News from our Secondary Principal, Katherine Banner
We are just completing our second week of school after the return from winter holiday and students, teachers and families are back into full swing! The semester officially ends January 19th and report cards will follow on February 2nd via email. After that they will also be available on Plus Portals. Please be reminded that Parent Conferences will be March 15-16.
Second semester is the time we begin working on the timetable, course offerings and student class selection for the next school year. Our goal is to ensure every child is placed in classes that are the best fit. During the next couple of months students will receive information on course offerings and attend informational sessions about the IB program. Teachers will be making recommendations for appropriate placement of students. This is a time for parents to talk to your high school student about his or her goals and interests, particularly rising grade 11 and 12 students who will be making application to university in the near future.
Finally, just a reminder that January 26th is a half day for students. Students will be dismissed at noon.
Katherine Banner
Secondary Principal
Second semester is the time we begin working on the timetable, course offerings and student class selection for the next school year. Our goal is to ensure every child is placed in classes that are the best fit. During the next couple of months students will receive information on course offerings and attend informational sessions about the IB program. Teachers will be making recommendations for appropriate placement of students. This is a time for parents to talk to your high school student about his or her goals and interests, particularly rising grade 11 and 12 students who will be making application to university in the near future.
Finally, just a reminder that January 26th is a half day for students. Students will be dismissed at noon.
Katherine Banner
Secondary Principal
GAA to host jazz icon; Wynton Marsalis
We are delighted to announce that GAA will play host to the American Jazz icon; Wynton Marsalis. Wynton and his band are among the headline artists set to perform at the Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Festival in March. Whilst in the UAE, Wynton has offered to lead an interactive workshop with the students here at GAA.
Wynton Marsalis is a nine-time Grammy Award winner and the only person to achieve 5 consecutive awards (between 1983-1987). He has produced over 80 albums that span the jazz and classical sphere and has been awarded 25 honorary degrees from America’s leading academic institutions including Columbia, Harvard, Howard, Princeton and Yale.
In 1987, Wynton co-founded the jazz program at the Lincoln Centre in New York. He currently serves as Manager and Artistic Director for the established Jazz at the Lincoln Centre, which has become a mecca for learning as well as a hub for performance.
In addition to performing and talking about music, Wynton and members of his ensemble will spend some time working with the combined GAA Big Band and High School Jazz Band. This will be an incredible opportunity to learn from an internationally acclaimed musician, composer, bandleader, educator and leading advocate for American culture.
GAA will be inviting music students from our GEMS network and across the UAE to attend this event as we take this opportunity to engage and collaborate with the wider community.
We would like to thank the Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation (ADMAF) for their commitment to educational outreach projects and further details of the festival can be found here.
In 2016, music students from GAA visited the Emirates Palace to watch an open rehearsal with the Orchestre de Paris under a similar initiative.
Dave Holland
Secondary School Music Director
We are delighted to announce that GAA will play host to the American Jazz icon; Wynton Marsalis. Wynton and his band are among the headline artists set to perform at the Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Festival in March. Whilst in the UAE, Wynton has offered to lead an interactive workshop with the students here at GAA.
Wynton Marsalis is a nine-time Grammy Award winner and the only person to achieve 5 consecutive awards (between 1983-1987). He has produced over 80 albums that span the jazz and classical sphere and has been awarded 25 honorary degrees from America’s leading academic institutions including Columbia, Harvard, Howard, Princeton and Yale.
In 1987, Wynton co-founded the jazz program at the Lincoln Centre in New York. He currently serves as Manager and Artistic Director for the established Jazz at the Lincoln Centre, which has become a mecca for learning as well as a hub for performance.
In addition to performing and talking about music, Wynton and members of his ensemble will spend some time working with the combined GAA Big Band and High School Jazz Band. This will be an incredible opportunity to learn from an internationally acclaimed musician, composer, bandleader, educator and leading advocate for American culture.
GAA will be inviting music students from our GEMS network and across the UAE to attend this event as we take this opportunity to engage and collaborate with the wider community.
We would like to thank the Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation (ADMAF) for their commitment to educational outreach projects and further details of the festival can be found here.
In 2016, music students from GAA visited the Emirates Palace to watch an open rehearsal with the Orchestre de Paris under a similar initiative.
Dave Holland
Secondary School Music Director