Welcome back from Spring Break GAA Family!

We hope that all of our families have rested and enjoyed spending time with their families. This is an exciting time for secondary school students and families.  Around the corner are End of Course assessments, IB External Assessments, Senior Walk and Gratitude Day, Senior Brunch and Graduation. 

All of these milestones only happen because of your partnership with your scholars’ instructors and your encouragement to excel.  Every grade has an important role in this journey and it is important that all of our secondary students work hard to meet their academic goals. 

How to support students at the end of a school year:

1. Set Goals

Setting goals for yourself both personally and academically will help you stay on track. Whether your goal is to get straight A’s or pass your IB Exams or EOCs, make your own goals and try your absolute best to achieve them.

2. Stay Organized

Staying organized will prevent you from losing or forgetting about assignments. Keep track of your assignments and test dates in a planner or calendar to stay organized and prepared for upcoming final projects and tests.

3. Don’t put off responsibilities

Slacking and procrastinating are just ways of putting off responsibilities. Putting off school-related responsibilities will leave you scrambling and stressed at the last minute. Do what you need to do when you need to do it, and you will be well on your way to finishing strong!

4. Remember what you’ve worked for

It may help to remind yourself of all the hard work you’ve put in this year. One bad performance on a final test or project could undo all of your efforts for a certain letter grade.

5. Get motivated

It is time to get motivated! Whether you have to bribe yourself with rewards or create penalties for not trying your best, do whatever it takes to stay motivated and beat “summer fever!”

6. Take advantage of the nice weather

As the weather begins to get nicer, you don’t have to stay cooped up inside studying. Get creative by studying and doing homework outside instead!

7. Take a time out

Don’t forget about taking time out of your day to regroup and simply have fun! This will help you stay focused. Giving yourself breaks for fun is good for your sanity and attention span.

8. Adjust your attitude

What is your attitude right now? Are you feeling down? Can you not wait for school to end? Simply adjusting your attitude to be more positive can make an incredible difference!

9. Take care of yourself

Taking care of yourself by eating well, exercising and getting the proper amount of sleep will help you remain focused.   

10. Focus on the finish line

Visualize your finish line- and your goals- and focus on that. The school year is almost over- you can do it! Start a countdown, and don’t worry- the end is near.

Opportunities to partnership for success are as follows:

• Learning happens every day until the last day of school - 26 June.  Please make sure that your students are in attendance and on time. 

• Dress code is part of dressing for success.  Students are expected to be in their full GAA uniform with the following amendments:

• Seniors can wear their senior crewneck sweatshirt or letterman’s jacket with the black shirt and appropriate pants. 

• Students who own the grey booster sweatshirt can wear this with the blue collared uniform shirt underneath and appropriate pants 

• On SPIRIT DAYS students are able to wear the athletic hoodie in addition to the house shirt, senior sweatshirt, and grey sweatshirt.  Students are not allowed to wear tight pants at any time. 

• Please check with the Accounting department. Students with outstanding balances cannot receive grade reports including and up to their IB Diploma and Certificates. There are no exceptions not even for university deadlines.  

• Please check with the librarian about proper procedures to turn in library materials.

• Graduating full diploma scholars please communicate Mr Thompson, the IB Coordinator if you need legalisation and or where to have your IB Scores sent.

• All seniors please share your final destination information with with the counseling staff

• The window for attestation and legalisation will  be shared by the GRE at a later date

Upcoming Events:

• 18 April Senior Walk and Gratitude Day. Please scroll down to see a video which shows what the Senior Walk looked like last year. 

• 29th April all are invited to hear our scholars and staff share their ideas around the topic = Future in Form. The TedX invite is below

• 29th May Graduation Rehearsal Day

• 30th May Graduation 

Greetings Parents and Students! 

I hope that you all had a wonderful spring break and Ramadan Kareem to each of you. It has truly been my pleasure to serve as Director for Middle School Production of The Little Mermaid Jr. I’ve taken the past couple of weeks to reflect and decompress. This has truly been one of the most amazing and supportive experiences I’ve ever had. I appreciate all that you’ve done to ensure we were able to have such a successful show. From the bottom of my heart, I would like to send a special… THANK YOU!

I could have not asked for a more committed and talented group of actors, stage crew and production team. I truly believe that we all came together and conquered. We brought the GAA community together and they were able to witness how much time and effort our students put into this production. Sharing the experience of live theater is something that I believe the students will never forget.  

Parents, thank you all once again for believing in the Arts Program here at GAA and supporting us throughout the school year. Students, I hope to see you all on stage again next year! Using these two link, check out these photos taken by Mrs. Gayleen Gavitt: TLM JR. Photo Album 1 and TLM JR. Photo Album 2. 

As a reminder, the cast party will take place after Ramadan/EID holiday. Please see details below:  

Cast party :

• Date: Wednesday, April 26th

• Time: 3:00 – 4:15 PM

• Location: Black Box Theater (Room 291)

• Who: Middle School Cast, Elementary Featured Cast, Student Crew/Stage Managers, Production Team 

• Potluck Sign-Up (Please sign up for a food item to bring for sharing 😊): Click Link Here 

*A reminder will be sent to students about the cast party on Google Classroom as well. I look forward to seeing the students come together again and reflect 😊                                         

Sincerely, 

Mrs. Cotman

Director of Middle School Production

• April 18: Senior Walk

• April 20-23: Expected Eid Break (IMPORTANT! SUBJECT TO ADEK CONFIRMATION)

• April 28: Pizza and Popsicle Day by GAAPA and Booster Club

• April 29: TEDxYouth @GAA

• May 5: GAAPA Annual General Meeting @8:00am Planetarium