ELEMENTARY essentials

FROM THE ES PRINCIPAL'S DESK

May 24, 2018    

What another busy week in the Elementary School! We continued with MAP Testing, had students for all grade levels present their Innovation Day projects to members of the Senior Leadership Team, and the Grade 5 students performed their lip dub! It’s hard to believe that we are only 5 weeks away from the last day of school. There are more fun-filled days ahead!

Thank you as well to everyone who supported their students with being prepared to present their Innovation Day projects. You would have been proud!!!


map testing

MAP testing will continue on Sunday, May 27th and Monday, May 28th for students who may have missed any of the tests during the regular testing period.

Ramadan Sharing Fridge

As part of our Culture of Kindness, the spirit of giving during Ramadan, and Year of Zayed, GEMS DAA will be joining the Ramadan Sharing Fridge Initiative this year! Sharing food and drinks during the Holy month is a common practice. The Ramadan Sharing Fridge initiative has found a way to organize and optimize this practice. GEMS DAA will be hosting a fridge at Gate 1.

Please note, no hot food is allowed. Fridges can be filled with the following:

Please contact Marta Perez at m.perez_daa@gemsedu.com, Marwa Yassin at m.yassin_daa@gemsedu.com, Maggie Moffat at m.moffat@gemsedu.com, or Donna Reeves at d.reeves_daa@gemsedu.com for more information.

From the Middle School Counseling Department

Parent Chat

Please join us for a chat focused on parenting your teenager. Parenting in general is hard…but parenting an adolescent is another level of challenging. Dr. Haneen Jarrar from the Camali Clinic will be sharing positive parenting tips that are aimed at raising adolescents. Please click here to view the flyer.

Date: May 28, 2018 

Time: 8-9:30am 

Location: First Floor Conference Room 

Please contact Mira Nasr for any questions. m.nasr_daa@gemsedu.com 

Attention Grade 5 Parents: MS Uniforms

Middle School PE uniforms are available at the Leopards Den for a limited time only!   You can purchase them at the reduced price of 45 AED per piece until June 20th when all leftover PE stock will be returned to Threads Uniform Shop. 

Purchase yours while stocks last.   Cash only. Please note that Leopards Den is now located on the ground floor near the high school gym.   During Ramadan, timings for Leopards Den will be daily from 7.30 to 8.15am but closed on Tuesdays.

Seesaw End-of-Year Information for Parents

Please note that we will be archiving ALL Seesaw classes on Thursday, June 28, 2018.

As our school is subscribed to a full ‘Seesaw for Schools’ plan, this means that you will still have access to your child’s work and journal even once a class has been archived.

As long as your child remains at DAA, you will be able to see his/her archived classes in the Seesaw Family app and download a .zip file of all your child’s work. When your child completes Grade 5 or if you leave DAA, you will still be able to download a .zip file with all of your child’s work.

Please note that downloading your child’s journal can only be completed when you are logged in to your Seesaw Family account from a desktop computer.

To download a .zip file of your child’s journal, please follow the steps in the link HERE.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact Aarti Daswani at a.daswani_daa@gemsedu.com . 

DAAPA INVITATION TO IFTAR!

Dear Parents,

The Holy month of Ramadan is a joyous time that brings us close to our family and friends, to spend quality time in the spirit of peace, calmness and togetherness.

On this blessed occasion, it is with great pleasure that DAAPA cordially invites you to our community Iftar at the Westin Al Habtoor City on the 29th of May at 6:30 pm.

We do hope that you honor us with your presence. Tickets are available in the school lobby at drop-off and pick-up time. You could also call Sally Ghattas at 0561363097 to make a reservation.  Iftar buffet: AED 135 (age 13 and above), AED 70 (ages 5-12), under 5 are free. 

We are looking forward to seeing you all at our Community Iftar!

End of Year Library Information  

As we are coming to the end of the school year, I would like to inform you that all students and parents need to return library books by Sunday, May 27th. On this date we will no longer be checking out books to parents or students as we will begin our inventory. We are asking students and parents to please respect this date and do your very best to return your books. If you have lost a book you will need to pay for the book. However, if the book is found and returned to the library, we will refund your money.

Bookworm BOOK Fair

It is with great pleasure we announce that we will be hosting another Bookworm Book Fair from June 3 - 6 in the first floor atrium facing hallway from 7:45 - 1:15 every day. This is a great opportunity to purchase books for summer reading! 

yearbook order forms

Just another reminder to please purchase your yearbook before June 1 for AED 80. All yearbook orders after June 1 are AED 100.

Thank you, as always, for your ongoing support. We are truly appreciative. Have a lovely weekend, everyone!

Sincerely,

Anita Simpson and Jilene Murray

Elementary Principal and Elementary Assistant Principal