Middle School Counseling

I am originally from Singapore and I started my first international experience as a middle school student at Taipei American School in Taiwan where I completed middle school and most of high school.  I completed my senior year in Mont Kiara International School in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and did my undergraduate degree in Psychology at Queen’s University, Canada.

I moved back to Singapore and started to work as a banker while studying part-time for my master’s in Education, School Counselling. Upon graduation, I started working as a full-time school counselor in a school in Singapore, which I loved and also helped me realize that counseling is a career that I wanted to pursue. Perhaps it is my early years away from home, being back was not quite the same. This is when I decided to move to YK Pao Experimental School in Shanghai, China as a school counselor and where I met my husband, Kieran Gray who teaches Middle School Science. We decided to move to ASD in 2019 and have loved the warm and welcoming community since. 

In my free time, I like to cook, try out different food, watch movies, and simply spend time with the people I love.

I am originally from Canada which is where I completed my Undergraduate degree at The University of Western Ontario and my Education degree at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE). During my time at OISE, I had the opportunity to teach in Mexico for 6 weeks. Throughout that same time, my (now) husband Trent taught in The Dominican Republic. After this short time teaching overseas, we both decided that this was something we definitely wanted to pursue. However, before we ventured out, we wanted to gain some teaching experience in Canada. To that end, I began teaching grade 7 in Toronto, Ontario and while doing that, I completed my English as an Additional Language (EAL) Specialist. After 2 years, we moved to Bangkok, Thailand to teach at The Thai-Chinese International School. There, I taught EAL ranging from grades 2-8. After 3 years in Bangkok, we decided that we wanted to start a family back in Canada. We also wanted to try a new experience; teaching at a boarding school. We loved living in rural Northern Ontario and we loved the joys and challenges that living and teaching in a boarding school bring. However, after 9 years, the travel bug hit us again and it was time for us to open our children (Gabriel and Aria) up to this wonderful overseas, expat life! We accepted a job at ASD for the 2016-17 school year and have worked in the middle school ever since. We love the community feel that ASD brings!  I was the MS EAL Specialist for 9 years and, during that time, I completed my Guidance and Career Specialist qualifications online through the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. I was thrilled and grateful to be given the opportunity to take on a part-time counseling role from 2020-2022 in order to further my connections and support of students and families at ASD. I am thrilled  to expand my counseling role to a full-time 6th grade counseling position for the 2025-26 school year and beyond. 

I enjoy spending time with friends and family, reading, hiking and working out. I continue to enjoy all the new experiences that Doha has to offer, for example, I am taking a fashion design class with my daughter this year! Our family has truly enjoyed our time at ASD thus far and we look forward to many more years as an ASD Dragon!

My name is Dr. Annalice Hayes, and I am proud to serve as a Middle School Counselor at the American School of Doha. Originally from Ontario, Canada, I completed my undergraduate studies at Trent University and earned my Education degree from Queen’s University.

It was during my time at Queen’s that my husband, Nathaniel, and I had the opportunity to complete our practicum at a Canadian school in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. That experience sparked our passion for international education and set us on a path that has taken us around the world. After Malaysia, we accepted positions at the American School Foundation of Monterrey in Mexico, where we lived and worked for four years. I spent my first two years at ASFM teaching 7th and 8th Grade Language Arts, Middle School Leadership, and Character Education while completing both my Master’s Degree and Specialist in Career and Guidance Education. Upon completing these programs, I transitioned into the role of Middle School Counselor for grades 6 to 9, where I truly found my calling.

In 2016, we made the move to Doha, and I joined the American School of Doha as a Middle School Counselor. During this time, I also completed my Educational Doctorate through Western University, graduating in 2018. Since then, our family has grown—we welcomed our daughter, Eleanor, in 2020 and our son, Hendrik, in 2022. With both of our children now attending the American School of Doha, we are proud to call ourselves a full Dragon family!

Now in my tenth year at the American School of Doha, I remain deeply committed to supporting students through the dynamic and transformative middle school years. Outside of school, I find joy in writing, crafting and DIY projects, reading, spending time outdoors, and, most importantly, making memories with my family.