Counselors' corner

University visits and acceptances, parent coffee mornings, and our Secondary School PAL program.

Counselors' corner

University visits and acceptances, parent coffee mornings, and our Secondary School PAL program.

KG coffee mornings

Kindergarten School Counselors LaTanya Weaver (KG East) and Lujain Alafif (KG West) welcomed parents to the Back to School Parent Coffee Mornings every Wednesday in August and September. The coffee mornings were inspired by the Positive Discipline program, developed by Dr. Jane Nelson, which helps teach children important life skills based on mutual respect in the home and at school. Kindergarten teachers and staff use this resource on a daily basis. Counselors shared with parents ways to successfully set a routine for children. Children in pre-school years assert themselves through feeling in control of the environment around them. Routines help children feel secure by knowing what the day has ahead of them. It also teaches children important life management skills from an early age.

The series covered:

Successful Daily Routines

Creating a Peaceful Bedtime Routine

Making Mealtimes Successful

Understanding Power Struggles

Creating a peaceful bedtime routine
Counselors discussed the importance of establishing bedtime routines, and provided the following tips and strategies:

Create a routine together

Establish clear expectations

Be sure that the bedtime routine include bath time, songs/lullabies and story time

Create predictable activities

They suggested reducing nap time as the child gets older:

Make mealtimes successful
For this session, counselors worked with Nurse Rana Bahamdan, School Health Office Lead, who shared important insights about the importance of packing a well-balanced snack and lunch for children at school. Children might find it challenging to eat certain foods. Some strategies that can be useful with selective eaters include:

Avoid pressuring them to eat

Make sure they are hungry

Give them limited choices

Avoid being a short-order cook - meaning to serve/cook a different meal than that you have provided already.

Get them involved in food preparation and grocery shopping

Eat meals together

Be a food role model for your child

Provide familiar food with unfamiliar food together

Start with very small portion.

Understanding power struggles
Counselors shared that there is more to behavior than the external power struggle. It’s important to consider children’s developmental stages as parents find ways to respond to challenges. Try to understand the reason behind the behavior. Using the Mistaken Goal Chart (Positive Discipline) will offer suggested ways to navigate power struggles proactively.One useful strategy is sharing power with your child to build a sense of belonging. Give limited choices that are acceptable for you, such as “Would you like to wear the blue or red shoes this morning?”. You can also give your child the opportunity to be part of decision making such as creating routines, “Would you like to get dressed first or eat breakfast?”. These strategies, when used consistently, can empower your child and reduce power struggles.

Resources

If you’re looking for resources you can use at home, please visit the Kindergarten libraries to access the Positive Discipline books referenced during our Parent Coffee Mornings. You can also schedule individual meetings with KG Counselors for support, concerns, and questions using the contact information below:

The following books can be checked out in the KG East/West Library:

Lujain Alafif (KG West)

LaTanya Weaver (KG East)

KG East Counselor
LaTanya Weaver
latanya.weaver@thekaustschool.org

KG West Counselor
Lujain Alafif
lujain.alafif@thekaustschool.org

University visits and acceptances

With global travel restrictions finally behind us, universities worldwide have resumed their recruitment tours, with TKS a priority stop on their agenda. Early in the school year, TKS has already played host to numerous individual university representatives, while also having hosted a tour group of nearly 20 US universities.

With many more visits to come, the following institutions have visited us so far this school year, and shared information about their admissions process, study programs, campus life, and more.

American University of SharjahThis event took place during the High School Flex and Lunch blocks and was attended by students and parents.

New York University Abu Dhabi

The University of DelawareDr. Scott Steven, Director of English Language Institute at the University of Delaware, was on school campus to share information about this US nationally-ranked university, with award-winning faculty, a beautiful, vibrant campus, and opportunities to study in campus labs and classrooms, or through internship and study abroad programs around the globe.

Niche Hospitality

We also hosted Nazih Chatila, Managing Director of Niche Hospitality. Nazih was with us to represent these three institutions specializing in the hospitality industry:

The Glion Institute of Higher Education

Founded in 1962, Glion is firmly established among the world’s finest educational institutions specializing in hospitality and luxury management.

Les Roches International School of Hotel Management

One of the world’s leading hospitality schools.

