Dubai Scholars Private School: Opportunities to Learn and Grow

Dubai Scholars Private School: Exceptional Opportunities to Learn and Grow

A school that lets its students grow by shouldering personal responsibility and discovering their self-worth on the basis of trust, honesty and mutual respect produces global citizens who are dynamic leaders coupled with compassion.

Dubai Scholars Private School is one such school that inculcates these values and honours the unique characteristics of each child, embraces the diverse backgrounds and values of its students to build a strong multi-cultural community.

History, Mission, Vision

Founded in 1976, Dubai Scholars Private School was built to serve the primary care needs of the early expatriate population. Under the direction of the Scholars International Group, DS has grown from its humble beginnings to becoming one of the oldest and most prestigious educational institutions in the UAE.

Scholars International Group is known for providing high caliber, achievement-orientated schools to develop the next generation of leaders.

“A good education is the most important thing we can give our children
-Aparna Verma, Founder, Dubai Scholars”

It was a humble beginning for Dubai Scholars, starting from a villa in Deira. The school expanded with growing demand and then it moved to two villas and eventually to seven. But the early nineties saw a surge of students and DS moved into the full-purpose facility at its current location.

While we will continue to grow ourselves, Dubai Scholars still maintains the very principles on which the school was built: respect, intellectual curiosity, action, responsibility. These principles have allowed us to create an environment for our students to excel in, assert the school administration. The school kept growing in leaps and bounds but the vision and mission has remained constant ever since its inception, and that is – to provide an exceptional educational opportunity to all who are admitted to Dubai Scholars.

Vision

The school’s vision is to provide a student-centered learning environment where children are authors of their own learning and become authors of their own futures.

Mission

The school’s mission is to prepare students for the challenges of life, with the critical skills and communicative abilities to tackle those challenges that have yet to manifest in this rapidly evolving society. The school’s goal is to lead students to be confident individuals who are comfortable in taking risks but have the values to act with thoughtfulness and humility.

Students are taught tolerance regardless of culture and beliefs, are inspired to find happiness combined with academic achievement.

Curriculum and Infrastructure

Dubai Scholars offers the highly regarded National Curriculum of England following the Edexcel programme for IGCSE and A Level. It is accredited by British Schools Overseas, the oversees accrediting body of Department for Education of England and Wales (DfE) and is a fully accredited member of the British Schools of the Middle East (BSME). The BSME is a network of high quality British international schools in the Middle East region. The school’s KHDA rating is overall Good with many areas Outstanding.

The school programme offers students a strong academic structure and creative outlets to explore and expand their interests.

State-of-the-art facilities and key learning concepts create an environment conducive to a dynamic education. Situated on a 200,000 sq. ft. footprint, in the Al Qusais neighbourhood, Dubai Scholars boasts a multi-purpose facility. The campus was specifically designed to support the school’s mission across its academic plan for well-rounded students whether in class, on sports fields or in arts studios. Sections of the campus are zoned for Early Years, Primary and Secondary students to provide the optimal setting for learning.

For Overall Development

The campus of Dubai Scholars Private School is always bustling with activity, full of excitement and overflowing with life. Sports, languages, performing arts, multi-cultural interactions, and community service are but a few of the numerous programmes that balance the academic core to promote well-rounded student-leaders.

The exposure for Primary students to leadership starts early through the Junior Student Council and the transition to Senior School upholds them to exercise their leadership skills with a greater sense of confidence and passion.

A global and local perspective is an important element in developing the students at Dubai Scholars. Trips, both short and long haul add great value, from local adventure related overnight camps to International Educational trips to places like Shanghai, Singapore and the NASA visitor centres offer a unique blend of education and entertainment. Extensive participation from students at Inter-school competitions include: Student-led after school extracurricular clubs; Buddy tutoring and Community outreach programmes; Breast Cancer Awareness campaigns; 30X30 Dubai Fitness Challenge just to name a few. Sports Days in DS centre around the four houses Alpha, Beta, Omega and Pi.

Excellent coaching for games such as Hockey, Football, Basketball and Cricket; enthusiastic participation of students at Business Competitions, Literacy Festivals, Summer Enrichment Programmes; Model United Nations; Science Fairs; Art of Giving Campaigns; After School Clubs; exemplary musical and theatrical performances and concerts; Student led online portals such as DS Pulse, DS Green Community; Dubai Scholars Cup, Math Masters; Academic Boosters – Online Buddy Tutoring Portal, Teaching our Support Staff Programme (TOSS); Continued effort by students in schemes that contribute effectively in sustainability and conservation.

Standing Apart

From its opening four decades ago to the school today the vision and mission has remained constant – to provide an exceptional educational opportunity to all who are admitted to Dubai Scholars.

Dubai Scholars recognize the importance of continuous learning not only for students but also for staff. In order for the school, educators and students to keep up with changes in the world, we must also keep current with new educational directions and best practice is to give students the education they will need as they go forward into the world beyond DS. To achieve that goal, DS supports its educators by delivering high-quality Continuous Professional Development (CPD).

Girl Up Club ignites the empowerment of girls, by girls around the world. In partnership with the United Nations, it stands up for girls, speak up for programs that help them thrive, and rise up as a community of advocates out to change the world, for good.

The Girl Up club serves as a virtual club during the summer break and school year and targets raising awareness on issues faced by women around the world such as domestic violence, period poverty, glass ceiling in the modern world, FGM, etc. Since it strives for global gender equality, an equally important branch of Girl Up Club Dubai Scholars will aim to tackle the complex issues faced by men from the stigmatized mental health for men, unrealistic expectations due to toxic masculinity, etc.

Coping During the Pandemic

Faced with the crisis due to Covid-19, students of the Sixth Form at Dubai Scholars put their heads together to extend a lifeline. This was The Academic Boosters, a free of cost online, one-on-one peer tutoring platform.

So far, over 30 students have been taught by the AB tutors across 14 subjects. after classes with Academic Boosters, these students’ performance dramatically improved in their Term 3 tests. More importantly, their self-confidence received a boost too.

A Dedicated Leader

Under the dedicated leadership of Frank Scarcelli, Principal, Dubai Scholars’ educators are committed to teaching standards that allow children to build confidence as they challenge themselves. Mr. Scarcelli has been an educator for 41 y ears in leading schools in Canada, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. His curricular experience encompasses the National Curriculum of England, International Baccalaureate, Ontario, as well as Abu Dhabi Education and Knowledge curriculum. He specializes in building capacity in schools from within utilizing the energy and knowledge of both faculty and students. He holds a Master ’s Degree in Educational Management as well as specializations in Special Education, and Technology.

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