A Boarding School for the Middle East King’s Academy was founded by His Majesty King Abdullah II in 2007 as a reflection of his own boarding school experience at Deerfield Academy in the United States. His goal was to create a residential school in Jordan that combines the rich history and traditions of the region with a comprehensive American-style college-preparatory education. In just a few years, King’s Academy has established itself as a premier school in the Middle East. We offer students an educational experience like no other available in the world today—an experience that prepares young people of exceptional promise not only for the rigors of the best colleges and universities in the world, but also for the challenges of the 21st century. T this end, the educational program at To King’s represents a bold synthesis of the K educational traditions of East and West, e the cultures and language of the Arab th world and the Anglo-American ideal of a w residential boarding school committed to re the virtues of respect, responsibility and th leadership. le
Our Mission King’s Academy is committed to providing a comprehensive collegepreparatory education through a challenging curriculum in the arts and sciences; an integrated co-curricular program of athletics, activities and community service; and a nurturing residential environment. Our students will learn to be independent thinkers within an ethical community that encourages young men and women of diverse backgrounds to excel, to cherish one another and to prepare for leadership.
Through this synthesis, King's Academy T both honors the past and aspires to be a b sschool of the future. We aim to graduate young men and women who will shape the future of Jordan, the Middle East and the world.
Academic Excellence King’s Academy is a four-year co-educational boarding and day school for grades 9-12. Grounded in the liberal arts and sciences, our American academic program provides opportunities for both breadth and depth of study. Math, English and Arabic are required courses each year for every student, along with a selection of courses in science, history, languages, coputer science, religion and the arts. Each student’s schedule is a mix of required and elective courses, tailored to suit the individual strengths and interest while also fulfilling the school’s graduation requirements.
Advanced Placement (AP) Program The AP program offers King’s Academy students the opportunity to take college level courses while in high school. Recognized by colleges and universities in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, AP courses allow King’s Academy students to demonstrate their academic strengths in subjects of interest while potentially earning university credit and placement. AP courses are not required at King’s, but most students choose to take several in Grade 11 and also Grade 12, depending on their university goals, academic interests and willingness to work at the highest level.
On-line and Study Away In 2011, King’s Academy joined a consortium of leading independent schools across America as one of the founding members of the Global Online Academy (GOA). King’s Academy students, along with other students at top independent schools around the world can take online classes with one another in courses designed, developed and taught by teachers from GOA schools. Credit is given for these courses by King’s Academy. King’s Academy students are increasingly offered opportunities to study away in schools and programs throughout the world. In recent years, King’s students have studied at schools in South Africa and Australia, as well as at American boarding schools, along with specialized half-year programs such as The Mountain School (Vermont, USA) and the School for Ethics and Global Studies (Washington, D.C.).
The Co-curricular Program Graduating students with an integrated and balanced life is essential to the King’s Academy mission. Therefore, the King’s program requires students to be involved in their choice of competitive sports, community service clubs or activities every day after classes end. Faculty members coach and supervise these activities, leading to a stronger, more personal relationship between teacher and student. Students choose a major and minor co-curricular activity each term, which allows them to build on existing skills as well as explore new areas of interest. Typical co-curricular activities include interscholastic athletics, such as soccer, basketball, tennis, volleyball, swimming and squash; clubs, such as Model UN, the student newspaper, yearbook and Round Square; and activities, such as rugby, fencing, drama, horseback riding and debate.
Typical Day at King’s While no day is like the next and each student’s daily schedule is unique, this is how a typical day at King’s looks: 8:00 Breakfast 10:05 Morning break 12:00 English
13:25 History 14:00 Free period ! " # $ 15:40 Time for extra help % $#& ' ( )* 20:00 Dormitory study hall +# # , - + .&
Our Students King’s Academy attracts bright and motivated students from throughout the region and around the world. Most of our students are from Jordan or other Middle Eastern countries, and we increasingly draw excellent applicants from the United States, the Far East and Africa. In the belief that diversity educates in ways that formal instruction cannot, we welcome students from all socio-economic backgrounds, faiths and cultural backgrounds. Admission is selective.
