School Information

To be submitted to the Admissions Office before the first day of school

• Transfer_Certificate.pdf (Click to Download): If you are moving from outside Dubai OR Leave Certificates - If you are moving from a school in Dubai.
• Final end-of-year report card
• Two official transcripts (incoming grades 10 to 12 only)

Transfer Certificate: If you are moving from outside Dubai

Transfer Certificates (TC) are a UAE Ministry of Education requirement and are required for all students entering grades K1 to 12.

The attached form must be completed by the current school on its own letterhead, reflecting your child's last day of attendance there. Depending on your school's location (not curriculum), one or more official stamps are required. Email the TC to us when it’s available to you. Retain the original as it might be requested.

• Inside the US, Canada, Australia, or Western Europe: the transfer certificate must be signed and stamped by the school
• From any country outside of the UAE, US, Canada, Australia, or Western Europe: the transfer certificate must be attested by the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the UAE Embassy in the country you are transferring from.
• From a GCC country: the transfer certificate must be attested by the Ministry of Education in the country you are transferring from.
• From another Emirate in the UAE: the Arabic transfer certificate must be stamped by the Educational Zone of that Emirate.

Transfer Certificate: If you are moving from a Dubai school

Transfer Certificates (TC) are a UAE Ministry of Education requirement and are required for all students entering K2 to G12 or if you are moving from a KHDA registered school.

• Parents need to request the Leave Certificate from their current school in Dubai and email it to us when it's available to you. Your current school will transfer your child's record on the KHDA portal and provide you with a leave certificate. We will use the Leave certificate to register your child at ASD on the KHDA portal. 
  
  *Please note that TC's must be received prior to a student attending school.

Official High School Transcripts

All incoming grade 10-12 students are required to submit 2 official sealed high school transcripts from the previous school. These transcripts should include the full 2023-2024 school year, so we only expect these in August.  Ask for official transcripts from your current counselor. Submit these before the first day of school to the ASD counseling office. Your child will not be allowed to attend school without submitted original transcripts.

Incoming grade 9 students can submit either an original report card or a transcript if available.

Every ASD family is assigned an official family email account. The email account is a critical information resource for your family. Through that email account, you will receive emails from teachers and principals, the weekly ASD Newsletter, report cards, and other important school information. Your family email account is used to log on and access the (internal, log on only) Connect ASD section of our website, which contains information vital to current school families.

ASD family email accounts are assigned as the last name followed by ASD family four-digit ID number (ex. smith3452@asdubai.org). Starting in grade 3, students are issued a student email (ex. cjones.17@asdubai.org) that contains their first initial, last name, and ASD graduation year. Use of student emails is very moderate in the early grades, with gradual increased use in later grades.

If you are a new family to ASD (no current siblings enrolled), you will receive your ASD family email, username, and password in late spring from ASD Learning Systems Office. You will then log on to Connect ASD using the new family username and password. Browse through all the information and note the home dashboard, which contains important items such as ASD official calendars, ASD Newsletters, and more.

For email assistance, please contact ASD Learning Systems. For website questions, please contact asdweb@asdubai.org.

Once your ASD family email has been assigned, you will begin to receive the weekly ASD Newsletter via this account. Published every Monday during the school year, this newsletter is an important resource for information about your school; the published edition is also posted on ASD's internal website, Connect ASD. Be watching your email to receive the ASD News and enjoy!

Additional communication is emailed to family accounts and emergency/timely messages are sent via SMS to the parent contact numbers provided to the ASD Admissions Office.

Please ensure ASD has your updated contact and emergency information at all times. If your contact details (email and phone numbers) have changed since your application, please email the updates to admissionsteam@asdubai.org. Please provide a local P.O. Box, even if it is a company address.

MasterCook is the food service provider for ASD, offering pre-plated, pre-ordered, healthy hot and cold lunch options for ES students as well as a 3-course menu for MS and HS students with 4 choices of meals per day.

