Dear Elementary School Parents,

As we enter the holy month of Ramadan, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the importance of this time for our Muslim families, and to encourage all of our families to engage in the spirit of the month.

Ramadan is a time of fasting, prayer, and reflection for Muslims around the world. It is a time to focus on spiritual growth, self-discipline, and the importance of community. During this month, Muslims abstain from food and drink from sunrise to sunset, and use the time to reflect on their faith, give to charity, and strengthen their relationships with family and friends.

For our Muslim families, Ramadan is an important time of year, steeped in tradition and culture. It is a time for families to come together and break their fasts each evening, sharing meals and conversation. It is a time to give generously to those in need, and to seek forgiveness and understanding from those around us.

At our school, we are committed to supporting our Muslim families during this important time. We will be offering accommodations for students who are fasting, such as allowing them to rest during recess or providing a quiet space for prayer. We will also be incorporating lessons about the history and significance of Ramadan into our curriculum, to help all of our students better understand and appreciate this important time of year.

For families who are new to Ramadan or who are not Muslim, there are still many ways to engage in the spirit of the month. You might consider joining your Muslim friends and neighbors for an iftar meal, where you can experience the joy and hospitality of breaking the fast together. You might also consider learning more about the history and traditions of Ramadan, or even trying your hand at cooking some traditional Ramadan dishes.

Another way to engage in the spirit of Ramadan is to focus on the values that this month represents: community, generosity, and self-discipline. Consider how you can incorporate these values into your own family’s life during the month of Ramadan. Perhaps you might choose to donate to a local charity, or to volunteer your time to help those in need. Or you might make a commitment to spend more quality time with your family during the month, setting aside time each day for conversation, reflection, or prayer.

Whatever your background or faith, we hope that you will join us in celebrating the spirit of Ramadan this year. Let us come together as a community to celebrate the values that unite us, and to support one another in our spiritual growth and reflection.

Wishing you all a blessed Ramadan,

Leia Kraeuter

Elementary Principal

Dear Families of Elementary Students:

We love celebrating at GAA and we are so incredibly grateful for all the generosity our families extend to our school and the students of GAA. As we come into a busy season of celebrations I would like to direct all of our parents to the elementary handbook page 12 regarding snacks, birthdays, and food sharing.  

Please note the following that we will be monitoring closely as we need to ensure the nutritional and dietary needs of all our families:

1. Nuts and nut products are not permitted in any shared food . Food that is brought in to share that contains nuts will need to be returned to the home. 

2. All snacks sent into school must be pre-approved by the class teacher and/or Vice-Principal. Snacks or birthday celebrations should be limited to a cupcake/muffin/healthy snack. Snacks, food trays, fast food items, etc that are not approved by the teacher or admin will need to be returned to the home. This ensures we have everyone’s safety, food allergies, and dietary needs met. 

We are committed to providing a healthy school environment and celebrating our children is certainly part of a healthy culture. Thank you for adhering to the Handbook rules related to providing healthy foods and good communication to our school ahead of time so we can plan for special events.  

Elementary Handbook

Page 12 of Elementary handbook:

Lunch/Snack

At GAA, we encourage students to eat healthy, nutritious foods. Water is provided for all students, and students are required to bring their own refillable water bottles. Children should bring a healthy snack from home to eat during the morning break. Any food sent to school should not contain any nuts or nut products. Please ensure you send your students to school with a healthy packed lunch from home or order from the GAA ‘Slices Cafeteria’ link.

Birthdays

Birthdays can be celebrated in Kindergarten from 2:30pm onwards. Birthday celebrations in grade levels above Kindergarten are limited to a sharing of a cupcake/muffin or healthy snack during the class’s allocated snack time as these celebrations take away time from our teaching and learning. All snacks sent into school must be pre-approved by the class teacher and/or Vice-Principal. 

Reception must be informed of a delivery at least 24 hours in advance. Deliveries will be sent back if not approved. Class celebrations are arranged with the classroom teacher in advance. This will ensure that there are not multiple celebrations on one day. In connection with our ‘healthy food’ initiative, parents are encouraged to make appropriate choices when planning the celebration for their child. For birthdays we prefer snacks to be individually wrapped or in individual portions, such as fruit and vegetables. No birthday cakes please. For drinks, water is preferred. Please be aware that no soft drinks are allowed. Please arrange cups, plates or napkins, as the school does not provide these items. Please do not send hats, balloons, party favors or gift bags. Invitations to out of school birthday parties can only be sent via school if all students in the class are invited. If you plan to invite only a few classmates, please be aware that this can cause uncomfortable or awkward situations, and/or hurt feelings.

"Learning Together During Spring Break: Reflecting on the IB Learner Profile"

As we embark on the spring break holiday, GEMS American Academy would like to remind our parents and students of the importance of continuing to learn, even during vacation. That doesn’t always mean solving algebraic equations or writing short stories, but rather focusing and being mindful and reflective about who we are and how we connect with others. 

