American International School of Jeddah

The American International School of Jeddah (AISJ; Arabic: المدرسة الأمریکیة العالمیة بجدة‎‎), or the "American School" in short, is an American international school in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Established in 1952, the American International School of Jeddah is a U.S. accredited Pre-K - 12 college preparatory institution.^[1]

History

It opened in 1952 as the Parent Cooperative School (PCS), with an initial class of 40 students. The school opened to serve children of Trans World Airlines (TWA) employees brought to Saudi Arabia to establish Saudia, as well as other children. The lack of a formal American curriculum school in Jeddah was an issue TWA employees faced because they needed schools for their children. Parents then formed the Parents Cooperative School (PCS, founded in 1952), in which they volunteered to teach students using a home school curriculum. When the expatriate community kept expanding with time, the school began to notice a rapid growth, and therefore built a new facility in 1968, and again in 1975.

In 1976, the North Campus (NCS) was built (by the Raytheon compound) in order to accommodate the rising number of students. By 1985 the school changed its name to Saudi Arabian International School (SAIS), and by the year 2000-2001, it had its first 12th grade graduation, becoming the first international school in Jeddah that had a diploma program.

The school changed its name once again to the American International School of Jeddah (AISJ) in 2004, after Saudia officially announced that they would no longer continue their sponsorship of the school, due to their need to focus solely on the airline business. Before 2004, the school was under the direct auspices and sponsorship of Saudia and which children of employees, pilots, engineers, etc of the airline go to school directly to SAIS where mostly live in Saudia City, Jeddah. Now since 2005, the school is independent as the most known international school in Jeddah after the British International School.

Accreditation and Affiliations

As of 2016, the school is accredited and/or in partnership with the following associations:

• The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Education
• Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (MSA-CESS)
• Near East South Asian Council of Overseas Schools (NESA)
• American School Counselor Association (ASCA)
• Principals Training Center (PTC)

Facilities

The school has various buildings, one each for the Elementary and Middle schools, and three for the High School. All buildings contain their respective room's classrooms. In addition, the Elementary Building contains the School Library (housing over 21,000 books), Multi-Media Rooms, Music/Choir Rooms, and the Large Gymnasium (with a performance stage, basketball court, volleyball court, and spectator bleachers). The Middle School contains a Computer Lab and an Art Studio. One of the High School buildings has three fully equipped classrooms for Art, Computer Science, and Health instruction.

In addition, other facilities include:

• A second, smaller gym, containing a basketball court and sporting supplies for low-organizational games
• Six additional computer labs
• Two additional art studios
• A drama room
• An engineering and mechanics lab
• A soccer field and a playing field
• Two shaded playgrounds
• A school cafeteria offering both indoor and shaded outdoor seating areas

New Campus

A new campus, designed by Zuhair Fayez Partnership, is scheduled to open in school year 2018-2019. The announcement and groundbreaking occurred in 2014; Anne Casper, the American consul general in Jeddah, attended the ceremony.^[2]

See also

• King Abdullah Academy, a Saudi Arabian school near Washington, DC
  • Islamic Saudi Academy, the predecessor of KAA

References

External links

• American International School of Jeddah