Dear Parents, please take a moment to read our Parent Engagement Policy and Parent Code of Conduct

and

Complete Acknowledgment Form

Dear Parents, please take a moment to read our Handbooks

and

Complete Acknowledgment Form

We are excited to welcome our new students to GAA! To help students feel comfortable and supported as they begin their journey, we have organized a Soft Landing Orientation on January 5th. 

Below is the schedule of events for the day:

Orientation Schedule:

• 8:45 – 9:00 am: Welcome with Coffee in the Auditorium (meet-n-greet Senior Leadership Team, GAA Parent Associations)

• 9:05 – 9:30 am: Welcome to GAA in the Auditorium with Dr. Ethan Hildreth. 

• 9:30 – 9:45 am: Secondary Learning at GAA in the Auditorium with Secondary Administration

• 9:45 – 10:00 am: Middle School Tour / High School Schedule Handout and IT in Auditorium / School (BNS, Counsellors)

• 10:00 – 10:15 am: HS Tour / MS Schedule Handout and IT in Auditorium / School (BNS, Counsellors)

• 10:15 – 10:30 am: Student Experience in the Auditorium (Student Government – Varsity Sports, Arts, MS and HS students)

• 10:30 – 10:50 am: Be a Gem in the Auditorium (Hosted by Ms. Kelly, High School Dean of Students and Mr. Paul, Middle School Dean of Students)

This orientation will give students a chance to meet their buddies, learn about the school, experience student life, and connect with both peers and staff. We encourage families to ensure students arrive on time and are ready for an engaging first day.

We look forward to welcoming your child and supporting them in starting the year successfully!

GAA Secondary Division

Morning Arrival

• Cafeteria before 7:30 am: All students who arrive early are to remain in the Cafeteria until 7:30 am.

• Grades 6–12 students go to their classrooms using the one of 4 entry points (back staircases coming from back gates, cafeteria if coming from front gates). These routes are explained in Advisory classes and supervised by staff.

• Parents wishing to visit the Admin Area should enter through the Main Door (Please wear your yellow parent lanyard at all times when on campus). If you have not received your parent access card, please email your photos to pre_gaa@gemsedu.com.

• Gates 4 (Bus) and 5 (Tennis Courts) are open from 7:30–7:45 am. Students may not enter before 7:30 am.

Early Dismissals

Please avoid early dismissals whenever possible, as they interrupt learning and group activities. Staying for the full day helps students remain engaged and follow the flow of lessons.

• Please contact Secondary School Attendance Secretary for early dismissal: ssattendance_gaa@gemsedu.com 

If you must pick up your child early for an emergency, please enter through the Main Lobby and check in with the Receptionist.

No early dismissals after 2:30pm from Monday to Thursday and after 11:30am on Fridays.

The detailed Early Dismissal Procedure can be found in the School Handbooks and Procedures and Policies page of Welcome Pack .

Afternoon Dismissal

No students will be released through the Main Lobby. Parents may wait in the Parent Café until pick-up time:

Nannies and Drivers will wait in the Student Cafeteria, where more seats are available. After collecting the younger children from the homerooms, nannies and drivers should remain in the Student Cafeteria until the older sibling arrives.

Gates 4 and 5 (back gates) will be closed for safety during bus departure:

• Monday–Thursday: 3:09–3:15 pm

• Friday: 12:09–12:15 pm

Late Pick-Ups

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• After 3:30 pm, all late students will be moved to the Lobby.

• After three late pick-ups, parents will be contacted for safeguarding follow-up.

• Security will record the names of students collected after 3:30 pm.

• No students may remain on campus after 3:30 pm, unless attending After-School Clubs or Athletics practices/games.

Parents will receive an email with a link to electives (via Google form) once their student is enrolled at GAA. If you have not received an email for your student to select elective classes, please contact our registrar at registrar_gaa@gemsedu.com 

Grade 6 (ADEK Groups 1-3)

Grade 6 students that fall under Groups 1-3 will not receive a link to electives, as they must take Islamic Studies (1st elective), which is mandatory by ADEK. These students are automatically placed in the Arts Rotation class as their 2nd elective.

Grade 6 (Group 4: non-Arab non-Muslim)

These students don’t take Islamic. They have Arts Rotation plus World Language with choice of French or Spanish.

For Students

Setting up your school accounts:

At the time of enrollment, each student is assigned a school google account and email. Parents will receive an email with the instructions and student login credentials by the end of August

Once new student logs in to his/her school gmail account (ending with @gaa-ad.com), they will find emails from support_gaa@gemsedu.com regarding:

• School Wi-Fi network connection information

• Google classroom invitations from each of their subject teachers (NOTE: This will be sent at the beginning of school year, once their individual schedules are finalized).

Digital Platforms

PowerSchool is the platform used by our secondary teachers to take assignments, standards-based grading and attendance for each Period/ Block.

Google Classroom is the Learning Management System that simplifies creating, distributing, posting class work and engaging students in learning online. The primary purpose of Google Classroom is to streamline the process of sharing files between teachers and students. 

The below link has a short video to take you through the initial steps. Further details would be shared to the students by their teachers. Please check student School Google emails regularly to get the latest updates from the teachers.

If you have any difficulties in logging into the systems, please contact us by our email support : support_gaa@gemsedu.com 

For Parents

PowerSchool is the platform used by our secondary teachers to take assignments, standards-based grading and attendance for each Period/ Block.

There is a parent portal login available, which will be sent WITHIN TWO WEEKS by email through support_gaa@gemsedu.com AT THE START OF THE NEW YEAR. If you do not receive the credentials within two weeks, please contact support team at: powerschool_gaa@gemsedu.com.

We would recommend to use Mobile App as well to get instant notifications on Absence Attendance. Login credentials will be the same both for mobile app and website.

Google Classroom - There is an option for Parents to receive Summaries of teachers for your students classes. Parents could select to either receive the summaries on a Daily, Weekly or Monthly if you have a google email. If the your email is a non-gmail account, by default it gives the option to receive summaries on a weekly base only. You will receive an invite on the primary contact email address registered with GAA, from the respective teachers of the student. Watch this video for guidelines: https://youtu.be/0WxGwUUlawo 

Teacher emails: Middle and High School parents can also expect to receive direct emails from teachers. NOTE: we strongly recommend creating a separate email account for school communication only. 

To know more about parent digital platforms, please check out Communication Page of Welcome Pack.