Dubai Arabian American Private School — SME Case Study (UAE)

The Dubai Arabian American Private School is an international school that enrolls students in grades kindergarten to 12. It is located in Dubai, UAE. The school is privately owned and licensed by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) as an U.S.

curriculum school. The school is owned by Sidra LLC, which has appointed a governing board represented by international educators, local business people, and parents. The governing board holds the school accountable for student achievement and meets regularly. KHDA is responsible for the regulation and licensing of all private schools in Dubai. Additionally, KHDA has a special school inspection department that mandates annual inspection for all private schools in the Emirates to ensure rigor in the services provided to students, and targets each school on the international assessments TIMSS and PISA. The school was accredited Dubai Arabian American Private School by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) in 2020.

DAAS welcomes all students to apply for admissions to the school. As an inclusive school, all students are considered for admissions. The school curriculum is aligned to the State of California, United States, for English, math, science and elective subjects. The Ministry of Education curriculum is followed for Arabic and Islamic.

The Dubai Arabian American Private School adheres to the guidelines set forth by KHDA in conjunction with the New England Association of Schools and Colleges for U.S. curriculum schools.

The UAE National Agenda, also known as UAE Vision 2021, was envisioned by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai. Vision 2021 is a comprehensive seven-year outcome-based goal for the country’s 50th National Day. Schools are being held accountable for driving student academic achievement through their quest for a ‘First Rate Education System.

The school is committed to its participation and support of the goals and aligns to the goals distributed by the taskforce as the contribution to the attainment of UAE Vision 2021.

Vision Statement To build lifelong learners, empowered by innovative thinking skills for success in the 21st century. DAAS will achieve this by providing education aimed at total quality, ongoing development, and academic performance excellence while maintaining social values and principles in a safe and orderly educational community and through teamwork.

Fulfilling each scholar’s aspirations Understanding the values of the UAE in a global context Tolerance to ensure equity of all United efforts towards an ever-changing world Responsibility to self and others Empowering learners through collaboration

The Dubai Arabian American Private School’s principal is Tammy Tusek. There are two vice principals for the elementary/middle and high school sections. There is a Head of Assessments, a Head of Arabic Studies, a Head of Inclusion, and a Curriculum Coordinator. There are two counselors, including a social/emotional and a guidance counselor. Diversity in staff helped the school in acquiring an acceptable rating as new teaching strategies were implemented. The school has 55 academic staff and 40 support staff of different nationalities. More than 90% of students are Emirati and there are other nationalities such as those from Egypt, India, and Iraq.

In the early years, the student body was comprised of 10 nationalities combined, including students of determination. The student-faculty ratios are that all kindergarten classes have a homeroom teacher, an assistant teacher and share two classroom assistants.

The average student-faculty ratio is 7:1. Class sizes in early childhood consist of one section of KG 1 and KG 2, with the average class size being 22 students.

Initially, in September 2018, the leadership team initiated overall school professional development to ensure that all teachers have the same and consistent pedagogical practices in delivering the Common Core State Standards. This took place through the facilitation of school leadership during the 2018-2019 academic year. This year, department leaders have led professional development efforts that are specific to their content and developmentally appropriate pedagogical strategies based on the results of trend data of learning observations in classrooms analyzed monthly. The focus is provided to the leadership team and learning walks monitor impact of professional development on teaching and learning. The senior leadership team felt that the professional development needed to be dynamic and flexible in what it offers to teachers while continuing to build strong practitioners. Opportunities are also afforded to teachers at various conferences held in the UAE. Prior to September 2018, the majority of the faculty did not meet the requirements of highly qualified teachers, as per KHDA. The school worked expeditiously to ensure that all teachers recruited met the required minimum standards and were licensed through KHDA.

Additionally, teachers have IELTS certificates on file.

Recruiting efforts screen candidates prior to opening the interview process to ensure that candidates are of a high calibre prior to being considered for employment.

