The Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Girls

Founded in 2000, Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for girls (SZPAG) is a renowned educational academy in Abu Dhabi. This campus of the school is exclusively for girls whereas the boys’ campus was established in 2015. It is a private K-12 school following the bilingual education programme and is managed by GEMS Education. It follows the US National Curriculum and Ministry of Education (MOE) guidelines for Arabic, Islamic Studies and Social Studies.

Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK) rated the school as very good. The school continuously strives to improve the experience for students and regarded as one of the top schools in Abu Dhabi. SZPAG enrols girls with an outstanding academic record from all over the world. It is accredited by the Council of International Schools (CIS) and New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC).

Currently, the school has over 1,500 girls from Pre KG to Grade 12. The experienced teaching staff at the school consists of 112 full-time teachers and 41 teaching assistants that fully support the educational needs of students. A whopping 89% of students at SZPAG are local Emiratis. It also has small proportions of Jordanian, Americans and Pakistani students. The low teacher to student ratio of 1:14 ensures girls in SZPAG receive attention and care.

The school has an outstanding range of facilities ensuring students experience the best learning environment. These facilities not only support the educational requirements of students but also cater to their non-academic needs.

Read this guide by Bayut to learn more about the facilities, admission and fees and education at SZPAG Abu Dhabi.

• Location: Al Rawda
• Fees: 30,520 AED - 70,360 AED
• Curriculum: American Curriculum
• Co-ed or Segregated: Mixed (pre-kindergarten - grade 3), then the separation of students starts from grade 4 to grade 12 to become a school for girls only
• ADEK: Very Good
• Grades: Pre-K - Grade 12

Located in the centre of the city in Al Rowdah, The Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Girls (SZPAG) is close to several key residential communities. These areas include:

• Al Mushrif
• Al Bateen
• Al Khalidiya

Located in Abu Dhabi Zone 1, Al Mushrif is the largest residential community. Located close to Al Khaleej Al Arabi Street and Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed Street, Al Mushrif has low-rise apartment buildings and spacious villas. For more options, parents of SZPAG can opt for Al Bateen and Al Khalidiyah residential communities.

• Apartments for rent near SZPAG
• Villas for rent near SZPAG

Sheikh Zayed Private Academy Girls’ campus consists of modern buildings with state-of-the-art school facilities. These well-maintained school facilities fully support the educational and non-educational needs of students.

Classrooms at SZPAG Abu Dhabi are spacious, bright and airy. The furniture used within the classroom is comfortable for all and helps in building a perfect learning environment. The school has a library in the elementary school section where students have access to a plethora of fictional and non-fictional books. To support learning, the school has separate ICT laboratories in the elementary and secondary section. The school has four science laboratories: three labs in secondary school and one lab in the elementary section. The secondary building has a knowledge centre, reception and Mac suite. Other features at the school include:

Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Girls is located on Mubarak Bin Mohammed Street behind the Embassy of Venezuela in Al Rowdah area of Al Manal, Abu Dhabi. The school is located near Al Bateen Palace and Al Nakheel Palace. Those interested in visiting the school can access it through Delma Street and Mohammed Bin Khalifa Street that connects the school with the nearby residential communities.

Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Girls is a renowned school in Abu Dhabi that offers an exceptional quality of education. The school offers a unique blend of national culture and heritage with an education based on international context. Such a combination allows students to understand the global phenomenon, local values and traditions. Moreover, the campus at Al Manal is a girls’ only school and therefore ideal for parents interested in gender-specific schools. All these offer a unique proposition attracting parents to enrol their kids at SZPAG.

In terms of education, the school has an updated and strong educational programme. It follows the US national curriculum with the guidelines of the Ministry of Education (MOE). The school prepared the syllabus using the internationally recognised Common Core Curriculum Standards for Arts and Next Generation Science Standards for science subjects. Students completing their high school education following the aforementioned curriculum are accepted in top colleges and universities.

Another strength of SZPAG is the availability of high-end school facilities. Students have access to well-maintained school facilities, such as ICT labs, science labs, libraries and much more. All these facilities result in an excellent learning environment that aids in students’ learning. In one of its reports, ADEK also acclaimed the high-end facilities of Sheikh Zayed Private Academy. It also offers transportation and other facilities for students.

