Dear GAA Family,

Welcome to the new year and the end of the first semester! We are swiftly approaching the end of the first semester, when report cards with letter grades will be issued. We have noticed an increased rate of absence this week and want to emphasize the importance of continued attendance as teachers schedule summative assessments. If your student is ill, please email our secondary secretary secsecretary_gaa@gemsedu.com so the absence can be properly coded. If you are having technical difficulties, please contact support_gaa@gemsedu.com for assistance.

Class of 2022 Updates

Application deadlines are quickly approaching and we ask that students continue to be proactive and plan accordingly.

• Update the list of universities to which you are applying on Unifrog.

• Request letters of recommendation from counselors and teachers well in advance.

  • • • Provide your brag sheet to assist with letter completion.

• Complete the Common Application and FERPA component if it is required.

• Refer to the College and Career Google Classroom for resources, guidance and additional information.

  • • • This site requires a student login. Students, please share the login information with your parents so they can see the resources that have been shared throughout the year and assist you.

Upcoming Important Dates

• January 25- Virtual Counselor Coffee at 10 am.

• January 31- end of semester 1. Report cards go home.

• February 16- Virtual Junior Night at 5pm.

Thank you for your continued support and partnership!

Ms. Lumpkins

The TWF Fellowship is a six-month journey for high-school students. Through project-based learning and mentorship, high-school students work on curated projects with Harvard mentors to make a positive impact on communities and businesses worldwide. The students will get first-hand access to problem-based projects, international workshops, internships, communication training and more. The Fellowship will act as a gateway to deepen intercultural understandings and forge global connections.

Take the World Forward Fellows are handpicked from a group of bright high-school students across the world, to identify, brainstorm, and try to solve some of the biggest challenges of today and tomorrow.

TWF Fellows are engaged in multi-fold learning engagements through the 6 months:

• Two actionable group projects aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs) guided by Harvard mentors from HPAIR and LIHC (Qualifying as CAS projects too).

• Curriculums by Ivy-League mentors: The Leadership Curriculum by the Leadership Institute at Harvard College and I.D.E.A (Ideas, Design, Execution & Implementation) Curriculum by Nwanacho Nwana (former MIT Class President and Forbes-featured entrepreneur & co-founder, Valfee)

• Feedback-led Communication Training with Nwanacho Nwana through regular prompts.

• Workshops and Challenges on social innovation and entrepreneurship by MIT Solv[ED].

• An opportunity to win project micro-funding by MIT Solv[ED] of up to USD 5,000 to take ideas to action.

• Monthly Think-out-Loud sessions with global thought and innovation leaders, such as Alex Budak (Faculty at UC Berkeley and Creator of "Becoming a Changemaker"), George Benaroya (Faculty at NYU; VP Finance, Global Controller, CFO; P&G, Tetra Pak, Nivea), Kaushik Sethuraman (Head of Programs, Social Impact Group at Meta) and several more!

• Exclusive one-year access to our virtual interactive education platform – Global Students League which gives access to several internships curated by Harvard mentors, top academic resources, global clubs, projects and more.

• Networking events with students and mentors globally.

The Fellowship currently includes 160 high-school students from 30 countries in its ambit, who are working on 22 impactful projects based on the UN-SDGs, with each project being led by a brilliant Ivy League mentor.

For more information, please visit their website: https://learnwithleaders.com/taketheworldforwardfellowship/

Just before we ended Term 1, our Varsity Soccer and Basketball teams competed against another school for the first time since February 2020 and WON!

They proved that resilience, training and discipline will help overcome any obstacles, even during a pandemic!

Congratulations to our teams on amazing results!

• January 11: New Family Virtual Welcome with Mr. Rinaldo at 5pm (New families who joined us 2nd semester, please check your inboxes for zoom link)

• January 14: Half-day, classes end at 12pm.

• January 17: expected return to face-to-face learning (subject to Abu Dhabi Government approval)

• January 25: Virtual Counselor Coffee at 10am.

• January 31: Secondary School Report cards sent by email.

• February 4: Elementary School Report cards sent by email.

• February 16: Virtual Junior Night at 5pm.