The Dubai Arabian American Private School was owned by the Al Tayer Group prior to December 2015. After that, the school was acquired by Aspin Education (which later changed its corporate name to Sidra Education), and now has new current ownership. The new owner is Farhan Fredooni. Upon the acquisition of the school, the school underwent massive changes under the appointment of new leadership. Unfortunately, this led to a rating of ‘weak’ by the local governing authority for private schools, KHDA, in March 2016. The governance of the school responded immediately, hired a principal and again, the school earned another weak rating the following year. Shortly after, the Executive Council of Dubai ruled that no Emirati student can attend schools rated as ‘weak.’ The outcome of the inspection from March 2018 came with a major recommendation from the authority identifying that the school was to employ a highly qualified school leader, which resulted in the appointment of a new principal in July 2018. Additionally, a new Board of Governors was appointed by the owner. The newly appointed principal worked with the company liaison on establishing school priorities after a SWOT analysis. Comprehensive school plans were adopted to help prioritize strategic goals with rigor.

Concurrently, KHDA also initiated a program called the School Advancement Program (SAP) in which an officer from the organization would be assigned to the school to mentor and support the school’s pathway towards an inspection rating of ‘good.’ This program was put in place for schools that have a high percentage of Emirati students and was a direct response from the executive resolution announcement of national students attending ‘good’ schools. The senior leadership team worked in collaboration with the SAP program on identifying priorities to support the school in improved standing and student achievement. The following should be noted about the school prior to the appointment of the new leadership team: there were no previous student records, data was missing from previous years and the data that existed demonstrated gross disparity between internal and external assessments. Instructional personnel were not qualified as per the minimum qualifications provided by KHDA and the school did not meet instructional minutes for mandatory subject areas. The school did not align with the U.S. curriculum nor the Ministry of Education (Arabic, Islamic and UAE Social Studies). The team worked copiously during the 2018-2019 academic

year on the following

¡ Reinstate candidacy with NEASC for accreditation in 2020 ¡ Maintain positive relationship and in compliance of all school mandates by KHDA and Ministry of Education as applicable ¡ Requesting invalidation of all previous school data for internal and external assessments with the commitment of new assessment policies, practices and data analysis with accurate measures of student attainment ¡ Collection of all demographic information on student population enrolled ¡ Aligning curriculum to the State of California for English medium subjects and Ministry of Education for Arabic, Islamic and UAE Social Studies ¡ Building positive relationships with all stakeholders, particularly with parents and students and communicating school plans and rebuilding trust.

In March 2019, the Dubai School Inspection Bureau facilitated its annual inspection and the school had increased its rating to ‘acceptable’ with an increase of 33 indicators as per the inspection framework. The school continues its pacing on the road of a rating of ‘good’ and successful self-study and hosting a visiting team towards accreditation.

Organizational Structure

Sidra Education | Governance Board School Principal EC Coordinator KG1-KG2 ES Subject Leaders Classroom Teachers Librarian ICT Teacher SE Counselor KG1 & KG2 Teachers Head of Assessment Dean of School Head of Arabic Studies Head of Inclusion Curriculum Coordinator Finance Office HR Office Receptionist Admission Technology Facilities Manager HSE Bus monitors Cleaners Maintenance 6-12 HOD for Math, English, Science Higher ED and Career Counselor PE Teachers Arabic A/B Teachers Islamic A/B Teachers Inclusion Teachers School Learning Support Assistants Personal Learning Support Assistants UAE Social Studies Teachers Vice Principal Head of Section Grades KG-G5 Vice Principal Head of Section Grades G12-6 Subject Specialist Teachers G12-6 Figure 22: DAAS Organizational Chart

During the pandemic, the school leadership restructured and reorganized its plans to serve the needs of students, parents, and the community by assuring students are receiving authentic education while they are at home.

All educational resources turned to be online, where students can access them using their emails. Learning platforms were purchased and modernized to ensure the accurate communication between school, teachers, students, and parents. School schedules, lesson plans, and assessment methods were altered to be aligned with the current situation of the distance learning module.

Student responsibilities were

• Log into Edmodo daily by 8 a.m.
• Attend the scheduled live learning session or chat

on Edmodo for each subject

• Submit all assignments and lessons on time using

Edmodo.

• Complete assessments on at the scheduled time

independently and without outside assistance (tutor, older sibling, parent, etc).

• All marks will be available on iCampus within 48

hours of the assessment date.

Distance Learning Evolution @DAAS Stage I Preplanning

• SLT consider DL and how it would look at DAAS when MOE discussed pilot for

government schools.

• Feedback from MLL about e-resources being used regularly.
• Draft plan created March 16 and communicated to teachers as possible future

option.

• March 18-19 communication to parent, student trained, and laptops issued if

student were in need.

