Ecole des Roches, the principal boarding school in Normandie, France has joined the GEMS Education network, offering students from GEMS and other UAE schools access to one of the worlds foremost learning institutions.

As a fully integrated GEMS school, Ecole des Roches will offer students from GEMS and other UAE schools access to one of the worlds foremost learning institutions. It also represents GEMS first French curricula school, paving the way for the establishment of GEMS French language schools in the UAE.

Starting summer 2014, GEMS Students will be able to take French immersion in summer school, offering them education in French, in addition to a unique cultural and social experience. The school will also be offering exchange programmes and French immersion programmes throughout the school year.

The addition of the French curriculum boarding school to GEMS stable of International American, British International Baccalaureate, and Indian Curricula broadens the GEMS educational offering and continues GEMS drive to serve the UAEs diverse student body from across the income and language spectrum.

Ecole des Roches (EDR) established in 1899 by the sociologist Edmond Demolins has educated generations of French and international students, who have gone on to graduate and work at the top of their fields in a variety of sectors covering science, economics, commerce and diplomacy. With a history of academic excellence and a prestigious alumni network rivaling those of some top schools in England and elsewhere, EDR offers a personalised approach to learning and a specialised curriculum programme that enables gradual integration into the French curriculum for non-native speakers.

The school serves students from over 100 countries, who consistently achieve outstanding results. The schools boarding facility allows students to experience the best in French life, arts, culture and language.

We are delighted to join the GEMS family, and look forward to exposing GEMS students the best in French education, said Claude Mark Kaminski, president and headmaster of EDR. Joining GEMS will open the way for further development in French curricula and will open a whole new world of educational opportunity for this century old institution.

Dino Varkey, GEMS Group Chief Operating Officer, said, We are proud to have an institution as prestigious as Ecole des Roches become part of GEMS. EDR will allow us to provide high level French education to students starting this summer, and allows GEMS to offer French curriculum in a unique setting.

Mr Varkey added, this fits with our continual drive to expand our educational offering at a unique time. The expertise of M. Kamisnski and his staff will eventually allow us to expand into French curriculum in the UAE, serving a particularly underserved and growing market.