SZPAG is a K-12 school that educates girls aged 3 to 18 years old. The school is split into the following sections:

The Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Girls (SZPAG) follows the educational programme based on the US curriculum and MOE guidelines. The school adopted the Common Core State Standards of Massachusetts, which is a rigorous educational standard in the US. Unlike other state standards, the Massachusetts state standard of education is hard yet rewarding.

The educational programme of the girls’ academy is academically and personally enriching that instils robust character and lifelong learning skills. The syllabus is designed in a way to ensure that it gradually develops the skills in each subject. The meticulously tailored school curriculum takes into consideration the history of the UAE along with the fast-changing world. Students completing their education from the Sheikh Zayed Private Academy are aware of the history and are ready to tackle the challenges offered by the modern-day world.

Kindergarten Curriculum

In the kindergarten stage, the school gradually builds foundational skills through play and learn strategies. It exposes young learners to engaging activities where they learn about the world and how it works. The subjects taught to students in Pre-KG, KG1 and KG2 are:

Elementary stage Curriculum

In the elementary stage, the school follows the curriculum infused with Massachusetts state standards and MOE guidelines. Girls study the following subjects:

Middle School Curriculum

In middle school, SZPAG continues the US and MOE-based curriculum. The subjects taught to students in Grade 6 to Grade 8 are:

High School Curriculum

Students striving for high school diploma study the following subjects:

ADEK is a governmental education body developed by H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan in 2006. As an educational body, it aims to improve and sustain the quality of education offered in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Al Dhafra. It inspects the performances of schools and other educational institutes every 18 to 24 months and issues a performance report. The performance report includes the ADEK’s rating judgement based on a six-point scale. The scale varies from outstanding (best) rating to very weak (worst) rating. Below is the brief explanation of ADEK’s six-point rating scale:

In the inspection report for the year 2017-2018, ADEK rated Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Girls’ performance as very good. It is the second-best performance rating in the 6-point ADEK rating scale and is generally offered to the top-performing schools. Out of the 6 performance standards, ADEK rated two performance standards as outstanding and four as very good. The leadership and management and protection, care and guidance were found to be outstanding. Whereas, ADEK rated teaching, curriculum, students’ achievements, and students’ personal, social development and innovation as very good.

The key strengths of SZPAG observed by ADEK are:

• Students of SZPAG showed high standards of achievements and use of ICT and English
• Another strength of this school is the students’ collaboration, leadership skills and social responsibility
• The school offers excellent quality education to students in kindergarten phase
• The governors and leaders of Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Girls focus on spreading the vision of Sheikh Zayed through their actions.
• The school instils a culture of ambition and high expectation that prepares students for global opportunities.

ADEK also drew the following recommendations for Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Girls to improve their performance:

The school should focus on continuously raising attainment, especially in Arabic. SZPAG can achieve this by allowing opportunities for students to speak and write Arabic and independent learning. Furthermore, it needs to develop assessment approaches and personalise learning in middle and high school. It can also support students during their transition from one educational phase to another.

SZPAG also needs to work on the punctuality and attendance of students by engaging parents in their child’s learning and ensure punctuality of high school students.

The academic year at Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Girls (SZPAG) starts in August and ends in June. There are three terms in an academic year with the following important dates:

• The first term starts in the last week of August and ends in the second week of December. This is followed by a three-week winter break that ends in the last week of December.
• The second term begins in the first week of January and ends in the fourth week of March. Students then go on a spring break that ends in the first week of April.
• The third term starts in the second week of April and ends in the first week of July.

Besides the aforementioned, the school remains closed on various national, international and religious events. The exact dates of these events are subjected to change. The school may share the exact dates of these events via social media or other platforms. For more information, refer to school calendar of SZPAG.

Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Girls is a prestigious institution that accepts admission applications from all backgrounds. The school only grants admission upon vacancy, therefore it is advised to apply at earliest. Parents can book a school tour before applying for SZPAG. You can contact the admission department by dialling +971 2 619 5555 Ext 111 or +971 2 619 5611.