• Reminder communication via SMS and social media to parents about the start

of DL during the Spring Break holiday.

• During Spring Break, teachers planned for sessions, senior leaders worked on

final schedule.

• SMS home to parents reminding of start date.
• Day 1-5 of DL is April 5th. Attendance taken in all classes. ICT and Program

Support Individuals on standby to support parents/students. Senior and Mid Level Leaders are in virtual classes for support.

• Day 2, high school students provide feedback on platforms teachers are using

for live sessions. Provide recommendations. Student for Determination Department informs teachers of accommodations of DL. Reaches out the each parents to offer support and set up online sessions.

• Day 3-4 MHS single platform used for live sessions (Zoom). Teachers trained

on it and communicated to students, class codes. Parent communication.

Communication to parents and students of those that have not logged in to DL.

Focus on formative assessments.

• Day 6 survey administered to parents and student regarding feedback of Week 1.
• Day 7-8 Preparing ECES teachers for live session based on parental feedback.
• Day 9-10 ECES teachers experiment with Zoom.

Stage II initial Implementation April 5-16 MOE communicates changes to Spring Creak and all school participating in DL Figure 23: Distance Learning Stages Chart for DAAS The following actions were taken to guarantee that authentic learning was happening at school during the

COVID-19 pandemic

• High school classes offered will be conducive to

an American High School Diploma with a range of course options for electives.

• Leaders will be informed with best international

practices for how best to successfully continue with DL.

• Policies will be either updated or created to

support permanent distance learning protocols for all stakeholders.

• Consider various options for events via virtual

platforms supporting wellness, safeguarding and competitions.

• End of year survey for parents, teachers, students

and leaders to analyze distance learning programs to date.

• Consider interdisciplinary units for middle school.
• End-of-year survey results will support and lend

opportunities to refine the fall distance learning program.

Distance Learning Long-Term Plans @DAAS Activity Updates Success Criteria Individual(s) Responsible School will create a ‘shadow’ plan parallel to the regular school plan should DL being implemented for the 2020-21 AY [April 2020] Communicated to SLT Lead: TT Discussion with Governing Board of possibility of DL being extended into next academic year.

The school will plan for all learning resources that are considered have the option of e-learning for students.

[April 2020] Javed has contacted vendors to ensure quotes include e-learning resources stand alone.

Lead: TT Javed Book procurement to consider all online learning resources.

The school will facilitate National Agenda Parameter tests in the Spring testing window as dictated by NWEA.

[April 2020] Communication by NWEA that MAP will not be administered in Spring

• New considerations

being made for DL assessment in the future.

Lead: MI Investigate DL assessment protocols for EOY Semester II exams for high school.

[May 2020] Virtual review of Taylormade LMS.

[May 2020] Lead: TT SLT, MLL, S SLT

LMS

Survey stakeholders about program at 7 weeks.

Investigate comprehensive LMS to consider for adoption for the next year or refine current plan if needed.

Semester exams for semester II will be planned and executed in accordance to current assessment policy and modified for Distance Learning. All stakeholders will be communicated the procedures for exams by 1st.

Lead: MI Department Head Investigate DL assessment protocols for EOY Semester II exams for high school Figure 24: Distance Learning Long-Term Plans of DAAS

• Schedules will be drafted for all.
• Curriculum and learning opportunities will reflect

opportunities for independent and critical thinking skills.

• The school offers technology classes to parents to

keep them parallel with student skills.

• Grades 6-12 will utilize the Microsoft 365 Suite for all.
• Semester examinations will consider performance

based on mastery of skills for each subject.

• Review all curricular programs/assessments as

they relate to hybrid DL.

• Parent courses for technology.
• Teacher training for Microsoft 365 in education.
• Research distance learning models.
• Plan for project-based learning assessments for

Phase IV.

Distance Learning Long-Term Plans @DAAS Activity Updates Success Criteria Individual(s) Responsible High school classes offered will be conducive to an American High School Diploma with a range of course options for electives.

[May 2020] VP MHS MLL MHS High School class offerings Leaders will be informed with best international practices for how best to successfully continue with DL.

[June 2020] [June 2020] SLT Attend Microsoft Education Week on Virtual Learning Consider various options for events via virtual platforms supporting welness, safeguarding and competitions.

