Cities / Dubai / American Academy for Girls Dubai (AAG)
American Academy for Girls Dubai (AAG)
Single-sex American-curriculum school in Mirdif, founded 2004, taking girls from Foundation Stage to Grade 12.
In brief
American Academy for Girls is one of the only all-girls American-curriculum schools in Dubai, founded in 2004 and owned by Taaleem, teaching around 600 pupils in Al Mizhar. The girls-only structure applies from Grade 1, with boys admitted in Pre-KG and KG only. Roughly three-quarters of the pupils are Emirati, and Islamic Education and Arabic carry consistently solid inspection ratings.
KHDA has rated the school Good for well over a decade, with Outstanding marks for health, safety, child protection and the parent partnership. Early years and elementary are the strongest phases; the middle school and reading beyond English lessons are the recurring inspection flags. Around 18 per cent of the roll is registered as students of determination, supported by two counsellors and an inclusion team, with no extra fee unless a child needs one-to-one support.
Fees run from about AED 36,500 to 65,300, mid-to-upper territory among Dubai's American-curriculum schools, and families comparing the campus with newer builds sometimes find the buildings older and tighter. Parent voice splits between warm, family-feel testimonials and a smaller, distinctly cooler pool.
Fees
Annual fees
| Year level | Age | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-KG | 3 | AED 36,485 |
| KG 1 | 3 | AED 38,595 |
| KG 2 | 4 | AED 40,695 |
| Grade 1 to 4 | 6 | AED 49,250 |
| Grade 5 to 8 | 10 | AED 57,860 |
| Grade 9 to 12 | 14 | AED 65,270 |
One-time fees
| Item | Age | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Application Fee | AED 500 |
Reviews
One of the only all-girls American-curriculum schools in Dubai, sitting in Al Mizhar under Taaleem ownership and serving a largely Emirati student body. KHDA has rated it Good for well over a decade, with the strongest marks in the early-years and elementary phases and a long-standing Outstanding for health, safety and parent partnership. The middle-school years and reading across the curriculum are the parts inspectors keep flagging. Parent voice on the school splits: warm, family-feel testimonials on one side, and a small but distinctly unhappy pool of survey responses on the other.
Positives
- Single-sex environment. All-girls from Grade 1 upward, with boys admitted only in Pre-KG and KG. That structure is rare in Dubai's American-curriculum field and is the main reason families choose the school over larger co-ed Taaleem and GEMS options.
- Pastoral care and safety. KHDA marks health, safety and child protection Outstanding across every phase, and the partnership with parents sits at the same level. The pastoral team, counsellors and student-led wellbeing groups come through clearly in family feedback.
- Early years and elementary. The KG and elementary phases are where the school is strongest on paper and in parent commentary. Teaching, curriculum design and progress in core subjects all sit at Very Good in the most recent inspection.
- Support for students of determination. Around 18% of the roll is registered as students of determination, with two counsellors and an inclusion team built around them. The school does not charge an additional fee unless a child needs one-to-one learning support.
- Emirati and Muslim family fit. Roughly three-quarters of the student body is Emirati, and Islamic Education and Arabic carry consistently solid ratings. The single-sex setup and culturally familiar peer group are part of the draw for local families looking for an American diploma route.
Considerations
- Middle school. Inspectors single out the middle phase as the part of the school that needs to catch up with the rest. Parents echo this in patches, particularly around the jump between elementary and the older year groups.
- Reading across the curriculum. Reading comprehension beyond English lessons is a recurring development point in inspection findings, with calls for earlier diagnostic intervention and more consistent practice between classrooms.
- Facilities and fees. Tuition runs from roughly AED 45,000 in pre-primary to AED 71,000 in the senior grades, which puts the school in mid-to-upper American territory in Dubai. Families comparing it to newer purpose-built campuses sometimes find the buildings older and tighter, though KHDA still describes the resourcing as appropriate.
- Polarised parent voice. Testimonials on directory sites are uniformly warm about teachers, kindness and the family feel. A separate, much smaller survey pool runs distinctly cool. The cohort that posts is small enough that one set of voices does not cancel out the other.
Leadership
Lisa Johnson
Lisa Johnson is a veteran educator with extensive international experience, having served as Head of School at Berkeley International School in Bangkok for 5 years, held head of school positions in Vietnam and China, and spent 22 years in the American education system as a classroom teacher and head of school in an urban secondary school.
Accreditations
- New England Association of Schools and Colleges 01
- Council of International Schools 02