Clarion Newsletter, March 24, 2023

Dear Parents and Friends of Clarion,

I would like to wish everyone Ramadan Kareem as we enter the holy month of Ramadan.

1. Ramadan Schedule –

Just a friendly reminder on our Ramadan schedule that will be in effect until April 21. Please take note of the following schedule -

Ramadan, the holy month of fasting and spiritual reflection, is anticipated to commence on March 23 and conclude on April 21. In light of this, we have made some adjustments to our student schedule during this period, which are outlined below

Monday – Thursday – 8:00 AM – 1:00 PM

Friday – 8:00 AM – 11:45 AM

Please note, there will be no CCI (teacher led activities) activities taking place during this period. However, CCE (led by external vendors) activities will continue to operate as usual -

Monday – Thursday – 1:15 PM - 2:15 PM

Friday – 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

Also, during this period, students who are not fasting will have a short break to take their meals.

2. Spring Break –

We would like to kindly remind you that our Spring break is scheduled from March 26 to April 7, with students expected to return on Monday, April 10. Please be advised that we will continue to follow our Ramadan schedule until after the Eid al Fitr holiday. Our regular school schedule will resume on Monday, April 24.

3. Student Attendance and Lates –

We would like to express our gratitude to all the parents who have supported our efforts to improve student attendance. Thanks to your incredible response, we are very close to achieving our attendance target of 95%, and with your ongoing commitment, we may even surpass it! We have identified a few procedural issues that we will address promptly to further improve our attendance records.

To ensure accurate data, we kindly request the following:

1. Please notify Poonam at pkadam@clarionschool.com if your child is absent due to illness or a medical appointment.
2. If your child arrives after 8:00 AM, kindly ensure that they obtain a late slip from the Atrium before proceeding to their class.

Attendance Facts –

• Assuming a month with 20 school days, a child's attendance rate would be 95% if they miss only one day, but it would decrease to 90% if they miss two days.
• Being consistently late by just 10 minutes each day can add up to missing 32 hours of valuable instruction time over the course of a school year. Similarly, a student who misses one day of school per week will end up losing approximately 2 months of instruction time in a year.
• Consistent absenteeism of half a day per week throughout a student's educational journey can result in the loss of a full year's worth of education.

Student absence for the reason of holiday travel is not considered an excused absence as per KHDA guidelines.

Please note that all extended student leaves in excess of 3 days require the submission of a request form. The form is available from our Atrium area or email: admin@clarionschool.com.

4. Sibling Enrollment at Clarion –

If you have a younger sibling in your family who you are planning to enroll in September 2023, please reach out to Emily from our admissions team at admissions@clarionschool.com.

5. Clarion Sports –

Well done to the U8-U11 Swim Squad who took part in their 3rd DASSA Swimming Gala on Tuesday, March 21.

Highlights

Here are the results of the recent swim meet:

• Individual Medley – Inti, a Grade 6 student, earned 2nd place.
• Under 8 Freestyle Relay – Zoe and Laura (Grade 2-A), Eva B (Grade 2-A), and Eva M (Grade 2-B) secured 3rd place.
• Under 8 Backstroke – Laura (Grade 2-A) won 1st place.
• Under 8 Breaststroke – Zoe (Grade 2-A) took 1st place.
• Under 9 Breaststroke – Eleonore (Grade 3-A) placed 3rd.
• Under 11 Breaststroke – Stella (Grade 5) won 1st place.
• Under 8 Freestyle – Eva B (Grade 2-A) earned 3rd place.
• Under 11 Freestyle – Inti (Grade 6) claimed 1st place.
• Under 8 Butterfly – Eva B (Grade 2-A) came in 2nd place.
• Under 9 Medley Relay – Zoe and Laura (Grade 2-A), Eva B (Grade 2-A), and Eva M (Grade 2-B) placed 2nd.
• Under 8 Mixed Freestyle Relay – Eva B and Zoe (Grade 2-A), Rai and Logan (Grade 2-B) secured 3rd place.

In closing, I wish everyone a wonderful weekend and I look forward to seeing everyone on Monday, April 10, 2023 after the Spring Break!

Sincerely,

Larry