[June 2020] Team DAS Calendar of events planning for DL [June 2020] [June 2020] [June - August 2020] VP MHS MLL MHS SLT / MLL Teachers Schedules will be drafted for all End of year survey for parents, teachers, students and leaders to analyze DL program to date.

EOY survey results will support and lend opportunities to refine Fall DL program.

Consider inter-disciplinary units for middle school Draft for fall schedules Policies will be either updated or created to support permanent Distance Learning protocols for all stakeholders.

Principal Policy review/proposal to Governing Board to support all aspects of longer term Distance Learning Figure 25: Continued Long-Term Plan s of DAAS During distance learning, the following modifications were made to the students’ daily schedules.

English o Chat/live sessions Monday and Thursday o Assignments will include Edmodo, Achieve 3000, Read Theory, and MAP Skills o Assessments via Edmodo and Quizzes Math o Chat/live sessions Sunday and Wednesday o Assignments will include Edmodo, www.my.hrw.

com, and www.khanacademy.com o Assessments via Edmodo Science o Chat/live sessions Sunday and Tuesday o Assignments will include Edmodo, www.truity.org, www.my.mheducation.com/login o Assessments via Edmodo and Mcgraw-Hill and HMH resources (listed above) Arabic o Chat Monday and Wednesday (8-12) Assignments via Edmodo Assessments via Edmodo Islamic o Chat Tuesday and Thursday o Assignments will include Edmodo o Assessments via Edmodo Teacher Mrs. Faiza Mr. Hisham Mr. Amir Mrs. Lubna Mrs. Shabana ---- Teacher Mrs. Faiza Mr. Hisham Mr. Amir Mrs. Lubna Mrs. Shabana Teacher Mrs. Faiza Mr. Hisham Mr. Amir Mrs. Lubna Mrs. Shabana Mrs. Hadeel Teacher Mrs. Faiza Mr. Hisham Mr. Amir Mrs. Lubna Mrs. Shabana Mrs. Hadeel Grade 9 A 8:00 - 8:30 8:45 - 9:15 9:30 - 10:00 10:30 - 11:00 11:15 - 11:45 12:00 - 12:30 1:00 - 2:00 2:00 - 3:00 10:00 - 10:25 Sunday Subject Teacher Mrs. Faiza Mr. Hisham Mr. Amir Mrs. Lubna Mrs. Shabana Mrs. Hadeel Earth and Space Science Islamic Education Quiz Arabic Graded Assignment English PE Math Monday Subject Earth and Space Science Islamic Education Assignment Arabic English ---- Math Quiz Tuesday Subject Science Quiz Quran Recitation Arabic English Graded Assignment PE Math Wednesday Subject Earth and Space Science Social Studies Arabic Quiz English PE Task or Assignment Math Assignment Thursday Subject ---- Science Graded Assignment Moral Education Task or Graded Assignment Arabic English Quiz ---- Math Meeting with teacher, asking questions, and sending inquiries about assignments and projects through WhatsApp or Edmodo.

You can use this time ONLY.

Teachers’ Meetings with school faculty.

B R E A K F A S T B R E A K Distance Learning Long-Term Plans @DAAS Activity Updates Success Criteria Individual(s) Responsible Curriculum and learning opportunities will reflect opportunities for independent and critical thinking skills [May - August 2020] Teachers Review all curricular programs/assessments as they related to hybrrid DL The school to offer technology classes to parents to keep them parallel with student skills.

[August 2020 - ongoing] SLT Parents courses for technology [May - August 2020] SLT VP MHS MLL MHS Research DL models [October - November 2020] Plan for project-based learning assessments for Phase IV Semester examinations will consider performance based on mastery of skills for each subject.

Grades 6-12 will utilize the Microsoft 365 suite for all outside vendor Teacher training for Microsoft 365 in Education Figures 26-27: A look at schedules and plans of teachers at DAAS

The Dubai Arabian American Private School is a business-based service and therefore the product is intangible. The product is the teaching and learning processes that students receive while being enrolled at this school. Scheerens (2000) talked about the importance of school effectiveness and how schools are measured when student accomplishments are produced in authentic learning environments. Evaluating the students achievements will enable the school to measure the efficacy of the plans and the possible ways to enhance them to produce better learning.

• The school works with stakeholders on creating

indicators to support measuring the school’s aim towards the guiding principles.

• Once the system is established, implementation

should be active.

• Review and evaluate results of the current teaching

and learning practices for impact.

