iCademy Middle East

• iCademy ME location
• Years offered
• iCademy ME curriculum
• KHDA rating
• How to apply?
• Fee structure
• iCademy ME scholarships
• iCademy ME transportation
• PTA and contact information

iCademy Middle East is a private American online school in Dubai that offers the K-12 education model. It is the only online school in Dubai accredited but not rated by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA). It is also accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). Despite being an online school, it offers a traditional learning programme. Traditional schooling takes place at the learning centre in Dubai Knowledge Park**.**

Founded in 2007, it is a part of the Pansophic Learning Group, offering quality education to students in different countries. The school places no restrictions on the age limit of students as found in other traditional schools. It makes it ideal for students with mild to moderate learning difficulties. About 50 teachers make up the teaching staff of the school. All the teachers have relevant qualifications and are experts in providing online education.

It uses cutting edge technology to deliver high-quality education. For this purpose, it uses advanced interactive software, providing a memorable learning experience. The syllabus is based on the Ohio and Common Core State Standards for its K12-based programme.

This school is popular among western expatriates, in particular American families. However, students from other nationalities are also enrolled by iCademy ME. iCademy Middle East School also focuses on non-academic activities for overall development.  The non-academic activities include specialised events and virtual clubs that occur bi-monthly.

Due to its unique educational programme, It is revolutionising the educational sector of Dubai. There has been a surge in online schools in the Gulf region. Homeschooling in Dubai has gained impetus in the last few years. Read this guide by Bayut to know more about the iCademy Middle East.

The learning centre of the iCademy ME is in Dubai Knowledge Park – a free zone area ideal for businesses. It also has various educational institutions, making it an attractive option for nearby communities. The communities close to iCademy ME are:

• Flamingo Villas
• The Greens
• The Views
• Barsha Heights
• Dubai Internet City

Flamingo Villas, a sub-community of Mina Al Arab, is the nearest residential community to iCademy ME. This project by the RAK properties houses many villas and townhouses, ideal for living.

• Villas for rent near iCademy ME
• Villas for sale near iCademy ME

The campus of iCademy ME is a learning centre for those enrolled in traditional or Advanced Placement programmes. The facilities available at the campus are extraordinary and cater to the educational needs of students. The campus is well-connected thanks to the high-end ICT devices and high-speed internet. Classrooms are small, as most of the students opt for online studies. However, the classrooms have gadgets to support digitised learning. Additionally, it has computer labs, large open spaces and other necessary facilities commonly found in regular schools.

iCademy Middle East is opposite to the Knowledge Village Parking on Al Bourooj Street, Dubai Knowledge Park. Those interested in visiting the school can access it through the Kings Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Street (D94) and Sheikh Zayed Road (E11). These major roads connect the school with the rest of Dubai.

iCademy ME is a school of its kind. It is an online private school that follows the K-12 educational programme. The school provides students with the luxury to study at home with the help of their parents. It implements the Accel Management Platform, a popular digital solution for online education. This platform is common in countries like the UK and Canada due to the popularity of online schooling. Online education is also gaining popularity, with more online schools opening in the UAE.

Besides online learning from the convenience of home, the K-12 education programme places no restrictions on age. A student can pursue a high school diploma even at the age of 21. Such a flexible age-grade policy is beneficial for students with mild to moderate learning needs, health issues and other problems. Students engaged in professional sports can also continue their studies at the iCademy Middle East. It offers a personalised learning plan for each student as per their learning abilities. The specialised teachers monitor the children’s progress as per the decided learning plan. Students learn at their own pace, suitable for struggling to adjust to on-site schools.

The school provides four distinct schooling options to meet the needs of students.

• It offers a more traditional schooling experience at their technologically advanced learning centre.
• Students can opt for a pure online schooling option available for students worldwide.
• Students that do not have an Advanced Placement Qualification programme at their current schools can opt for iCademy ME.
• It offers iCad Plus for students of determination with industrial placements. The availability of distinct options makes it an ideal school for people with different needs.

High parental engagement is another feather in the cap of iCademy ME. The school has taken it to the next level by using online learning and communications tools. Parents of the students opting for pure online education serve as Learning Coaches. They work with the school to ensure the child adheres to the personalised learning plan. Additionally, the teaching staff fully supports the parents to ensure that all the educational and non-educational needs of students are met.

