Dear DeBakey Family,
Hope this email finds you well.
It brings immense pleasure to welcome Dr. Susan Borden as the Vice President. Kindly find below her welcome letter.
Dear Parents and Students,
It is with great pleasure that I join the DeBakey High School team!
I feel it is important for you to know the educators that your children work with every day. Professionally, I am a lifelong educator who has worked exclusively in K-12 American schools. I have been serving another American curriculum school in Qatar for the past six years. At that school, our team grew enrollment by 20%, increased re-enrollment to 85-90%, received recognition from the Ministry of Education for our work, exceeded the average in Qatar on all standardized testing, successfully met accreditation requirements internationally and locally, and increased services for students (library, music, special needs programs). Prior to working and living in Qatar, I worked as the Head of Schools in the USA for suburban, high achieving schools of 4,000+ students with 500 staff and a budget of more than $50 million USD for six years. Before becoming a Head of Schools, I served as an elementary principal for six years, a high school associate principal for five years and a teacher for 6 years. In total, this is my 29th year in K-12 American education.
Personally, I am committed to helping Qatar grow through a variety of organizations. I currently serve as the President of the American’s Women’s Association-Qatar (AWAQ). AWAQ has been serving Qatar for more than 40 years. I am also a FIFA Ruwaad/Volunteer and have been supporting efforts in recruitment, communications, and media operations since well before the Arab Cup. I am proud to have donated more than 600 hours! I also occasionally serve as a flight buddy for rescue animals and I am learning Arabic. It is a challenge, but I enjoy writing and learning to read in Arabic.
My goals for working at DeBakey are very simple:
- Provide a safe, positive learning environment where students feel valued and know they are at school to do an important job that will challenge them. It is a job they must be dedicated to for 180 school days.
- Ensure teachers are your partners in education and that their expertise is recognized by parents, developed and supported so that your student can have lessons that promote critical thinking, problem solving and creativity.
- Grow the enrollment of DeBakey High School so that even more opportunities can be provided and DeBakey can play a pivotal role in helping Qatar reach the goals of the Vision 2030 Strategic Plan
I am pleased to be a part of your school community and with the guidance of Dr. Virginia Parras, I know that our school community will be successful!
Regards,
Dr. Susan Borden
Vice-President