Dear GAA Families,

I hope you and your families are safe and well and had an enjoyable holiday break.

This week we welcomed students back, and we are now gearing up for the final weeks of the school year. Senior IB students are currently in the midst of the exam schedule, with other secondary students preparing for end of course projects and final unit or course exams. In the Elementary School we are all anticipating the 5th grade PYP exhibit, which gives students the chance to share their understanding, raise awareness, and in some cases provide solutions to a real-life issue or topic.

In the week ahead we will recognize the accomplishments of our secondary student athletes with the year-end awards ceremony. Also, in the area of athletics, I take this opportunity to invite all members of our GAA community to support our Girls’ Varsity Soccer Team and Boys’ Varsity Basketball Team at the finals of the Abu Dhabi Schools Championship.

Our Girls’ Soccer final match versus Emirates Falcon School, Al Ain is scheduled for 5:30 pm on Sunday May 15th, at the Al Jazira Sports Club stadium. Our Boys’ Basketball final match with AIS Abu Dhabi, also this Sunday, is set for 7:45 pm at the Al Jazira Sports gymnasium.

Our teams have done an outstanding job to reach the final match and with one more victory will be awarded a week-long sports camp opportunity in Manchester, England (football) and Madrid, Spain (basketball).

Please come to the Al Jazira Sports Club on Sunday afternoon to support our teams. There will be a festive sports atmosphere, including Food and Beverages, Music and Mc, Entertainment and Activations and of course our GAA teams in the final matches. Let’s support our teams!

Lastly, I want to announce that the final GEMS Parent Survey of the year will be sent in the week ahead. As always, your feedback is very important. At GAA we continue our focus on the four intervention areas of: Well-Being, Preparing for the Future, Personalized Learning, and Student Voice.

During the past survey if you rated us as a 9 or 10 it made you a promoter of the school and I hope you still feel that we deserve the same rating during this survey. If you rated us as a 7 or 8 this made you a passive supporter of the school. I hope that you now feel that we have improved enough to gain a score of 9 or 10. Finally, if you previously gave us a score between 0 and 6 this made you a detractor of the school. I hope that you now feel that we have improved enough to gain a score of 7 or 8 which would make you a passive supporter of our school, or possibly even a score of 9 or 10 which would make you a promoter of our school.

Let’s finish out the school year on a positive note, celebrating the hard work and successes of all our students.

Warm regards,

Robert Rinaldo

Head of School

Please take a moment to meet our new Senior Leadership team members, who will be joining us on August 1, 2022.

ADEK has not yet approved 2022-2023 school calendar.

In the meantime we would like to provide you with the anticipated dates for the holiday breaks for the 2022-2023 school year to help you in planning family events and travel.

As always, we recommend booking flexible tickets as below dates are subject to approval by ADEK:

• August 29, 2022 – First Day of School

• December 12, 2022 - January 2, 2023 – Winter Break. School resumes on Tuesday, January 3, 2023.

• March 27 – April 7, 2023 – Spring Break. School resumes on Monday, April 10, 2023.

• June 29, 2023 – Last day of school.

Our next round of in-school PCR testing is scheduled for May 18 and May 19.

Thank you to those families who have submitted completed online forms. There is no need to submit consent form for every testing session.

If you have not submitted in-school PCR consent form AT ALL, and wish to have your child tested at school, please complete the online form. One form per student is required.

NO NEED TO SUBMIT IT FOR EVERY TESTING SESSION.

Dear GAA Community,

We are thrilled that we can now gather as a Community, following the reduced precautionary measures by Abu Dhabi government. We would like to take this opportunity to invite you to GAA Parent Association (GAAPA) Annual General Meeting (AGM):

• Date: Wednesday May 18, 2022

• Time: @3:15 pm

• Location: Planetarium

AGM is typically held once a year by GAA Parent Association to enlighten our Community about activities and the financial status of GAAPA for the academic year. We were unable to hold it in the past two years due to COVID-19 restrictions.

During the upcoming meeting you will find out about:

• 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 school years’ activities organized/supported by GAAPA

• Year-end financial status of GAAPA

• GAAPA Elections for 2022-2023 academic year - with COVID restrictions beginning to lift, we are expecting an awesome year for our GAA community! GAAPA is a great opportunity to get involved in your school community and get to know other parents. Please consider sharing your talents and experience. If you are interested, please fill out this form: GAAPA 2022-2023 Interest Form

Please note that parents will need to present Green Pass on Al Hosn app or 48-hour negative PCR test in the absence of vaccination.

We look forward welcoming the parents at school again!

GAA Parent Association

*NOT TOO LATE TO GET YOUR TICKETS!*: After-School Social Event! Private Movie Screening for GAA Families - 100 percent of proceeds go back to GAAPA to support our school.

*New deadline to submit money is Thursday, May 19.*

🎞️ What: “Sonic 2” !

📽️ Trailer: https://youtu.be/G5kzUpWAusI

🍿When: Friday, May 20 at 3:00pm

🎟️ Tickets: Reserve your seats, click on this link: bit.ly/gaasonic

Tickets are confirmed once payment is received.

📽️ Where: Bawabat Al Sharq Mall - Novo Cinemas

https://goo.gl/maps/y6Dc373CoPMzZKGQ9

🎬Cost: 25 AED per ticket, with 100% of the money going back to GAAPA to support the school community. Bring your family and friends to this special showing.

🎟️ Tickets: For detailed information and to reserve your seats, click on this link: bit.ly/gaasonic

❗DEADLINE FOR PAYMENT IS Thursday, May 19 Please send money to Ms. Kirby in the Elementary Library with

1. Your student(s) name(s)

2. Your student’s class

3. Your e-mail address.

You will receive an e-mail confirmation of your ticket(s) once payment is received. You will use this e-mail to get into the theater. Each person needs a ticket.

🍿Extras: Food and drinks paid separately by viewers.

👩‍👧‍👦👨‍👦‍👦Adults needed: All students need to have an adult with them for liability reasons. We know kids can come with friends, family, or a nanny. We just need one adult that is responsible for your student(s).

❓Questions: WhatsApp Gayleen Gavitt at 050-431-1638

🤗 A huge GAA community Thank You to Bawabat Al Sharq Mall for hosting this event!

**This is not a school sponsored event - just a social event after school

Congratulations to GAA Math School Champions (each won a School Champion medal) who competed in the 2022 CEMS Math competitions!

Student Gaeun Lee from Grade 10 has also earned a Certificate of Distinctions from CEMS for scoring among top 25% of all competitors from the whole world.

• Euclid competition (for G11-12 students) – Jun Kwon Lee

• Fermat competition (for G11 students) – Seoha Lee

• Caley competition (for G10 students) – Gaeun Lee

• Galois competition (for G10 students) – Ahmed Furkan Erbilgin

• Pascal competition (for G9 students) – Seohyeon Kim

• May 16-20: Book Fair

• May 18: GAA Parent Association Annual General Meeting in Planetarium

• May 18-19: In-School PCR Testing

• May 27: Senior Graduation at Zayed University Auditorium

• June 14-15: KG2 Promotion Ceremonies

• June 16: Grade 8 Promotion Ceremony

• June 30: Grade 5 Promotion Ceremony

• July 1: Last Day of School