This academic year at GEMS we have two members of staff dedicated to the role of Dean of Students. Ms. Jameison has begun her role as Dean of High school and Mr. Paul is in this position within the Middle School section. Both have been with GEMS for a number of years and have introduced new elements to High School and Middle School life.

Our recent assemblies in High School and Middle School covered the following topics:

• Overview of expectations

• Crittercoin announcement

• Staff and student celebrations

Links for each assembly can be found below:

• Grade 6

• Grade 7

• Grade 8

Spirit Days!

• A day where students can wear items of clothing created and sold by GAA groups, such as Booster Clubs, Sports, and Activity teams, and Student Government on Friday half days. Students can ditch the uniform and wear jeans if they are wearing spirit gear.

Important reminders

Students will receive their GAA ID cards on October 24th and 25th in Advisory, students are expected to wear the IDs as part of their school uniform. On Wednesday, October 26th students will use them to scan in when late for school.

As a result students will be required to wear their lanyard into school each day so they can scan for attendance and also when they are using the washrooms. This is a requirement going forward and students will need to replace their IDs if they are lost or damaged.

PE Uniform announcement

For Middle School Students- Starting Monday (October 24) students should wear their PE kit into school and remain in their PE clothes for the duration of the day that is their PE day. Middle school students will no longer dress in and out on their PE day.

Student-Parent-Teacher Conferences Nov. 9-11

GAA has dedicated 2.5 days to conferences this Term. On Wednesday we will hold virtual meetings between 8:00 and 3:15 p.m. Thursday will be face-to-face from 11:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. and Friday again will be face-to-face from 7:45 a.m. through 12:00 noon.

Paul Teahan

MS Dean of Students

Unifrog believes that destinations - where students end up after school - are even more important than their academic performance. They officially partner with GEMS For Life to support every GEMS student to progress into the best opportunity for them. Unifrog does this by providing a one-stop-shop where students can explore their interests, then find and successfully apply for their best next step after school.

This session is open to all parents to gain a better understanding of the comprehensive Unifrog tools made available to them and their students – free of charge – through their unique partnership with GEMS Education

The session will be held via Zoom – Link for the Zoom

Congratulation to all Middle school, Junior Varsity and Varsity swimmers for their great performance on October 11th at Cranleigh school, Abu Dhabi.

Our Swim Teams competed with 4 schools, over 150 participating swimmers and we won 2nd place overall with 42 Individuals results in the top 3 positions.

Our Varsity Swim Team; Hussein Ayyad, Riley Oben, Sudki Al Khateeb and Santiago De La Flor, in 200 meters Freestyle Relay broke school swim record with new time of 1:56.59.

Congratulations Boys!

Special thank you to all parents who came and supported our Wildcats Swim teams!

Thank you Coach Jackie, Coach Nadia and Coach Iliana for your hard work and constant motivation!

Dear Parents,

Thursday, October 27th, brings to a close the 1st Quarter rotation of your student's Grade 6 Arts Exploratory course. This means that it will soon be time for all of the GAA Grade 6 Arts classes to come together to share and showcase their work for parents, fellow students and guests to see.

On Thursday, October 27th at 11:15am in the Auditorium all Grade 6 Arts courses will join together to present the 1st Quarter “Grade 6 Arts Showcase” for the 2022-23 academic year.

At the showcase, students from the four programs (Drama/Theater Studies, Instrumental Music, Vocal Music, and Visual Art) will meet together to perform, display their talents and to demonstrate to each other what they have learned.

The Grade 6 Arts Showcase is an informal presentation; however, in keeping with tradition we would like to invite you to attend the showcase and help us to celebrate the work and growth of our students. If you are able to come, you are most welcome.

We have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know your students in these past several weeks, and hope that they have had a valuable introduction to future secondary courses in the Instrumental Music program.

Dress Code for students: All Black

• October 27: Grade 6 Arts Showcase, 11:15 am @GAA Auditorium

• October 28: Dress Down Day. Grade 6-12 theme: Wear pink in support of Breast Cancer Awareness (all proceeds go to Red Crescent)

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

• November 1: GAAPA Board Meeting (all parents are welcome)

• November 3: UAE Flag Day Celebration at GAA

• November 7: Introduction to Unifrog for parents (Grades 9-12) 18:00 GST (45 mins) via ZOOM LINK.

• November 9-11: Parent-Teacher-Student Conferences (no classes in session)

• November 14-18: Great Kindness Challenge

• November 14-18: Little Thinker Book Fair

• November 15: Grade 12 Photoshoot (headshots and cap/gown)

• November 26: Fall Family Fun by GAAPA

• November 29: UAE National Day Celebration at GAA