WGO - ES Archive: April 30

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Issue #33: April 30, 2025

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From the Principal

Ms. Michelle Alzamora

Dear Families,

On Monday of this week, a few members of our Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) Committee offered a parent talk about how we are approaching GAI in the Elementary School. You can find a recording of that talk here and the slides here. If you have any questions about GAI in the ES, please reach out to Danya Dajani, Nada Arafige, or Michelle Alzamora, and we will be happy to discuss them with you.

Below is a summary of our presentation -

Understanding Generative AI

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly changing the world around us, and Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) is at the forefront of this transformation. GAI refers to a type of AI that can create new content – think text, images, music, and even videos – by learning from vast amounts of data.

To put it simply, GAI learns from numerous examples. For instance, if a GAI system is trained on a large collection of children's stories, it can then generate a new, original story that captures a similar style and tone. This technology has the potential to be a powerful tool, and understanding it is becoming essential for navigating the digital world and fostering creativity in our children.

We believe that GAI is part of the future, and it's our responsibility to prepare our learners to engage with it effectively. This includes helping them develop curiosity, a sense of responsibility, and the skills necessary to thrive in a world shaped by GAI.

ACS’s Commitment to Responsible Integration

At ACS, we recognize that AI and GAI are becoming increasingly prevalent. Our school is committed to integrating these technologies ethically and responsibly into our educational practices. We carefully evaluate any GAI tools we adopt to ensure they align with our educational goals, and we believe in keeping parents informed about how these tools are used in the classroom. This work has been done by a committee of interested ACS educators and founded on a framework from the Middle States Association, our school accrditing agency.

Fostering GAI Literacy

A key part of our approach is promoting responsible GAI literacy among both students and staff. This means teaching everyone how to use GAI as a tool for various purposes, such as brainstorming, improving writing, and expanding ideas, while always encouraging them to maintain their own unique voice and perspective in a safe ans responsible way.

How GAI is Being Used

In education, GAI can be used in various ways. For teachers, it can assist in generating ideas for lesson plans, creating outlines, and finding resources. It can also help in differentiating learning by customizing materials to suit diverse student needs and learning styles, and in providing timely and constructive feedback to students.

For students, GAI offers potential benefits such as personalized learning support, instant feedback, creative inspiration, and time-saving tools. However, it's also important to acknowledge the challenges, including concerns about academic integrity, the need to verify the accuracy of AI-generated content, the risks of over-reliance, and the potential for a digital divide.

Looking Ahead

ACS is dedicated to empowering our school community to use GAI thoughtfully, creatively, and responsibly. We are committed to ensuring that GAI enhances, rather than replaces, critical thinking, creativity, and ethical decision-making.

Thank you for partnering with us as we navigate this exciting new frontier in education.

Yours,

Michelle Alzamora

After School Activities

All ASAs (After School Activities) will end on May 8th, with the exception of the Jamboree Sports (Soccer, Basketball, and Track and Field). These will continue until their friendly tournament!

AAC Jamboree Dates

May 15 (Thursday): Track and Field @ ABS (Time will be sent out once determined by host school)
May 16 (Friday): Basketball @ ACS (Schedule and time here)
May 17 (Saturday): Soccer @ AA (Time will be sent out once determined by host school)

Grade 4 and Grade 5 Basketball Jamboree 2025

Friday, May 16, 2025 @ ACS

Play will consist of two 10-minute halves

5-minute halftime break

NO full court press or back court pressure
No shot clock
Stoppage of play to explain rules and correct behavior MUST happen by the adult officiating the games.
Each school can enter a maximum of 4 teams (Must be 2 male and 2 female)
- Roster size : Max of 12 students per team
Each team plays 3 games
There will be food available for purchase on campus from local vendors

MAP

We will begin our Spring MAP assessments after the break. Students in grades 2-5 will take one MAP assessment a week, following the schedule below. Your child’s teacher will let you know when they will take the assessments. You will note gaps between some of the assessments. This is due to holidays.

Language Assessment - Completed
Reading Assessment - Completed
Reading Assessment - Completed
Make Ups - Week of May 4

The MAP assessments provide external data that compares your child’s performance with a set of recognized standards. Because the assessment is adaptive, we can gather information about children outside of the constraints of grade-level bands.

This is not an assessment that your child can study for. To help her or him do their very best, please ensure that your child gets plenty of rest and eats a healthy breakfast. You can also help your child by not making a big deal about this testing experience. It is not a high-stakes assessment; the children have no reason to feel stressed about their performance. After all students have completed the tests, you will receive information about your child’s performance on the MAP assessment. You can jump to the MAP Family Toolkit for more information about the MAP assessment.

As a school, we look at the results of the MAP assessments to help us better understand each learner and our academic programs. Our classroom teachers will spend time together looking at MAP results in conjunction with other data about learning. As administrators, we use multiple data points (including MAP) over time to help us understand where our students are doing well and where we might consider making programmatic changes. The Spring data helps us see student growth trends over the year. Additionally, we will collect and analyze data from reading and writing assessments.

From the ES Counselors

Save The Date - Departing Families Transition Workshop Invitation

Join us on Wednesday, May 7th from 5:00 - 6:30 pm for connection, activities, and discussion in relation to transitioning out of ACS and into a new place. This is for elementary school students and parents. Expect to connect more deeply with each other (and other leavers) on the things that make leaving complex, and perhaps gain clarity on the things you and your family might do to offer closure to your time at ACS or in Amman. We will send out a formal invitation to all departing families with more detailed information soon, and we hope you will join us. Location TBD.

Please reach out to one of the ES counselors, Hayley Jeanes or Tim Steadman, with any questions.

April Family Connection Challenge

The ES counseling department is excited to share another fun challenge for families to enjoy at home! This April, make it your family’s mission to create 100 moments of connection.

With spring break on the horizon, this is a perfect opportunity to be intentional about spending quality time together. Connection doesn’t have to be fancy or time-consuming—what matters most is presence and love. Whether it’s taking a family walk, having a game night, spending ten minutes drawing together, or sharing jokes, every little moment counts!

How It Works:

Choose a handout from the available options. You can print one at home or pick one up from Ms. Hayley or Mr. Tim’s office.
Hang it somewhere visible—on the fridge, a bedroom wall, or anywhere your child will see it often.
Each time you share a moment of connection, your child can color in one space on the handout.
Need inspiration? The handout includes 100 ideas to connect, or you can create your own!
Once all 100 spaces are colored in, have your child bring it in to show a counselor!

Enjoy this special time to bond as a family. We can’t wait to hear about your moments of connection!

Updated Resource Webpage - Discussion ideas and coping strategies when approaching unfairness, violence, crime and war with your child.

Talking about topics like unfairness, violence, crime and war can be hard. You might not know what to say in the moment. Being ready for these talks can help. Please check out the resources on this page and let us know how we can support you!

Tim Steadman and Hayley Jeanes