Dear AUS Parents,
The role of the PTSO is to help strengthen our school community. How do we achieve that? What we work on this year... what we work on next year... how we make the school a better place... it's up to us parents and your membership! There's no better cause!
We welcome you to become more involved in the PTSO and assist in our many committee opportunities. Your participation is welcomed at any level, whether it be simply becoming a member, attending a PTSO meeting, taking on a committee position or volunteering to work at a PTSO school event. The success of the PTSO relies on the consistent and enthusiastic support and involvement of our AUS parents.
"We want to make our school a great place for our kids to thrive"
The purpose of the AUS PTSO is to promote and support the educational community and the social activities of AUS. The PTSO strives to provide clear and current communication to our stakeholders. We have built strong, cooperative relationships with local area businesses as well as with our teachers and school staff. The PTSO works to enrich the educational experience for our students through a myriad of activities organized by dedicated parent volunteers.
We hope you will plan to support and volunteer at many of our events such as: Winter Wonderland, Falloween, Coffee Mornings, support to school events such as Arts Night, Field Days and other events which our students truly enjoy and help to make our school community thrive.
EXECUTIVE BOARD
THE EXECUTIVE BOARD
- PRESIDENT
- VICE PRESIDENT
- TREASURER
- CO-SECRETARY
- HIGH SCHOOL REPRESENTATIVE
- MIDDLE SCHOOL REPRESENTATIVE
- ELEMENTARY SCHOOL REPRESENTATIVE
PRESIDENT
Shaima Bin Hussain
Shaima has been an AUS parent for 2 years. She currently has 1 child in the elementary school.
Shaima understands the relationships between Parents, Students & Educators to ensure positive communication amongst them. This includes the ability to respect everyone’s point of view and appreciate the contribution of each person.
Skills that will serves as a value to the AUS PTSO are Public Relations and Sales. Shaima believes if you want to convince people of new ideas, you need to know and understand their point of view. She is happy with the AUS school management and how they handled situations throughout COVID-19. She believes now we can do more with the leadership and support of the PTSO.
Shaima is an entrepreneur, empowering women through sports & economics. She has 13 years of experience in Banking. Additionally she has served as a board member & General Secretary of Association of Small & Medium Enterprise of Kuwait (ASMEK) and General Secretary of Soroptimist Kuwait. She is also a member of SMEs committee in Kuwait Economic Society.
VICE PRESIDENT
Ebtesam AlShimmari
Ebtesam has been an AUS parent for 7 years. She currently has 2 children in the middle and high School and is a parent of a recent AUS graduate.
She believes she can support the PTSO mission through her volunteer work to support staff and students and plans to work to increase involvement. She hopes to do this by utilizing social media and using videos to communicate and share experiences and would like to create a school blog.
Ebtesam has always been socially active in school and the Kuwait community. She was a board member of the Al Fatat Female Sport Club and held the position of the secretary general. Her position allowed her to handle various aspects of the club including, managing employees, players and members including managing daily correspondence with the local and government institutions.
TREASURER
Dr. Mashael Alomar
Dr. Mashael has been an AUS parent for 7 years. She currently has 1 child in the middle school.
Based on her 2 years experience as a PTSO member, Dr. Mashael shares she will do her best to support PTSO to bring the best activities that AUS has traditionally hosted to present. Additionally she, will try to improve the activities within the budget in order to achieve the school's mission.
Dr. Mashael has 2 years experience in the position of the PTSO treasurer already. She believes working as a college professor with an experience of 8 years in teaching makes her familiar with the education environment. She holds that her skills in the field Information Studies has helped her become an expert in new, diverse and creative methods to face challenges and finding solutions for problems while saving time and effort. Lastly she has additional experience in project and time management, and has served as a department manager.
CO-SECRETARY
Zeinab Nassrallah
Zeinab has been an AUS parent for 6 years. She currently has 2 children in the elementary school.
Zeinab believes she can support the PTSO mission by working together with parents, educators and students to create good memories for our kids. In the past two years our kids missed a lot of the fun activities the PTSO used to host. She wants to help kickstart a new path forward.
Zeinab believes the PTSO is the bridge between the parents and the school, and getting involved in the PTSO will give her an opportunity to make positive changes. She shares, “Joining PTSO is a great way to show my support to AUS to "stay a better a choice.”
