A NEW ERA IN LEADERSHIP

Dear A-JIS Community,

It is with great pleasure that we announce and introduce our new Head of School, Mr. Neal Dilk, appointed by the new Board on July 9th 2010. As a school we are looking forward to a new era of leadership and direction for A-JIS, bringing our school to its rightful place in the international educational arena.

Many of you know Mr. Dilk, but may not know his complete background. Mr. Dilk has worked at A-JIS for twelve years, and previous to his role as Head of School, worked as the Director of Curriculum, the Middle School Principal and as the Head of Science. Neal has a Master’s Degree in International School Administration from Lehigh University, has completed principal’s training in London, England at the Principal’s Training Center, and has completed teacher’s training at Brandon University where he earned a Bachelor of Education.

We are also very pleased to announce that Mr. Paul Wright and Ms. Kristine Bordner will be remaining at A-JIS as part of our leadership team in the new school year. Their experience and expertise will be of enormous value to the school in this exciting new era of growth and advancement.

There are many wonderful characteristics that make A-JIS a great place for students to learn. We will hold on tightly to those values as we adjust school processes and improve practices. We look forward to your continued support of the School and our new leadership as we work together to move A-JIS forward into a bigger and brighter future.

We look forward to meeting all of our current and new families next month for the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year. In the meantime we wish all A-JIS families and safe and enjoyable summer break.

THANK YOU A-JIS!

This week we are proud to receive a generous letter of thanks from Partner's in Health for the fantastic efforts of the A-JIS Student Council, all students, parents, faculty, staff and our wider community in raising funds for the relief effort in Haiti.

May 25, 2010

Dear students, teachers, staff, and families of Aoba Japan International School,

All of us at Partners In Health are profoundly grateful for your contribution to Haiti earthquake relief. We are honored to accept your gift of over $10,000 from a one-month campaign in January 2010, with special thanks to A-JIS Student Council 2009-2010 and The A-JIS Family Community 2009-2010. We are truly inspired by your expression of solidarity, your generosity, and your support of our organization at this critical time.

Partners In Health and its local partner Zanmi Lasante have established deep roots in Haiti, where we have provided health care services for over twenty years. Within hours of the earthquake on January 12th, we were able to mobilize a network of over 100 doctors, 600 nurses, and 4,000 employees who were already on the ground. Today, more than one month later, Partners In Health has assumed a central role in providing immediate relief and long-term care for an estimated three million people who were directly affected by this cataclysmic event.

Your generous contribution will go directly towards improving health care infrastructure and health worker training in Port-au-Prince and our 12 pre-existing facilities. Here are some examples of how much the value of your donation can accomplish. By raising over $10,000 dollars, your donation is equivalent to:

The necessary funds to support an entire mobile clinic for two weeks, providing basic primary care to hundreds of Haitians.

Or, the cost of hiring a nurse midwife, who ensures safe deliveries of newborns and supports women's health.

Or, the price of providing more than 100 houses with water purification systems.

While your contribution will go far to alleviate Haiti's urgent calls for help, we ask you to remember that the recovery and rebuilding process is far from over. We encourage you to stay informed about our progress by visiting our website at pih.org. Stand with us. Stand with Haiti.

In Solidarity,

Elise Garrity

Student Outreach Volunteer