“The faculty is basically an extended part of my family.� Anna Kelso, Class of 2010
The Boarding Experience King’s Academy is a boarding school and most of our students live on campus. We feel that boarding is an ideal way for students to optimize both academic learning and social development as they move through adolescence. Maturity, confidence and lifelong friendships are all the outgrowth of the residential experience. Boarders at King’s live in safe, comfortable, single-gender dorms under the supervision of faculty residents who live in apartments at the end of the dormitory hallways. Students are strictly prohibited from entering dorms of the opposite gender. The structured residential environment integrates regular nightly study hours for students.
“At King’s Academy, students enjoy an educational experience unlike any available in the Middle East.” His Majesty King Abdullah II
Teaching and Advising Our most precious and important resource is our faculty. King’s Academy faculty bring to their teaching a deep passion for their fields of study, an intuitive understanding of how young people learn and a commitment to working with students in all aspects of their lives. Each student is assigned a faculty advisor who mentors and supports a small group of students throughout the year. Advisor meeting times, both formal and informal, take place on a weekly basis and advisors regularly communicate with parents about the progress of their child. The King’s faculty is comprised of approximately 50 percent Jordanian and other Arab nationals and 50 percent American and other Western nationals.
“At King’s, your days are really packed, which is good because it doesn’t give you time to slack off.” Reed Ghandour, Class of 2011
University Counseling Beginning in 11th grade, our experienced team of university counselors works closely with individual students and their parents to identify colleges and universities ideally suited to their talents and interests and guides them through the college admissions process. Alumni are attending colleges throughout the Middle East, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States. Highlights include Stanford, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Brown, Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Williams, Amherst, McGill, the University of Toronto, London School of Economics, University of Edinburgh, NYU Abu Dhabi and the American University of Beirut (AUB).
“As soon as I came to King’s, I felt like I was at home.” Mounir Ennenbach, Class of 2012
Our Campus Students at King’s live and learn on a secure campus of 575 dunums (144 acres) located about 30 minutes southwest of Amman, Jordan. Designed to reflect Levantine and Islamic cultural heritage, the campus blends modern innovation with the rich traditions of the region. A green lawn connects 33 campus buildings, including an academic building, auditorium, library, spiritual center, student union, dining hall, athletic center, health center and dormitories.
Guiding Principles A King’s Academy’s education is defined by a comprehensive focus on our students' development in every sense: intellectual, personal, physical, social and ethical. The five universal values that best express what we strive to impart to our students are:
1. Respect Tolerance is a beginning, but it is not sufficient. What we hope to instill in our students is an empathetic understanding of one another, and a sense of respect that traverses all student relationships, be it between each other, towards their teachers and families or with regard to the community as a whole.
2. Love of Learning We do not want our students to perceive their education as simply utilitarian—one that is a mere instrument for their future success. Instead, we hope to foster in them a genuine love of learning for its own sake and a desire to acquire knowledge in and for itself.
3. Responsibility Along with the privileges of being part of King’s Academy come responsibilities. Students will learn that they are stewards of what they receive, and that it is their responsibility to pass on this stewardship to others, such as younger students and the community as a whole. By extension, students at King’s will have a lifelong responsibility to use their education to help and enhance possibilities for others. A belief in and commitment to social service as well as striving for social justice for others less fortunate will form an essential part of the ethos of the school.
4. An Integrated Life We do not aim to teach students what to think but rather how to think. Students’ belief systems are a personal matter between their families and themselves. Whatever our students' beliefs, King’s Academy stresses that balance is critical to human well-being. What we at King’s strive to teach our students is how to integrate all aspects of their lives—academic, social, spiritual and physical—in the context of a boarding school environment in which we learn not only about the world but about ourselves.
5. Global Citizenship King’s Academy is first and foremost a Jordanian school. But it is also a regional school, and ultimately a school of the world. The student body will be diverse geographically, economically, ethnically and religiously, and we aim to raise in our students an awareness of different peoples. We will impart to them universal values, applicable in all cultures, and at the same time encourage their unique sense of belonging to the Arab world.
admissions@kingsacademy.edu.jo
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