The Future of Learning We develop our students as engaged, confident and successful self-motivated learners. Mr. Terry Gamble Head of School/CEO GEMS Education – a long-term commitment to quality education Why the ‘GEMS’ name? Our name and the GEMS Education logo symbolize CSR initiatives, GEMS students also develop a our belief that every child is a GEM...precious and social conscience. They are taught the values and unique, ready to shine and achieve his or her hopes responsibilities needed to become active members of and dreams. the community, something which the modern world is desperate for. We value and cherish our children in school just as they are at home by providing individual care and GEMS Core Values attention. We reinforce that each child: We know academic performance is important because academic qualifications are the passport to accessing • has special talents a good university but we believe a values-based • has limitless potential education is of equal importance. GEMS values-driven • is unique - there is no other child exactly the education is expressed through our four core values same in the entire world. which are woven into every curricula offered by GEMS Schools and are at the core of our DNA. They are We value parents’ trust in allowing us to provide the not symbolic, we live and breathe them. They are: education and care that will enable their children to grow, learn and be ready for a bright future Global Citizenship Why a 'GEMS Education'? • Make an active contribution to the community Leading Through Innovation For over 56 years, GEMS Education has approached • Find the courage to challenge convention its educational offering from a unique perspective. Pursuing Excellence We believe that a quality education is about Ad Vitam • Work to continually exceed expectations Paramus - ‘preparing for life’. The GEMS approach to Growing by Learning learning is one which focuses not only on academic • Strive to develop your potential excellence but also in helping students develop their character, creativity, values, personal leadership and Through our values we encourage independent the spirit of enterprise necessary for them to achieve learning, empowering students to take on responsibility. their full potential as global citizens and leaders of Students learn to celebrate diversity in a spirit of the future. understanding and tolerance and develop a positive regard and awareness of other people. We believe that a high quality education, with an international outlook, is critical in an increasingly Academics competitive global environment. ‘Globalization’ may be the catch-cry of today but we have acknowledged Over the last four years alone, GEMS students have its impact for decades, and prepared our students been accepted into 980 universities in 48 countries. accordingly. Graduating GEMS students have been accepted by some of the most prestigious universities and colleges GEMS Education’s multi-faceted approach to learning around the world. GEMS students have gone to 12 out prepares students for the rigors of higher learning of the top 15 universities in the world and 37 of the top and equips them with the skills and versatility they 50 universities in the U.S. Over the past 4 years alone, require for professional employment. GEMS students have won over 1,500 international, regional and local awards for Academics, Sports and Through our values our students become confident, the Arts. Furthermore, all our schools significantly tolerant, resilient people of integrity, capable exceed all national and international benchmarks in of both leadership and compassion. Through our student outcomes. Philanthropy - Schools with a conscience Through the four core values of GEMS, our schools programmes of its type in the world. Over 150 senior are heavily focussed on philanthropy. They are schools academics are trained in international accreditation, with a conscience. Each has their own charitable inspection methodologies and school self-evaluation. activities that fall under the Varkey Foundation. Students are taught the real meaning of compassion. Advisors GEMS Education is supported by a network of For every student enrolled at a GEMS School one eminent, international advisors which include hundred underprivileged children will be impacted. world leaders and experts who are “game–changers” The Foundation’s aim is to support 10 million and influencers on the global stage. children globally. GEMS Education has strategic partnerships with the Clinton Global Initiative, the Tony Blair Faith We are proud to say that over the past 56 years, Foundation, the World Economic Forum and Microsoft. GEMS students, teaching staff and corporate staff have raised over $40m USD for charities around Parent Engagement the world. GEMS is also leading the world by becoming the GEMS International Schools first educational organization of its type to introduce a parent engagement strategy into all its schools. The sheer diversity of nationalities in GEMS International research is clear. The biggest single International schools provides students with a unique reason a child does well in their education is when international understanding through interaction and by their parents take a real, active and consistent interest studying and experiencing other cultures and belief in what they are learning in school, at home. Research systems. This global cross cultural experience is suggests that a parent who is actively and consistently extended further through a special initiative where engaged with their child can add the equivalent of two GEMS students are linked, via video-conferences, to three years of extra education to that student over to students in non-GEMS schools around the globe. a school career. When parents are engaged children get better grades, have fewer discipline problems, GEMS provides education to students in Europe, Africa, and are more likely to be successful in their lives. North America, Asia and the Middle East. Many GEMS parents are aspirational, career minded professionals History so the GEMS network of schools provides parents with the opportunity to transfer their children from one In 1959, two teachers, KS Varkey and his wife Mariama, GEMS school to another as their circumstances change. arrived in Dubai. At the time, Dubai was a burgeoning trade center on the Arabian Gulf. The Varkey family Education Expertise had left Kerala, India to seek a better life for their family. What they found was a real need to educate GEMS has selected a team of world renowned children arriving in the city from around the world. educators to ensure it delivers global best practice Their son, Sunny, added a visionary’s ambition to a in the field of education. These include leaders practitioner’s experience. From simple roots in a family who have excelled in education reform, curriculum of teachers, GEMS Education is today an international development, and teaching and learning practices. company with schools and education services in They are unequalled in international experience and 19 countries. We still share the same mission - to include individuals who have established schools all put quality education within the reach of every over the world. child and student. All GEMS teachers have access to the GEMS Professional Development program which is one of the largest, most comprehensive in-house gemsamericanacademy-qatar.com A warm welcome to our school GEMS American Academy located in Al Wakra, Qatar, is a state-of-the-art center of inspirational learning offering an American curriculum for children from Pre-KG to high school. Through their studies, students are empowered to develop intellectual, emotional, social, creative and physical skills through an enriched American curriculum, in a collaborative, nurturing environment. Using the most current teaching methodologies experienced teachers engage students in a challenging curriculum that stretches them to achieve their full potential as scholars and as curious and creative individuals. We firmly believe that education must be concerned with overall student development, and our international school community will promote global citizenship, the pursuit of excellence, and leadership through innovation. Educating today's learners for tomorrow's world GEMS American Academy believes that: • All people have unconditional worth and potential • Compassion and fairness promotes trust and respect and are best communicated through modeling • The school should cultivate imagination and instill an appreciation for learning as a joyful, lifelong pursuit • An atmosphere of trust enables children to question, to take risks, to collaborate, to assume responsibility for independent work and to pursue individual interests • Significant accomplishments can be achieved through perseverance and hard work • Quality education empowers the individual and expands options throughout life - our educators, students and parents do this by building bridges of trust and communication • Our commitment to advocating teaching and respecting a diverse student body from cultures throughout the world, fosters peace, justice and global understanding gemsamericanacademy-qatar.com My son was not keen on going to school but after joining GEMS American Academy he changed completely and now he is happy and excited to go to school. I have a very high opinion about GEMS American Academy and its staff. I can see the positive change in his personality and it feels like he is growing and glowing from inside and out. Sema