The American School of Dubai

Updated Tuesday December 28, 2010

Parental Comments/Opinions

1

Hi, I am American. HCT handles funding part or all of school fees, but the rest you need to do yourself. Good schools have waiting lists, so start to contact them as soon as you can. Make sure you have all necessary documents, or you will have problems registering your children at a school. We just transferred our two children who are now in 7th and 9th grades, to the American School of Dubai. It offers an American curriculum, including AP courses. The facilities and after school activities are the best in Dubai. They have a 6 acre campus, I believe, with a grass soccer field, tennis
courts, nice gym, and a new music building fully stocked. The teachers are friendly and caring. My kids like it there. This school is very popular amongst Americans. It also has long waiting lists. It gives preference to large companies that rent "seats" or, basically they pay money to guarantee spaces for their employees' kids. They then give preference to Americans, or children with an American passport. I think about 70% of the students have American passports. Because they more or less take all kids of Americans working in these large companies, the school caters to a wider range of
students. There may be schools more highly academic than the American School, but if you are concerned about the social aspect of the school and want your kids to enjoy their school life here, this may be the place to go. One drawback is that tuition (seat fee, registration, books, tuition) for a high school age kid is currently about 50,000 dh, whereas HCT only allows up to 40,000 dh per child.

2

I am an American with 2 elementary school-aged children attending the American School of Dubai. The tuition is quite high and, at times, the wait list for enrolment is very long but it is one of only 2 schools that I know of (the other being Dubai Academy) that offer the American curriculum (the American School of Dubai is fully accredited by The
Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools based in the United States). The school has a very nice campus including an excellent Library/Media Center. The curriculum has met all our expectations and, if anything, is a bit more challenging than what you might get in the states. For elementary parents, if you miss the orientation for the
reading program be sure to inquire with your child's homeroom teacher about it. Also, the elementary grading system is a bit confusing.
There is a very active parent's association (ASPA) that sponsors many after school events (basketball, soccer, T-ball, roller blade hockey, girl and boy scouts, after school music and dance groups, etc.) to keep the students busy year round. For high school aged students, ASD is part of the EMAC conference. Students interested in athletics can compete at both junior varsity and varsity levels. There are also conference festivals and competitions for the Arts. Some annual events include Scholastic book orders, Fall Carnival, Craft show, high school musical and other theatrical productions, Habitat for Humanity (the school is very active in social and environmental causes), etc.
Visit their web site at www.asdubai.org for more information. Online copies of the various Parent Handbooks are included.

3

The American School offers a North American curriculum with all the activities you can possibly imagine. The atmosphere is friendly yet professional. The students really enjoy the facilities and they seem to be motivated to participate in a lot of the after school activities offered. Though the tuition is quite expensive, relative to some of the other schools, they certainly make up for it in the variety of programs they offer and the level of professionalism of the teachers. This has to be one of the better balanced schools in Dubai.

Back

This page was last updated by Leigh Butler on December 28, 2010