SPOTS
February 23, 2024
MESSAGE FROM OUR CEO/SUPERINTENDENT, DR. ETHAN HILDRETH
Dear DAA Families,
Thank you for your wonderful support of our amazing students in their many activities and accomplishments! Here is an energizing snapshot of great things underway for our DAA Leopards:
We just crossed the 100 days of school mark, showcased by Elementary students dressing as 100 years old and a reminder to Seniors of how rapidly graduation approaches.
Our Culture of Kindness was showcased in Mental Health Week and Kindness Week, supported by our Wellbeing team with a week-long run of activities in the classroom and on campus to support our students’ mental health and kindness.
Campus for Cause initiatives continued with such examples as GR 11 Students Nicolo and Adil launching a Dress Down Yellow Day for Cancer Awareness, raising over 6000 AED for Al Jalila foundation, and our Elementary & Zayed Crew sharing Care Grams, raising over 3000 AED for Emirates Red Crescent.
During Duke of Edinburgh activities, our High School students participated in Silver and Bronze trips, camping under the stars for three days.
We enjoyed a weeklong wonderful display of our Middle School Term One Arts projects, including drama and music performances, during the Middle School Arts Showcase and Band Performance.
As part of our conference-wide MESAC Season 2, DAA hosted JV Basketball while other sports enjoyed great successes and opportunities at sister MESAC schools.
Our MESAC Fine Arts students travelled to India for an amazing display of art and performances, enriching the learning experience for so many.
The DAA Wrestling Team had a very successful season, all bringing home medals from their Cairo tournament.
The High School TEDX students are to be congratulated for their talks as part of the “Odd One Out” session.
Yes! We have all enjoyed the opening of our wonderful new Hot Kitchen. We continue to receive rave reviews from our students as our two new chefs and expanded food service staff prepare fresh food daily for our students.
Our visionary and beautiful DAA WISE Center for Wellbeing advances rapidly, and soon we will be able to celebrate its inauguration across our whole community.
The DAA new Middle School Block is progressing with tremendous success. We are excited about opening up more dedicated space for our Middle School students as well as both Elementary and High Schools.
Coming up next week we have our annual DAAPA International Food Festival (IFF), the DAA Jazz Night, additional international and domestic learning trips for our students, and much more. I look forward to seeing you at DAA!
Kindest regards,
Ethan
DIVISION UPDATES
PARENT CALENDAR
UPCOMING EVENTS
K-12 Parent WISE Talk
Our next K-12 Parent WISEtalks is coming up, with guest speakers from Reverse Psychology joining us to discuss 'Managing the Dangers of Social Media'.
This session will cover topics such as the impact of Social Media on mental health, safe browsing, how to protect ourselves and managing our usage.
Join us for this session and be a part of an important discussion!
March 14, 8-9am @ DAA Auditorium
DAA attends World Finals of Junk Kouture!
DAA students have reached the live World final again! HS Team ‘ReDefiNaissance’ - Soham, Teana as designers & Remy as the model!
The breathtaking Junk Kouture World Final is happening at the prestigious Salle des Princes in Monaco’s Grimaldi Forum.
Follow JK online to track our teams journey & success: https://www.instagram.com/junkkouture/
JAZZ BARBECUE
Middle School and High School Families are invited to join us for our DAA Jazz Barbecue, with performances from our DAA Jazz Ensemble!
Complete this form to register for your FREE ticket: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScIlgNmkQIDHo9YZedVoHrDjPUo0dxmgx0u9wsHEelgBhASRg/viewform
2-5pm, March 1st
Johns Hopkins virtual information session
DAA Families from Grades 2 to 12 are invited to a virtual information session to learn about the Centre for Talented Youth programs!
The CTY is a renowned program dedicated to nurturing the academic talents and potential of exceptionally bright students through challenging and enriching educational opportunities.
Can’t join us? Click here for our schedule of upcoming sessions.
Click here to learn more about CTY.
Ask a question: ctyinfo@jhu.edu
Click the link HERE to register for the session!
Wednesday, February 28th at 5pm
Feb 2024 Info Session Flyer - DAA.pdftwo weeks in review
TEDXYOUTH @ DAA
Congratulations to our TEDxYouth @ DAA Speakers and team for hosting an engaging talk for our community, 'ODD ONE OUT'.
CAMPUS FOR CAUSE
Our Campus For Cause initiative continued across DAA as students from K-12 participated and organized a number of charitable activities in February.
Our Fun Run and Care Grams for the Emirates Red Crescent raised over 3000 AED, and GR 11 Students Nicolo and Adil raised over 6000 AED to benefit the Al Jalila Foundation with their 'Yellow Day' awareness campaign!
