MIDDLE SCHOOL

November 20, 2021

Dear DAA Middle School Families,

As you know, the last three days have been spent conducting our Parent/Teacher Conferences. We appreciate you taking the time to discuss your child’s progress and pathway to progress throughout the rest of the year. Our work together in supporting your child is a critical component of their academic and social success.

An important part of well-being is getting outside and away from screens. As the weather has changed over the past weeks, our students have been able to get outside and enjoy it more. Students in PE were learning about the basics of Cricket and some were able to take advantage of eating outdoors at lunchtime. Our duty schedule will be shifting to accommodate more groups of students outside during the school day.

Upcoming Dates

November 21 - DAAPA Coffee Morning - 8am
November 22 - Week Without Walls Parent Meetings (see information below)
November 24 - Week Without Walls Registration due
November 25 - Thanksgiving Holiday (No School)
December 01 - Commemoration Day, National Holiday (Subject to Government Announcement)
December 02-03 - National Day, National Holiday (Subject to Government Announcement)
December 06- EXPO Field Trip (Grade 7 -Sustainable Planet)
December 07- EXPO Field Trip (Grade 6 - Sustainable Planet)
December 08- EXPO Field Trip (Grade 8 - Sustainable Planet)
December 09 - Last day before winter break (Noon Dismissal)
January 02 - Classes resume from winter break
January 27 - End of semester 1
January 30 - Start of semester 2

For all events, click here for the K-12 Academic Calendar.

coffee morning

Don’t miss out on the next DAAPA Coffee Morning! It will be held on Nov 21 at 8am. We will be discussing our literacy program and other exciting activities coming up in middle school! Please see the Zoom details below. We look forward to seeing you there!

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4274228775?pwd=RUowelg1dHRvanM1ZlVudytZTTJVdz09

Meeting ID: 427 422 8775

Passcode: 0SeZyn

week without walls

That time is finally upon us! We are pleased to announce that Week Without Walls will be happening February 27- March 3, 2022. On Monday we will be sharing the experience options with our students during CREW. On Monday (Nov 22) at 4:00 we invite you to join us in a grade level Week Without Walls zoom call where we will go over the process and experience options with parents. Later that afternoon we will send a registration form, a copy of the presentation and a questions form to parent emails. Unfortunately we have a very tight turnaround this year, but do believe that excitement will prevail. Please see the timeline below:

Monday, November 22: Presentations, Form and Questions sent home (presentations will be posted to bulletins as well)

Grade 6 Parent Zoom (3:30): https://gemseducation.zoom.us/j/87222377750
Grade 7 Parent Zoom (3:30): https://gemseducation.zoom.us/j/84465812314
Grade 8 Parent Zoom (3:30): https://gemseducation.zoom.us/j/88091370852

Wednesday, November 24, 3:30pm: all selections due, students assigned lottery numbers in CREW

Tuesday, November 30: Experience assignments posted on grade level bulletins

Thursday, January 6, 3:30pm: 100% of payments due in

upcoming expo trips

The Middle School is preparing for the second rounds of EXPO trips coming up in early December! This is especially important for Grade 6 given the fact that they were not able to join the first round of trips earlier in October due to the high temperatures that led the EXPO organizers to cancel those trips. (We continue to be in touch with EXPO as we wait for a potential opportunity to reschedule that first trip for Grade 6.)

This second time around, students will be experiencing the Sustainability Journey. In addition to the main thematic Pavilion, students will have an opportunity to discover other country Pavilions as well. Prior to the trips, CREW teachers will be presenting a set of slides with tips for students to be very well prepared, important reminders about school trip etiquette and expectations, as well as some other fun and warming-up activities in preparation for what we expect to be another successful EXPO field trip! Here is a reminder with the dates:

Grade 6: December 7th

Grade 7: December 6th

Grade 8: December 8th

Middle school staff directory

Would you like to contact a middle school teacher or staff member? Please see the list of email addresses here.

technical issues

If you are still 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 studenthelpdesk@gemsdaa.net and they will help resolve the issue.

I hope you all stay well,