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Best American Curriculum School – The Finalists 2023 – 2024

The following schools have all achieved short-listing for the 2023-2024 SchoolsCompared.com Best American School Award for their academic and whole child education of children in the UAE.

All the schools listed, in different ways, provide outstanding breadth of academic, technical and ECA options for students to ensure that every child can meet his or her individual ambitions, potential, and ability.

Each of them endeavours to provide added value to each child’s journey to ensure that every student leaves school meeting or exceeding baseline academic and whole child expectations.

We have weighted strongly in our shortlisting the provision of Advanced Placement and the development of the whole child that American curriculum schools, at their most outstanding, are with very good justification celebrated for.

When we have looked at schools, we have weighted those that plough back investment into facilities, teacher salaries, resources and school improvements year-on-year to improve education for children.

We have also looked at the basic metrics of wellbeing – all schools here invest in, and believe in, wellbeing – and the happiness of children. The latter, depending on the school culture and dynamics, is not always easy to achieve – but all of these schools have the systems in place to respond to the wellbeing needs of children in the context of the need of their own role, school culture and purpose. Attention to wellbeing, delivered through a powerful attention to the whole child, is, on balance, arguably one of the major strengths of a US education.

 

With different schools, particular strengths in one or more area have been used to allow for our subjective perception of weaknesses in others. 

All of the schools shortlisted endeavour to deliver a benchmark for the best American education for children, available in the UAE. 

Finally, we have looked across all areas of provision, investment, innovation and achievement that support each school being shortlisted.

You can learn more about what we believe goes into making an outstanding American School here.

Our Top 5 Finalists

The Top Schools Awards 2023 – 2024

American Community School of Abu Dhabi

“Phenomenal, powerhouse, historic, and historically important, US curriculum School, one deeply intertwined with the development of education in the UAE. With more than 50 years of history in the capital, the school today has remained true to the ideals of delivering a world class whole child US education, but has strengthened its offer still further with provision for Advanced Placement. It makes a big difference even to a school as good as this; we have long argued that no US curriculum school should be operating without an AP pathway. The school’s relationships with top tier US universities gives it a strong pull for students and families set on US higher education, whilst the educational experience plays to all the strengths of a properly, and outstandingly well delivered, US curriculum, with a balance of academics and exceptional whole child delivery in the Arts and Sport. The heady combination of not-for-profit values, Tier 1 fees and small school dynamics ensure that investment in children is exceptionally high. Despite the fee levels, it’s little wonder then that the school is consistently over-subscribed.”   

American Community School of Abu Dhabi – review here, and here.

American School of Dubai

“Multi Top Schools Award-winning school that never ceases to amaze with its extraordinary delivery for children. Breadth of child opportunity here is limitless and despite an almost six-decade history in Dubai, ASD delivers a perfect US education to such a degree that it could almost be transplanted to the US without standing out as other than a Tier 1 best-in-class US private home school. The result is that it pays the price with regulators with its rating, but everyone knows that despite this the reality is of an outstanding-plus education that is uncompromising on its mission to provide seamless transferability of culture and school life for US families between home and Dubai. Non corporate seat holders can expect to pay some of the highest fees of any school in Dubai, and families of determined children (which are welcomed with open arms and assured of a stellar education) have a further (refreshingly transparent and actually relatively low) payment on top. Not-for-profit dynamics sees continuous re-investment of those fees in children. Academic attainment is exceptional and students are stretched, with Advanced Placement an integral pathway of an ASD education. Whole child life is equally exceptional with students wanting for nothing. The American School of Dubai deserves its accolades, is a rightfully much loved and respected school – and the definitive choice for US and international families seeking a pure and uncompromising US education in Dubai.”

American School of Dubai – review here and here.