To apply, fill the online application form available at the school’s website. Parents also need to submit the following documents:

• Original Emirates ID card of the candidate
• Immunisation record
• Health record form
• Three recent passport-size photographs of the candidate
• A copy of the electricity bill
• A copy of the transfer certificate from the previous school
• Recent school reports of students (at least last two years’ record)
• A copy of the candidate’s passport and visa (for non-UAE nationals)
• Original Emirates ID card of parents
• A copy of parents’ passports with a valid UAE residence Visa
• A copy of the family book (for UAE nationals)

Please note that the transfer certificate and UAE residence visa are not important at the time of application processing. However, they are mandatory while registering a child at ADEK database. Failure to do so would cause the cancellation of the admission.

The school will send an acknowledgment to parents that the school has received your application. However, this does not guarantee a place in this school. Your child may have to sit an assessment before being accepted.

The age-grade guidelines followed by the school are given below:

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

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

After submission, the school sends an acknowledgement email to parents on the provided email address. The email also contains a set of instructions to assist parents to continue the admission process.

To ensure proper placements of candidates, the school conducts an assessment. Contact the admission office of SZPAG for more details.

The school informs parents about the decision within the seven days of assessment. An offer letter is sent to the successful candidates. Parents need to submit the signed offer letter and pay the registration fee in a limited time to secure the admission. The registration fee is 5% of the annual tuition fee and is adjusted in the tuition fee for the first term.

The admission team is more than happy to help the parents throughout the admission process. Parents can visit the admission office between 8:00 am to 2:30 pm from Monday to Friday. For more information, read the admission process at the Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Girls.

Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Girls fee is as follows:

The aforementioned tuition fee can be paid in three instalments. The deadlines for the tuition fee instalments are:

• First Term – August
• Second Term – December
• Third Term – March

Please note that the annual tuition fee is exclusive of uniform, textbook and resources, and single device charges. Those applying for admissions in Grade 6 and above need to purchase a laptop or iPad. The school will inform parents about the charges in the first term. The school uniform is available at Globe Uniform LLC The shop is open from 9 am to 4 pm every Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. For more information, contact uniform@zayedacademy.ae.

Methods of Payment

The school accepts payment in the form of cash and cheque drawn in favour of Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Girls. Also, you can pay the tuition fee in the school's bank account. Details are as follows:

• Title: The Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Girls
• Bank Name: First Abu Dhabi Bank
• Branch: Corniche Branch
• Swift Code: NBADAEAAXXX
• IBAN: AE180357771001006804061

For further information, please read the fee structure of Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Girls.

The school does not offer any scholarship programme to its students.

After studying and participating in a range of activities at the school, students feel hungry and need to restore their energy. For this purpose, the school has a hygienic cafeteria. The cafeteria has proper seating arrangements where students can interact with one another and enjoy their meal. Students can bring home-packed lunch boxes or can buy the food item from the school’s canteen. Keita manages the catering service at Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Girls. Keita is a renowned catering service provider in the UAE that offers catering services to schools, business and events.

Students can select from a wide range of hot and cold food items available at the cafeteria. It prepares all the food items in a hygienic environment using fresh raw materials. Keita skips the ingredients that harm the health of students. Parents can pay for the food online and students have to access the cafeteria during break time to get their favourite snacks. Monthly menus are available on the school website. The hot meal section is split into the protein, vegetarian, carbohydrates, vegetables and Arabic food segments.

To read the menu, view the catering service at Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Girls.

The school provides comfortable, safe and efficient transport services to girls. SZPAG Abu Dhabi has outsourced its transport service to Emirates Transport, a reliable transport service provider in the UAE. Out of its many services, Emirates Transport offers private school transport, public school transport and university transport facilities to its clients.

Emirates Transport owns a large fleet of well-maintained buses with excellent security and safety features. It uses technology solution packages to ensure students enjoy the best travelling experience. The school buses have video surveillance cameras, GPS tracking facility, seat belts, sleep child check, electronic attendance mechanism and much more. All these ensure that parents are satisfied that their child is safe and secure in the school bus.

To register your child, submit the transport registration form the school’s account department.

SZPAG is a day-only school that does not offer boarding facilities to its students. Students living far from the school can opt for the school transport service. Parents may also consider moving to nearby residential communities.

The school does not arrange holiday camps for its students. However, girls are welcome to take part in the Global Vision Camp, which occurs at the Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Boys. Girls aged 3 to 12 years old are welcome to join the summer camp where children can participate in a wide range of sports.