As an Arab-American parent I will add the diversity value to Executive Council. I am a committed, energetic and motivating mom and look forward to serving our school community.
Aseel Almonaies
Aseel has been an AUS parent for 9 years. She currently has 4 children attending AUS in all three divisions.
Aseel plans to support the PTSO mission by continuing the great work done by all the previous PTSO Executive Council’s and supporting the school community by strengthening the communication between students, parents, educators, and administrators.
Aseel works as an Assistant Professor. She truly understands the dedication and hard work done by the AUS administration and educators to provide our children with the right environment to develop their academic as well as social abilities. Aseel believes the cooperation between the administration, educators , and parents has a great impact on providing the healthy environment our children need.
Lastly, she looks forward to helping in any technical aspects of PSTO such as maintaining web sites or any other computer related activities.
HIGH SCHOOL REPRESENTATIVE
Khadijah Al-Abdulmuhsen
Khadijah has been an AUS parent for 6 years. She currently has 3 children in all divisions of the school.
She believes academics are but one part of a students educational journey. The social experiences and connections are equally important. With collaborations between home and school we are able to create well rounded students with a wealth of knowledge and skills to prepare them for their future.
Khadijah is an enthusiastic and organized team player. She enjoys helping to plan and create exciting events and activities. Since joining the school, she has been very involved in volunteering at the many events AUS has to offer such as Falloween, Winter Wonderland and Teacher Appreciation celebrations. She also assisted and supported her husband, the previous PTSO president, in the planning of the various events. Khadijah believes serving the PTSO would be a great way to give back to AUS by helping to create lifelong memories for the entire community.
“I have always enjoyed volunteering at various school events. Doing so has made me feel a closer connection with my children and the great staff at the school.”
MIDDLE SCHOOL REPRESENTATIVE
Reham Abdelazim
Reham is a new AUS parent. She currently has 3 children at AUS in all school divisions.
Rehams believes she will be able to support the AUS PTSO mission by attending meetings regularly, volunteering with joy and energetically showing up where needed.
Skills Reham holds that will serve as a value to the PTSO are; active listening, teamwork and collaboration.
She brings with her previous experience in as a school board co-chair in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL REPRESENTATIVE
Farah Alfadhalah
Farah has been an AUS parent for 3 years. She currently has 2 children at AUS in the elementary school.
Some of her fondest memories are of the events organised by her elementary school when she was young. Farah wants to help create the same feelings and school spirit for the AUS community. She believes school-wide initiatives are the best way to bring parents, students and educators together. “It's not just academic learning that gives our kids a strong foundation for life, but the community and events within the school. I would love to have a part in achieving this.”
In addition to being a hands on practical parent, Farah has experience managing small teams of people as well as excellent communication and organization skills that she is confident will help her coordinate tasks effectively for the PTSO. Farah has learned to adapt quickly to various situations which have presented themselves unexpectedly. Lastly, Farah’s believes her creative imagination, will help her offer practical and engaging activities.
BYLAWS
THE BYLAWS
Article I:
Name
The name of the organization shall be American United School Parent/Teacher/Student Organization (PTSO).
Article II:
Mission Statement and Purpose
1. The Mission of the PTSO
“Taking education to the next level through commitment, collaboration and communication among parents, students and educators”
2. The Purpose of the PTSO is :
A. To foster and nurture relationships among parents, educators and students for the benefit of the school community.
B. To develop a closer connection between school and home by encouraging parent involvement in the promotion of student welfare.
C. To recruit and coordinate volunteers, provide special recognition in awards ceremonies or through other activities, organize parent education events.
D. Support in lieu of a Booster club, music, foreign language club, sports, theatrical productions and much more.
Article III:
Membership
Members of the PTSO are all students, parents and guardians whose children are students in the school. Members also include staff and administration of the school as determined by the School Director.
Article IV:
Executive Council
There shall be an Executive Council (ExCo) that will serve as the administrative arm of the PTSO. The ExCo will meet once per month. A quorum will consist of at least four (4) ExCo officers (non-school employees).
