The school embraces the individuality of each learner and fosters their gifts and talents.
“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” – W.B. Yeats
Education is the key to unlocking one’s abilities, while transforming them into excellent learners. It empowers people with the knowledge and skills to overcome stiff competition and succeed in various endeavors. The leading educational institutions are responsible for nurturing the students and training them to embark on a journey to attain educational excellence. One such institution which empowers its students to reach their complete potential in all spheres of life is Dwight School Dubai.
Established in September 2018, the school is located on a 40,000 square-meter campus in Al Barsha South, Dubai. It believes that each individual has unique abilities, and hence, focuses on nurturing their potential to learn, grow, and make the world a better place. Offering the IB curriculum, the school is committed to its three pillars – personalized learning, global vision, and community, while assisting the students to turn their passion into reality. The school is driven by the purpose of igniting every student’s interests, and develop inquisitive, knowledgeable, self-aware, and ethical global leaders of tomorrow. It is committed to train them thoroughly so that they can thrive in any situation at any part of the world.
Wide Variety of Infrastructural Facilities
Dwight School ensures that the students receive the best infrastructural facilities. This encourages the students to attain a quality education. The brand-new campus houses a two-story Spark Tank space, a 25m training pool, basketball and tennis courts, and a mix of core academic, language, music, and performing arts classrooms, and specialist labs and innovation centers.
Dwight’s spark tank facility allows students to explore their creativity. Equipped with a range of machinery and tools including a laser cutter and 3D printers, this creative hub offers students the opportunity to bring their ideas to life. It follows a think tank approach designed to nurture innovation, entrepreneurship, and leadership among the students. The school has a 25-meter outdoor pool and a shallow training pool for young learners.
The school library promotes information literacy by supporting students and faculty in the use of informational resources, empowering independent learning at every stage of education. The library is also a place where reading is cherished and stories are celebrated. Dwight School Dubai promotes the love of reading and the knowledge of literature past and present. The school’s collection totals over 10,000 books, including a wide variety of fiction in English, Arabic, Mandarin, German, French, and Spanish.
Head of School
Janecke Aarnaes is the founding Head of School. She has over 22 years of experience in the public and private education sectors including national and international schools in Norway and Belgium. Most recently she was Head of Oslo International School (OIS), a cutting-edge private PreK to Grade 12 co-ed IB World School in Norway.
She holds a Post-Graduate Diploma in Leading Innovation and Change from York St. John’s University in the UK and a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology and Anthropology, Political Geography and French from University of Oslo in Norway. Janecke has furthermore studied international relations in Paris
and speaks eight languages including, English, French, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Spanish, Italian and German.
Pursuing Academic Excellence
Dwight School Dubai is a candidate school for the International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Programme, Middle Years Programme, and Diploma Programme. It is also pursuing authorization as an IB World School. The school believes in the philosophy of commitment to improve the teaching and learning of a diverse and inclusive community of students by delivering challenging, high quality programs of international education that share a powerful vision.
It delivers the academically rigorous and inspiring program for students in Preschool through to Grade 11 and will expand to Grade 12, as the school grows. The IB PYP, MYP, and DP programs provide the ideal framework for educating critical thinkers and problem solvers who become internationally minded, culturally agile global citizens positioned for success in today’s global marketplace.
Students are taught to think critically, creatively, ethically, and globally to develop a lifelong love for learning. The school is recognized worldwide as the “gold standard” in pre-university preparation. Its comprehensive IB curriculum includes:
The Primary Years Program: Preschool – Grade 5
The Middle Years Program: Grade 6 – Grade 10
The Diploma Program: Grade 11 – Grade 12
IB places much emphasis on intercultural awareness, particularly in the UAE, where the history, culture, beliefs, and traditions of a plethora of nationalities live in unison with that of the host nation. No other curriculum fits better with the UAE and Dwight’s vision of educating the next generation of innovative and culturally aware global leaders than the IB.
The school creates a learning environment where students attain knowledge through active participation. The programmes are designed to help the students make connection with the real world through contextual learning and understanding real situations.
Brilliant Extra-Curricular Activities
The school’s endeavors are not only limited to imparting quality education to the students, but it also provides them the opportunity to explore and thrive in various endeavors beyond the traditional curriculum. Dwight offers over 150 activities and curricular support sessions throughout its global network of schools. It pays equal attention towards after-school activities and aims at developing the students’ interests and talents and discover new ones through various extra-curricular programs. These reinforce their classroom learning, encourage skill development, and build self-esteem. Along the way, students share enriching experiences, forge friendships, and challenge themselves to grow.
The extensive after-school sessions provide age-appropriate choices to incite creativity and mindfulness. Dwight aims to create a sense of community, respect for diversity and challenge. Accordingly, it fosters vertical grouping where appropriate, to allow students to engage across different age groups and abilities.
Major Accomplishments
Since its inception in 2018, Dwight School Dubai has made many noteworthy achievements. The same year, Shoko, a student in grade 9 won the UAE’s Young Musician of the Year Award. The school’s MYP Coordinator and the Director of Dwight Global Online, Ms. Jaya Bhavnani won the Outstanding Contribution to Education Award at the GESS Awards 2019. Stephane, a student from Dwight School New York excelled through the Spark Tank program and designed a low-cost, 3D-printed prosthetic hand for people with amputations. It also participated in F1 Schools competition with an all-girls team of MYP students which stood out among other competitors. The team worked incredibly hard throughout the whole process and managed to gain sponsorship from Maserati – Al Tayer Motors.
Noteworthy Alumni
Dwight has produced numerous graduates, who have established themselves in various walks of life and have made the school proud with their dedicated endeavors. One of its most renowned alumni is none other than the American actor and producer, Mark Sinclair, better known by his stage name Vin Diesel. Yara Shahidi, a famous actress on popular sitcoms in the US studied through the Dwight Global Online program. Author Truman Capote who studied at Dwight was an American novelist, short story writer, screenwriter, playwright, and actor. Much of his work has been praised as literacy classics including Breakfast at Tiffany’s and the novel In Cold Blood.
Building Bright Careers
The IB curriculum at Dwight does not restrict a student to a particular career. The school allows for a holistic growth all the way through to graduation. As a result, IB students have more options in their hands than students form different curricula. The school states, “IB graduates are not limited to refined subject like in other curriculum, they graduate with strong academic knowledge in science, languages, literacy, math, art, humanities and a range of life skills therefore the career opportunities are only limited by our imagination”. The school is of the opinion that universities look favorably on IB graduates, as they don’t only bring high academics, but also life skills that are firmly embedded in them. The school transforms students into strong communicators, collaborators, positive self-managers, and researchers with critical thinking skills and inquiry skills. This helps them to excel in various academic and career choices.
The Road Ahead
Marching towards the future, Dwight School will open a 400m IAAF-standard running track and a full-size rugby pitch during the academic year 2019-2020. It is looking forward to continually improving and building upon its existing facilities. The school will be actively involved with the Expo 2020 Young Innovators program for schools, which complements its IB curriculum and the Spark Tank initiative.
