Dar Al Marefa School

Dar Al Marefa, Dubai or DMS is a bilingual International Baccalaureate school that opened its doors in 2008. The private, co-education school offers education from Pre-KG until Grade 12. Dar Al Marefa has over 770 students, 86 teachers and 23 teaching assistants. The teacher to student ratio is 1:17, which shows valuable support for students. The dominant student nationality is Emirati, while most teachers are British nationals.

Dar Al Marefa School is proud to educate children with SEND requirements. At the moment, 24 students of determination receive a quality education.

Due to the current pandemic, the school was not inspected for the academic year 2020-2021. Dar Al Marefa private school is constantly working hard to provide personal support and quality education to its students, from early ages to senior level.

• Location: Al Khawaneej
• School fees: AED 36,000 - AED 75,000
• Curriculum: International Baccalaureate curriculum
• Co-ed or segregate: Co-ed
• KHDA rating: Good
• Years offered: Pre-KG - Grade 12

Families in the following nearby residential communities can easily access Dar Al Marefa in Al Khawaneej.

• Mirdif
• Al Mizhar
• Muhaisnah
• Oud Al Mateena 1

Among these, the closest is Al Mizhar. The neighbourhood is close to Sharjah and is located next to one of the largest parks in Dubai, Mushrif Park. You can find a large collection of villas in this community.

Parents and guardians looking to settle in Al Khawaneej to remain close to the school can look for villas for rent and sale.

• Villas for rent near Dar Al Marefa
• Villas for sale near Dar Al Marefa

The purpose-built, state-of-the-art campus ensures students’ comfort and allows them to maximise their learning. Facilities that enhance the futuristic learning environment are available on the premises.

 These include a centralised library building with internet access, study space and computers to facilitate research work. There are fiction titles, online resources, and periodicals for pleasure and study purposes.

You will also find a centrally air-conditioned sports hall, temperature-controlled swimming pool, two outdoor tennis courts, and shaded pathways throughout the campus. One can also find a canteen that provides healthy food, a floodlit sports field, a multi-purpose PE studio and a playground for young students.

Dar Al Marefa private school has eight science labs – two each for physics, chemistry, general science and biology. The ICT lab has 3D printing machines to familiarise students with the latest technology. Finally, there is a 400-seater auditorium with a central stage.

Dar Al Marefa School is located in the district of Al Khawaneej, a farming community that is home to The Yard.

An initiative of Al Ghurair, Dar Al Marefa is one of the top-rated private schools in Dubai. It is the only school that offers a bilingual IB curriculum. The school has successfully maintained the Good KHDA rating for the past six years. The purpose-built two-storey campus and ultra-modern facilities make the learning environment more engaging for the students.

Further, the school follows an inclusive policy. Students are not discriminated against based on their abilities, race, colour, religion, ethnicity, language and nationality. At DMS, children of determination are provided special education services to meet the challenges of a bilingual IB curriculum efficiently.

Aligned with the UAE’s 2021 Vision, the school pays special attention to innovation. Teachers are given the training to bring innovation to their daily lessons. Finally, the governing board also supervises the school’s education to ensure that the best is being delivered to the students. Eight individuals make the board of governors.

Finally, to credit the school, Dar Al Marefa makes it to the top 5 schools in Mirdif.

Dar Al Marefa School Dubai offers the International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum from primary years in two languages: Arabic and English. The curriculum is divided into four different sections.

IB Primary Year Programme (Early Years and Primary Year)

The curriculum followed at this stage is crucial for children’s early development. The PYP framework is established on the following six themes:

• Who We Are
• Where We Are in Place and Time
• How We Express Ourselves
• How the World Works
• How We Organise Ourselves
• Sharing the Planet

Students of Pre-KG and KG1 groups explore four transdisciplinary themes while KG2 explores all six. Subjects covered at the primary level include the following:

• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding the World
• Expressive Arts and Design
• Physical Development
• Communication and Language Development
• Personal, Social and Emotional Development

IB Middle Year Programme (MYP)

Four core features distinguish the Middle Year Programme: Related Concepts, Global Context, Approaches to Teaching and Learning, and Action and Services.

