The International School of Kabul (ISK) is a private co-educational K-12 school in Kabul, Afghanistan. Originally founded in 2003 under the name of Kabul International Academy (KIA), the International School of Kabul provides a college-prep level U.S. (English speaking) curriculum to the children of expatriate families within the international development community, as well as to repatriated and resident Afghans. A gift from the American People in the form of a USAID grant in 2005 provided the necessary fiscal support to successfully expand the school, which was then re-chartered under the name ISK.
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In 2008, ISK became the first accredited K-12 school in Afghanistan under a full five-year accreditation issued by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (MSA). Also in 2008, ISK received a twenty year registration under the leadership of the former Minister of Education, Hanif Atmar, at a special signing ceremony conducted at the Ministry of Education. Former First Lady Laura Bush and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice both took a special interest in ISK during past visits to Kabul and met with administrative representatives of the school.
As of 2011, ISK has more than 85% Afghans enrolled among the 350+ students, and has been credited for five graduating classes with 62 alumni, of whom, more than 85% are now enrolled in post-secondary and graduate universities around the world. To their credit, over the past six years the faculty members of ISK have provided more than 1.6M combined hours of classroom instruction to Afghan students.
In addition to academics, ISK offers athletics and a full performing arts program to include music, drama, and dance. ISK serves as the host site and parent organization for the Kabul Dance Studio. ISK has also represented Afghanistan with the Model United Nations (MUN) program for the past four years at Georgetown University in Qatar.
In 2009 ISK participated in a collaborative international writing program with Diamond Valley College near Kinglake, Australia. As a result of this project twenty-nine ISK students were published in a book titled, "1000 Pencils: From Kinglake to Kabul." This project was the result of a combined efforts of Australian-based authors David J Williams and Neil Grant. The book has been released in a 2nd edition under the title, "From Kinglake to Kabul" and is available through commercial sources.
Also in 2010, ISK hosted actress and and Grammy Award winning singer Natalie Cole along with director/actress Sonia Nassery Cole for the Afghan release of the film, "The Black Tulip."