Early Learning and Elementary School

ASD provides all Early Learning and Elementary School supplies (PreK - Grade 5). From tissues to notebooks, pencils to rulers, all are provided to students and distributed in the classroom. Two popular items you may want to shop for before your arrival in Dubai are the ‘perfect’ lunch box or water bottle, which are not provided by ASD. The Elementary School has a hat policy and students in PreK - Grade 5 are required to wear hats when playing outside and during PE. Students should plan to keep one hat at school at all times as well as a water bottle.

Middle School

High School

Due to the variety of courses offered among the different grades at the High School level, specific lists are provided by teachers during the first week of school. As a general guideline to get a head start on your shopping, typical items needed are a pencil case, blue and black ink pens, pencils, highlighters, and a variety of folders/binders.

A calculator is required for all math courses, the TI-84 / TI-Nspire CX CAS (Texas Instruments) calculator is standard with AP courses requiring either the TI-84 or TI-Nspire CX CAS. These are expensive in the UAE, and it is recommended to purchase them ahead of time.

Academic Technology Requirements

Access to technology supports a student-centered model of learning and increases the opportunity for differentiation. Beginning in Grade 6, students will be required to have their own Apple laptop for educational use.

The Laptop

Each student must have a MacBook laptop at the beginning of the school year that is no more than four years old and is operating the latest macOS operating system. 

Configuration Information

Middle and High School student laptops need to be configured to work with the school network. In August, all students can complete this process online. Watch for an email over the summer with instructions to access a program called Back to School Computer Configuration. When students come to school on the first day of classes, their computers will be automatically validated on the ASD network.

Purchase Requirement Reminders

• All students are required to have headphones with voice recording capabilities.
• If students have a laptop with only the USB-C port, it is highly recommended to have an adapter for projecting or using USB-3 plug-ins.
• Please make sure to read the recommendations and guidelines for laptop purchases below:

Minimum Specification

• An entry-level 13” MacBook Pro or Air 
• 8 gigabytes of memory.
• 256 gigabytes of hard drive storage

An extended AppleCare warranty is recommended with any new laptop purchase as well as insurance (normally covered under home insurance).

We encourage personal choice with regard to device selection. Students interested in audio, video, or photo production may wish to consider a larger screen, hard drive, and more memory. The MacBook Pro series is well suited for the creative arts.

Additional Equipment

• At school, students are required to have a charger and a small set of recording earphones (i.e. earbuds). 
• Recommended: An external hard drive for regular backups, a protective laptop cover 
• If your child is taking Arabic, the keyboard should have an Arabic/English keyboard. If you buy your computer outside of the UAE, you may be required to buy an Arabic keyboard cover.
• USB-C port adapter is recommended for Macbooks equipped solely with Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C port)

Apple ID

Each student should have their own Apple ID for updating and adding Apple software. For students under 13, we strongly recommend creating an account through Family Sharing, if your child does not already have an Apple ID.

Laptop Services and Management 

Before school begins, families will be contacted about the process of connecting devices to ASD IT services.

The IT Department manages device security, software updates, and installations. As part of this service, the IT Department acts as stewards of the device, providing administrative access to the device when required as well as during holiday periods. Grade 10-12 students will have administrative access to their devices throughout the year.

Support and Repair

The IT Department facilitates laptop repairs within the UAE at both our in-house repair center as well as in partnership with our third-party vendors, including Apple UAE. Loan laptops are available as required. 

For questions, please contact Heather Roy, Academic Technology Coordinator PreK-12, or ASD IT Support.

Technology Use Policy (TUP)

ASD's Technology Use Policy is an important part of the student handbook for each division. The focus is on empowering students to use technology in ways that transform their learning and is tied to the ASD Core Values. Parents and students should read it carefully. The IT Department both filters and monitors Internet traffic at school and on student laptops. 

Support and Repair

The IT Department is available for laptop repair. They will first attempt to service the machine in-house. If parts or further services are required, the laptop will need to be sent out. ASD has established a working relationship with a local company to provide repair services for students at reasonable rates. IT has loaner laptops available for student use while the laptop is repaired.

More details are forthcoming...

ASD utilizes several core platforms (PowerSchool Learning, PowerSchool, and Google for Education) for student learning and communication outside of the internal website.

