GEMS World Academy-Chicago

✨🎓Congratulations to the GEMS World Academy Chicago class of 2025! We are so proud of this caring, hardworking, knowledgeable, and adaptable group of students! As we look back on their many accomplishments, we wish them continued success in high school as they embark upon the next steps of their educational journeys. Once a dragon, always a dragon!🐉 🙌 💙

🎶🎤 The final GEMS World Academy Chicago performance showcased a wide range of talents from students in preschool through eighth grade. The event began with a multi-grade fashion show with students modeling clothing and jewelry that they designed and created. This was followed by music concerts featuring singing and playing a variety of instruments, a theater production with choreographed dances, and a musical revue.🥁🎵🎸

Congratulations to all of our students for growing as performers this year! Thank you to all of the teachers in the Visual and Performing Arts department for guiding and encouraging their students, and for planning this wonderful celebration of music, theater, and the arts at GEMS.👏❤️

🎉Congratulations to our fifth grade students for completing the IB Primary Years Programme! For their final project, students researched a subject of their choice and formulated a central idea and lines of inquiry to guide their work. This long-term project included gathering information from multiple sources in order to write a research paper, designing a creative element connected to the topic, and taking action to educate or serve others. Throughout this process, students utilized each of the ATL skills (research, thinking, communication, social, and self-management) that are embedded into the IB curriculum. Students shared what they learned and presented their projects to their families, teachers, and peers at the annual PYP Exhibition. 🌍 🙌 💙

Grade 4 students selected a topic they are passionate about and engaged in multiple weeks of self-directed investigation to deepen their understanding. Passion projects encourage students to connect their learning to real-world contexts while developing research skills, critical thinking skills, perseverance, and self-management. To celebrate all of their hard work, they hosted an expo where they presented their projects to families, teachers, and peers. In addition to orally sharing their knowledge and expertise, students also created visual displays, videos, and interactive demonstrations.

Our G6 and G7 Mandarin students had the incredible opportunity to visit Dolo Restaurant in Chicago's Chinatown for a field study. This experience served as an end-of-unit pre-assessment, allowing students to order food in Mandarin, interact with restaurant staff, discuss food preferences and flavors, and immerse themselves in authentic Chinese food culture. 🥢🥡

🌿😎🌳Junior Kindergarten ventured out to Lake Katherine Nature Center and Botanic Gardens for their final field study of the school year. As they explored the forest and pond, students searched for ways that the habitats support animals’ survival. It was a beautiful day filled with learning, inquiry, reflection, and appreciation of nature.🌷🦆

📚🎵🎤Our annual Kindergarten Skit Night is the culminating event of the Storytelling through the Arts Unit of Inquiry. This year, they chose to perform Caps for Sale and Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons, which are two of their favorite books. After learning how artistic elements enhance stories, each class performed a skit which told a story through acting, movement, and scenery. After the skits, students performed a lively dance that spread smiles and cheers throughout the audience! ⭐ 🎶 👏

🌱☀️🌳 Grade 3 traveled to Starved Rock State Park for a culminating Field Study that combined many of their units from throughout the year. Students made connections to the Forces Unit of Inquiry as they investigated the effects of weathering and erosion on the canyons and other landforms. They applied what they learned in the Explorers Unit of Inquiry by using maps to navigate the trails and explore new destinations. Their current unit is Environmental Impact, and students observed how visitors to the state park impact nature and reflected on their responsibility to care for the environment.🌎 ❤️

🏅🏃🏽‍♀️Congratulations to our Girls on the Run-Chicago team for completing the 10-week running program and participating in a celebratory 5K! Crossing the finish line with GEMS friends, families, and teachers was a joyful moment of accomplishment, and each participant received a commemorative medal! 🙌 💙🏃‍♀️

In connection to their Habitats Unit of Inquiry, junior kindergarten explored the prairie, savanna, wetland, and forest at North Park Nature Center. In the forest, students turned over small logs to discover hidden ecosystems consisting of soil, decaying leaves, worms, and many different bugs. They were also able to observe several animals, including deer, in their natural habitats.🦌🐿️🐢

🔎☀️As part of their Freshwater Unit of Inquiry, grade 1 visited Wild Mile Chicago (Urban Rivers) to discover the diverse macroinvertebrates living in the Chicago River. Students collected samples from the river and used a variety of scientific tools, including a macro photography kit used by official National Geographic Explorers, to examine the tiny organisms up close. They also engaged in nature journaling and recorded their observations of the plants and animals living in and around the Chicago River.🦆🌱