Families and friends will spend time together during this break and during Ramadan. So how can this learning continue? This can be done in a variety of fun and engaging ways. One of the best ways to learn is to reflect. The aim of all IB programmes is to develop internationally minded people who, recognizing their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a better and more peaceful world. What better time to reflect on these attributes than this break?

At GAA, we want all learners to strive to be: Inquirers, Knowledgeable, Thinkers, Communicators, Principled, Open-Minded, Caring, Risk-Takers, Balanced, and Reflective. We encourage our parents and students to take time this spring break to discuss and reflect on these values. Whether you are traveling to another country or staying here in Abu Dhabi, you can ask open-ended questions and engage in meaningful conversations with family and friends. For example, you can ask questions like, “How can I be more principled in my daily life?” or “What should I do to be more caring to others?”. These questions will help spark reflection and conversation.

Another way to learn during the spring break is to engage in activities that will help promote these values. You can simply take a walk and observe the world around you, or take part in a community service activity. These activities can help develop the value of being knowledgeable, open-minded, and reflective. At GEMS American Academy, we believe that it is important to instill the values of the IB Learner Profile in our students from a young age and we encourage our parents and students to take this spring break as an opportunity to discuss and reflect on them. 

Enjoy your spring break, make connections with family and friends, and reflect on yourself. With this, I am certain the learning will continue even when we are not in the building.

Justin Kirby

K-12 Curriculum Director

Students in Pre KG are having a wonderful time growing and learning. They are developing a love of reading through our celebrations, library classes and daily stories with their class teachers. In addition to reading, our Pre KG classes are enjoying exploring their PYP unit ‘Who We Are’! Within this unit of inquiry, they have been finding out about their 5 senses – touch, sight, hearing, smell, and taste. I wonder if they have been sharing their learning at home! Here are some pictures to reflect how much fun our Pre KG students are having learning through play. 

What does it mean to be a helper? Helpfulness is an important part of good social development, and there are many excellent ways for children to practice being helpful — from putting toys back on the shelf to collecting food for neighbors in need. We can also introduce kids to the many grown-ups who work to make life better for others. 

Our PreK A friends have been learning about community Helpers. A community helper is someone who is willing to help out the community. We tell children that a community helper is anyone who works to help us. They do the jobs and handle tasks that benefit us. We believe it is important for the children to know who these people are and how important their jobs are to each and every one of us. We have learned about firefighters, police officers, vets, teachers, chefs and many other community helpers. 

This week our PreK A friends created amazing chef hats and delicious looking pizza in their chef hats. By getting to know our Community Helpers, children get inspired by those who work to make our world a better place to live.

Book Week 2023 was a huge success! It consisted of 4 dress down days (with read-alouds shared for each themed day) and three opportunities for families to read together and/or engage in book-related activities afterschool. 

The theme for Day 1 was “Reading Makes You Bright”. Students read books with their families under blanket forts using flashlights! 

The theme for Day 2 was “Reading Gives You Superpowers”. During Library class, students dressed up as superheroes, listened to superhero read-alouds, participated in a superhero themed STEM challenge, played a meteor game, and worked as a team to put together Avenger puzzles. Afterschool, students participated in many Dogman activities and games with their families. 

The theme for Day 3 was “Reading Helps You Relax”. Students wore pajamas to school, made Gruffalo Crumble in KG Kitchen and listened to The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo’s Child stories. Afterschool, students and their families watched The Gruffalo movie and ate popcorn and other Gruffalo snacks. They also participated in many Gruffalo themed activities and games. 

Our final day featured GAA’s first Book Character Parade. The students were so creative with their costumes! Thank you, parents, for supporting your child(ren) and encouraging them to read for enjoyment. Have a blessed Ramadan and a wonderful spring break with your families! Click below link to see a video of the week’s events:

The grade 3 students have been inquiring into art and it’s various forms. The unit "How We Express Ourselves" has been an exciting and inspiring journey for our 3rd graders.  

The unit began with an exploration of various art pieces displayed around the school, ranging from sculptures to paintings. Our students were fascinated by the way the artists expressed their thoughts and feelings through their work. The students responded to art from music, sculptures, paintings, fashion, and drawings. 

In addition to exploring visual art, our 3rd graders also listened to different genres of music and reflected on how they felt. They used the Garage Band App to create their own music pieces reflecting their emotions when looking at different famous paintings. It was amazing to see how they used their creativity to express themselves. 

To extend our learning in this unit of inquiry further, our 3rd graders went on a wonderful field trip to The Louvre Abu Dhabi. They were excited to see some of the most famous art pieces in the world and to learn about the different cultures they represented. They were able to apply their understanding of how artists express themselves through their work, and it was a great opportunity for them to see the concepts they had been learning in action. 

Overall, this unit of inquiry has been a remarkable experience for our 3rd graders, as they explored different ways of expressing themselves through art. They have learned how art is a powerful tool to communicate emotions, ideas and culture, and we hope this will encourage them to continue exploring and creating in the future.

