Dear TCGIS colleagues, families, and community members,
As the school year winds down, we write you today with an invitation to express your good wishes and bid farewell to three of our wonderful leaders:
Herr Ted Anderson, Executive Director
Frau Beate Simon, Dean of German Immersion and Middle School Teacher
Frau Tina Haarbusch, former Director of International Programs and Outreach
We invite you to share any fond memories, messages of thanks, and well-wishes for them, as well as any images of their time at the school, using the following Google Forms:
The Google forms will be open until midnight next Wednesday, May 26th. The comments and images will be compiled into three printed books and given to each of them at the end of the school year.
We are grateful to Director Ted Anderson for his unwavering support of TCGIS over the past 5 years. Director Anderson made many impactful contributions to TCGIS, including the creation of the staff and parent councils, advocating for TCGIS through the controversy of the building project and related lawsuit, guiding the school through the pandemic crisis last spring, and addressing the murder of George Floyd and the civil unrest in the Twin Cities last summer on behalf of TCGIS. We cannot imagine a more challenging time to be the executive director of a charter school. We commend him for his leadership through all of this. Director Anderson’s pragmatism, thoughtful decision-making, positive mindset, spirit of perseverance, and absolute love of the German language, helped TCGIS become the school it is today.
The German agency for schools abroad, ZfA, sent Beate Simon to TCGIS 6 years ago, and she has made many significant contributions to our school since then. Beate spearheaded the certification process to enable TCGIS to self-administer the ZfA German proficiency DSD-1 exams. She also led the creation of the Pädagogisches Konzept, defining the key elements of the TCGIS immersion education and the TCGIS curriculum. In addition to her teaching role and collaboration as an administrator and mentor, Beate has also contributed significantly to the new Let’s Design a School initiative, laying the groundwork for creating a more visually immersive environment for our students. Frau Simon is returning to Germany with her family and will continue teaching.
Having served TCGIS for over 5 years, Tina Haarbusch accepted a leadership role at the German Immersion School of Boston as their Head of Administration in February. Tina played a key role in the school's growth and evolution into TCGIS as we know it today. Tina first significantly contributed through her initial role in Fundraising and Communications, and continuously took on larger responsibilities over the years, culminating in her role as Director of International Programs and Outreach. Tina was instrumental in making the Intern Program the sustainable and successful program it is today. As a dual German-American citizen, she was uniquely able to help TCGIS navigate the German academic world and international school networks. In addition, Tina was an expert collaborator on many teams and committees at TCGIS.
The entire administrative team and Board of Directors are grateful for the many contributions Director Anderson, Frau Simon and Frau Haarbusch have made to our school and community.
The Board of Directors will be hosting an outdoors event for the TCGIS community to say farewell to Director Anderson in June. The administrative team will host an outdoor event for staff to say farewell to Frau Simon and Frau Haarbusch. More details will be shared soon.
Please join us in recognizing Herr Anderson's, Frau Simon's and Frau Haarbusch's many valuable contributions to TCGIS and wishing them luck in their next adventures!
Mit freundlichen Grüßen
TCGIS Administration Team
TCGIS Board of Directors
