New Delhi, July 8, 2006 - Midnight. Travel-weary passengers walk into the arrivals hall of Indira Gandhi International Airport through a human tunnel of faces and arms holding signs to be warmly greeted by two smiling women dressed in elegant shalwar-kameez, HR Manager Poonam Bhatia and HR Assistant Sareena Pun. Ms. Bhatia and Ms. Pun met each new staff member and shepherded baggage and people into waiting taxis over two long days and nights.

From the first night at the comfortable India Habitat Center, to the train journey (including steaming hot tea and breakfast) from Delhi to Dehradun and lunch at the Hotel President, to the van ride up the mountain to Mussoorie and Woodstock School, first-time employees were treated like VIPs.

New Staff Orientation Week

Daily briefings offered a wealth of information on the school's mission, vision, students and admissions, academic programs, religious life, cultural issues in India, health care, accounts, and transition issues. Delicious meals and teas were shared at Claridges Hotel, Jaypee Hotel, St. Paul's Church, Hotel Carlton, Acting Principal Kaye Aoki's home, and the school's buffet-style dining room.

Surrounded by a Himalayan panorama that defies photographic or website description, Woodstock School-essentially, its people, dedicated to students as teachers, residence staff, support staff, and administrators-has warmly embraced yet another group of newcomers. Thank you for making us feel so wanted and so at home!

New Staff Statistics

• 28 new staff members: 12 Indians, 11 Americans, 1 Australian, 1 Australian/American, 1 Canadian, and 1 New Zealander.
• 3 additional staff members are volunteers: 2 Americans and 1 Canadian.
• One teacher from the UK was on furlough last year and has returned for two more years.
• One St. Olaf College (Northfield, Minn.) student teacher has joined the Elementary School staff and will be with them through December 2006.

Kathleen Hamman, Development Department writer