The subjects offered in this programme are as follows:

In Grade 10, where this program ends, all students must submit a personal project which portrays the accumulation of their learnings.

IB Diploma Program (DP)

IBDP considers the trending international perspectives of teaching and learning while encouraging children to focus on national culture and language. The biggest advantage of pursuing IBDP is the global network and the fact that the degree assists students in attaining a spot at the top-rated local and international universities.

The DP enables students to cover six subjects offered at the Higher Level (HL) or Standard Level (SL). These six subjects underline three basic principles known as Theory of Knowledge (TOK), Extended Essay (EE) and Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS).

If you are interested in scouting more options in schools following the IB curriculum, then here’s the list of top IB schools in Dubai.

The Knowledge and Human Development Authority is a governmental body that supervises and assists the growth of private schools in Dubai. The unit evaluates the schools annually on their performance and rates them on a six-point scale: Outstanding, Very Good, Good, Acceptable, Weak and Very Weak.

KHDA last inspected the performance of Dar Al Marefa as ‘Good’ for the sixth consecutive year. This inspection was carried out for the academic year 2018-2019. The table below shows a 10-year history of the school’s performance.

According to the KHDA report, the following aspects contributed to this rating:

• Students showed good progress in most disciplines in all four sections.
• Children showed a good understanding of Emirati culture and knew their personal growth.
• The school maintains a strong relationship and partnership with parents and guardians essential for a child’s growth.
• The board of governors is striving and has successfully brought state-of-the-art learning facilities to meet the growing population of the school.

Areas that require improvement are:

• Achievement of objectives by using assessment data frequently.
• Generate opportunities for students to indulge in creative and critical thinking, independent research and problem-solving attitude.
• Ensure that challenges provided to students have the component of jogging their intellectual and are challenging enough for talented students.
• The school should develop an accurate self-evaluation process to increase an individual’s progress in learning.

Dar Al Marefa is an inclusive school offering a bilingual IB curriculum. Before starting the application process, it is highly advised that parents and guardians understand the entry requirements. The school generally accepts admission requests in January.

The admission process requires parents to:

• Fill out the online application form
• Set a date for your child’s assessment
• Once the child has passed the assessment and been accepted, pay 10% of the annual school fee
• Your child’s place is secured

Other than this, you are required to submit the following mandatory documents to the school.

• Copy of the passports of the student and parents with a valid residence visa
• A copy of the Emirates ID for the student and parents
• A copy of the vaccination record
• A copy of the birth certificate
• A personal photo of the student
• The last academic report of the student
• A copy of the transfer certificate issued by the previous school
• Duly filled medical form (for students in grades 1-12)
• A copy of the behavior report (for students in grades 6-12)

Arabic Language

The UAE Ministry of Education bylaws state that all children will have to study the Arabic language. However, the language is categorised for native and non-native speakers.

Children belonging to Arab countries* will have to take Arabic A for native speakers until Grade 12. Students from an identified Arab country that are not fluent in English can opt for Arabic B (subject to approval by the KHDA).

*Arab countries include UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Syria, Bahrain, Iraq, Yemen, Oman, Mauritania, Libya, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Sudan, Somalia, Djibouti and Union of the Comoros.

Islamic Studies

As per the UAE Ministry of Education bylaws, Muslim students must take Islamic Education until the end of Grade 12. The students also choose to either study Islamic A (in Arabic) or Islamic B (in English) based on their nationality.

Please ensure that your child meets the following age placement criteria before enrollment.

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)

Dar Al Marefa fee structure for the current year is:

Additional charges include:

• Transport: AED 8,500 - AED 9,500
• Uniform: AED 500 - AED 1,100

A sibling discount of 5% is applied on the third sibling (youngest child) and a 10% discount on every subsequent child in each family. Also, required books are included in the tuition fee. Dar Al Marefa fees can be paid through cash, cheque and bank transfer.

Dar Al Marefa private school Dubai does not offer any scholarships. However, it supports the Mohammed Bin Rashid Distinguished Students Programme. This program allows Emirati students to apply for scholarships in some top-rated schools in Dubai. Each year, DMS selects a few students from this programme.