Thank you to our students and DAA Community for coming together to be a Campus for Cause.
tackling important social issues
Grade 12 student Riya Ananthanpillai has developed an interactive educational module, discussing the ills of vaping and its effects on adolescents.
We congratulate Riya as her module received the Dubai Government approval, and will rollout across various GEMS schools (including DAA!) in the coming weeks during High School CREW classes.
“I think this project is a great way to teach the students of DAA about the negatives of vaping”. “It is a good way to make a lot of people quit vaping if we put this out to the public. It provides lots of resources and information to help change people’s lives forever and could really lead to something positive”.
KEY INFORMATION
RE-ENROLLMENT
DAA Leopards, we are delighted to confirm that re-enrollment is open for our families for the 24/25 Academic Year!
We ask that you confirm your re-enrollment intent by March 5th to secure your child's place and course selection for Middle and High school.
Re-enrollment intent can be completed via the GEMS Connect App or Portal, under 'Communication' > 'Service Requests' > 'Re-Enrollment'.
You have until April 15th, 2024 to complete the fee process of re-enrollment.
Get in touch with Admissions Director, Gabrielle Keane if you require further details or assistance (g.keane_daa@gemsedu.com).
We look forward to continuing to be partners in your child's education!
23/24 calendar
As shared in our email sent on February 22nd, the Holy Month of Ramadan, as per our Academic Calendar is expected to begin on Monday, March 11. We expect an official announcement by the moon sighting committee to be shared nearer to this time.
Our school hours and routines during the Holy Month of Ramadan will likely be as follows:
Hours for Students:
KG – 12: 8:00am – 1:00pm
Divisions will be sending out specific schedules in the weeks to come.
Please await further information via email once we have an official announcement by the moon sighting committee.
Spring Break and Eid Holiday is confirmed as March 25 to April 12, with a return date of April 15 2024.
DAA School Calendar 2023_2024 (Revised 9 Feb).pdfFAMILY LANYARDS
A friendly reminder to please wear your family pass and yellow lanyards when visiting on our school campus. This simple act helps ensure a safe and secure environment for everyone, helping our staff easily identify members of our community.
If you do not have a family pass, please ensure you have photos uploaded onto your GEMSConnect App and visit our reception team who can provide you with passes.
Transport
Registration for our School Bus Program with STS is still open!
Please contact Kelvin sde-daa@sts-group.com / 04 704 9755 or visit our STS representatives on campus in the main atrium for any questions or to discuss available options.
slices
From Grab&Go sandwiches and salads to hot meals and live stations, Slices offers healthy and tasty meals to our students.
We are operating a completely cashless system in our multiple dining spaces for Grades 3 to 12. For lower elementary classroom delivery is available, pre-ordered by parents.
For instructions on how to top-up the Student Card and Term 2 menus, see HERE.
GEMS Family first
We are delighted to announce the launch of an exciting new initiative, Family First.
For the past 65 years, GEMS Education has put ‘Family First’ at the heart of its teaching and will now incorporate this core principle into its holistic classroom learning for students across the network in a ground-breaking new program.
Family First will play a pivotal role in students’ wellbeing and success as they reap the benefits of deeper connections and an engaged and supportive community.
FF_EVENT_0209_LONG_SUBS.mp4DAA Listens
At DAA we are committed to communicating effectively with our families. We believe that open communication between home and school is a vital component of our student’s success.
We are excited to continue our communication channel within our school community, DAA Listens. By scanning this QR code you will be able to share your compliments, comments or concerns directly with our Superintendent Dr Hildreth. There are 6 mailboxes located around the school, where students and parents can drop a postcard. Either method will ensure that Dr. Hildreth will receive the communication and that a member of staff will be back in touch with you quickly.
Your voice is highly valued and we look forward to listening to your feedback as we collectively seek to enhance every student’s experience at our school.
Parents & Students Cybersecurity Guide
Parents & Students Cybersecurity Guide.pdfOTHER INFORMATION
KEY CONTACTS
ADMINISTRATIONADMISSIONS - Registrar_daa@gemsedu.com 04 704 9707
DIRECTOR OF ADMISSIONSGabrielle Keane g.keane_daa@gemsedu.com / 04 704 9706
FINANCEfinance_daa@gemsedu.com 04 704 9740 / 04 704 9744
HEALTHhealthoffice_daa@Gemsedu.com / 04 704 9761
GOVERNMENT RELATIONSSoheir Mohamed S.MOHAMED_DAA@gemsedu.com
SLICES CATERINGdaa@slices.ae / 054 792 7509https://pay.slices.ae/support/ticket/submit
STS BUS SERVICEKelvin Sicat sde-daa@sts-group.com / 04 704 9755
ITdaait@gemsedu.com047049793