High School Updates

Dear DAA Students and Parents:

I want to congratulate all of the students who have successfully completed their IBDP Visual Arts Exhibition. I was able to attend on Thursday evening and the quality of the work was outstanding. Being able to interact with so many of the artists only provided further insight into the works. This two year journey is a gigantic milestone for them and the event was extremely well done. Congratulations to all of our IBVA students!

This Friday, students had the opportunity to review courses, get insights from videos, connect with Heads of Departments and counselors to ask questions, and make course selections for the 23-24 school year. There is still plenty of time to make changes, so we would ask that you prioritize sitting down with your child to review the information and videos provided for each of the courses that your child has initially chosen. We are committed to ensuring that parents and students have great resources available to help them make choices for which of the many great pathways that we have available. Kindly note that final course selections are due by April 14th.

One of the things that makes DAA so special is that we have incredible options within the AP, DP, blended, common core, and the modified pathways. Because our community is so rich in diversity and because our students attend universities all over the world, our commitment is to help parents and students to get the right information and to support them as they navigate the decisions for what are the “just-right" educational options for their individualized needs. This journey starts early within the high school experience, so we are so appreciative of the parent engagement and questions to determine which of our outstanding pathways is right for your child.

And, we had a lot of fun today with our annual Dodgeball 7s tournament. Students always have a blast playing against each other and the staff team. As always, thank you for all of your support. We truly love working with your students.

Kind regards,

High School Administration

The last 2022/2023 SAT testing session at DAA will take place on Saturday, May 6th. The deadline for registrations is Friday, April 7th, which is during Spring Break. To register for the May 6th SAT, visit the SAT registration page on the College Board website. When registering, search for the venue by using the school code 52822. Please note that you are not able to search for Dubai American Academy, as DAA is a closed testing center.

If you have any issues with registration, please contact Tony Azoulay at a.azoulay_daa@gemsedu.com.

Our IBVA show opened on Thursday, March 16th and students’ work will remain up until Wednesday, March 22nd at 1:00pm. Please visit the HS Art rooms to view the artworks and talk to our student artists.

Please see the AP Payment Letter with instructions on how to make payments for the AP exams. Every student enrolled in an AP course is expected to pay for each individual exam, and these instructions help you simply go through that process. The deadline to make the payment is April 28, 2023. Failure to make payment may result in the inability to take the AP exam and is a requirement for Senior Clearance prior to graduation.

AP exams are scheduled to take place May 1-12, 2023.

This year we will be hosting the 2023 TEDxYouth@DAA event in person and back on stage!
For those who haven’t heard about TEDxYouth@DAA, it is an independently organized event approved by TEDx where high school students and teachers explore new ideas and perspectives in live talks.

This year, our theme is “Inertia,” meaning a tendency to stay constant until an event drastically changes trajectory. Our speakers will be talking about their dreams, passions, or experiences in relation to “Inertia”. Over the past few months, everyone has been working incredibly hard on their speeches to provide the best show possible for our community.

Please join us on Sunday, March 19th in the DAA Auditorium to immerse yourselves in our TEDxYouth@DAA event 2023.

Book your tickets here, it’s free!

Five teams recently completed their Duke of Edinburgh Qualifying Adventurous Journey, Bronze Award. Teams hiked 6 hours per day, cooked a warm meal in the evening (including smores!), and pitched their tents to camp overnight. All of the students involved worked together to motivate, entertain, and build lasting friendships. Well done and congratulations to all involved, and thank you to our staff team for supporting!

Dear Senior Parents,

Mark your diaries for the important dates below. Further details will be shared with parents and students via email.

March 20th - March 22nd: Senior Cap and Gown Photos

April 19th: Last Day for Seniors

• Senior Assembly

• Senior Walk

April 24th - April 26th: HS Exams

• Courses other than IB and AP courses

• Schedule to be shared

April 27th - May 19th: IB Exams

May 1st - May 11th: AP Exams

May 25th: Graduation Rehearsal and Awards Ceremony

May 26th: Prom

May 28th: Graduation