A cafeteria is operational on-site to offer nutritious and healthy lunches to students. These delicious meals are made using local and sustainable ingredients.

Dar Al Marefa school has its own transport service. However, parents need to follow a few rules before their child boards the bus. These rules include:

• Students must be accompanied by a parent or a guardian to and from the scheduled meeting point.
• Students should arrive at least five minutes before the pickup time.
• Students should not indulge in any activity at the time of the pickup that might endanger the accompanied and nearby persons.
• Children should board the bus in an orderly manner.

Please note that the bus routes are subject to change only with the approval of the RTA and the school management.

At DMS, there’s no shortage of sports facilities and children interested in physical education have many opportunities to explore. Since the weather in Dubai is hot and humid, the school has fully air-conditioned indoor sports facilities.

There is a fully equipped gymnasium, temperature-controlled swimming pool, large floodlit sports field, two outdoor tennis courts and a large sports hall. Students can participate in:

Children of all ages can participate in extracurricular activities designed by the school across winter, spring and summer sessions. Dar Al Marefa, Dubai, offers internal extracurricular activities for free run by the staff. The timings of these classes are from 03:00 pm to 05:00 pm. They provide transport after these classes are conducted. Extracurricular activities offered by external providers are charged per activity.

These ventures are related to academic and non-academic genres and include activities such as:

The most preferred extracurricular initiatives are Islamic activities featuring Holy Quran studies, ethics and values.

The school conducts annual field trips for students. These trips are designed to be fun and educational. A few of the trips in the recent past include Grade 12 students’ trip to Louvre Abu Dhabi to learn about architecture, context, inspiration and materials. The younger classes enjoyed their field trip to Little Explorers in Mirdif City Centre.

The school also collaborated with external camp providers such as Ecoventure to organise fun camping trips to Hatta.

Currently, the school offers several after-school support classes in Arabic, English and Sports.

Dar Al Marefa School, Mirdif, has a medical facility managed by a full-time nurse registered to administer first aid. Parents are requested to provide all medical information about the child during admission.

DMS takes education seriously; therefore, parent engagement is mandatory and highly encouraged throughout the academic year.

The school arranges parent-teacher meeting sessions to analyse and recommend areas to boost children’s progress in various disciplines. They also have set up a parent portal where parents and guardians can register themselves and get updates regarding school activities and upcoming holidays.

Apart from the Dar Al Marefa portal, parents are requested to join the WhatsApp group to receive instant notifications about school updates. You can contact teachers or staff members to become a part of these groups.

Parents can contact Dar Al Marefa School Dubai via social media, email, and phone for further queries and information.

• Telephone Number: +971-80-062-7332
• Emails:
  General Enquiries: info@daralmarefa.ae
  Admission Enquiries: admissions@daralmarefa.ae
• DMS Website
• DMS Facebook
• DMS Twitter
• DMS Instagram
• DMS YouTube

Note that the cover image belongs to Dar Al Marefa School

What are the timings of your school?

The school starts at 07:30 am and ends at 03:30 pm, except for Fridays, when it ends at 12:00 pm.

Do you conduct after-school activities?

Dar Al Marefa conducts reinforcement classes and a few sporting activities after school hours.

How many grades/years are there in your school?

Pre-KG until Grade 12.

How many students are currently studying in your school?

Currently, there are around 800 students enroled in the school.

Can you please describe the academic calendar of your school?

The academic calendar runs from the last week of August until the last week of June.

Can you please mention the range of the tuition fee charged by your school?

The tuition fee ranges from AED 36,000 to AED 75,000.

How do you communicate with parents?

Teachers communicate with parents via a parent portal, parent-teacher meetings, WhatsApp group and school's social media sites. You can also book an appointment with a teacher.

Do you have a cafeteria or a canteen on campus?

Yes, a canteen is available on the campus and serves nutritious meals to students.

How often does your school arrange field trips?

Dar Al Marefa School organizes many recreational and educational field trips for students throughout the academic year.

How many teachers are currently teaching in your school?

The teaching staff consists of 86 teachers and 23 teaching assistants.