King's Academy

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**King's Academy**

Headmaster	Eric Widmer
School type	Private
Religious affiliation	None
Founded	2007
Location	Madaba, Jordan

King’s Academy (Arabic transliteration: كينغز أكاديمي) is a co-educational private boarding school scheduled to open in August 2007 in Madaba, Jordan. Modeled on the style and structure of New England boarding schools, and inspired by King Abdullah II’s experience at Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts, King’s Academy will also reflect the school’s Jordanian foundations. Within a liberal arts and sciences curriculum, based on the American Advanced Placement program, the study of Arabic will be mandatory and particular attention will be given in all four years to the particular economic, political, and religious considerations of the region. The school is situated 30 minutes from Amman on a 144-acre (575-dunum) site and is comprised of 23 buildings.

1 History
2 Student Body
3 Academics
4 External links

[edit] History

The inspiration for King’s Academy comes from the experience of King Abdullah II of Jordan, who attended Deerfield from 1977 to 1980. Although not technically connected, the symbolic and informal ties between Deerfield and King’s Academy extend through King’s Academy’s administrative structure: Dr. Eric Widmer, who served as headmaster of Deerfield for 12 years, was formally named the founding headmaster of King’s Academy in the summer of 2006. King Abdullah II serves as the school’s honorary chairman and is a trustee of the school.

[edit] Student Body

King’s Academy will ultimately hold 600 male and female students, grades 9 through 12, drawn from across the region as well as internationally. Students will have the option of attending either as full-time or weekday boarders, and day students will be admitted in limited numbers. The teacher to student ratio at King’s Academy will be 1:10. The school has no official religious affiliation, and intends to draw students from all ethnic, geographic, religious and economic backgrounds. Between 15 and 30 percent of King’s Academy’s tuition revenue has been set aside for scholarships, with an endowment fund for additional scholarships, full and partial.

[edit] Academics

The school’s curriculum will be based on the American Advanced Placement (AP) program—AP coursework will be incorporated into a curriculum that is informed by the demands and context of the Jordanian education system. The primary language of instruction at King's Academy will be English. The necessary regional certifications for equivalency will also be obtained.