American International School - Abu Dhabi

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Aisa redirects here. For the indoor ice arena in Puerto Rico, see Aguadilla Ice Skating Arena.

The American International School in Abu Dhabi or AISA was founded in 1995 to serve the needs of the local and expatriate residents of Abu Dhabi who want their children to pursue both American and International Baccalaureate curricula in an international setting. AISA is administered by Walid Abushakra, Superintendent and CEO of Educational Services Overseas Limited (ESOL), which also manages fully accredited schools in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon,Cyprus, and Dubai. The new Director (as of June 2006) at AISA is Dr. Walther Hetzer. This occurred when the former director was fired due to his approval of a book banned by the government. Although he claims that he retired before he was "fired" many people do not believe him and say that it is a cover up story.

At the start of the new 2006/7 term AISA changed to co-educational from being a gender-segregated school. This had to however be changed back after a month, on demand of the Ministry of Education for doing it illegally, despite many protests from both parents and students.

1 The Campus
2 The Students and The Faculty
3 AISA's Mission
4 Accreditation
5 Curriculum
6 External links

[edit] The Campus

The school is housed in a large, modern, purpose-built facility and is located in the green Educational Zone, approximately 10 kilometers outside the city center. The centrally airconditioned buildings include spacious library, music rooms, art rooms, computer labs (both IBM and Machintosh) and science labs. A gymnasium completes the facilities and there are future plans to include a swimming pool. An adjoining soccer field was added last year for the use of football games. Construction of additional classrooms for some of the lower grades has recently been completed.

[edit] The Students and The Faculty

AISA reflects the diversity of the community it serves. Current enrollment is 995 students from Pre-school to grade 12/IB. The student body represents 54 nationalities, including Arabic, British, Canadian, American, Australian, South African, and German.

The faculty consists of 100 teachers. Most of our teachers are Canadian except for the teachers of Arabic and Islamic Studies.

The school employs a full-time nurse between its side of school, a variety of teachers including four full-time ESL teachers, two art teachers, and a librarian.

The school excels in many areas of sport, being well-represented in Volleyball, Basketball and Soccer, with some of its graduates playing at international tertiary level.

The Girls JV (Junior Varsity) Volleyball team won all 5 games during their 2006 ADSAC tournament, beating ANS (Al Nahda National School) into second place, with ACS coming third. The school's Girls Varsity team won the Muscat ISAC Tournament.

[edit] AISA's Mission

We select a large range of students from many ethnic backgrounds. "To aspire to our mission at the American International School in Abu Dhabi we work in partnerships with parents and local community to produce reflective, responsible, independent, and respectful students, who posses strong global citizenship, integrity and an appreciation for longlife learning.

Through our academic and extra-curricular programs we strive to provide a quality education that gives students the ability to reach their full potential, both academically and personally, and to make a worthwhile contribution to the society."

[edit] Accreditation

1) AISA is a fully accredited school by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, Philadelphia, PA.

2) AISA is fully approved and licensed by the U.A.E Ministry of Education.

3) AISA is an IB World School. International Baccalaureate Organization

4) AISA is an associate member of both the North East South Asian Association of Overseas Schools (NESA) as well as the European Council of International Schools (ECIS).

5) AISA is a member of the International Schools Activity Conference (ISAC).

[edit] Curriculum

The American International School in Abu Dhabi serves the needs of an international student body by offereing a complete American school diploma program and the International Baccalaureate program.

Students in pre-school to grade 8 take American stream courses taught with American textbooks and materials. Students in grades 9 and 10 have a choice of continuing the American school diploma program or applying for International Baccalaureate Preparation (IBP). Students in grades 11 and 12 may apply for the International Baccalaureate (IB), or an American High School Diploma.

AISA students will therefore be prepared for admission into universities in Canada, Europe, and the U.A.E. The language of instruction in all classes in English except in Arabic, French and Islamic Studies classes.

There are 36 weeks (174 days) in the school year. The school year is divided into two semesters, each consisting of two quarters. The high-school instructional day is divided into seven 48-minute class periods.