International schools receive the funding to do the work that must be done. In return, the organizations receive community recognition. More importantly, the children and families who accompany the organizations' employees abroad receive transitions support. Indeed, all children and families at the school receive such support, whether their respective sponsoring organizations help fund the programme or not. Those organizations that do, however, have the added satisfaction of meeting what many expatriates consider their ethical responsibility.
Research increasingly documents that employee productivity is linked to family adjustment.
Sponsoring organizations which fund school-based transition programming are therefore supporting employee productivity and the success of their international business ventures. They are also helping to make international assignments more appealing to top employees. As research indicates, one of the primary reasons employees today refuse international assignments has to do with family adjustment concerns. We Forget It would be easy in the midst of this article, with its emphasis on the design, development, and funding of transitions resource teams, to lose sight of the reason international educators and international schools are increasingly committed to providing transitions support. Alexandra's poem, and other heart-felt words like hers, call us to action.