• The special committee recommended a timeline to

ensure ongoing monitoring is completed.

• A comprehensive stakeholder feedback forum will

take place to inform about the relevancy of the guiding statements to the school’s aim with a goal of 80% of stakeholders in agreement.

• If the school is achieving its aim and it is recognized

by stakeholders, it would lend to support the school meeting its strategic plans and accomplishing the vision.

In any business, staff need to be kept informed about the new trends and policies happening around them in the world. Bowen, Morara, & Mureithi (2009) mentioned the importance of staff members to receive applicable and significant instructions and preparations to reflect constructively on the school business.

Professional workshops were organized for teachers and administrators to be aligned and implemented effectively.

• Accounts work to document historical budgetary

processes for the school and provide to the school.

• The governing board meets on a regular basis to

review and identify effectiveness.

• Amend any policy or decision if needed, have clear

deadlines and timelines for review, feedback and approval.

• The governing board will review the budget and

consider short and long-term goals for the school in its budget planning processes.

• Staff knowing they are being paid equitably to the

market keeps morale positive. In a school such as DAAS, it is critical to maintain a positive morale and to retain effective staff.

• Promoting

transparency and proactive communication will allow stakeholder groups to further support the governing board or become active participants in focus groups or strategic planning groups.

• Clarity and transparency will eliminate any

misunderstanding or perception of the school’s journey of meeting its mission.

Financial systems are secure and in compliance with federal regulations for schools. The school’s financial position is communicated clearly to the principal and the governing board to ensure that priorities are met and planned for. Full disclosure to parents regarding school fees allows them to be aware of programming costs and the option to make the best decision for their personal circumstances regarding tuition. The results of an external audit clearly identify that the school prioritizes the needs of students in a safe environment.

A comprehensive report is supplied to the Board of Governors, principal and school investors. The results of the external audit lead the governing board and principal to comprehensively plan for the future of the school and consider budget constraints, if any, and the impact of programming. Future planning will have minimal impact on student achievement but may slow down capital improvement projects.

The school’s physical facilities offer programming conducive to a thriving and safe learning environment, with all areas optimized toward student achievement and academic opportunities. The monthly site inspection leads to a list of priorities to ensure building maintenance and safety. Communication with Sidra Education ensures full measures are taken to repair and maintain as recommended. The governing board response to capital improvements/projects are favourable and have an impact on student achievement. Recommendations for capital improvements prioritized by school achievement data rank priorities to create a systematic impact. The school in consideration of its 2021 graduate profile allows innovative and technological facilities that support forward thinking and sustainability.

• Identify schools in the market with similar tuition

and gather salary information if applicable.

• Collate data and recommend any changes needed

to ensure appropriateness in remuneration.

• The governing board can either consider this

within the budget and request feedback from the principal or further analyze the situation based on budget and financial implications.

• Final approval from the governing board if in

agreement.

• Streamline parent communication systems.
• Advertise events and activities parents are invited

to.

• Use students at the core of the events to better

support attendance.

• School staff network with parents, senior leaders

to welcome them to campus.

Marketing Plan Diagram Mohammad Jawad Maleha Arif Mais Obaji Tammy Tusek Tasks and Duties Tasks and Duties Tasks and Duties Tasks and Duties Unveil new circulars Check on delivery of new marketing folder Rollups of school Email staff for pictures of students: With DXB police, UAE Military In police & military costume Save in ‘school marketing’ folder Use testimonials and add DAAS promotional material for social media purposes 10 on 10 marketing campaign Investigate social media campaign Instagram to business account, promote pics Newspaper Ads Figure 28: Marketing Plan Diagram of DAAS Dubai Arabian American Private School Marketing Summary August 2018 - present Take website offline Create simple, accurate website August 2019 January 2019 Promote motto with new leadership “Together We Can” September 2018 Re-establish social media campaign September 2018 New Vision/Mission Created by Students Adopted May 2019 Begin rebranding with new logo Unveiling Transition of rebranding May 2019 August 2019 August - current Social media campaign revamped September 2019 Marketing materials recreated for distribution (need e-version) February 2020 Google search updated Google updates - special offer April 2020 April - present Update website with more info June 2020 (still under process) Promote innovative event “Deliver the Diploma” to the media June 2020 Figure 29: The 2018 Marketing Summary of DAAS

The unfortunate history of the school and the decrease of student enrollment has the school operating at a loss. The appointment of the new governing board and strategic sessions with the owner and 12 principals are a priority to ensure the school can operate as needed to offer holistic programming for its students of high quality and international standards and to plan for the school’s future. All financials are available through the finance director of Sidra Corporation. The following suggestions

are to be considered in future planning

• The principal should work to establish an all-school

committee to evaluate and revamp the vision and mission of the school.

