Show #108 American International School Johannesburg

Transcript

Lori Boll:
Well, hello Laura. Welcome to our Inclusion Spotlight series.

Laura Cox:
Hello Lori. It’s great to be here.

Lori Boll:
Well, we’re happy to have you. And this is not actually your first podcast with us.

Laura Cox:
It is not. It’s my second.

Lori Boll:
Yeah, I remember the first one was to explain to the world how you do watch parties for SENIA virtual conferences at your school.

Laura Cox:
Yeah, we talked about how we had done it a couple of times to support professional learning through the virtual conference in our context. And I still maintain it’s a great way for all schools out there to engage with the conference content.

Lori Boll:
Thanks. Well, welcome. You’re from what we at SENIA call a medium-sized school. How many students do you have at AISJ?

Laura Cox:
Currently, about 750.

Lori Boll:
Okay, so a medium-sized school. I’m really interested to hear about what you all do there in your own context of living in South Africa and working with your community. So let’s go ahead and get started. First of all, can you give us a picture of AISJ—its size, structure?

Laura Cox:
Sure. We have about 750 students. We’re one school with two campuses: a campus in Pretoria that serves three-year-olds through grade 8, and our Johannesburg campus, which goes from three-year-olds through IBDP. We follow mostly a Common Core/Arrow standards approach. Originally, we were part of the U.S. Embassy over forty years ago, but now we have more of an international flavor and also offer the IBDP.

We follow American standards but with an international flair—we have around 80 nationalities represented across the school, many from the African continent but also from around the world.

We’ve always been fairly inclusive in terms of neurodiversity. We’ve long offered support services for students with ADHD, dyslexia, and similar needs who can engage in the general education curriculum with interventions, supports, and accommodations.

Recently, we expanded our services to include what we call our Learner Specific Pathway, a highly individualized, modified curriculum for students with higher support needs focused on functional academics, life skills, pre-vocational skills, and transition planning for post-secondary life.

We also offer ELL services and counseling. Over the last few years, we’ve been strengthening our Universal Design for Learning work at Tier 1 and developing Multi-Tiered Systems of Support while expanding enrichment and extension opportunities for students who need higher challenge.

Lori Boll:
So is that all?

Laura Cox:
(Laughs) When you start listing it all out, you realize we’ve been busy!

Lori Boll:
You sure have. And we should mention that we held a SENIA Conference at your school in 2023, right?

Laura Cox:
Yes, 2023. That was a really important event for our community because it came right as our leadership and board were committing to expanding our services. Hosting the SENIA Conference was huge—so many of our staff participated in either the pre-conference or main conference, and it really became the “why” for expanding inclusion. It aligned perfectly with our school’s vision and community principles.

It also inspired several of our teachers to go on and present at SENIA conferences—both virtual and in-person. It’s been exciting to see our school become part of this vibrant SENIA community.

Lori Boll:
Wonderful. You mentioned your guiding principles earlier. As Director of Student Support Services, what guiding beliefs shape your approach to creating equitable, student-centered learning environments?

Laura Cox:
I’m really proud of our community principles. A few years ago, we revisited our mission and purpose as a school, and our principles now focus on ideas like: Every voice counts. Every voice matters. Everyone needs a team. Every team needs an individual. We’re better when we act together.

Those ideas form the bedrock of inclusion at AISJ.

At a deeper level, I believe every learner can learn and grow and find success—it’s our job to figure out what the pathway to that success looks like. In admissions and beyond, our stance is always, “How might we?” rather than, “Can we?”

It’s easy to say no, but we intentionally start from yes—asking, How might we make this work? That perspective changes everything.

Lori Boll:
I love that. You’re looking for ways to say yes instead of no. I can imagine that’s not always easy.

Laura Cox:
No, it’s not! It’s easier to say no. But my role is to understand what a learner needs to be successful when they join us—not if they join us. It’s all about figuring out the “how.”

Lori Boll:
That’s fantastic. Let’s talk about your Life Centered Education program—what do you call it again?

Laura Cox:
We call it the Learner Specific Pathway—LSP for short. We use the term “pathway” because at AISJ we talk a lot about language pathways, IB diploma pathways, and so on. It reflects our belief that every student has a unique path toward success.

Lori Boll:
I love that. How did it come to be at your school?

Laura Cox:
Like many schools, we used to say we served mild to moderate needs and didn’t modify the curriculum. But the reality was that we already had students who required that support—students who’d been with us for years.

Once you’re an Eagle, you’re our Eagle. We didn’t want to be the school that “counsels out” kids. And I told our then-director, Dr. Jeremy Moore, “I don’t want to say no anymore.” I come from a U.S. public school background where you serve whoever walks through your doors.

Our board was incredibly supportive—there were questions about how to do it, but never about whether we should. We had a few students who already needed this kind of service, and we’d tried various approaches. The board gave us a clear yes, and around the time of the SENIA Conference, we began thoughtful planning to officially launch the program.

Lori Boll:
And how many students are in the program now?

Laura Cox:
Twenty-six!

Lori Boll:
Wow!

Laura Cox:
I know. We originally planned for seven or eight, but word spread quickly. Families came to us specifically because of the program, including new arrivals to the embassy and companies in Pretoria. It shows how strong the need was.

