Board News 

Last year the ICS Board of Governors opened up its communication plan to listen to more parents in the school. Throughout the year, each Board member met with a small group of parents who were selected at random from our directory. This allowed our Board to hear from many people who would not normally speak up about the school. Six "Meet the Board" meetings were held with a total of 35 parents; the ideas, comments and suggestions that were shared in those meetings were included in the Board's retreats in May and June.

This year's Board will continue listening to parents in the same manner. Each Board member will host a "Meet the Board" session with a small group of parents at some point in the school year. One Board member will meet with five to seven parents to ask questions about how the school is doing and what ICS can do better; the meeting will last about one hour. Parents will be selected at random and invited by email or phone. If you are called upon, we hope you can attend so that our Board can hear from you.

On 13 June, the 2010-2011 Board had its last meeting. The Board of Governors wishes to thank everyone for a great school year and hopes that everyone has a wonderful summer break.

New Director
The recruitment process of the director is one of the primary responsibilities of a school board. The new director search and selection process was completed with the involvement of parents and staff in October.

Regular Work
During regular monthly board meetings, we focused, among other things, on:

• putting in place new policies while refining others;
• reports on student learning results and the quality of school programs by the leadership team of the school;
• creating a new Board Secretary Position and putting in place new procedures for better recording board activities and decisions. From this Board cycle forward, future Boards and Administrators will now have a more accessible record of motions and decisions that were made;
• continuing to work on acquiring the title deed needed before we can construct school buildings;
• recruitment and supervision processes throughout the school;
• developing long term financial planning models;
• a “Dashboard” of quality indicators that will be shared in common with other international schools in Africa;
• revamping the Board webpage, and;
• helping the PTA to finish its by-laws.

Construction
New construction policies and procedures, and methods of critical decision-making, will be passed on to next year’s Board. As part of this discussion, we have also begun examining the physical plant or layout of the school, and even considered ideas of a satellite campus and several other options. Four temporary classrooms were built this year in preparation for anticipated growth and the construction of permanent buildings.

The actual plans for our major projects are being developed by architects and engineers. However the Board and senior Administration have been focusing on procedures to support construction work: selecting the right architectures; if, when and how to take loans; title deeds; construction sequencing; the City of Addis; the Mayor’s Office; the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry; and a range of other important issues.

Contact With the Association
Do we as Board members always get it right? Probably not, but we do want to listen and learn, and understand that the questions and concerns you raise are about your children and their futures. This year, individual board members met with small groups of parents to talk about their children’s education and ICS. These meeting yielded concerns, thoughts, compliments and suggestions, and we reflected on these in our retreats. We will continue to organize such meetings and hope to meet many of you again one evening next school year.

Retreats
In addition to the regular monthly board meetings, we held three retreats that allowed us to take a look into important areas: the shape of ICS’s future, our vision and the challenges to tackle are continuous themes during these retreats. The September retreat was a very rich experience, as it allowed sharing thoughts with senior staff about what 21st century education is about and how we might want to take ICS there. The May retreat was for self-evaluation and in June we were joined by Gil Brown, a Board consultant with over 50 years of experience as a school director and Board trainer. We are still digesting his wealth of experience and food for thought about governance, and what comes with the expansion of an international school like ours.

Vision 2021
Preliminary work on the 2021 Vision Statement (or the 10-year plan) has begun and we will hand it over to next year’s Board for further refinement. To date, this has been a largely Board - Administration discussion but it will need to include the Association sometime in the near future. This is a new, long-range initiative, and one of the Board’s primary tasks. Using the present day to guide us into the future the 2021 Vision focuses on three areas:

• ICS will continue to be an inclusive school that offers the IB using a unique American-style educational process.
• We don’t know how many students the school should cap at yet but one of the cornerstones is the continued expectation of educational standards that put our kids in a good position to be accepted by other schools, and later at university.

Thanks
And finally, we would like to say thanks to a history of almost 50 years of Board members, staff, and parents who have all contributed something positive to this school. We know that our current community will continue to do their best.

