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A leading private school in Bahrain has been relying on its leadership’s unique experience during the SARS outbreak to guide its parents and students during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The American School of Bahrain’s (ASB) founding director Dave McMaster took over the helm of the Canadian International School of Hong Kong from 2002 to 2014 just as an epidemic of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) broke out in the country, lasting till 2004.
Sixteen years later, with the opening of the ASB on the horizon, Dave leaned on his experience during the SARS outbreak at the school when communicating with parents and ensuring a safe environment for students at the campus.
“One of the most significant lessons I learned during SARS was that you can never over-communicate with parents, teachers and students,” he added, during an interview with GulfWeekly.
“With something like Covid-19 and SARS, there are so many unknowns that are constantly changing. And you should be able to communicate this as well as how you are responding in a timely and effective manner.
“The other big lesson is about being able to quickly respond and sometimes anticipate these changes.
“For most of the year, 95 per cent of our student population attended in-person classes but during the recent six-week period when they were required to study from home, we had to be prepared to resume in-person classes pretty much the next day, if required.
“And, the behaviours we adapt and change during these times often become ingrained in the community for a long time.
“In 2003, the precautions we took collectively became the new normal and things like wearing masks and constantly sanitising actually helped Hong Kong better deal with the Covid-19 crisis.”
ASB plans to continue many of the procedures it has undertaken in response to Covid-19, into the post-Covid era.
Things like extra helpers in the early years’ education classes will be the norm in the school, even once the Covid-19 restrictions are lifted.
While the SARS experience did help Dave and the school be better prepared, Covid-19 also brought many unique challenges like not having a very clear ‘light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel.’
“Another challenge unique to us was that we had a group of parents and students who were in a brand new school,” Dave added.
“They didn’t know us – they weren’t sure what to expect from us. We do appreciate the huge leap of faith they had to take, putting their children in a new school during the pandemic.”
From day one, the school invested heavily in its technology, opting for both dedicated internet line over fibre and microwave connectivity instead of just one, getting equipped with both land and satellite lines which provided the security to be connected in case of internet disruption.
As a result, the school has not suffered a single second of down-time since it opened last September, and has been stepping up its server capacity, in addition to rolling out smart classroom software, like Google Classroom, SeeSaw and Zoom.
As the school looks to enrol its next batch of students, kicking off Grade 10 classes next year in addition to rolling admissions across all grades, it is also implementing lessons learned throughout the pandemic.
“One of our biggest lessons is about how students move around the campus,” Dave explained.
“For example, even when we are able to have everyone in the cafeteria at the same time, we probably won’t. We have noticed that our students are much more relaxed when there are fewer children at that time.
“It’s about controlling sensory overload and finding smarter ways of learning and communicating.
“We are also going to explore new and better ways of utilising technology. We will also be opening up a new maker space, fitness area, music room and a new lab preparation room.”
To learn more about the ASB and the enrolment process, visit www.asb.bh or follow @americanschoolbahrain on Instagram.
