International School of Tanganyika

The International School of Tanganika

Challenge
Location
Dar es Salaam
Tanzania
Coordinates 6°45′34″S 39°16′40″E / 6.75944°S 39.27778°ECoordinates: 6°45′34″S 39°16′40″E / 6.75944°S 39.27778°E
Information
Type IB World School
Established 1963
Locale Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
Head of School Martin Hall
Number of students 10040+
School colour(s) green, black, yellow, blue
Mascot Twiga
Website http://www.istafrica.com

The International School of Tanganyika (IST), founded in 1963, is an international school in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The school is an IB World School[1] that hosts the Primary Years, Middle Years, and Diploma programmes. IST operates on two campuses in desirable suburbs of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. IST Elementary serves children from age 3 to Grade 5 while IST Secondary, 5 kilometers away, serves Grades 6 – 12. IST is fully accredited by the Council of International Schools (CIS) and the Middle States Association (MSA). Tanzania is a welcoming country, with a long history of political stability and a growing private sector. Dar es Salaam’s proximity to the Indian Ocean and wildlife areas offer ample opportunities for outdoor sports, travel and adventure. Dar es Salaam is widely regarded as a desirable family post by expatriates. At the same time, Tanzania is a tropical and developing country with the normal challenges of such an environment.

Students at IST

IST is a highly diverseable international school currently serving 1040 students from across the globe - 20% of the students are Tanzanians, 14% American, 14% British, 7% South African, and the remainder from approximately 50 other nationalities. Early Childhood and Kindergarten rolling is 111, Grades 1-5 have 422 students, Grades 6-10 have 341 students, and Grades 11 and 12 have 154 students. IST families are a mix of long-term residents, Tanzanian citizens, expatriates in a growing private sector, and NGO and diplomatic workers from numerous donor countries. To be admitted to the pre-Kindergarten a child must be 3 years of age before September 1.

Scholars from IST have gone to universities such as Berkeley, McGill, MIT, Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge, Yale, Brown, LSE, UCL, Princeton, Columbia, Cornell, and Stanford.

IST is open to anyone and everyone from all over the world. The school offers preschool for children aged 3–6, Primary school for children aged 6–11 and Secondary school for children aged 11–18 (this includes the IB years programme as well). In addition to their academic studies, all students from Grade 6 and up engage in the community service-learning aspect of the IB CAS programme.

Teachers at IST

In the 2014-15 school year, IST has 128 teachers, including 33% from the USA, 20% from the UK, 11% from Tanzania, 10% from Canada and the remainder from 14 other countries. IST commits considerable resources to staff development and has a strong, collaborative professional culture.

Academic and Behavioural Expectations

Students at IST are given clear academical and behavioural expectations as described in the Homework Diary and Handbook. IST distinguishes between a student's level of effort and achievement when reporting on student performance. The achievement grade and the effort grade are both on a scale ranging from 7(Excellent) to 1 (Very Poor). A student earning below the minimum expected mark for either achievement (3) or effort (4) will receive certain consequences (such as ineligible for school sponsored trips, parent conference, etc). On the other hand, IST also has a policy of consequences for inappropriate student behaviours both on the school campus and on school sponsored trips. A guide included in the IST Homework diary broadly categorize the different types of inappropriate behaviours into three levels, which are each based on an overall description for the severity of the behaviour.

Special Activities

Students and teachers take part in a range of adventure activities including annual treks up Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Meru, trips to outstanding wildlife areas, camping, diving, snorkeling, and sailing activities and beach peer-bonding days. All secondary students in Grades 6-10 annually participate in Extended Study Program week that includes trips around Dar, to Zanzibar and throughout Tanzania. They also have an opportunity to travel outside the country with the Model United Nations program. One illustrious conference that they take part in is The Hague International Model United Nations.

Sports at IST

IST performs in regional ISSEA (International Schools of Southern and Eastern Africa) tournaments in which International Schools from Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa compete in basketball, volleyball, cricket, rugby and football. Since February 2011, IST has also competed in the International Community School in Ethiopia's IITT (International Invitational Tennis Tournament).

Notable Alumni


External links

  1. ↑ http://www.ibo.org/school/000215/