MIDDLE SCHOOL

Dear DAA Middle School Families,

We are beginning to see a slight decrease in temperature, and are hopeful that the trend will continue!  Our students have been able to enjoy the outdoors during lunch and swimming more frequently.  As wellbeing is a priority, we will continue to monitor the weather and allow students to head outdoors more frequently as we head into fall, and under the social distancing guidelines of the KHDA.

A large part of our jobs as educators is to guide students developing academic skills, but it is also important they utilize those skills to help the wider community!  Please see the information below from a Grade 11 student who is working with the Emirates Red Crescent to collect donations for victims of the flood in Pakistan.  DAA has donation boxes on each floor, if you feel inclined to donate to this cause.

Upcoming Dates!

September 26 - 30 - MS Individual Student Photos

September 26-30 - MAP Testing (Science & Reading)

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

September 28 Week Without Walls Parent Information Night (see below for details)

October 3-7 - MAP Testing (Math & Language)

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

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

October 24 - Diwali - Noon Dismissal 

See the full academic calendar here and information regarding athletics here.

iPads

iPad distribution has begun in the middle school!  Students will be able to take their iPads with them for the duration of the school year and hand them in before summer break.  Please make sure to read over the Acceptable Usage Policy to ensure that proper usage (both online and physical) takes place.  A very good question was raised last year:  why do students have two devices?  We are excited to have the opportunity to have another tool at our disposal to help students access, learn, and deepen their knowledge.  Take the following graphic that we use to help students discern when to use which device:

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.

DAAPA & MS Coffee Morning

Join us on Oct 5 at 8am in the auditorium for our first MS Coffee Morning of the year.  Enjoy some coffee, light snacks, fellowship with other parents, and information about what’s happening in the middle school!

Week Without Walls!

Next week, students will begin learning about various trips they will be able to go on for Week Without Walls this year! We will also be having a parent information session on Wednesday September 28. 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!

Grade 6 parent information: 6pm-6:50pm

Youtube Live Link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxYt_pypAFc

Grade 7&8 parent information: 7pm-8pm

Youtube Live Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT19FptVvZI

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.

Upcoming Dates!

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.

DAA MS/HS Musical Production ‘THE MUSIC MAN’ Updates

CREW and BAND APPLICATIONS OPEN NOW. 

A big thank you and congratulations to everyone who auditioned for this year’s musical. It can be a nervous time, but we were very impressed by all the talent we saw during the audition videos and callback stage. Now that the cast list is ready to be announced, we are now opening applications for the BAND and CREW.

MUSIC MAN - BAND APPLICATIONS OPEN NOW: 

Musicians are wanted to join the Band for DAA’s performance of The Music Man. Mr. Holland is looking for experienced players that are confident in reading professional music notation and can commit to weekly rehearsals throughout September, October, November and the performances in December. Please complete the Google Form to express your interest and submit a short video of a performance of your choice.

Link to BAND application form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSepg5E-wwQH2Az-gi45eNvL8_Cqndqirs-MWmM4iJP-czA2WQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

Any questions? Contact the band director - Mr. Holland: d.holland_daa@gemsedu.com

MUSIC MAN - CREW APPLICATIONS OPEN NOW

Want to be part of the musical, but prefer to be behind the scenes? We are looking for hard working and dedicated individuals who would like to participate as part of the crew for this year’s musical. There are a variety of responsibilities available including: set painting, prop creating, costume designing and construction, tech-crew including lighting, sound and special effects, publicity and backstage. To apply to be part of the crew please read over the slides very carefully and complete the application form available on the slides. 

Link to CREW presentation: 

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1GC5_dgURgeeR_BB1eP99o9iuKymQ08rUGeV4S1cHClY/edit?usp=sharing

Any questions? Contact the producer - Miss Eversteyn: m.eversteyn_daa@gemsedu.com

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.