École Ducasse

A culinary school with a worldwide reputation for excellence in teaching culinary and pastry arts, sharing the expertise and philosophy of the iconic chef Alain Ducasse.

Niche Hospitality

In October, we hosted a university tour by the US Educational Group, representing 19 US educational institutions and one Egyptian university. Students and parents joined us for this event, located in the GSS Flag Pavilion. They met with representatives from the following universities to learn about the admissions process, academic programs, student life, scholarship opportunities, and more.

US Educational Group

American University in Cairo
Arizona State University
Baylor University
Central Michigan University
Colorado State University
DePaul University
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
George Washington University
Kent State University
Purdue University
Savannah College of Art & Design
Suffolk University
University of Cincinnati
University of Florida
University of Iowa
University of Kentucky
University of Tennessee
Virginia Tech
Wayne State University

Collaborating with KAUST

In October, we hosted our second university fair in collaboration with the generous graduate and postgraduate students of KAUST.
Utilizing the ever-growing partnership between KAUST and TKS, the information during the fair was delivered by KAUST students representing their former universities. All KAUST students were trained by admissions officers of their former university to accurately represent their alma mater.This year's event allowed more than a dozen representatives the opportunity to share their recent undergraduate experiences with our students and parents. Students learned about the programs offered, admissions criteria, scholarship opportunities, and campus life. We are thankful to the students from KAUST who gave their time and effort to make this event a success. Additionally, we thank the admissions department from each of the participating institutions for their support.

Alfaisal University (Saudi Arabia)
University of Birmingham (United Kingdom)
National Taiwan University (Taiwan)
University of Western Ontario (Canada)
University of British Columbia (Canada)
Boston University (United States)
Emory University (United States)
University of Delaware (United States)
University of Minnesota Twin Cities (United States)
Purdue University (United States)
University of Arizona (United States)
University of California Irvine (United States)
University of Colorado Boulder (United States)
University of Massachusetts Amherst (United States)

University acceptances

This year, we introduced a new application platform to our students. Concourse Global is an online platform where universities apply for students, flipping the script on traditional admissions. One of the best aspects of this service is that it's free!

Each senior student has created a Concourse profile, outlining their personal and educational interests, as well as their qualifications. Universities and colleges affiliated with the platform are now looking through the portal to find students that match their criteria. So far, our senior students have received the following feedback from Concourse Global:

36 students have received one or more acceptances (59% of the senior class)

Offers so far totaling scholarships worth: 7,984,200 USD, 80,000 CAD, 496,000 AED, 60,000 GBP, and 1,680,000 YEN

Acceptances onto 73 distinct academic programs

All of this is without students having to submit one traditional university application! We look forward to our students submitting regular applications in the coming months and to seeing the success that our students are sure to enjoy. In the meantime, it is great to see that the hard work our students have committed themselves to over the past years has begun to reap rewards.Brett Bowring
College Counselor

Introducing our
new PALs!

Our Secondary School PAL program (Peer Ambassadors and Leaders) is a student-based program that aims to make transitions easier for students and teachers.

PALs also are the face of Secondary School for visitors and activities led by our school.

As PALs, we aim to create meaningful transition care support that creates positive change to the lives of those in transition and within our school community. Our mission is to help new secondary students and their families transition to and from Secondary School academically, socially, emotionally, and culturally.

This mission also includes supporting current students (stayers) within Secondary School and Grade 5 students transitioning to Secondary School as well as Grade 8 students transitioning to High School.

We would like to congratulate the following students who have been appointed as Peer Ambassadors and Leaders (PALs). They all exhibited excellent and necessary qualities during the interview process.

Motassim Faisal
Azka Dar
Abdulmuhsen Sama
Laiba Shah
Amatullah Raji
Jishnu Janmejay
Franco Cadiz
Jenna AbdelAal
Maya Almotairi
Nadeen Ghawanmeh

We would also like to acknowledge our original PALs who spearheaded this initiative last academic year:

Aisyah Rasyidin
Nabiha Iqbal
Athena Harvey
Aila Wonka
Ummu Pattani
Dean Todorov
Flora Truscott
Pramita Venkatesh
Elodie Hoffman
Minna Khalid

Our new Middle School PALs

Our new High School PALs

Article by:

Nancy Remondi, Secondary School Counselor (Grades 8 & 9)
Adam Kuestermann, Middle School Counselor