Section 1
The ExCo shall include a President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, Parent Representative (one from each level: Elementary, Middle School and High School), one Teacher from each level, one Elementary Student, one Middle School Student Council member, one High School Student Council member and Princi- pals of Elementary, Middle School and High School.
Section 2
A. All ExCo officers, except the Principals and Teachers, shall be elected at an annual meeting held in the first two months of each school year.
B. Election of ExCo officers shall be by ballot except when there is only one nominee for an office.
C. The ExCo officers shall be elected to serve for one school year.
D. Their term of office shall begin following the election after a one month transitional period of hand over.
Section 3
The Teacher representatives will be selected for a one-school year term by and from among the AUS teachers in the school.
Section 4
No ExCo officer shall hold more than one office at a time.
Section 5
There shall be no limit to the number of consecutive terms an ExCo officer may hold the same position.
Section 6
Vacancies on the ExCo will be filled as soon as possible by majority vote amongst ExCo officers.
Section 7
When an ExCo officer fails to attend without adequate excuse or if the ExCo officer is not fulfilling his/her responsibilities as prescribed in the by-laws, the officer may be replaced by the ExCo, by a vote of at least four (4) officers (non-school employees) and the position may be filled according to Article IV Section 5.
Section 8
ExCo officers should not also be members of the School Advisory Board, except the PTSO President and the Principals. However, the PTSO President should always serve on the School Advisory Board.
Section 9
Before an ExCo officer or spouse accepts a position from the school with any remuneration, full disclosure shall be provided to the PTSO in order to disclose the relationship.
Article V:
Duties of the ExCo and its members
Section 1
The President shall preside at all PTSO meetings and shall ensure that all tasks undertaken by the PTSO are completed.
Section 2
The Vice President assists and shall serve in the absence of the President including filling in when there is a vacancy amongst ExCo officers.
Section 3
The Secretary shall keep a record of all PTSO meetings and any required correspondence (including minutes, briefs, etc.). Minutes should be circulated within one week following PTSO or ExCo (or other) meetings.
Section 4
The Treasurer will keep the PTSO’s financial records and books in good order and will be primarily responsible for all financial transactions. The financial books will be kept on a monthly basis and shall be made available, upon request, to the general PTSO membership. Any commitment to spend or actual expenditure will be signed by the Treasurer and either the President or the Secretary.
Section 5
The Teacher representatives shall be present during PTSO meetings. The Teacher representatives serves as liaison between PTSO and staff and keeps PTSO members informed of staff concerns or ideas.
Section 6
The Principals shall be present during PTSO meetings. The Principals provide the PTSO with information on administrative developments in their respective schools.
Section 7
The Students representatives shall be present during PTSO meetings. The Students representatives serve as the liaison between PTSO and student council and keeps PTSO members informed of students concerns or ideas.
Section 8
The Parent Representatives of Elementary, Middle School and High School keep PTSO members informed of parent concerns and/or ideas.
Article VI:
Meetings
Section 1
PSTO meetings will be held a minimum once a quarter, preferably on a fixed day each month (e.g., 1st Tuesday, 2nd Wednesday, etc.). PTSO meetings will be open to all members.
Section 2
Special PTSO meetings shall be called by the President and/or two or more ExCo officers with adequate notice.
Section 3
A quorum will consist of those present. There will be one vote per PTSO member. Unless stated other- wise, PTSO decisions will be decided by majority voting.
Section 4
Executive Council (ExCo) meetings are for the elected ExCo members only. Others may attend by invitation only from an Executive Council member.
Article VII:
Committees
Section 1
Committees, standing or special, will be appointed by the ExCo as and when required.
Section 2
Each committee will make reports to the ExCo and will submit a written report on its annual activities.
Article VIII:
Amendment of By-laws
Section 1
Proposed amendments should be forwarded to the Secretary of the ExCo, who will include it on the agenda for deliberation and voting at the next PTSO meeting. These by-laws can be amended at a board meeting and approved at a general meeting of the PTSO by a simple majority vote of the quorum as defined in section IV of the by laws.
Section 2
Copies of these By-laws will be available on the school PTSO website.
Article IX:
Dissolution
In the event of dissolution of the PTSO, any funds that have accrued to the PTSO’s account will be placed in a school account which will be held until a new parent organization is established or as determined by the School Director and Advisory Board.