South Africa actually has many services, but they’re very segregated—mainstream, “remedial,” and “special needs” schools are all separate. Integration is rare. What makes AISJ unique is that our students can be in a mainstream school environment—attending PE, theater, morning meetings—finding points of connection with peers to the greatest extent possible. That’s the least restrictive environment model we believe in.

Lori Boll:
That’s amazing. Let’s talk about MTSS—how is your framework organized?

Laura Cox:
Fairly traditionally, but adapted to our context. We’ve identified our universal screeners—before, all we had was MAP data, which wasn’t enough. Now we use multiple screeners and have decision trees that help determine when Tier 1 adjustments are needed and when Tier 2 or enrichment support is appropriate.

In elementary, we’ve added “WIN time”—What I Need time—several times a week for 30 minutes. During that time, there’s no new instruction, just intervention, consolidation, or extension. It’s a huge step forward.

We’re expanding it into middle school, and a new schedule even opened up space in secondary after lunch, which has been great for both Tier 2 work and SEL. Screening at the high school level is still an area for growth—many tools stop at grade 8—but we’re making steady progress.

Lori Boll:
That’s fascinating. Can you walk us through an example of what WIN time might look like?

Laura Cox:
Sure! For example, in Joburg Elementary, after collecting screening data, we decided to focus on literacy first. K-2 has WIN time together, and grades 3-5 have it together, which allows ELL, learning support, and counseling staff to collaborate.

A first-grade group might work on letter-sound knowledge and short-vowel decoding, while another group dives into higher-level comprehension strategies. Others might focus on fluency. It’s flexible and responsive to data.

Teachers love it because it finally gives them dedicated time to address individual needs. The challenge is finding time for cross-grade planning and data discussions—but those are good challenges to have.

Lori Boll:
Absolutely. I love that flexibility. Let’s shift to AAC devices. Some students at your school use them—how has that experience been for teachers and students?

Laura Cox:
It’s been such a learning journey. One of our community principles says Every voice counts, every voice matters—and we’ve learned that “voice” isn’t always spoken.

Two of our LSP students came with AAC last year—one using NovaChat, another using a similar iPad-based app. Our speech therapist led the team in learning how to support them.

One student with autism uses NovaChat to expand her communication beyond short sentences. Another, a student with cerebral palsy, uses it to share complex ideas that are difficult to articulate verbally. It’s allowed him to fully engage academically and be understood.

Seeing their success, we began exploring AAC for other students. We installed communication apps on all LSP iPads and held training for LSP teachers, teaching partners, tech staff, general ed teachers, speech, and OT. Now we’re embedding AAC into morning meetings and general education experiences.

One highlight was seeing a student use his device to “speak” during a school assembly—his voice and AAC voice together. The community was so moved. It’s been transformative for access and belonging.

Lori Boll:
That’s wonderful. Their families must be thrilled.

Laura Cox:
They are. It’s been life-changing.

Lori Boll:
Let’s talk about UDL. What does it look like day-to-day at AISJ?

Laura Cox:
We’re still growing in our practice. I’m leading a professional learning network on UDL right now because it’s newer for many teachers. For me, UDL starts with the stance of “Yes—and how might we?”

At the unit planning level, teachers are asking: What are the barriers to learning? What do we know about our students and content that might create challenges? How can we design for access, engagement, and learner agency from the start?

It’s a process, but a powerful one.

Lori Boll:
Yes, and some teachers probably feel like, “If I hear UDL one more time…”

Laura Cox:
(Laughs) Or MTSS—so many acronyms! But yes, it’s ongoing work, and we’re mostly leading it in-house right now. We’ll likely bring in external support next year to deepen the work and accelerate implementation.

Lori Boll:
With such a diverse population, what intentional steps help every student feel known, valued, and included?

Laura Cox:
We focus on relationships. Every student needs a trusted adult—someone they can go to. In elementary, that’s built into morning meetings; in secondary, through advisory and wellbeing programs. That sense of connection underpins belonging and success.

Lori Boll:
You’re also a SENIA Board member—how has being part of the SENIA community influenced your school?

Laura Cox:
Hosting the SENIA Conference really cemented inclusion as a shared mindset. Since then, many staff have joined virtual conferences, and several have taken SENIA Academy courses—including our teaching partners, who are such vital members of our team.

Many of them are local South Africans from different educational backgrounds, so the SENIA courses have helped align our language and approaches—especially around positive behavior, regulation, and supporting diverse learners. It’s been invaluable.

Lori Boll:
Beautiful. Final question—reflecting on AISJ’s inclusion journey, what are you most proud of, and what’s next?

Laura Cox:
I’m most proud of building something from the ground up—our LSP program—and of the individual stories behind it. Every single student we once had to say “no” to has since joined us, except one who’s likely coming next year. Seeing families reunited—siblings learning together—is what fills me with pride.

What’s next is consolidation. We’ve started so many wonderful things—MTSS, UDL, enrichment—and now we’re focused on embedding them so they become the fabric of AISJ, lasting long after any of us are gone.

Lori Boll:
That’s beautiful. Please thank your AISJ community for the incredible work you’re doing. It’s truly inspiring. Laura, thanks for your time today—and go out there and be more inclusive.

Laura Cox:
Thank you! I’m going to steal your line—peace, love, and inclusion.