Dear New Families, 

Welcome and thank you for choosing GEMS American Academy!

At GAA our principles of teaching and learning emphasize a personalized learning environment, giving students more choice in their learning and making learning more purposeful. Each year we are seeing more student projects that address real world problems and scenarios, and create tangible useful products that are shared with their communities.

From these student successes and the success and quality of our academic programs we are strengthening the connection with our students, parents, and the community. We are sending a message that says, “GAA is a school of opportunity.”

In the business world, companies that succeed are ones that stay true to their core values over the years, and create a culture that employees and customers are proud to associate with. For GAA to continue to thrive and impact our world, as stated in our mission, we must all incorporate, uphold, defend, and live out a shared set of beliefs about what it means to be a member of GAA. A set of GAA beliefs that center on the importance of positive relationships, where Human Interaction is the most important role, characterized by trust and support. As a faculty and staff, we must model our expectations and demonstrate in everything we do, a strong conviction in the potential of young people. 

I ask that every member of  GAA to become active participants in our community - students, teachers, administration, and parents by living out these beliefs, and helping us define what it means to be student centered in instruction and in relationships.

As an educational leader my purpose is very clear: To help each student find their self-confidence and pathway. I look forward to meeting each of you in the year ahead.

Warm Regards,

Robert Rinaldo

Head of School 

Need help finding your child's classroom or offices? Here are the floor maps:

IMPORTANT DATES:

• October 16-20 - Half Term Break (no school)

• December 18 - January 1 - Winter Break (no school)

• February 19-21 - Half Term Break (no school)

• March 4-5 - Student-Parent-Teacher Conferences (no classes in session)

• March 25 - April 8 - Spring Break (no school)

• June 28 - Last day of School year 2023-2024

Please take time to familiarize yourselves with important procedures, set in place to ensure our students' safety and wellbeing:

• Traffic Regulation

• Drop-off and Pick-up Procedure

• Late Arrival and Early Pick-up Procedure

• Campus Security Procedure

• Bus Rider Student Pick-up and Drop-off Guidelines

Our wonderful parent ambassadors have set up WhatsApp groups by grade level to help connect our NEW families.  Please join using below links:

New KG Family WhatsApp Group  

New Elementary Family WhatsApp Group 

New Secondary Family WhatsApp Group

Grade and section level WhatsApp groups will be created at the start of the school year and shared with new and returning families.

IMPORTANT!

Please take a moment to familiarize yourselves with group rules.

To know more about GAA Parent Association, please make sure to check out GAAPA page of this Welcome Pack.

This is a friendly reminder that all families, especially our new families, need to return the following forms to our Clinic:

• HAAD Screening Consent Form

• Emergency Care Information

• Health Information (Pages 1 and 2)

• Medication Authorization

Should you have any questions, please contact our Nurses at nurse_gaa@gemsedu.com. 

Please complete this form by providing both parents' contact information and an alternative contact. Contact information (email and mobile number) is required in order to ensure that our communication reaches you. Also please complete the consent section of the form for photograph authorization. Where there is no respond, consent will be implied.

At GEMS American Academy, we issue parent ID cards to our parents only. No ID Cards are issued for guardians, domestic helpers, drivers or relatives. 

The Parent ID includes photos of the parent. The Parent ID does not expire and is valid as long as the child attends GAA. You will be asked to return Parent IDs, should you withdraw from GAA.  

New Parents, you may obtain your Parent photo identity card by emailing a photo (jpeg format) along with the parent’s first and last name to pre_gaa@gemsedu.com. Please also include your child/children’s full name and grade in the email as well. You will be notified when your ID cards are ready.

At GAA, the school is divided into 4 house teams.  The house system is designed to further foster community spirit as well as provide students with the opportunity for some friendly competition.  Once families are assigned to a house at random then they will remain in that house for their duration of study at GAA – this helps to let students develop a sense of identity or belonging and learning that their achievements can have an impact on the school community.  It is important to note that siblings are assigned to the same house as their siblings, so any new students who already have siblings in the school will be assigned to the same house.

In order to allow the students the opportunity to show their house spirit, we allow them to buy and wear their house t-shirts at school.  In elementary, the house shirts can be worn on PE days as well as every Friday.  In secondary, the students are informed when they can wear the house shirts based on each department.  You can purchase the house shirts by contacting Claire Davies who is the Elementary Innovation and Technology Coach and a member of the PBIS Team by emailing her at c.davies_gaa@gemsedu.com