Sharjah American International School (SAIS) – Dubai Branch is a member school of the Sharjah American International School group of schools owned by Dr. Aysha Sayyar and Dr. Nawaf Fawaz. The SAIS family of schools includes branches in 4 Emirates – Sharjah, Dubai, Umm Al Quwain, and Abu Dhabi.

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The Governing Board intends to open two further branches in future years. The first branch established was the Sharjah branch in 1997. The Dubai school is the second branch to be opened for the SAIS brand of schools. The school was officially opened in 2005 as a KG – Gr. 12 American Curriculum School with 60 students and a small team of staff. The founding Principal, Ms. Nadine Tarazi, provided outstanding leadership to the school through 9 years of sustained and significant enrollment growth and oversaw the development of a vibrant and innovative learning environment providing a high-quality American education within the local customs and traditions.

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The school continues this proud tradition under the leadership of the second school Principal, Mrs. Dianne Leverett, and then the current Principal Mr. Mohammad Sultan. The Principals and Assistant Principals of each branch of the SAIS family of schools work in close professional associations and form a professional learning and collegiate network to support and nurture the development of each member and school. The group network is officially called The Education Board and includes one or more Board Members. 

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The Education Board meets on a regular basis to ensure the continuity and cohesion of curriculum coordination, protocols, processes, and practices across the brand of schools. In more recent years the Governing Board has formalized the willing and active involvement of parents in the planning and local governance of each school branch.

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The development of an Advisory Board (based on the previous parent committee) including membership of parents, senior students, and staff members enables each branch to operate smoothly and efficiently at a local level while overseen by the governance of the governing body for all schools within the brand. The Advisory Board at SAIS Dubai meets monthly to oversee and monitor the improvement plans and to celebrate the diversity and heart of this vibrant and warm community.

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Dubai private schools undertake an annual review and inspection process under the direction of the Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau (DSIB), a division of the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) of Dubai. The school engages in self-review of student learning data and other local school data and information to reflect and plan for continuous improvement prior to the external review by the DSIB. Both the school self-knowledge and the DSIB report and recommendations then form the basis for the cycle of reflection-planning-action-monitoring towards continuous improvement.

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