ABU DHABI // As the American Community School of Abu Dhabi prepares to celebrate its 40th anniversary this week, it is not only taking stock of what it has accomplished but also of what lies ahead.
"We are facing an interesting period in our history," said principal Bob Gross, who kicked off a week of celebrations, today, amid a gathering of 500 former students, their families and teachers.
"The school will see a bright future, in line with what Abu Dhabi wants to achieve in the coming years. Now is the time to substantially upgrade our facilities. We are setting ourselves up for the next 40 years.
The US curriculum school was founded in 1972 on a campus near the Japan Oil Company off Sheikh Zayed the First Road, by the US diplomatic mission and representatives of major oil companies.
In 1975 the campus moved to its current location on Sultan bin Zayed Street - a site donated by President Sheikh Khalifa and further extended by him in 1989. This allowed ACS to add a high school and more extra-curricular offerings, including media centres, a theatre, a dance studio and multipurpose rooms.
Sohail Jashanmal, an artist and founder of the art show Green Abu Dhabi, was among the first 12 to graduate from the new high school in 1993.
"We were a very tight group in school and the bunch of us are still very good friends," said Mr Jashanmal, 37. Among the group was Khaldoon Al Mubarak, the chief executive of Mubadala and a guest speaker at Friday's event.
"A particular reason we are together is because we went through this education experience together and then went to Boston University together as well," said Mr Jashanmal.
"I was very lucky that the school expanded at the time I joined because before that families had to send their children abroad to complete high school."
The school has grown from educating 50 pupils in the 1970s to 1,040 children today. Over the past few weeks, ACS staff put in extra hours revisiting the past and re-establishing ties with those who once walked the school's hallways.
Old records were pulled to create a timeline, photographs were collected to create an archive and former pupils were tracked down.
"We want to set up a strong alumni base, which is currently missing," admitted Mr Gross.
Makram El-Zyr, 36, is now the corporate vice president of development of Rotana Hotels. He studied at ACS from 1990 to 1993 and is very pleased about efforts to bring old classmates back together. "It was like a family back then," he said, "a small-knit class that did everything together. It made us appreciate friends growing up and also pushed us to succeed."
The US Embassy, which funds the school, is highly involved in safety measures on campus. A regional security officer does regular checks and suggests security upgrades.
The State Department extends an annual grant to run the school and has funded the installation of CCTV and fitted bulletproof windows around the campus.
But while the facilities are good, they can no longer accommodate their plans for growth, according to Mr Gross.
"All our facilities are getting old and space has become a problem," he said.
The school's last renovation was undertaken in 2000, when a new elementary school building was constructed in a record time of eight months.
"It was a real community project, with everyone - teenagers, parents, teachers and staff - helping to empty the old building before demolition," said Valerie Cox, the director of communications at the school.
The next step, Mr Gross said, is to either upgrade the current campus or move to a new location. "It depends on the funds we can raise," he said.
Famous personalities who have visited the American Community School in Abu Dhabi:
1975 Santa Claus arrives at ACS by helicopter. Breakfast with Santa has been a tradition at ACS ever since.
1976 Astronauts Vance Brand, Thomas Stafford and Donald Slayton of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.
1982 Alex Haley, author of Roots, visits ACS – one of many authors who have met with pupils.
1983 Mohammed Ali
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This article has been amended. It incorrectedly stated that Queen Elizabeth II of Britain visited the American Community School in 1979. The error was made due to incorrect information supplied.
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Essentials
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct from the UAE to Los Angeles, from Dh4,975 return, including taxes. The flight time is 16 hours. Alaska Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Aeromexico and Southwest all fly direct from Los Angeles to San Jose del Cabo from Dh1,243 return, including taxes. The flight time is two-and-a-half hours.
The trip
Lindblad Expeditions National Geographic’s eight-day Whales Wilderness itinerary costs from US$6,190 (Dh22,736) per person, twin share, including meals, accommodation and excursions, with departures in March and April 2018.
Punchy appearance
Roars of support buoyed Mr Johnson in an extremely confident and combative appearance
6.30pm Meydan Classic Trial US$100,000 (Turf) 1,400m
Winner Bella Fever, Dane O’Neill (jockey), Mike de Kock (trainer).
7.05pm Handicap $135,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner Woven, Harry Bentley, David Simcock.
7.40pm UAE 2000 Guineas Group Three $250,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
Winner Fore Left, William Buick, Doug O’Neill.
8.15pm Dubai Sprint Listed Handicap $175,000 (T) 1,200m
Winner Rusumaat, Dane O’Neill, Musabah Al Muhairi.
8.50pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-2 Group Two $450,000 (D) 1,900m
Winner Benbatl, Christophe Soumillon, Saeed bin Suroor.
9.25pm Handicap $135,000 (T) 1,800m
Winner Art Du Val, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.
10pm Handicap $135,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner Beyond Reason, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
