MIDDLE SCHOOL

Dear DAA Middle School Families,

What a wonderful start to the school year!  I am so happy to see so many smiling faces in the hallways, classrooms, and grounds (even behind the mask!).  Over the past two weeks, we really focused on establishing foundational relationships with teachers and with peers.  Now that a safe and nurturing learning environment has been established, we are able to shift our focus to the great learning opportunities that will take place each day.

There were a “latte” students checking out our library this week!  Our “Baristas”, Ms. Ward and Ms. Sumita opened the “Starbooks Cafe” and gave students a “taster'' of books from a variety of genres, then students rated their interest for each one.

As you may have heard in Dr. Hildreth’s communications, reading is such an important and impactful aspect of learning.  It is not something that is in English class.  As we go through the school year, we will take opportunities to read and write in all of our classes in order to bolster achievement and ensure our students are savvy at reading, comprehending, and thinking critically.  If your child doesn’t have any homework, I would highly recommend encouraging them to do some reading each night to continue honing this important skill.

BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT

The Middle School Back to School Night is just around the corner!  Come see us at 6pm on Tuesday, September 13, to see all of the great things happening in DAA MS this year.  Parents will start the evening with their child’s CREW teacher, then move to their core subjects.  You’ll also hear from the specialist teachers, and have the opportunity to ask questions of the staff.  Your child should come home with “your schedule” on Monday afternoon (Sept 12).

Slices

In an effort to make our lunch lines efficient, we are asking students to come to school with their School ID.  If students are new, or lost their card, please have them pass by the office to get a temporary card before buying lunch.  This allows Slices staff to quickly serve each of our students.  Parents can easily create their Slices account in order to monitor and top up their student’s account.  

• Login at: https://oasis.gemseducation.com/

• Navigate to: Requests > Catering > Top Up along the left side of the screen.

MS Picture Day!

Picture day is approaching quickly!  We will send out a specific schedule in the next edition of SPOTS and on the Grade Level Bulletins, but they will be the week of Sept 26.  Students are reminded to:

•  Please ensure that the standard uniform (navy bottoms and white/blue tops) is worn for picture day - PE kits should not be worn for pictures.

Week Without Walls!

At the end of the month, students will begin learning about various trips they will be able to go on for Week Without Walls this year!  Come to campus, or watch the presentation online so you can have an idea of what trips are available, the cost, and the timelines for this year’s amazing event!

Upcoming Dates!

September 13  - MS Back to School Night (6:00pm-8:00pm)

September 26 - 30 MS Individual Student Photos

September 26-27-28 WWW Information shared with students during CREW

September 28 WWW Information for Parents (in the auditorium and online) - 6-6:50pm grade 6 parents, 7- 8pm grade and 8 parents)

October 9 - The Prophet’s  Birthday (PBUH)  - Expected Islamic and National Holidays

October 17-18 Professional Learning Days - No school for students 

October 24 - Diwali - Noon Dismissal 

See the full academic calendar here.

If you have any questions we can help you with in the meantime, please don’t hesitate to reach out!  You can contact us by email at  Middleschool_daa@gemsedu.com or by phone at 04 704 9722.  Our staff directory can also be found here and in every edition of SPOTS.

Middle & High School Musical Production 2022: 

Meredith Willson’s THE MUSIC MAN

Auditions Open Now!!!

We are delighted to announce this year’s Middle and High School Musical Production is ‘The Music Man’. Wicked, funny, warm, romantic and touching, The Music Man is family entertainment at its best. Meredith Willson's six-time, Tony Award-winning musical comedy has been entertaining audiences since 1957 and is a family-friendly story to be shared with every generation.

Students in grades 6-12 are invited to apply to be part of the cast, band, or crew. It is a fantastic opportunity for students to be involved in this after school activity from now until December. We will have four performances over three days, 6-8 December. 

CAST INFORMATION: 

Audition applications are now open if you wish to try-out to be part of the CAST. We are looking for students who enjoy theatre, singing, performing and being part of a team. Students: please read carefully over these google slides, and complete your audition videos before 3pm on Thursday 15 September. We will be hosting call-backs in person the following week. The cast list will be announced by September 23, and our first rehearsal will be September 26. Rehearsals will take place after school Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, with a weekend dress-rehearsal Sunday 27 November.  

BAND and CREW INFORMATION: 

If you prefer to be behind the scenes as a member of the CREW (tech, sets, props, backstage, costumes or publicity) applications will open  September 26 to sign up. Mr Holland will be auditioning for the BAND too – so stay tuned for more information, coming soon.

If you have any questions don’t hesitate to email Miss Eversteyn, who is producing the musical: melinda.eversteyn@gemsdaa.net

PowerSchool

As a first step, Please create an account as a first step to be able to proceed further. Please use a laptop / desktop browser while registering on PowerSchool Parent portal.

Our IT team have created a help video for this purpose. Kindly follow this short video to create the account https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVWT-l73tj8

Name of the student -  ( please check the email that you received with the confidential information )

Access ID :-  ( please check the email that you have received with the confidential information )

Access Password :- ( please check the email that you have received with the confidential information )

URL To register - https://daa.powerschool.com/public/home.html

Please note that the access ID and password are for you to register your child with powerschool and this is not your powerschool username and password.

If you prefer to follow a guide, please follow this link - 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YtVb24f__8yhw7IFkbTbRi-L1tx2sOuPf4pVJMJ5N1A/view

If you want to install PowerSchool Parent on your mobile device, please use the district code to connect DAA :- QNNZ

To understand features of PowerSchool parent portal , please watch this video  https://youtu.be/9Qc7fC3dCZg

If you have more than one child at DAA ( excluding Elementary School), please follow below instructions to add siblings to your Parent portal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC9j8G3yci4

Google Classroom

If you would like to have access to your child’s Google Classroom, please reach out to your child’s CREW teacher.  They will ensure that your name and email are tethered to your child and you will be able to update your preferences in Google to receive updates daily, weekly, or monthly.

If you are having technical troubles, please make sure to raise a ticket if the teacher is unable to help your child with a fix.  Send an email to helpdesk@gemsdaa.net and they will help you to resolve the issue.