We also bid a sad farewell to three Board members, Tom, Charlie and, earlier this year, Shefali. And finally, we would also like to say farewell and good luck to the staff that have left us or will leave us over the summer. The Board thanks you for your commitment and to everyone from our present day Administrators to the teaching staff and the security guards: “Well Done”.

The Board of School Year 2010-2011

In November and April the Association General Meeting (AGM), takes place. This is in an opportunity for both the Board and the Administration to brief the Members of the Association on the school's academic, social, extracurricular and financial statuses.

Every year at the April AGM, new Board Member Nominees stand for election to the ICS Board of Governors. This year three Board Members will complete their two year terms and the US Ambassador will nominate a new representative to the Board. If you are interested in shaping the future in your child's school and making ICS the best possible school for all children, please consider running for election to the Board. If you have any questions about serving on the ICS Board, please feel free to contact any current Board Member who will be happy to speak to you about this valuable volunteer opportunity. ICS needs enthusiastic, positive, dynamic and dedicated individuals to serve on the Board.

A one page Letter of Interest with a current photo may be submitted to the following Board members only, via email or by hard copy. They must be received no later than close of business on 25 March 2011. Announcements of the candidates and posting of Letters of Interest will begin on Monday 4 April 2011. There will be a Board Nominee orientation session on 11 April 2011 with the current Board to acquaint candidates with the Governance process, prior to the elections. Further instructions on the voting procedures will be provided after the nominees are published in a separate message to the Association.

Tom FitzPatrick, Election Committee Chair
Mobile: 0911-509-512
Email: fitzpatricktj(at)state.gov

Scott Saarlas: Election Committee
Mobile: 0913-135-357
Email: scott.saarlas(at)gmail.com

Charlie Sewall: Election Committee
Mobile: 0911-509-527
Email: sewallch(at)state.gov

Following are the candidates for the position of ICS director:
1. Barry Clough [American International School, Chennai, India]
2. Judith Drotar [American School of Tripoli]
3. Jim Laney [International Community School, Addis Ababa]

Their CVs are posted on the bulletin board in the reception area and will remain there until 28 October.

Association members, which includes all ICS parents, will have the opportunity to meet the candidates at the following times:
Monday 25 October: Meet Barry Clough, 8:00 AM in the MPR
Tuesday 26 October: Meet Judith Drotor, 8:00 AM in the MPR
Wednesday 27 October: Meet Jim Laney, 8:00 AM in the MPR

Each candidate will meet five different focus groups during the campus interview process:
1. Each candidate will meet the Hay Group consultant for a leadership profile assessment which will be shared with the board during the executive session when the board will make its final decision.
2. Each candidate will meet the Association; the PTA will coordinate 3 open sessions of 45 minutes each as indicated on the schedule.
3. Each candidate will also meet the HS Student Council. This will be coordinated by the school.
4. Each candidate will meet the board for dinner which will include the interview/impression gathering event.
5. Each candidate will meet the senior leadership of the school. This will exclude Jim Laney as he is one of the candidates.
6. Each candidate will meet the staff of the school. Again, this will exclude Jim Laney as he is one of the candidates.

All candidates are being treated equally, including Jim Laney, as we would like him to go through the same process as the other two candidates.

We have developed a feedback matrix for each focus group with a set of questions. Each group is requested to ask these questions and any other questions they would like to ask. The questions from the matrix do not need to be asked in sequential order but must be asked during the face to face meeting. Please do remember that each focus group is only providing feedback and not voting for a candidate. The feedback from each group will be discussed during the board executive session and the board will vote for the final candidate as director.

Once the board meets on October 28 and votes, the Board Chair will communicate the decision to the successful candidate. Once the candidate accepts the job offer, I will then communicate to the runner up candidates the decision of the board via CIS, the international recruitment firm appointed by the board to assist with the Director’s search.

Thanks,
Omar Khoso Carrera
Vice Chair, ICS Board
Chair, Director’s Search Committee