November 15, 2021

Ms. Rhonda Norris

Dr. Christopher Schuster

AAS Board of Directors

Petition for the Immediate Resumption of all Extracurricular Activities

Petition for Parental Access to Campus

Dear Ms. Norris,

We, the undersigned parents, strongly request the immediate resumption of all extracurricular activities to pre-pandemic levels. Furthermore, we request complete parental access to campus.

SARS-CoV-2 pathogen has been with us for almost two years. It is proven that the pathogen poses virtually zero risk to the students and vaccines are readily available for faculty, family, and staff. Outside of school students, family, and faculty move about town, travel within Russia and abroad, and are emerged in the community rendering AAS’s attempt at maintaining a sterile bubble futile.

AAS’s continued mitigations inhibit the school from fulfilling its basic commitment to provide the students a superlative, holistic educational experience.

We are not unique in hoping that our children be afforded the opportunity to participate in extracurricular activities, engage in outside competition, and travel throughout the community, country, and abroad. With few exceptions, all Moscow schools have been providing a complete educational experience since September 2020.

Therefore, we urge AAS to the immediately resume all extracurricular activities including, but not limited to:

• Athletics, complete with regular, outside competition, spectators, and participation in CEESA tournaments, or equivalent.
• Theatre, drama, music, and other performing arts including regular performances with spectators
• Model United Nations, Knowledge Bowl, Robotics, and other academic teams with in-person participation in CEESA, or equivalent competitions
• Student clubs and related activities including fundraising, charity drives, community interaction, and travel
• Restore student access to SportZone and North Gym to pre-pandemic operating hours, including weekends
• In-person parent/teacher conferences
• In-person community meetings with school leadership and school board
• Ability to attend athletics, concerts, drama performances, and other community events.

Additionally, we request complete parental access to campus which shall include:

By restricting extracurricular activities, AAS is failing to meet the basic obligations as set forth in our mission statement. Students are denied the opportunity to build well rounded portfolios putting them at a disadvantage when applying to competitive universities. Students are denied the opportunities of teamwork, coming together to solve challenges, community engagement, and assisting the underprivileged.

We expect a positive response to this petition. In the event that AAS leadership does not feel compelled to live up to the school’s obligations and mission statement, we request an in-person hearing in order to address the issues at hand.

Respectfully, AAS proud parents