2020-2021 Re-Enrollment Letter

Reletter
Registration Apri 15 - May 31, 2020

Dear
Families,
All around the world we are facing challenging and uncertain times
which are teaching us new ways of navigating and balancing life as we
know it. As we overcome this situation we are learning the power of
resilience which gives us the strength to innovate, adapt and create
solutions that allow us to move forward.
For 75 years, the American School of Guatemala has been a source
of continuity for families and teachers alike. If there is one thing
that you can be certain of is that at CAG we are making an immense
effort to support our families and we are certain that together, as a
community, we will thrive.
Thriving in Difficult Times
In an effort to transform education and break new ground, our faculty
and staff have been working diligently to stay connected and continue
virtual teaching and learning through our CAG Virtual School program.
Moving away from our comfort zone, we have had the opportunity to
innovate and our teachers have accomplished amazing things so our
students can continue to learn, create and develop new skills.
In an effort to continue to advance our school during these mostchallenging
times, we have opened pathways to help our parents
finance a CAG education through the following payment options:
Offered to families whose account was up to date as of February 29, 2020:
2019-2020 School Year Tuition
• 4 month payment option for April-May 2020 tuition (April, May,
June, and July 2020 by the 15th of each month)
2020-2021 School Year Re-enrollment payment
• 4 month payment option for Re-enrollment fees (April, May, June,
and July 2020)
* Re-enrollment fees need to be paid in full by July 31st, 2020
We also want our families to know that we are working on ways to
offer financial assistance to those who are in need during this time.
To learn more about this, we ask that you contact us at
financialaid@cag.edu.gt to help guide you through the established
process and determine if you are a candidate for this option.
We want to remind our community that as a non-profit organization,
the school’s sustainability and ability to operate relies on tuition
payments, and for this reason we urge families who are able to
make payments on time to continue doing so in order to help
us move forward during this time.

An Inspiring Legacy
At CAG, we respect the investment our families make for a quality education.
We want CAG to continue to be a family school where students can obtain
a rigorous, bilingual education with a global perspective that is intended
to build Guatemalan leaders. While recognizing 75 years of tradition in
academic leadership and excellence, we want to share with you important
goals we have established to steer us towards CAG’s vision during the
2020/2021 school year.
Student-Centered Approaches
In May of 2019, CAG instituted a survey tool for students in all sections to
share with us what they love and what they hope improves for them at CAG
overtime.
Through this feedback, we learned that students hope for increased choices
in their course selections and more diversity in their day.
In response to this feedback…
•The High School is adapting a new daily schedule for grades 9-12 that will
continue to rotate and retain the trimester structure. However, between
trimesters, there will be two-week reprieves for students to
explore electives and specialized classes outside of core
content.
•Increased choice has also opened in Lower School with
upper elementary aged students selecting courses in
STEM, performing and visual arts.
Striving for Academic Excellence
The school has established an academic department chair structure this
past year. This means, faculty experts are helping us establish the curriculum
standards and best practice for instruction in each of the academic subjects
we offer at CAG from Prek-12th grade.
Lower School
•Math standards have been aligned from Prek-5 to bridge with grades 6-12.
•The program we have selected is called Bridges- a conceptual math program
with a slightly more traditional approach as our young students develop
mathematical sense at the foundation grade levels.
Middle School
We look to open a Maker Lab in August 2020, where faculty can use the space
to encourage children to design solutions to the problems they are faced with
High School
We are offering increased Advanced Placement courses
options for all high schoolers and have added a new
course to the menu: AP Capstone. Only a few schools
across the world offer this class. The class is a two-year
exploration course that develops students' skills in
research, allowing them to use data to propose ideas
and solutions that contribute to society, with a formal
presentation to the community upon completion of the
course.

Enhancing the Experience.
For each and every student.
Award Winning, World Class Education
The American School of Guatemala continues to develop the best
academic and professional standards and attracts outstanding
international educators to join our team.
In the past year we have received the following honors and
awards:
Student Life
•Over the years, we have observed an increase in student
participation in our Extracurricular Activities (ECA) and Athletics.
We also have a growing summer camp program. Making sure we
offer extended programs that are rich in choices for our families
in a growing city with increased traffic is a priority for us.
•Of course, ongoing service learning programs and vacation
internship programs will continue to support student interactions
with national and multinational companies who seek the best
talent from our rising CAG starts.
National honors from the ministry of education with the Órden
Pedagógica Dr. Juan José Arévalo Bermejo,
Finalist nomination in the Pastoral Initiative of the International
School Awards for the evolution of our scholarship program,
Grants for our 8th grade service learning program from the
Association of Middle Level Education (AMLE),
Nominations recognizing María Teresa (Teté) Chacón for her work
in leadership and 8th grade Kira Jacobs for her work in service
learning to support literacy development in Guatemala,
Invitations to publish and present faculty work in Colombia, Brazil,
and Costa Rica,
The work of faculty and students
directly supports programmatic
development and brings the best and
brightest attention to Guatemala.

Finally, the class of 2020 is a great example of potential, inspiration and
empowerment. College acceptances are coming in strong. There are some
great accomplishments and a very broad range of institutions represented,
including over 12 countries, 4 Ivy League schools, and three "first time
acceptances" at some excellent international programs -
United World College, Princeton, U. Penn, North Eastern University,
New York University Abu Dhabi, Texas A&M, Manchester University,
American University in London, Tulane, Yale NUS Singapore, University
of Tel Aviv-Columbia University, and the list goes on.
We are indeed proud of these accomplishments, and look forward to
celebrating more of them in 2020/2021.
A Continuum of mission-centered excellence
• Taking matters into consideration and after
thoroughly exploring different options and
scenarios , we are anticipating an enrollment of
1,620 students with a tuition increase of 2% that
will allow us to continue to provide competitive,
world class programs.
• We are offering different options for tuition
payment:
a. One payment for the entire annual tuition
by August 15th, 2020. You receive a 2%
discount.
b. Two payments for the entire annual tuition.
First payment for 50% annual tuition must
be made by August 15th, 2020 and second
payment for second 50% annual tuition must
be made by January 15th, 2021. You receive
a 1% discount to be applied the moment the
second payment is made.
c. Ten monthly payments by the 15th of every
month from August 2020 through May 2021.
•We encourage ALL CAG families to use SCHOOL
TRANSPORTATION. We have invested considerably in our
transportation fleet these past years. This investment ensures that
we offer the safest and most reliable services for our students.
This year transportation fees will NOT increase and we will
continue to extend a 5% discount for the third sibling rider.
Changes in our Re-enrollment Process
We have updated some details on the registration form for all
families to be aware. We ask our families to read the registration
form and understand the commitment we are offering our
students, but also the expectations we have of all the members of
our community.
Online registration and online payment are new features this
year for the convenience of our families. However, we will require
all families, per enrolled child, to print and sign the agreements
and return to school in order for your children to be fully
registered. Details will be shared in the following weeks.
While quarantine and self-distancing is being advocated
globally, our willingness to share and stay virtually
connected makes our community stronger.
We hope to be reunited soon.
Please reach out to us with any questions you may
have. As always, we will be here to assist you.
In the tradition of maroon and gray,
Patricia Lee Marshall
General Director