Meet your principal

Dubai Modern High School was established in 1986 in Karama, Dubai, and moved two years later to its current campus in Jumeirah. With plans for a new state-of-the-art campus next year, a motivated and disciplined student body and competent, caring teachers, the school is expected to reach new heights in the coming years. Maysam Ali interviews the school's principal Darryl Bloud

Darryl Bloud, principal of Dubai Modern High School, attributes the success of the school to a strict but fun after-school programme where students get to finish their homework in addition to socialising and playing games.

"Modern High is unique because of our compulsory afternoon programme, where students have lunch then spend time together to do their homework," he told Notes.

The programme, called the Afternoon Self-Improvement Programme, includes having lunch, finishing homework and playing games or sports. It is voluntary for students in grades 3 and 4 and compulsory for grades 5 through 12.

"It is a unique programme that emphasises teaching in its wholistic nature," Bloud said.

New campus

Today, the school has 2,300 students, all from the Indian community. The student body is growing and with growth comes additional pressure to expand the school's premises.

The school, currently located in Jumeirah, will be moving to Nad El Sheba in April. "The campus is now too small for our students, but the new campus, at 1.2 million square feet, is huge. It has three squash courts, two swimming pools, six tennis courts, four basketball courts, etc," Bloud said.

Best musicals

Modern High as Bloud refers to it, is known for its musicals. The secret, according to Bloud, lies in Kevin Oliver, the cultural coordinator of GEMS Education, who "took the musicals to another level".

The students are already working on their next musical, We Will Rock You, which will be presented in December 2009 because the school will be moving campuses this year.

Musicals, however, are not the students' only strength. According to Bloud, Modern High students are also known for their communication and debating skills as well as their participation in international tennis and cricket matches. The school prides itself on having students ranked among the top scorers in the Indian School Certificate examinations in 2004 and 2006 and in gaining the best quality award.

Current challenges

As is the general case in Dubai, traffic between Sharjah and Dubai causes both students and teachers much trouble. In fact, the principal said transportation remains a major challenge this year.

"There are 50 buses but the problem remains in the traffic between Sharjah and Dubai," he said.

Teachers must leave two hours ahead of time in order to get to their classes on time, and to be there for students who require reinforcement or have questions before class time. According to the principal, this is common in Modern High, where the teachers go out of their way to help the students.

Vision for the future
Bloud said that with the kind of effort exerted by the staff and the new facilities being offered next year, the school should be growing to a new level.

"I hope the new campus will provide the kind of facilities we've dreamed of to make every Modern High child get the best education, facilities and teachers... . Teachers at Modern High really make a difference," he said.

Women's empowerment programme

Background
Six hundred women participated in a workshop on women's empowerment held at Dubai Modern High School. The school is planning to invite Queen Rania of Jordan along with other dignitaries from the UAE to an upcoming event under the same theme. The administration has not yet set a date due to its imminent move to its new campus, the principal said.

- Darryl Bloud, from Kolkata, India, has been principal for 19 years, 9 of them at Modern High. "My average day starts at 7am and ends at 5pm," he said. "Apart from sitting in classrooms and having lunch with the students, I join them in other activities such as table tennis and basketball... . I have never been on the swimming team, though," he added jokingly.

- His interests include reading, music and playing the guitar. He responds to the students with a smile as they greet him on campus.

He said: "What I love most about this school — and this is the reason why I've been here for nine years— is I don't think any other school has the special ethos and self-discipline we have here. Every child is polite, smartly dressed and comes from a specific background. We have caring teachers and sensitive students... . Every child is happy at Modern High."