Message from the Principal 

Dear Parent,

Tena-yistelgn! Welcome to the elementary school at ICS Addis Ababa. If you haven’t already met me, my name is Hubert Gordon, and I will be your child’s principal during your time here in Ethiopia.

The ICS elementary program is based on standards developed in the United States of America and we have been careful to choose standards that are internationally benchmarked in order to meet the needs of students from other educational systems. As a student at ICS, your child will receive the most current instruction in reading, writing, math, science, and social studies. They will also be introduced to Ethiopian language and culture, so that they can communicate on a basic level with people from the local community. Last but not least they will receive a variety of special classes such as art, music, foreign language, library studies, and social-emotional guidance. We hope that your experience here will be positive and enriching.

Parent Teachers Association

Elementary education is an important part of your child’s schooling because it provides the foundation for all future levels of education. During your time with us we hope that you will get involved at the school. If you have time, you can participate in the PTA (Parent Teachers Association), or volunteer in one of our classrooms. If you would like to get involved please contact our PTA President at pta.president(at)icsaddis.edu.et.

Student Discipline

Much of what we do around student discipline is packaged as part of the ICS Way. Students are taught to take care of themselves, this place, and others and we encourage them to do so by giving them positive recognition in the form of Mini-Alerts. Most the time we don’t have serious behavioral issues at the school but occasionally it can happen. If your child does not meet our behavioral expectations either the Elementary Assistant Principal or the Guidance Counselor will contact you and ask you to schedule a meeting. We expect all students to respect all the adults working on the campus and we ask you to support our efforts by modeling similar behavior when you are on campus.

Visiting the Classroom

We hope that you will want to visit your child’s classroom during the year but we ask that you schedule your visit with the classroom teacher. Parents are welcome to stop by and talk to the teacher during drop off and pickup times, however, visiting the class during instructional times must be scheduled with the teacher in advance. This includes visits to the class for birthday parties.

Once again, welcome to ICS Addis Ababa! We look forward to a wonderful year of school.

Sincerely,

Hubert Gordon
Elementary Principal