Dear DAA Middle School Families,

I hope you all have had a wonderful and restful summer, whether you stayed in Dubai or traveled abroad!

We are excited to welcome all our students back to school next week! Last week, we welcomed all of the teachers who are new to the country and to DAA. We are so impressed with the energy and enthusiasm they brought this week! This week, our entire staff joined us as we began preparations for the new school year!

We are looking forward to another exciting year at DAA Middle School! As some of you know, we undertook a strategic plan last year and began our journey to become a school that is inspired, individualized, and interconnected. Throughout the year, we hope to showcase this learning in our classrooms. You can be sure to follow us on social media outlets such as Instagram and Facebook, as well as reading SPOTS and our Grade Level Newsletters to see the great things happening in the middle school! This first edition of SPOTS will give you all of the information you need for the start of the school year!

Timings:

Below are the timings for the Middle School. Please note that every Friday we have different timings to adjust for our noon dismissal.

Student Drop-Off and Pick-Up:

In order to help with the flow of traffic and to keep adherence to COVID safety precautions, we are asking help from our families to utilize gate 3 to drop off and pick up their child(ren). Middle School students may enter through gate 3 at 7:15 each morning. They should go to the middle school floor and can meet in the common areas or their first block classroom. At the end of the school day (2:55 pm), we kindly ask our families to avoid groups and gatherings to continue to keep everyone distanced and to keep traffic moving.

Logistics:

There are a couple of items we wanted to make you aware of as you prepare for the beginning of the year.

• Please ensure your student brings extra masks with them each day. 

• We will follow social DHA & KHDA protocols and have hand sanitizer outside of each classroom. Students will maintain 1m distancing whenever possible.

• Classrooms and common spaces will be disinfected each morning, evening, and during the day (when the room is not in use).

• Students should bring their devices charged each day along with the charger. Sometimes the charge does not last all day.

• Make an appointment at Threads for your new school uniforms! Students may wear the shoe of their choice, provided it is close-toed and has non-marking soles.

• If your child is having technical troubles, please raise a ticket.  Send an email to helpdeskforstudents@gemsdaa.net and they will help resolve the issue.

• If your child plans to buy lunch at school, please top up their Slices account.  Students will use their IDs to make purchases during lunch time.

• Do you have questions?  Check out this helpful link on our website to get them answered!

New Student Orientation:

We are looking forward to welcoming our new students to DAA Middle School!  Our orientation will take place on campus for our new students on Friday, August 26 from 9:30-10:30.  Information has been emailed to families who are new to DAA with all of the specifics of the event.  To ensure that all families have the most up-to-date information about our return to school, we will be sharing the orientation presentation with all parents.

On the First Day of School:

As many of you know, wellbeing is a big part of the DAA middle school experience.  As such, we will be spending a big part of the first few days building rapport and familiarizing ourselves with school expectations in our CREW classrooms.  When your child arrives at school on Monday the 29th, they will report to their CREW teacher.  Your child’s CREW teacher will be sending a letter home on Wednesday to welcome them and let them know where to go.  Students and parents will have access to schedules on Thursday by the end of the day.  If there are any errors (blanks, for example), our counselors will reach out to students and get that fixed on the first day of school.

Upcoming Dates:

August 26 - 9:30-10:30 - New Family Orientation (DAA Auditorium)

August 29 - 7:40 - First day of school!

September 13 - MS Back to School Night (Time TBC)

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.

We look forward to welcoming all of our students back next week!

fRIDAY AUGUST 26TH:
nEW sTUDENT ORIENTATION DAY
mIDDLE SCHOOL (GRADE 6 - 8) 9.30AM

MONDAY AUGUST 29TH:
FIRST Day of School for all students

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.