The school has a limited range of sports facilities at the campus. The school maximises the facilities to ensure that students are engaged in healthy physical activities. There is a grass-based outdoor field where girls play football and other outdoor sports. There also exists an outdoor play area where children practice cycling and other outdoor activities. The outdoor play area also has a sandpit where children can play.

The school has an extensive extra-curricular programme that caters to the non-academic needs of students. One of the most popular extra-curricular activities at SZPAG is the Specialised Education Programmes. These programmes target the development of skills that are not covered in the regular educational programme. The spring of Heart programme is a Holy Quran memorisation programme is for girls in Grade 1 to Grade 9. This free programme is optional and carried out 4 days a week from 7:00 to 7:40 am. Students are placed in different levels of memorisation and the students successfully memorised the entire Quran receives awards.

Environmental Programme is another specialised education programme for students in Kindergarten to Grade 12. In this programme, students are taught about the environment-friendly processes such as recycling of plastic wastes.

Besides, the school also offers the following activities:

Field trips are an important part of the extra-curricular programme at Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Girls. These field trips serve as an opportunity for students to explore the practical world and co-relate the lectures taught in the classrooms. The school arranges both educational and recreational field trips throughout the year.

One of the popular field trips by SZPAG was the visit to Gandhi-Zayed Digital Museum in Abu Dhabi. Here, Grade 6 students explored the cultural heritage of the UAE through VR and other forms of technology. Another popular school trip arranged was the visit to Mohammed Bin Rashid Centre for Special Education.

The school has an extensive after-school programme which focuses on the development of well-rounded students. Most extra-curricular activities at Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Girls are offered after school timings.

The school has two well-equipped clinics that provide medical assistance to students and staff members.

Communication between teachers and parents is important for the development of students. For this purpose, the school attempts to establish an effective relationship between teachers and parents. To ensure the learning of secondary students, the school started an online learning platform. Parents along with the students have access to the portal that provides necessary academic resources to support online learning. In this way, the school encourages parents to take part in the students’ learning process.

To keep parents updated, the school has developed a separate web page called Parents and Community News. Here, the school updates parents and wider communities about the important announcements, newsletters and much more.

Other modes of communication include parent-teacher meeting, official website, social media platforms and School designated WhatsApp group.

Parents can contact the school by submitting an online contact us form. The school typically responds to the provided contact information in a few days. They can also contact the school via the following information:

Location: Mubarak Bin Mohammed Street, Al Rowdah, Al Manhal, Abu Dhabi, UAE

Telephone Number

• General Phone :+971 2 619 5555
• Parents Relationship Coordinator: +971 2 6195555 (Ext 533)
• Admission office: +971 2 619 5555 (ext 111) /  +971 2 619 5611

Email Address

• Registrar: registrar@zayedacademy.ac.ae
• General Enquiries: zayedacademy@zayedacademy.ae

Official Website and Social Media

• Official Website
• Facebook
• Instagram
• YouTube
• LinkedIn

Note that the cover image belongs to The Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Girls (SZPAG)

What are the school hours?

School hours at the school start from Monday to Thursday, while Friday's work is half day until 1:00 in the afternoon.

Does the school organises after-school activities?

Yes, the academy has an intensive after-school program that focuses on developing the skills of outstanding female students.

How many grades are there in the school?

SZPAG offers education from Pre-KG to Grade 12.

Does the school follow a co-ed model?

Yes the school follows co-ed model but only till Grade 3. Afterwards, SZPAG only enrols girls.

How many students are currently enrolled at Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Girls?

Currently, the school has over 1,500 students. Most students are Emiratis and Jordanians.

What’s the academic calendar of Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Girls?

The academic year at the Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Girls begins in August and ends in July.

What’s the annual tuition fee charged by SZPAG?

SZPAG’s annual tuition fee ranges between AED 30,250 and AED 70,360.

How SZPAG communicates with parents?

The school uses an online portal, website and WhatsApp Group to communicate with parents. Also, parent-teacher meetings are regularly scheduled to keep parents updated about their children. 

Does SZPAG has a cafeteira?

Yes, the school has a cafeteria where students can choose from plenty of options.

How many teachers are part of this school?

SZPAG has 112 full-time teachers and 41 teaching assistants.