ES Principal's Welcome

After five years of wearing other hats at ASOY(French teacher and PYP coordinator), the opportunity to lead the Elementary department (the PYP—Primary Years Program) was a chapter I wanted to write with all of you concretely. The IB has conquered my heart 25 years ago. With renewed awe and interest, I remain blown away by its capacity to promote “education that builds intercultural understanding and respect” while developing “inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people”(IB mission statement). What particularly appeals to me about the IB is its dynamic nature and its focus on continuous improvement and research-based practices. As a reaccredited IB school, ASOY is here to preserve such values and ensure lifelong learning for all in its community.

So here I am, all ready to row the PYP boat and set sail with the rest of the PYP team. I envision some days of smooth sailing with clear skies and others where it will feel like steering through stormy waters with a straw! …but the objective is to remain brave.

I suppose decades of experience at different institutions and around inspirational professionals must have prepared me for both scenarios and anything in between. More concretely, my vision of education is one of community empowerment and engagement. With the assistance of determination and acknowledgment of mutual efforts, I plan to value actions of any size and appreciate every contribution from our community. I envision our mission to be reflective of “us as 1” rather than “us and them.” I firmly believe in communication alongside productive discussions and consciously opt to function calmly with students, parents, and colleagues. I focus on positive change and love to witness, discuss, or contribute to the continuous betterment of people and places. In my soft voice, I share with passion and allow my mind to cut the sharpest when education, people, and justice are involved. I firmly believe that small everyday actions create a ripple effect, and ALL should be allowed and encouraged to contribute.

From experience, I will confess that the seas of education in  PYP schools are in perpetual movement. As a globally focused framework, the IBPYP constantly updates means and ways to ensure its accredited schools live the IB mission statement to the fullest. At ASOY, our focus is not on test scores, ranks in class, or having everyone fill in workbooks or complete tasks and assignments simultaneously. We offer and build educational experiences capable of providing lasting impacts on students as individuals. For further details about the PYP, click this link, and for more about the curriculum framework we use, click here.

If you have managed to read up here, I thank you for your curious mind and invite you to join us on this fantastic trip as we navigate the seas together and make waves of positive contributions to education for the future.