• The KG leader and teachers must collaborate

to work diligently towards implementing more rigorous and consistent plans to ensure that young students are experiencing high-quality holistic and integrated learning. This will increase the enrollment rates in the future.

• The senior leadership team should use the

instructional supervision program to help target areas for professional development for teachers and administrators.

There should be a marketing team that has members of different sections of the school. For instance, the team should be led by the principal who will involve the activity coordinator, the school counselors, accounts, and teachers who have influence on student choices.

This team will work on setting a plan to spread the news in the community about the school throughout social media platforms. Community involvement has a great impact on improving the school business and spreading the good news in the society. It helps people know about the school reputation and encourages them to enroll their kids at. The school can make many attempts, such as inviting people from the neighborhood to attend certain events like National or International Day to market the school. A celebrity could also be invited to allow people to know more about the school culture and environment.

The governing board, along with the principal and human resources, should set a well-established scale to hire qualified teachers, heads of sections, and support staff.

This action will raise the level of teaching and learning in the school. The results will prove that teaching and learning were done in the right way, where parents will talk positively about the school, and the complaints will decrease. By achieving a good rating in KHDA, families will know more about the school and the enrollment rate will increase.

Improving overall infrastructure is of great importance.

It includes improving the current school facilities. A new set of furniture should be purchased as the current one is too old. IT facilities need to be updated. The learning style has changed, and the school should be updating the Internet services. New computers should be afforded to teachers and students to make the learning journey a smooth one. One of the most attractive methods that give the schools a high rank are student activities.

Administration should think on how to implement supportive and constructive learning activities which students and parents enjoy doing to improve school business.

• The governing board upholds the mission and

keeps it forefront in all decision- making processes.

• A monthly written principal’s report and oral report

at meetings identifies priorities to the governing noard with feedback from all executive members.

• Through interviews and appointments with the

owner, a new governing board was selected with the change of school leadership in the 2018-2019 academic year. This began the foundation of the principal being held accountable for the school and its actions to the governing body.

• The team along with the leaders were able to

upgrade the school to be accredited internationally by NEASC.

• The school leaders and human resources worked

expeditiously to ensure that all teachers recruited met the required minimum standards and were licensed through KHDA. Additionally, teachers have IELTS certificates on file. Recruiting efforts screen candidates prior to opening the interview process to ensure that candidates are of a high calibre prior to being considered for employment.

• The school owner should allocate a budget to give

teachers more training sessions and workshops to acquire additional knowledge about the new trends of teaching and learning.

• There should be extra online resources to enhance

teaching and learning in school as teachers and students are working online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Prior to September 2018, the majority of the faculty

did not meet the requirements of highly qualified teachers as per KHDA.

• The school facilities are not up-to-date. There is a

need to improve the services, but action has not been taken.

The Dubai Arabian American Private School has an established history in the neighborhood of Muhaisnah 1, previously owned by the Al Tayer Group through December 2015. After that, the school was acquired by Aspin Education (which later changed its corporate name to Sidra Education), and has been under its current ownership ever since. Upon the acquisition of the school, the school underwent massive changes under the appointment of new leadership. Unfortunately, this led to a rating of ‘weak’ by the local governing authority for private schools, Knowledge Human Development Authority (KHDA) in March 2016. The governance of the school responded immediately, hired a principal and again, the school earned another weak rating the following year. Shortly after, the Executive Council of Dubai ruled that no Emirati student can attend schools rated as ‘weak.’ This negatively affected the overall enrollment of the school with families leaving for a better educational opportunity for students. The following year (2017-2018), the school was partnered up with a mentor school and supported through the collaborative effort of KHDA to help the school in its efforts of reformation.

