Ms Kristen Murphy

Kristen is proud to be a long standing member of the GEMS World Academy - Dubai family, having joined in August, 2012. Kristen is a highly experienced educator, having taught for over twenty years in the International Baccalaureate, American curriculum and British curriculum. Going through the process of teaching the inquiry-based IB framework has been an exciting and invigorating challenge. Kristen started at GEMS World Academy - Dubai as a Grade 1 teacher, continuing on to an instructional leadership role, before moving into Senior Leadership as an Assistant Principal and the Primary Principal. Kristen holds a Bachelor of Education degree in Elementary Education, with a specialisation in Arts and Humanities. Postgraduate Diploma in Teaching and Leadership and is currently enrolled in Harvard Leadership and the NPQH qualification.

GEMS World Academy – Dubai offers incredible training for staff, not only orientation days but also weekly CPD training which is fine-tuning Kristen’s leadership practice. During her time at GEMS World Academy - Dubai she has been supported to lead in-school workshops on environmental classroom spaces and classroom management strategies. As a person who strives to constantly improve and develop herself professionally, Kristen was accepted to speak at the 50th Anniversary of the IB conference, leading a workshop on ‘Developing Whole-School Peer Mentoring’, based on the GEMS World Academy - Dubai programme.

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Kristen has lived in the United Arab Emirates for over half of her life, both as a child and as an adult. It has been an amazing opportunity to live in the Middle East and watch a country from its very early days develop into what it has become today. This unique experience has helped form the third culture adult Kristen is today. She is passionate about the United Arab Emirates’ history and development. One of the best parts of her job was developing the Social Studies curriculum, based on the National Agenda, and being able to see it evolve. She loves that as a Principal she gets to go into so many classes across the school and sees first hand the students academic progress and social development.

In her spare time, Kristen enjoys spending time with her three children, reading, and travelling.