Dunecrest American School

“Dunecrest American School sets itself a apart in its choice to steer its US curriculum towards the IB Diploma as the single alternative option to the High School Diploma for graduating students. It’s a brave move, but one designed to ensure that graduating students can take their pick of university destinations on leaving school anywhere in the world. Some argue that it loses some of the qualities that define US education in the process given that the IB Diploma requires schools to establish a raft of learning approaches for students in younger years and academic stretch is high – but it works terrifically well on its own terms. IB courses take the place of Advanced Placement for students not sitting for the full Diploma. The combination makes the school a considerable draw for both US and international families set on US universities but wanting to keep their options open. Fees are high, but facility provision and investment in teachers deliver strong ROI. ESOL provides strong guarantees of delivery with a proven reputation for delivering this model of US education to an outstanding standard historically in Dubai. This is a near perfect example of what one very well executed model of an internationally focused US education should look like, but we think the introduction of the Career-related programme and Advanced Placement would be the icing on the cake in providing full IB and US graduating Post-16 options, both justified by the fees.”

Dunecrest American School – review here and here.

GEMS Dubai American Academy

It’s difficult to know where to begin, but the history here provides an insight into what you can expect from DAA. The school was already a KHDA Outstanding School and GEMS flagship for the US curriculum. However, in a twist of fate, or the result of extraordinarily strategic decision-making (you take your choice), GEMS education, separately, built the most advanced and facility rich school in the world and then pulled ASD into it, giving its students a beyond-outstanding, Tier 1 plus plus new home. Visiting DAA literally takes the breath away in the level of scale and ambition of its architecture, facility provision and the resulting breadth of opportunities for students. Forward looking to the nth, this is the school setting benchmarks in the exploration of AI and robotics – and was doing so when other schools barely registered the freight train coming down the tracks. Current leadership is extraordinary, dynamic, inspirational, humorous and humane and the results, school wide, are almost beyond description both beautiful and impactful. The combination, in evidently happy and delight-filled students, of an empowered interrogating and inquisitive mindset with all the tooling of the best facility and technology support of any US school in the Emirates – and a whole child programme second to none, is something to behold. Advanced Placement and the IB Diploma qualification pathways ensure two perfect graduating options, one pure play international, the other pure play US. The biggest surprise here are the fees. Yes, they are Tier 1 premium, but they are significantly lower than its biggest competitor and, wow, is the ROI impressive. On the basis of the offer here, and in comparison to its outstanding counterparts, the payback and value-proposition here is off-the-scale. Finally, this is an American school. Yes, it offers an alternative pathway in the IB, but that has not seen any compromise in the richness of its whole child delivery across Sport and the Arts, or the distinctly US ethical culture, one focused on the happiness of children and an outstandingly rich, well-rounded education to the nth, that pervades every aspect of school life. This is a proudly American-first-and always IB school, not an IB school using the US brand to steal some clothes. Gutsy, dynamic, humane, forward looking, happy, high achieving and voracious in its ambition for children, this is many more than a single “heck” of an outstanding school.”  

GEMS Dubai American Academy – review here, and here.

Universal American School

A not-for-profit powerhouse, and a school that should be on the radar of all parents seeking the very highest quality of US education (our review is in process and coming later this year), UAS is to all intents and purposes a new school, despite its heritage. The move to not-for-profit, and switch to a much more child-centred way of delivering high academic attainment, one rooted in kindness and inclusion, is reaping dividends. Investment runs very high here as Al Futtaim backs its ambition to deliver the stand-out US curriculum school in Dubai with heavy investment in outstanding teaching faculty and leadership and new facilities. It takes time to implement a vision, particularly one so ambitious, but that vision here is humane, deeply inclusive and much truer to US ideals than its historic counterpart. Breadth of whole child opportunities are extensive but it is the investment in teachers to deliver this that makes the school sparkle. The choice of leadership here is clever and courageous, the Principal openly evangelising the importance of outstanding, values-rich teaching above all else and about as far away from the typical office bound, never-seen, number crunching business managers you see too often heading schools elsewhere. The trajectory to outstanding schooling here is evident – and the school is hungry to deliver it for all the right reasons. Like its most outstanding internationally focused counterparts, post-16 options are divided between a powerfully supported Advanced Placement backed High School Diploma and the academically stretching International Baccalaureate Diploma. Neither is valued over the other and this is not a school that puts US on the cover to in practice focus its attention only on the IB. The potential here is exceptional – and UAS is a key part of the UAE’s journey to redefining what outstanding looks like in delivering a US education with open doors and huge, light-filled, open windows onto the future.”

Universal American School – review here and here.

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