Class 4B have been very busy this term in our Science Unit in UOI. We are working on the Solar System. Here you can see our class 4B “Science Investigators” working on measuring how shadows change in length and movement throughout the day. 

In small groups we discussed what makes a fair test, what we must keep the same, change and what equipment we would need. We recorded the location and length of the shadows multiple times throughout the day.

Our findings were fascinating. In conclusions we discovered that the Sun rises in the East and falls in the West. Shadows were at their largest when the Sun had recently risen and when it was beginning to go down. The shadow lengths were shortest at approximately noon time. 

Grade 5 finally went on their much anticipated field trip to Jubail Mangrove Park. Within the unit of inquiry: Sharing the Planet the central idea was, the earth changes as a result of natural processes and human activity.

Students had a wonderful time walking around the board walk, exploring a haven for avian and marine species native to Abu Dhabi.  The students learned the important ecological function of the mangrove habitats that include protection of the Abu Dhabi Coastline and supporting biodiversity. They made connections with the UN Sustainable Development Goals #13,14 &15.

Learning outside the classroom is wonderful!

Grade 3 (C, D & E), Grade 4 and Grade 5 have finally dived back into the pool this term. Remembering old skills and learning new techniques have ensured plenty of excitement and anticipation for every lesson. We have looked at water safety and how to act in and around water, as well as building up our confidence in differing depths. 

Swimming is one of the best forms of exercise so those regularly swimming have built up their aerobic fitness plus refining those swimming strokes. Whether it has been with a float, competing against a friend or jumping for distance, there have been so many smiles and achievements throughout the unit.

Swimming is an important life skill that will be beneficial far beyond the school pool. 

Super work everyone! 

As an after school art and illustration teacher for the second session, this year, I was thrilled to have offered students a fun and creative outlet to unwind after a long day of learning. The after-school activity focuses on teaching students various art techniques, including Pop Art, Checkered Art, Op-Art, Grid Art, Illusions, and many more.

Each session begins with a brief introduction to the art technique we will be exploring that day, followed by a hands-on art project where students can put their newfound knowledge into practice.

Students who attend these art and illustration sessions have found it to be a time for winding down while still learning valuable skills. They have developed a love for creating art and are always eager to try new techniques and styles.

The art and illustration sessions are not only a great way for students to express their creativity, but they also help to develop critical thinking, problem-solving, and fine motor skills. Students are encouraged to experiment with different colors, shapes, and patterns to create their own unique masterpieces.

In conclusion, the art and illustration sessions that we provide as an after-school activity have been a huge success. 

Please check out the recent Update by our Student Leadership comprised of 4th and 5th graders. 

ESM holiday camp would like to thank those parents who have already registered their children for the final week of the spring camp which starts on Sunday at GEMS American Academy Khalifa City.  

We are delighted to offer a discount of 50% for weekly bookings (AED450 after discount) for the camp week of the 27 – 31 March 2023 to the first 30 parents who register online.

This limited offer will be a first come first serve basis, to avail this amazing deal parents are required to register online through our website and use the discount code of ESMcamps50. (valid till the 3rd of April 2023 only) 

Your children will have a chance to kick back, learn something new and have some fun, while being active indoors taking part in our multi activity camp. 

As parents you will have peace of mind that your child is well looked after and enjoying the camp experience.

Below is a draft of the activities which will be taking place each day:

REGISTRATION

• Registration and payment for the Spring Camp MUST be done online – no walk ins will be accepted. 

• All new parents will need to create an account with us if you haven’t done so already.

• Places are limited, to avoid disappointment, CLICK HERE to register.

TIMINGS:

• Drop off from 8.15 – 8.45am 

• Activities start from 9.00 – 1.30pm

• Pick up from 1.30 – 1.45pm

BUS SERVICE

• Please note that there is a BUS SERVICE available for this camp from STS but it would be for venue specific camps and the closest venue to where you live – please make sure you look at the covered areas below.

• We require the bus bookings to be done before every Tuesday afternoon 2pm for the following weeks bookings.

• Bus fees are AED250/child/week to the same pick up and drop off area.

Holiday Camp Options: 

• SCHOOL NAME: GEMS American Academy Khalifa City

• AREA THAT CAN BE COVERED: Al Reef Villas, Al Zeina, Raha Beach, Al Raha Gardens

 If you have any questions, please do connect with us and we’ll help you as soon as possible, for more information please email us on holidaycamp@esm.ae   

 Looking forward to seeing all our young campers soon!

 ESM Holiday Camp Team

• March 27 - April 7: SPRING BREAK (No School in session. Admin offices will remain open 9:00am - 2:00pm Mon-Thurs, and 9:00am-12:15pm on Fridays)

• April 10: Term 3 Starts

• April 13: GAA Community Potluck Iftar DInner

• April 14: GAAPA Board Meeting (everyone welcome)

• April 18: Senior Walk

• April 28: Pizza Day by GAAPA