- Please feel free to contact the Receptionist to make an appointment or send a note to your child’s teacher.
- Formal Parent/Teacher Conferences are scheduled at mid-term for the First and Second Trimesters.
- Parents who cannot supply a translator should indicate that assistance is needed when requesting an appointment.
- Yearly Calendar (dates of school opening, closing and holidays)
- Monthly Events Calendar
- “What’s Up” our weekly newsletter
- The “CAS Parent/Student Handbook” (information on school procedures and programs)
- Mid-Trimester Reports and end of term Report Cards
- Community Meetings
- Bulletin board outside Reception for Board Activity
- Activity board located near the fountain for community events
- Through your child’s agenda
- Letters and notices sent to parents through their children
- Open Board meetings every other month
- Yearly Association meeting in May
- Website and portal (Edline)
- Electronic Message Board
The school does not provide transportation for children.
There is no mandatory school uniform, but there is a dress code, see the Parent/Student Handbook page 47. For Physical Education classes students must wear soccer/basketball-style shorts or sweatpants, T-shirt or sweatshirt, sneakers and socks.
Yes, there is a full cafeteria at CAS. Students may bring their lunch to school or purchase the monthly menu by filling out selections and presenting these with payment to the Bookkeeping Office or in the case of Upper School students, they may purchase a la carte items. Parents are asked not to send fast food to school with or for their children. Lunch deliveries are no longer possible for security reasons.
Lunch:
Pre-1st to 2nd grade: 11:30 until 12:00.
3rd to 5th grades: 12:00 until 12:30.
6th to 8th grades: 12:30 until 13:15.
9th to 12th grades: 13:15 until 14:00.
Yes. Students are expected to list assignments in agendas provided by the school. Suggested daily allotments for homework are as follows:
Grade 1: 20 minutes
Grade 2: 30 minutes
Grades 3 & 4: 45 minutes
Grade 5: 1 hour
Grade 6: 1 hour 30 minutes
Grade 7: 2 hours
Grade 8: 2 hours 30 minutes
Grade 9: 3 hours
Grade 10: 3 hours 30 minutes
Grades 11 & 12: 4 – 5 hours
Yes. Activities are offered on a Trimester basis preceded by distribution of activity program brochures and sign-up sheets. Activities offered have included: Student Council, Legos & Games, Saturday Soccer, Cooking, Tee Ball, Arabic Letters & Songs, Stories in English-French-Arabic, Dancercise, Homework Help, Junior Girl Scouts, and Band for Lower School. Upper School activities have included: Student Council, Hiking, Handicrafts, Band, Homework Help, Art Club, Debate/Harvard Model Congress, Math Help, Community Service, Running Club, Turkish Club, Fitness Club and Photography.
The Athletic Director is responsible for coordinating extra athletic events. Team sports include: badminton, basketball, soccer, softball, track and field, and volleyball.
Yes. Arabic A is offered to native speakers from Second grade while Arabic B as a foreign language is offered to students who are not native speakers from Second grade to Eighth grade. Arabic meets for three one-hour periods a week.
Yes. French A is offered to Franco-phones and French B to non Franco-phones. ELL is scheduled through the English-as-a-Learning-Language Department. Other languages can be accommodated during the school day for parents who wish to hire outside teachers.
When a child first enters CAS, his/her level of English proficiency is measured. If his/her proficiency is not adequate for the mainstream classroom, he/she is scheduled for ELL classes. Students with no English proficiency or limited proficiency attend ELL classes during French or Arabic and Reading/Language Arts periods. This group often consists of students new to CAS. Such students generally spend two to three years in ELL. At first, a student develops oral language skills which will help him/her in interpersonal communication in the classroom. This stage is marked by cultural adjustment to a new school with a language foreign to the child. Gradually, the child is challenged with academic language tasks that provide him/her with the listening, speaking, reading and writing skills necessary to understand and participate in activities in the mainstream classroom.
08:00 – Reception opens
08:15 – Students should be at school
15:00 – Nursery & Kindergarten, Pre-First & First Grade dismissal
15:45 – Second to Twelfth grade dismissal
17:00 – Reception closes
08:00 – Reception opens
08:15 – Students should be at school
15:00 – Nursery & Kindergarten, Pre-First & First Grade dismissal
15:45 – Second to Twelfth grade dismissal
17:00 – Reception closes
Yes. The School Nurse is on duty in the Infirmary Monday through Friday from 08:00 until 17:00. The CAS Health Form must be completed for all new students and updated at entry to Grades 1, 4, 7 and 10. Parents are requested to keep their child’s health form up to date. All prescription medicines to be administered at school must be given to the nurse. Students should not carry prescription drugs in their bag.
No. Swimming takes place at either the Mohamed V Complex pool or at other local facilities.
CAS offers both internal and external standardized tests or exams. Internal exams consist of quizzes, tests and exams. These are usually teacher or textbook driven on the material covered to date. Quizzes are not always announced and can cover as little as one question. Tests are usually larger and can cover one unit or more. Exams are much larger and could cover whole sections or an entire term. Mid-year and Final exams cover half or the whole year’s work. The value of each assessment tool is determined by the individual teacher following CAS guidelines.
External exams use assessment criteria set up or graded by organizations other than CAS. Those include: Gates-MacGinitie; MAP, or the Measure of Academic Progress, which is a computerized adaptive test which helps teachers, parents, and administrators improve learning for all students and make informed decisions to promote a child’s academic growth; Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL); Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT); Scholastic Aptitude Test I (SAT I); Scholastic Aptitude Test II (SAT II); International Baccalaureate Exams (IB); and Advanced Placement Exams (AP).
The PTA is the Parent Teacher Association consisting of all parents and full-time teachers. The PTA seeks to enhance the overall educational program of the school by assisting with special events (Spring Fair, Track Meet, etc.) and supporting efforts to increase communication among parents, teachers, and the school administration.
Room parents are mothers or fathers who volunteer to serve as the link between other parents in the class, the teacher and the PTA. They help to organize special events in the class and promote PTA activities.
All parents or legal guardians of children currently enrolled in the Casablanca American School, contracted teaching staff, senior administrators, librarians, counselors, and interns of the Casablanca American School.
The Board of Directors is comprised of seven CAS parents who are elected by the Association and one US citizen from the American Consulate. The Board is a policy making group, legally empowered to act on behalf of the Association. The principal purpose of the Board is to chart a course of action through development of policy and to provide a guarantee to the Association that the school’s philosophy is upheld.
The Board of Trustees is charged with the moral oversight of the operation of the CAS Association. It serves as an advisory body to the CAS Board of Directors. Charged with the philosophical and financial perpetuation of the school, the Trustees may offer advice regarding significant decisions of the Board of Directors. It also serves as a supplemental public relations and fundraising arm of the school.
CAS employs a half-time School Counselor for both Upper School and Lower School students, whose duties are to facilitate learning and to promote the cognitive, social and personal development of all students using individual and group discussions.
Each grade level team has in place a developmentally appropriate behavior management system that complements the discipline policy of CAS. This plan is communicated by grade level teachers, school administrators, and the CAS Parent/Student Handbook.
The tuition is the same regardless of nationality or affiliation. However, a 15% reduction in tuition is given to the third child in an attending family.