The high school years make up the last phase of a SZPAG student’s school career. Making good academic choices and creating an individual educational pathway becomes very important. Over the four years, a student will gain 33 credit hours through following a set number of core subjects plus a range of electives. SZPAG arranges its high school curriculum in a way that ensures that all students can gain Ministerial Equivalency upon graduation. 

Our high school students receive regular guidance in choosing their programs, course levels, and electives from their subject teachers, Head of Student Potential, Pastoral Leads and the Senior Leadership Team.  

SZPAG offers three levels of courses in High School:

● College Prep (CP) – these are the standard courses that most students will take. They are designed internally and assessed against internally set rubrics.

● Honors (H) – these are more rigorous courses which have higher academic demands than CP courses. They are designed internally and assessed against internally set rubrics.

● Advanced Placement (AP) – these are challenging courses set by College Board. They are university level courses designed to stretch and challenge more academically inclined students and help them to be ready for university. The curriculum and assessments are created by the College Board and is one of the few externally moderated assessments in the American Curriculum.

The Arabic and Islamic program of studies at SZPAG are aligned to the UAE Ministry of Education Standards.

Assessment in High School 

Assessment in the high school is by continuous assessment. SZPAG believes that a student should be credited for the work they do on a daily basis. This day-to-day work is a far better assessment of their understanding than a traditional exam, which is a ‘one off’ performance. Furthermore, in developing our students’ approach to work and preparing them for the demands of life beyond school, we believe it is important to emphasize the stamina and commitment needed to be successful in life. 

However, we also recognize that formal exams can place a positive pressure on a student’s skillset. Therefore, formal exams are taken in Honors and AP courses. The number of exams and the weighting of these on the yearly grade is dependent upon the level of course taken. The yearly weighting of exams in each level of course is outlined below:

● Honors (H) courses have two exams. One at the end of term 1 and one at the end of term 3. They contribute 40% of the year’s grade.

● Advanced Placement (AP) courses have TWO exams, one at the end of term 2, and one at the end of term 3. They contribute 40% of the year’s grade. AP students will also sit the external AP exam at the end of the year. 

SZPAG has a live grade book which is accessible to both our students and parents via Schoology. Regularly visiting the gradebook of your daughter is actively encouraged. It is essential that all of our students and parents have access to the Schoology app: Schoology app for Apple and Schoology app for Android.

External Assessments in High School 

In addition to the internal assessments, our students will also sit the external MAP test in Reading, Language, Math, and Science twice a year. MAP is the Measure of Academic Progress and is used by American Curriculum schools worldwide to benchmark student performance at any given time against expected US norms. MAP tests are individual and each time a student sits a MAP test they are given a personal Rasch UnIT (RIT) score and target for their next test. 

As part of SZPAG Graduation requirement all of our students must sit the SAT exam. SZPAG supports our students in preparation for this exam both through curriculum delivered and in specific preparatory classes. All Grade 10 sit the PSAT and students are encouraged to register for and sit the SAT exam in Grade 11. 

SZPAG has 4 graduation classification levels: 

● High School Certificate 

● High School Diploma

● High school Diploma with Honors 

● High School Diploma with Honors Distinction 

Wellbeing and Pastoral support 

Students in the high school are supported by their Homeroom teacher, their Head of Grade and the school counselor.