Great parent involvement

Alruwad International School is fortunate to have strong parental involvement. Here is a photo just before morning assembly starts.

School Opening Assembly

Alruwad International School opened its doors for the first time ever today. We opened with an assembly that featured one very entertaining magician!

University of Lethbridge

Here is a photo of the Parent Orientation Session at the school tonight. There are 12 U/L Faculty of Education graduates plus three PS III I terns on the stage here in Muscat. Dr. Pamela Adams is currently here supporting the PS IIIs & consulting on the school opening.

Parent Drop In Sessions

The school opened today with parent drop in sessions with the teachers!

Staff Team Work

Despite language and cultural differences the staff is learning to work effectively in collaboration.

Omani National Anthem

Each school day starts with the Omani National Anthem in a school assembly. Here our talented Arabic staff is teaching the song and movements to the rest of the staff.

Great Staff

The school is blessed with a great staff that has teaching background, nationalities, and experiences from close to two dozen countries. Over 20 of our teachers are from Canada!

Hallways

The lockers are starting to arrive for the hallways!

Playground View

Staff Opening Day

Today was the historic opening day for the staff of Alruwad International School. GREAT start to the creation of our learning community culture. Here is a photo of some the beautiful architecture in Muscat.

Welcome to Muscat

The staff has started to arrive here in Muscat for their first day at the school on Thursday, August 15th. As you can see it is another wonderful day here with highs around 34C.

Cover

The cover was secured in place today!

Kindergarten Classroom

The first of the Kindergarten classrooms is close to being completed with the flooring installed now.

Resources from Alberta

The school central storage room is starting to fill with resources from Alberta. The good people at United Library Services has been fantastic to work with in filling the needs for the school. The resources, textbooks, and library books exceeded $500,000 and ULS was able to handle all parts of a challenging & culturally distinct order.

Vinyl Flooring

The air conditioning is now functioning in the school building so the flooring in the non-tile areas can commence. The tiling has already been installed & here the vinyl flooring is being adhered.

Covering Support

The steel structure to support the cover for the playground & football pitch continues to be put into place in preparation for the cover installation.

School at Night

The permanent power connection is now completed so here is a view of the school at night during testing of the lights.

Almost Sunset

During Ramadan the beaches are quite empty as sunset approaches & people prepare to break their fast. When the sun sets & the call to prayer comes it is a magical time where many of the good people of Oman enjoy a family picnic on the beaches in the growing darkness.

Khuwair Office

The central administration office for the school is currently located in Khuwair about 35 kms from the school. You can see the staff is quite busy even in Ramadan preparing for the school year. The teaching staff will arrive in a little more than two weeks time.

Entrance

Here is the main entrance to the school. Straight ahead are the windows that face the interior courtyard playground. The reception area is located to the left side as well as the administrative offices.

Seeb Corniche & Beach

One of the wonderful advantages of teaching at Alruwad International School is the proximity to the beach. This area of the Seeb Corniche is about 6 km from the school. During this month of Ramadan the beaches are quite empty just before sundown & the end of fast.

Staff Residence 2014-2015

The staff will have residence on site starting in the 2014-15 school year. The construction has now started on the residence at the top of this photo.

School View from the Northeast

The playground area & football pitch continues to develop in the back of the school. This photo is taken from the area in front of the construction of the second school looking south west towards the current building which opens in September to students.

Construction continues

It may be Ramadan but construction continues onwards. A crane is working on the pillars for the football pitch cover. Directly in front of the crane is the start of the second swimming pool.

Interior Playground

The interior playground did receive the last of it's equipment this week. This photo was taken from the third floor looking down towards the installation. This playground will be used by the Kindergarten classes only.

Playground Area

The pillars behind the building continue to be put into their proper spacing in anticipation of the cover. The cover is needed to protect the children from midday heat from the sun that can be an issue in Oman. This view looks towards the pool and neighbourhood villas can be seen in the background.

Hallways in School

The hallways in the school are bright, colourful, and spacious. Here is a view looking east back towards the main entrance with the interior playground on the right side. Flooring to be installed sometime starting next week.

Playground & Football pitch

The cranes arrived today & started the installation of the pillars that will hold the cover in place for the playground & football pitch. Sorry to all the North Americans reading the post but this part of the world football is what is called soccer in your part of the globe. Omanis LOVE their football!

Staff Residence

The people and culture of Oman is warm and friendly so there is no need to live in compounds here. The school has leased this brand new building for the staff for next year which is about 6 kms from the school. In the 2014-15 school year the on-site residence should be completed so the teachers can live right by the school. Our IT Manager Mr. Abdulraqib is standing to the right of the building.

Beauty of Oman

One area of potential misconception is the geography of Oman & in particular the city of Muscat. Oman has kilometres & kilometres of beautiful beaches. This photo was taken about 6km from the school looking west along the Seeb Corniche in greater Muscat. Drive less than 20 kms south from here and you are right in the mountains so there is great diversity in geography.

Construction Fence Removal

Another positive day in the history of the school as the construction fences have been removed. Here is a view of the school from the main road now. The access road will be replaced out front once the construction is completed.

