MIDDLE SCHOOL
February 18, 2021
Dear DAA Middle School Parents,
We are excited to put our gears into motion as we delve into the planning for next year. At this time of year, we look to communicate with our families to canvas their intentions of returning next year. By now, you would have received a re-enrollment intention email for each of your children. We certainly hope that your family will continue with us in 2021/22 and ask that you please indicate your intention at your earliest convenience if you have not done so already. Receiving your intention will allow us to plan the year more effectively. Therefore, we ask that you indicate your commitment to remaining with us at DAA. We look forward to our home-school partnership as we develop our plan for next year.
We are always thrilled to see the inclusivity of our community as we attend our DAAPA coffee mornings throughout the year and use these sessions to work together in partnership with our parents. We are so proud of the resilience and agility that our students have shown this year as they have worked with the blended model. We look forward to continuing to deliver a curriculum that challenges our students, and provides them with opportunities to build their confidence and leadership skills and ensure their wellbeing. We remain excited to have you join us as we plan our students’ academic journey to next year.
If you have any questions regarding re-enrollment, please do not hesitate to contact our Admissions Director, Ms. Gabrielle Keane, g.keane_daa@gemsedu.com. If you are a new family to DAA and wish to discuss your experience settling in, please do not hesitate to contact me at j.reynolds_daa@gemsedu.com. Once again, we thank you for your support of our program and we hope that you will make the commitment to continue your child’s education at DAA.
February 21st marks the start of week 1. We will see our A group on that day. Below is the Middle School A/B Schedule:
I hope you all stay well,
Counselors Corner
MS Ambassador Initiative - Kindness Week
February 21 - 25
learning highlights
MS Art
Art is among us in Middle School. A wonderfully collaborative project by grade 7 & 8 2D art students each creating an original Among Us crewmate or imposter character. #creativity #collaboration #studentvoice
MS Math
Mrs. Brown in grade 6 Math gets the students involved in a Hogswarts Escape Room to keep the students engaged and she adds a little house competition by grouping the students in their color houses.
MS Coding and Robotics
What happens when you give students a robot and some coding knowledge? A creative, fun, and interactive digital story. In the age of digital diets and ever-increasing immersive technology, our students learnt the significant impact of humanoid interaction and programmed a digital adventure story where the listener can choose their own adventure. Many of our parents may recall similar board games and books growing up – well now our brilliant students in Grade 8 were able to bring them to life through our very own Pepper bot. Not only did they learn the importance of an age-old tradition of storytelling but they incorporated this with knowledge of coding commands in Choreograph coding language, and constructs such as sequencing, iteration, and selection. Students were also challenged with incorporating physical movements, sensory inputs from Pepper. We combined literacy skills with digital literacy and the result was an amazing showcase of their talent and outcomes. What a great achievement by some of the world’s future digital leaders – look out Elon Musk!
MS PE
What's a fun, socially distanced physical activity? Lacrosse of course! Our students had the opportunity to enjoy the weather while learning about the sport this week. Did you know, they call Lacrosse the fastest sport on two feet!
MASK - I - CAL
Upcoming Parent Sessions:
Meeting ID: 886 3661 8453Passcode: 589249
Please check out the DAAPA page for additional DAAPA coffee mornings and updates!
MS RESOURCES
key contacts
MS General Email:
Middleschool_daa@gemsedu.comSecretary:
Sarah Hole s.hole_daa@gemsedu.com / 04 704 9722Middle School Attendance:
msattendance_daa@gemsedu.com / 04 704 9728Middle School Counselors
Grade 6 - Mrs. Mira Nasr - m.nasr_daa@gemsedu.comGrade 7 - Mrs. Pushpa Dasari - p.dasari_daa@gemsedu.comGrade 8 - Mrs. Christina DeMers - c.demers_daa@gemsedu.com