Accreditation is not an issue for an online school like the iCademy Middle East. It is the second online school in the world accredited by NEASC and the only online school accredited by KHDA. Additionally, the Ohio Curriculum State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) has also accredited the school.

KHDA has issued a revised set of protocols once the Ministry of Education reopened schools for the academic year 2021-2022. Most COVID-19 protocols remain the same with slight modifications considering Dubai’s current health and safety situation. The revised COVID-19 protocols are as follows:

• COVID-19 vaccination is not mandatory for students and staff members. Employees eligible for the vaccine but not interested will have to submit a negative PCR test result every week. Unlike schools in Abu Dhabi, students are not obliged to submit negative PCR test results.
• All students must physically return to school by October 3. The remote learning programme will be offered to students that show a relevant medical certificate issued by the Dubai Health Authority. Schools can switch to distance learning if a positive COVID-19 case is identified.
• Parents can now pick up and drop off their children from the classroom if the school allows. However, schools should ensure that parents do not have access to other facilities on campus.
• Moreover, KHDA has reduced the minimum physical distance to 1 metre. However, schools should continue to take precautions by maintaining a safe distance. Staff members and students above six years old should wear a mask at all times.
• Schools are now allowed to conduct swimming and sports lessons, holiday camps, extra-curricular activities, after-school clubs and catering services under strict health and safety measures. Schools must clean and sanitise the changing and sports areas after each group of children.
• Students are asked to enter the specific gates wearing facemasks. The school has to check their temperatures at the entry points. Students with body temperatures over 37.5-degree centigrade are not allowed to enter. The school will send students to their homes with their parents.

For more information, read the detailed COVID-19 protocols and guidelines issued by KHDA.

iCademy ME provides education from Kindergarten to Grade 12. The educational system at the school is divided into the following phases:

The educational syllabus at this school is highly flexible and based on personalised learning. It follows the K-12 educational programme as per the US curriculum. It follows the Ohio Common Core Standards that underpins the guidelines related to the core subjects. It also follows the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) for science-related subjects. All the educational programmes at this school, whether it is the traditional schooling option, pure online education or iCad Plus, follow the US curriculum guidelines. The specifics for each phase of education are:

Lower School Curriculum

It follows the Ohio Common Core Standards and NGSS for the wide range of subjects offered to students. The courses offered to students in the lower school are:

The electives offered to students are:

Please note that Art and Craft is available for kindergarten to Grade 2, and Art is for students in Grade 3 and Grade 4.

Introduction to Spanish is for students in KG. Whereas students in Grade 1 and above study the main Spanish course.

KHDA courses are only available for UAE Students, and the choices are as follows:

Middle School Curriculum

In middle school, iCademy ME continues the foundations laid in the previous stage. Here, the school increases the complexity of the subjects taught in the lower school and introduces new subjects. The subjects offered in the middle school are:

Electives offered to students in the middle school stage are:

The elective languages offered to students are Spanish, French and German.

KHDA courses for this phase of education are:

High School Curriculum

Students need to earn 24 credits hours to earn a high school diploma in the high school curriculum. The amount of credits hours required for each subject are as follows:

• English – 4 credit hours
• Math – 4 credit hours in Algebra 1 or higher
• Science – 4 credit hours (including 2 credit hours in lab science)
• History and Social Sciences – 4 credit hours (including 1 credit hour in US history)
• World Languages – 2 credit hours in a single language (must be a non-English course)
• Physical Education – 0.5 credit hour
• Health – 0.5 credit hour
• Electives  – 5 credit hours

The options available to students in different subjects are:

Maths

Science

History

World Languages

Honours or Advanced Placement

Electives

Career Electives

Since the iCademy Middle East is an online school, the distance-learning programme was never an issue. The school uses its online resources to ensure students continue their education at home without any loss. However, students who opted for face-to-face learning were shifted to the distance learning programme.

The Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) is a governmental body dedicated to regulating the educational sector of Dubai. It aims to improve the quality of education by educational institutes, including schools, colleges and universities. It inspects and rates the performance of these institutes based on a 6-point scale. The scale has six different ratings for performance, with ‘outstanding’ as the best and ‘very weak’ as the worst ranking.

The KHDA has not inspected the school yet.

