Community Statement from Principal, Dr Steffen Sommer
It is with a heavy heart, that I share with you, the Doha College community, that I will be leaving Qatar in August 2022 to take up the position of Director General of MISK Foundation Schools in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in September.
It has been an immense privilege to have been at the helm of the College over the last seven years, and to have had the opportunity to move the school into a brand-new campus and, with it, open a new chapter, and start a new era with you all. While I am saddened to be leaving, I know that Doha College is poised to do exceptionally well in the future.
The last few years have clearly been tumultuous, given the period of exponential change that we have all been through. There had been no precedent of so much change in such a short period of time in a British International School, anywhere in the world: we built a new campus, merged two primary schools and moved the entirety of the college to a new location. Not to mention the pandemic which hit us in earnest halfway through the process and presented all of us with a myriad of challenges.
It is with no mean amount of pride that I look back at the detailed decisions that led to these far-reaching changes. Not only does the physical face of Doha College look different, we also now have a platform from which you can all launch its next period of success. Having become one of the leading British International Schools in the world, and having proven that the High-Performance-Learning paradigm is a recipe for success for all students, I know that Doha College’s future is bright. I will certainly follow it from a distance with interest and great fervour. I have enjoyed every minute of my time here and, what is more, I have much to be grateful for, to the members of the leadership group, to my colleagues, to the students, the board, and to you, the DC community at large, past and present.
The Board of Governors will naturally launch the search for a suitable successor without delay. It goes without saying that, until I leave in the summer, I will remain devoted to all matters DC, our students, my colleagues, and the community.
