you have students in middle school and/or high school as well.) In addition, new Korean families will have a special additional orientation session that morning. Please contact Helen Jeon for details: HelenJ@RosslynAcademy.com 

6.      Monday, Aug. 31, 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm, Individual Google Meet sessions with homeroom (“core”) teachers for students who are new to Rosslyn Academy this year.  Parents of students who are new to Rosslyn Academy this year will be sent a link by their child’s homeroom teacher to sign up for an appointment to meet (student and parents) with the student’s “core” or homeroom teacher for an opportunity to make introductions, and go over some general information about what to expect in class this semester. If you have a child in more than one elementary school class, you will sign up for an appointment with each core teacher.

7.      Tuesday, Sep. 1, and Wednesday, Sep. 2, Introductions and expectations. These two days will start with a “morning meeting” of each class, (at 8:30 am for preschool, kindergarten, first and second grade students, and 8:55 am for third, fourth and fifth grade students) followed by individual Google Meet sessions with homeroom (“core”) teachers for students who are returning to Rosslyn Academy this year. Parents will be sent a link by their child’s homeroom teacher to sign up for an appointment to meet (student and parents) with the student’s “core” or homeroom teacher for an opportunity to make introductions, and go over some general information about what to expect in class this semester. If you have a child in more than one elementary school class, you will sign up for an appointment with each core teacher. There will be no regular classes or assignments in elementary school on Sep. 1 and 2 (other than the “morning meeting” for all students).

8.      Thursday, Sep. 3, Regular Scheduled Classes begin in elementary school.

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I have attached or linked a few relevant documents, some of which were previously shared by Dr. Dow but are helpful resources to review and some of which are new to you today.

These include:

-Semester One Schedule for each ES Class (except for preschool, which will be communicated separately by the preschool teacher, Mrs. Mel Kirkpatrick, MelK@RosslynAcademy.com),

-School Calendar for this year

-ES Student Handbook 2020-2021,

-Elementary School Supply List. Please Note: The supply list was created at the end of last school year with in-person learning in mind. Please use your judgment about what on this list you will need for remote learning, and what things you can wait until January to purchase for "in-person" learning. In addition, your child will need a few supplemental materials for “at-home” learning this semester. This is on the . . .

-Supplemental ES art supplies to have on hand

-a document describing some of the changes in teaching roles in ES for this year

I have one important, additional request: if you are beginning the school year in a different time zone from Nairobi, can you please let us know (and indicate which time zone) as soon as possible? This is important information for our teachers as they plan how to connect with students and manage materials. Please email this information to me at KimG@RosslynAcademy.com and to our ES administrative assistant, Ms. Wanjiku Margaret Njubi at MargaretN@RosslynAcademy.com so we can share this information with teachers. 

We are looking forward to seeing everyone, whether in-person at the book and supplies distribution, or virtually. We wish you safe travels to all who are traveling.  May God fill you with joy and energy as you enter this new season.

With hope,

Kim