Meet the principal: Bill Dellbrugge

Bill Dellbrugge will move to Dubai in the summer of 2018 in the run up to the opening of Dunecrest American School — one of two new schools Esol Education will open in September next year. Currently based in Cairo, Egypt, Dellbrugge has been with the school operator for over eight years, and is "closely involved with building Dunecrest in the pre-operating year", he tells Education Journal Middle East.

As he prepares the blueprint for Dunecrest, Delbrugge outlines the areas he is focusing on. He notes: "Currently our focus is on curriculum development and the construction needs of the building, preparing our facilities to be cutting-edge, with STEAM initiatives as our focus.

"The teachers and staff that we're hiring are positive, and leaders in their fields, which, in turn, will help our students reach any educational goal that they endeavour to achieve."

Acclimating new staff and students will also be a priority for Dellbrugge and his team. He says: "One of the first things we will do to facilitate this is to organise orientation activities. Our team is already developing social and educational activities for new incoming staff and students to learn about each other, their cultures, their dreams and their goals."

Another interesting feature of Dunecrest will be personalised four-year educational plans for individual students.

"Students in our Middle School will have one-on-one career and education goal-setting meetings with principals, teachers and guidance counsellors. Based on these plans, each student will have an individual educational plan, including career choices, goals and personal aspirations, followed by periodic checks throughout the year to make sure they are achieving those goals," Dellbrugge explains.

The school is also currently recruiting for 42 teaching roles. The priority will be hiring north American teachers, given the school's curriculum. Teachers will also need to have IB teaching experience since Dunecrest will offer the IB Diploma Programme.

Biography

Bill Dellbrugge brings his vast school leadership experience to Dunecrest. In the US, Dellbrugge served as the superintendent of schools in Flagler County, Florida, heading the team responsible for for 26,000 students from preK-12, colleges and community education. Every year, while Dellbrugge was superintendent, the school district was rated "A" by the Florida Department of Education. Dellbrugge moved overseas to Cairo, Egypt to assume the headship of Esol Education's American International School (AISE). He is also the president of the Mediterranean Association of International Schools (MAIS).