Unfortunately, the principal was terminated in February with an ‘acting’ principal appointed prior to inspection, working in line with the mentor school. The school again was rated as weak for its third year. Due to the school’s inability to be in good academic standing, enrollment continued to decrease, which impacted the financial status of the school as well as its programming. The outcome of the inspection from March 2018 came with a major recommendation from the authority saying that the school was to employ a highly qualified school leader, which resulted in the appointment of a new principal in July 2018. Additionally, a new Board of Governors was appointed by the owner. The newly appointed principal worked with the company liaison on establishing school priorities after a SWOT analysis. This analysis helped the board to identify the school’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Comprehensive school plans were adopted to help prioritize strategic goals with rigor.

Concurrently, KHDA also initiated a program called the School Advancement Program (SAP) in which an officer from the organization would be assigned to the school to mentor and support the school’s pathway towards an inspection rating of ‘good.’ This program was put in place for schools that have a high percentage of Emirati students and was a direct response from the executive resolution announcement of national students attending ‘good’ schools. The senior leadership team worked in collaboration with the SAP program on identified priorities to support the school in improved standing and student achievement.

Strengths Weaknesses -Maintain positive relationship and in compliance of all school mandates by KHDA and Ministry of Education as applicable -Requesting invalidation of all previous school data for internal and external assessments with the commitment of new assessment policies, practices and data analysis with accurate measures of student attainment -Collection of all demographic information on student population enrolled -No previous student records -Data was missing from previous years and the data that existed demonstrated gross disparity between internal and external assessments -School did not meet instructional minutes for mandatory subject areas -School did not align with U.S. curriculum nor Ministry of Education (Arabic, Islamic and UAE Social Studies) Opportunities Threats -Reinstate candidacy with NEASC for accreditation in -Aligning curriculum to the State of California for English medium subjects and Ministry of Education for Arabic, Islamic and UAE Social Studies.

-Instructional personnel was not qualified as per the minimum qualifications provided by KHDA -School facilities are not on international standards.

-Number of students enrolled is decreasing, which affected the proposed budget plan to hire qualified staff members.

The school needs to conduct research on remuneration in similar schools. This is to support recruiting and retaining employees. The stakeholders should think seriously about the appropriate approaches to implement innovation. Innovation should be a vital part of the whole organization. It is linked to the school pillars and it is a great challenge to overcome.

There should be a vertical and horizontal transparency in the organization among all staff members to be aware of the current situation. This will also lead to getting some ideas from different parties about the most suitable solutions as long as the staff members have a diverse background in the educational sector.

A good leadership team is needed for any business to overcome the challenges in any organization. A well- established financial plan set by all stakeholders will help a business run successfully. It is important to know that the owner, in liaison with the Board of Directors and principal, establishes an appropriate school budget that supports continued alignment with the school’s guiding statements and effective funding of the delivery of educational programs, which will help improve the school’s enrollment rates. The governing body and the principal continue to invest in training for staff that supports English language learners across the school. The HR staff works to regulate salary payments on a regular basis every month. The physical building of a school provides three floors of different types of learning spaces, four science laboratories, a sports hall, two swimming pools, and outside courts provide ample space for play. The school has expedited any repairs to ensure that student and campus safety is of utmost priority the past year. Previous maintenance plans were reactive and not preventative in nature. The school has shifted out of that practice.

Pont, Nusche, & Moorman, (2008) talked about the necessity to have good and balanced policies to improve the leadership teams in schools. This will have a positive impact on the community as teaching and learning will be enhanced to a better level. The transformational leader in this school was able to save the school from being closed after applying the right practices in the right place.

• The owner and governing body, working with

the principal, consider the short and long- term possibilities of increasing funds for the refurbishment of the facilities as highlighted in the various reports.

• Stakeholders saw that the guiding statements of

the school were appropriate, and the governing board unanimously agreed that they refer to the mission statement in the decision-making process.

• Professional development occurred schoolwide

during the 2018-2019 academic year to ensure all staff knew and understood pedagogy as it related to the U.S. curriculum. This year, departments differentiate to better meet the needs of each subject. A new appraisal system was created and adopted with clear communication with teachers on the policy and their rating with an opportunity to self-reflect and set goals. Monitoring of instruction by leaders is systematic and data is reviewed.

• School plans were created and executed identifying

priorities, success criteria and monitored monthly to ensure goals were met.

• A new governing board was appointed and

empowered the Head of School in their role and held them accountable for the school’s success.

In 2019-2020, new members were brought in to better meet the needs of the educational system.

• Curriculum was redrafted to ensure it met with the

California State Standards. This continues to be an ongoing project of a three-year plan.