Classrooms

The classrooms inside the school are either 88 square meters for the interior or 100 square meters in the corner classrooms at the end of the hallways. Here is one of the corner classrooms with the Interactive Board installed so you can get the scale of the sizes.

Interior Courtyard Playground

The interior courtyard of the school features a playground for our Kindergarten classes that is separated from the Grade 1-4 playground. Since we have nine classes of Kindergarten students next year it is important for them to have a safe place to play. The playground is almost fully functional now complete with wall fans to keep the area cooled.

Mattrah Corniche

One of the more scenic areas at night is the Mattrah Corniche. This area is a cruise ship port of call so there are plenty of tourists here during the cooler months. The Mattrah Souk is an amazing maze of shops where one can find just about anything but be ready to barter! The Tour of Oman bike race runs Stage Six here yearly in February.

History of Oman

Oman has a relatively peaceful history with only a handful of conflicts over thousands of years. Portugal did attempt to colonize this area........without success. Here is a picture of some of the fortifications that still exist from the struggle. People of Oman are peaceful & humble yet fiercely proud of their country.

Ramadan Kareem

The festive season of Ramadan has started. Wonderful time of fasting, friends, family, and reflection. Everyone is looking forward to Iftar in the evenings which is the feast at sundown after the day of fasting. Here is a photo of the official business palace of the Sultan here in Muscat.

School Swimming Pool

The tiling is now completed at the school's Kindergarten swimming pool. The pool is intentionally shallow for student safety in learning how to swim. Love of the water and swimming are part of the culture of Oman as there are beautiful beaches and beaches and beaches and beaches! Here our talented IT Department of Ms. Sarah & Mr. Abdulraqib show off the pool for us.

Royal Opera House

Not far from our central office in Al Khuwair district is the Royal Opera House. The building is absolutely stunning and attracts world class talent to perform here each year. The good people at the Royal Opera also work closely with schools to enhance the profile of the programs and performers.

Ministry Of Education

We were fortunate enough to be invited to a gathering of all the International School in Oman. The gathering was held at Ministry Buildings which can be seen in the background of this photo. The national flag of Oman is proudly being displayed over the building which is located here in the capital city of Muscat.

Ramadan

Excitement continues to escalate as Ramadan starts soon. There is a festive atmosphere everywhere you go as people prepare. The stores and malls now have special offerings of food for entertaining during the season. Here is another photo of dates that are ripening for harvest here quickly.

People of Oman

The people of Oman has overwhelmed the school with their gracious support. Alruwad International School will open with over 400 students in our inaugural year & 91% of the school population are native students of Oman. We are pleased to announce the hiring of our crew chief for the bus drivers Mr. Mahmood. He is former Omani Royal Guard and is fluent in both English & Arabic. As a former Strongman competitor if the bus breaks down he can just pull it! Here is Mr. Mahmood with our CEO Dr. Ghailan.

Rich Culture & History

The Sultanate of Oman has a rich culture supported by thousands of years of history. This picture from our last Parent Night shows some of the tradition. The servers are dressed in national dress of Oman serving coffee and dates to the parents.

Getting it done!

Every good organization needs a person who can get "things" done. Khalid , who is shown in this picture, is such a person. We are not really sure how he is able to accomplish soooooo much, but we do appreciate it especially work with the Ministries.

Congrats

Congratulations to Ahmed ( pictured on the right) on the birth of his first child. His son was born last night at 7pm and is healthy. Here is a picture of Ahmed with Abdulraqib who both work in the Khuwair office of the school. Congrats Ahmed!

Happy Canada Day

Happy Canada Day to all! Here is a picture of a wadi that sits about 10 km from the school. Lush & green so a beautiful change from some of the arid areas.

Date Season

It is fresh date season here in the Middle East. Here is a photo of ripening dates right on the tree. Fresh dates with coffee makes for a tasty experience!

School Uniforms

Alruwad International School has now selected the school uniforms for next year. Thanks to Ms. Muna & Ms. Zainab for their diligence & expertise in working on this important component of the school. Here is a picture of them displaying the samples.

Teachers Needed-Last Call

Alberta Certified teachers are needed for the 2013-14 school year. We have had an amazing response from our community & had to close registrations with waiting lists at every grade level. Interested teachers can send their resume attention Dave Adams at this email address:
principal@ais.edu.om
Today's picture features the current crop that is maturing & ready for harvest-DATES!
Fresh dates are absolutely delicious & go great with a cup of strong black coffee.

Alberta Curriculum & Resources

Alruwad International School will feature Alberta curriculum infused with Arabic Language Arts, Islamic Studies, and Oman History. Here some of the talented central office staff display some of the Alberta resources that have arrived.Seated are Ms Zainab and Mr Abdulraqib. Standing are Ms. Muna  & Mr. Ahmed.

Interactive Boards

Interactive Boards will be installed in each classroom plus the school will have two portable units as well. Here is a picture of the product with a message from our CEO Dr. Ghailan to the incoming staff to open the school in September.