PowerSchool Learning is the Learning Management System (LMS) used at the American School of Dubai and is your window into the learning of your child(ren). Teachers across all divisions use the platform to communicate and share learning with students and families. Your ASD family account is connected to your child’s and each evening at 6 p.m. both students and families will receive one email if there are any new announcements from any classes or courses your child(ren) is enrolled in.

Middle and High School student updates may contain homework and/or dates for summative assessments with SeeSaw being used as an LMS for elementary school too. PowerSchool is used for grades, and attendance as well. If you have questions about these areas please email learningsystems@asdubai.org. Also, note that you will receive instructions on access once the accounts are set up for the school year. 

We are pleased to be working with Zaks. Zaks specializes in supplying durable and sustainable school uniforms and sportswear. They provide a "made to measure" service to all students who do not fit in the prescribed size grid of ready-made uniforms. They also offer a free alteration service on all garment purchases. Parents can download the new Zaks App for a better, easier shopping experience. READ MORE >>>

While many families currently drive their children to school, ASD does offer bus transportation services. ASD does not operate the bus service but contracts with a reliable vendor, School Transport Services (STS) LLC. Information can be found on the Student Transportation Services page on the internal site. ASD encourages the use of bus transportation to reduce congestion and support sustainability.

Attention: currently there is no bus service available at 1:00 p.m. (PreK students) or 2:00 p.m. (for K1 students).

School Bus Service by STS

Registration for Academic Year 2024 - 2025 will open soon. 

Practice sustainability by riding the bus to school every day! ASD’s transport partner, School Transport Services LLC (STS) is now accepting registration for the new school year. Known for its safe, timely, smart transportation services, STS provides hassle-free commute to and from school to over 80,000 children across the GCC.

To ensure the health and safety of students, STS follows a safe system of work involving regular maintenance and upkeep of its fleet with pre and post-trip sanitization and vehicle inspection.

For new families, parents are requested to complete the registration process by no later than August 10, 2024, to confirm your child’s seat on the bus. For registration and further school bus service information, please contact sts@asdubai.org. Or visit www.sts-group.com for details.

ASD offers an After School Care Program for PreK and K1 students. This program is available Monday through Thursday from 1:15-3:15 p.m. The program structure is supervised play. An additional snack for after school should be included each day. At this time there is no fee for the program. 

Medical Condition Alert

If your child has any medical condition, significant allergy, or takes regular medicine, you must make an appointment with the Health Office within the first week of school. The Health Office staff uses this opportunity to gain information on the history and treatment of your child for their medical conditions. ASD cannot be responsible for the health of your child without complete information. You may contact the Health Office for an appointment by emailing healthoffice@asdubai.org or calling +971 4 395 0005 ext. 1030.

School Medical Exams

As per the regulations set by the Ministry of Health, a school medical exam is required for all students new to Dubai, as well as all students in Grade 5, 9, and 12.  The screening medical exam is conducted in the Health Office by the ASD school doctor. It cannot be substituted for a medical exam done outside of Dubai but it can be performed, with documentation submitted to ASD, by your personal doctor in Dubai. These medical exams are scheduled throughout the year (not necessarily at the beginning of the school year). The Health Office will notify parents by email when a medical is scheduled for your child and parents will receive a report by email once the exam is completed.

ASD’s security policy seeks to support a safe and secure campus for all. All ASD parents/adults entering campus must wear a photo identification badge. ID badges must be visible at all times while on campus.

New parents will be able to take their ID photos from August 20, 2024 onwards. We encourage all parents to complete this before orientation. You will receive an email with details, timings, and location in August.

Key Dates for the Start of School 2024-2025

• Saturday, August 24: Start of School Expo (For All Families)

• Monday, August 26: First Day of School

• Friday, September 13: Prophet's Birthday*

• Friday, October 11 - Monday, October 14: ASD School Holiday

• Thursday, November 28 - Friday, November 29: ASD Thanksgiving Holiday

• Sunday, December 1: UAE Commemoration Day*

• Monday, December 2 - Tuesday, December 3: UAE National Day Holiday*

• Monday, December 16: Winter Break Begins

Please do not make plans to travel until holiday dates are confirmed and published by the school.

• Nanny/Care Taker ID Request
• Extended Family ID Request