Given that we have been waiting so long for the JVT Community to be complete, the new schools in the neighborhood should be welcomed with open arms. Despite the fact that it is now too late for my own children who have completed primary school, I nevertheless feel that Arcadia is somehow ‘our’ school. Possibly being just around the corner helps give us that sentiment. In any account, I now follow the news on both schools closely.

The latest announcement of a scholarship fund being established for pupils of Arcadia Prepatory school should be providing some parents a great relief.

Abdulla Al Shirawi and Mohan Valrani, chairman and senior vice chairman respectively of the Al Shirawi Group, have announced a scholarship fund for all founding students at The Arcadia Preparatory School. All students entering the 2016-17 academic year – regardless of nationality, gender, race and religion – will be automatically eligible for the scholarship and will be refunded 30% of their tuition fees for their entire tenure at The Arcadia Preparatory School.

The two entrepreneurs, who co-founded the Al Shirawi Group of companies, made the announcement on Easter Sunday to signify the tolerant and inclusive student body that they intend to create at the school.

“We want a school community that reflects the values espoused by the rulers of the UAE. The Arcadia Preparatory School will not only be an educational establishment but a haven of peace, happiness and harmony, open to children of all nationalities residing within the UAE. The Scholarship fund is a first of it’s kind in the UAE and offers great value, especially when combined with the Enrichment Learning Program that offers an extended school day filled with extra curricular activities” said the two co-founders of the Al Shirawi Group in a joint statement.

The Arcadia Preparatory School is the first in a series of community-based schools delivering the vision of Mohan Valrani and the Al Shirawi Group. Believing that a school’s greatest asset is its teachers, the group is also building The Arcadia House, a dedicated accommodation facility within JVT for school staff. By offering the enhanced benefit of quality housing, the school is investing fully in its teachers’ happiness and wellbeing thereby encouraging them to aspire to excellence within the classroom.

The Arcadia Preparatory School’s curriculum includes a unique Enrichment Learning Programme – an all-inclusive programme, based on an extended school day – that complements the core curriculum and provides dynamic and diverse activities and rich learning opportunities for pupils, including in-class homework support. The programme is provided at no extra cost to parents and is a core aspect of the school’s values and ethos, where lifelong learning is nurtured. In addition, the school is offering English as an Additional Language as part of the core curriculum for students whose native language is not English.

Future Dubai-based schools for Arcadia Group include The Arcadia Senior School, also in Jumeirah Village Triangle; and The Arcadia Primary and Secondary School in Jebel Ali.