At the iCademy Middle East, students have to take two semesters each academic year. The academic year starts with the fall session that has four different cohorts. It ends with the spring session that also has four different cohorts.

Fall Semester

• The First cohort starts in the third week of August and ends in the second week of January.
• The second cohort is split into two groups. The first group starts in the first week of September and the second group in the second week of September. The cohort ends in the second week of February.
• The third cohort starts in the mid of October and ends in the second week of March.
• The last cohort begins in the first week of November and ends in the second week of March.

Spring Semester

• The first cohort of the spring semester has two groups. The first group starts in the second week of January. In contrast, the second group begins in the last week of January. The cohort ends in the second week of June.
• The second cohort starts in the first week of February and ends in the *last week of June*.
• The third cohort starts in the third week of March and ends in the first week of August.
• The last cohort starts in the third week of April and ends in the first week of August.

For more information, view the academic calendar of iCademy Middle East.

Since it is predominantly an online institute, it enrols both full-time and part-time students. Before applying, the school encourages parents to speak to their enrolment counsellors. They provide a complete overview of the admission process and answer the queries of parents. Once satisfied by the school, parents can fill out and submit the application form. The application form must be supplemented with the scanned copies of the following document on their email:

• A copy of the candidate’s passport (for full-time and part-time admissions)
• A copy of the most recent school report (for full-time admissions)
• Official high school transcript for admission in Grade 9 and above (for full-time admissions)
• Original transfer certificate issued by the previous school for admissions in Grade 2 and above (for full-time admissions)
• UAE Residency Visa (for full-time admissions)
• A passport-size photograph

Once submitted, the school will review the documents and previous academic records to offer a placement. The KHDA’s age-grade guidelines are as follows:

This is based on the age of the students on 31st August (for schools beginning in September). Source: KHDA

* This is to cater to students transferring from systems that admit students of a younger age)

 Check out the admission process at the iCademy Middle East for more information.

The iCademy Middle East fees for the UAE based students are as follows:

Please note that the application fee for both UAE and international students is AED 1,000. To know the tuition fee for international students and those applying for the traditional schooling, call +971 4 4401212, email info@icademymiddleast.com or view the fees structure at the iCademy Middle East.

There are no scholarship programmes available at this academy.

There is a school canteen where children in the learning centre at Dubai Knowledge Park can have a snack or lunch.’

Since the majority of the students opt for the fully online learning programme, the school hasn’t emphasised providing school transport.

There are no boarding facilities available to students.

iCademy Middle East does not provide any holiday camps to its students.

Despite being an online school, iCademy School ME offers students a small range of extra-curricular activities. For this purpose, the school has virtual clubs that arrange special events for its students. Numerous teacher-moderated clubs covering diverse interests are available for students from Kindergarten to Grade 12. Also, Honours Clubs are available for students in Grade 10 and above.

Annual sports competition is another popular extra-curricular activity at this school. Students with extraordinary athletic skills and abilities showcase their skills in different sports. Besides sports, other extra-curricular activities at the iCademy Middle East are camping trips, educational field trips, and recreational field trips However, all the extra-curricular activities are available to full-time students only. They also celebrate numerous national and international days at the campus.

Field trips are an essential non-academic provision of iCademy Middle East School. Students visit some popular areas and events in the UAE, including the following:

• Sharjah Art Foundation
• Sharjah Science Museum
• Kris Fade Show – Virgin Radio Dubai

Parents are an important part of the school’s learning system. They act as learning coaches and have the responsibility to ensure the pace at which students are progressing. There are several modes of communication available for parents and teachers to interact with one another. To contact the school personnel, such as the registrar or support team, parents can use the school email system. Students have designated email IDs and passwords to access portals and other modes of communication.

Also, parents can contact teachers and other non-teaching staff through Skype. Skype can be used for urgent enquiries. However, please note that teachers are online during school timings. Queries made before and after the school timings are answered the next day.

Additionally, the school uses its official website, social media platforms and WhatsApp groups to inform parents about the latest news, updates and other crucial information.

• Location: Block 12, Al Bourooj Street, Dubai Knowledge Park, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
• Telephone Number: +971 4 4401212 
• Email Address: info@icademymiddleeast.com
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Note that the cover image belongs to the iCademy Middle East