Where Dubai American Academy Came From
By: Jessica Merjaneh, Staff Reporter, The PawPrint
Dubai American Academy has been around for 23 years. It is a strong American IB blended program school and provides hundreds of students with just the amount of preparation they need for their future. The K-12 school has had many successful students but do you ever wonder how and where it all started?
1998-1999
The School Opens
According to https://www.gemsaa-dubai.com/, the school was originally named Modern American Private School, it was a small school in Jumeirah that was created to provide high-quality education from the start. By the end of the first year, the school had grown from 21 students, which they had when they opened their doors in the fall, to 51 students all representing 26 different countries.
The 1st Villa-Modern American Private School
1999-2000
New Name and New Villa
At this point, they had expanded to just over 110 students by the completion of the school year, relocating to a second villa off Al Wasl Road, with over 30 nationalities amongst the students and staff, they also ended up changing the school name to “Dubai Academy, An American International School.” They proceeded to set the stage for a high-quality American education for foreign students by providing a diverse range of activities and programs.
The Al
2001-2002
Growth and Development
The campus, like the number of students, increased in numbers drastically. According to https://www.gemsaa-dubai.com/, the middle and high school gymnasiums and cafeteria were completed during the course of the year.
2002-2003
The IB
According to the school website, Dubai American Academy began its IB program as part of its goal to become one of the best schools in the Middle East during the 2001-2002 school year.
2003-2004
The Pawprint!
The Pawprint is Dubai American Academy’s student-run website, it has been in production since 2004, stated https://www.gemsaa-dubai.com/. The paper is entirely student-created and displays the skills of a number of amateur writers and photographers to cover a variety of issues such as current events, student experience, entertainment, athletics, and politics. Not only this, but the first-class Graduated from DAA that year.
2005-2006
DAA’s “Culture of Kindness”
The “Culture of Kindness” is based on appreciation for others not only because of their uniqueness and worth. According to the staff, individuality at DAA has been and will always be the key to success. Students from all over the world, from different cultures and beliefs, as well as artists, athletes, teachers, and staff, are what make up the DAA. During that year students embraced diversity under one roof even more.
1,200 students and over 70 nationalities
2006-2007
Elementary School is Now Open!
The official school website, https://www.gemsaa-dubai.com/, stated that the school was passionate about having a very high-quality education. To be able to support the growth of students and staff, DAA’s facilities were going through continuous development.
2008-2009
KHDA rated DAA good!
According to DAA’s official website, the school received a “good” rating from KHDA on its first-ever examination, with just over 2,290 students. They praised the student’s academic and personal progress, student behaviors, positive attitudes, and relationships, as well as a wide range of resources and facilities to support both the teaching and learning.
2011-2012 / 2012-2013
KHDA “Outstanding” Rating
Dubai American Academy was ranked “outstanding” in terms of educational quality, this was said by the KHDA during their inspection. The student’s academic achievement in English, Mathematics, and Science was praised at all levels. The year after, Dubai American Academy was rated “outstanding” for the second year in a row!
2013-2014
DAA’s 15th Anniversary
DAA celebrated its 15th anniversary with 2,285 students all from 99 different countries. For the third year in a row, KHDA rated DAA “outstanding” since the student’s achievements were exceeding international expectations by far. Inspectors reflected on how the students’ amazing behavior and extremely positive attitudes contributed greatly to the school.
2017-2018
Big Year
The 2017-2018 school year at DAA was a big year since the school switched to the current campus on Sheikh Zayed Road, and they were also able to establish Innovative Learning Experiences which continue to grow to this day. During that year Pepper, one of the human-programmed robots was welcomed on campus.
Overall, DAA continues to thrive to this day and the students can’t wait to see what else DAA has to offer. For more information on the History of Dubai American Academy, or even for anything else related to the school, feel free to visit their website https://www.gemsaa-dubai.com/.
The Pawprint 
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