King’s Academy P.O. Box 9 Madaba - Manja 16188 Jordan tel +962 430 0230
KING’S ACADEMY
email ucoadmin@kingsacademy.edu.jo www.kingsacademy.edu.jo CEEB Code 681069
Profile 2020-2021
Mr. Peter Nilsson, Head of School
email: pnilsson@kingsacademy.edu.jo
Ms. Hala Yaish-Salah, Dean of University Counseling email: hsalah@kingsacademy.edu.jo
Mission In a setting that is rich in history and tradition, King’s Academy is committed to providing a comprehensive college-preparatory 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, creative and responsible thinkers within an ethical community that encourages young men and women of diverse backgrounds and beliefs to excel, to cherish one another and to prepare for leadership.
History An independent, coeducational boarding and day school in Madaba, Jordan that opened its doors in 2007, King’s Academy provides outstanding young men and women from Jordan, the Middle East and the world a unique educational experience, blending an American style of education rooted in the liberal arts and sciences with Middle Eastern history, traditions, language and cultural values.
Accreditation and Memberships In the spring of 2011 and at the conclusion of its fourth year, King’s Academy was awarded full accreditation by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). The school is also licensed by the Jordanian Ministry of Education. In September 2010, King’s Academy became the first Arab school to gain full membership in the global Round Square organization, dedicated to internationalism, democracy, environment, adventure, leadership and service. King's Academy is a member of the Mastery Transcript Consortium and a founding member of the Global Online Academy (GOA), a consortium of the world’s leading independent schools whose mission is to translate into online classrooms the intellectually rigorous programs and excellent teaching that are hallmarks of its member schools.
Equity and Educational Opportunity King’s Academy was founded to create what his Majesty King Abdullah II calls “a new tribe in the region...the tribe of the talented meritocracy.” As the only coeducational residential boarding school of its kind in the region, King’s Academy remains the most diverse school in the Middle East and is a pioneering leader in need-based financial aid. Forty nine percent of King’s students receive need-based aid with a total 2020-2021 financial aid budget of US $11.8 million. For the academic year 2020-2021, 570 students are enrolled at King’s Academy, of whom approximately 140 are seniors. They come from over 45 countries, including various desert towns and villages throughout Jordan. This level of diversity allows King’s to create a unique community that educates students in ways the formal curriculum alone cannot and to forge a school culture that promotes social equity.
A Liberal Arts Education for the 21st Century: Curiosity, Creativity and Independence •
In keeping with our “Portrait of a Graduate,” we seek to graduate students who are able to: Embrace challenge, discomfort and struggle as a source of resilience, creativity and continued improvement
August 2020
• •
• •
•
Live curiously; express joy in their learning Independently direct their own learning and pursue their passions with determination and discipline Transfer their learning to new and urgent problems in the service of their communities and the world Create positive change through engagement, collaboration and citizenship Model, everyday, the virtues of kindness, gratitude and care for others and lead through example
Service and Leadership King’s requires students to participate in an ambitious co-curricular program in the arts, athletics and community service that emphasizes service to others, teamwork, initiative, and community and civic engagement. King’s students feel a great sense of ownership in the culture of the school, serving in a variety of leadership positions: as residential proctors, junior counselors, environmental stewards and as elected representatives to the Disciplinary Committee, Academic Honor Committee and Student Leadership Council. They volunteer extensively in the local community and schools, work in refugee camps, Habitat for Humanity builds, water conservation efforts and fundraising initiatives to address urgent issues of poverty, social justice and human rights.
The Fine, Performing and Persuasive Arts In the hope of unlocking each child's creative potential and individuality, King’s Academy offers a range of courses and co-curricular activities in the arts. In addition to classes in the traditional and modern arts of dance, ceramics, mosaics, painting, photography, drawing, acting, animation and design, King’s has a youth orchestra and a rich theatrical program. Over the last few years, the school has put on performances of Shakespeare's Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet, Arthur Miller's The Crucible, Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, Noel Coward’s Private Lives, Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and Tennessee William’s The Glass Menagerie, most of which were premiered here in Jordan at King’s for the first time. King’s also offers a comprehensive and required program in public speaking. Every year each student performs a public declamation in Arabic and English during an all-school competition. Students also participate in Model United Nations (MUN), mock trial and Jordanian Model Parliament.
Middle School In fall 2016, King’s Academy opened a middle school for grades 7 and 8. The addition of these grades allows King’s to deepen its mission, extend the educational runway for students, and design a more powerful and integrated curriculum. The Middle School program is both foundational and innovative, drawing on the College Board’s QUEST framework for teaching and learning. That framework emphasizes the skills of questioning, thinking critically and creatively, reading, writing and communication. It seeks to ignite young people’s natural curiosity, wonder, creativity and excitement for learning.
King’s Academy Profile 2020-2021 www.kingsacademy.edu.jo
Curriculum and Course Requirements The medium of instruction is English and all students take a remarkably ambitious course of study, including four years of both Arabic and English, and a minimum of six courses and a maximum of seven courses per year. In addition to required courses in the core disciplines, students choose from a wide array of 600-level college-prep electives, including 26 courses at the AP level, over 60 courses from the Global Online Academy, and a number of 700-level courses that are typical of the work students do in the first or second year of college. King’s offers a number of advanced inquiry and interdisciplinary courses (designated as 800-level courses) including the College Board’s AP Capstone Seminar course. The curriculum encompasses seven academic departments: Art, Design and Technology; Communication, Rhetoric and the Literary Arts - which includes both English and Arabic languages and literature; History, Religion and Society; Interdisciplinary Studies; Mathematics and Computational Thinking; Physical and Life Sciences and World Languages. The courses below are the graduation requirements of this year’s senior class. For entering 10th, 11th and 12th graders, graduation requirements are pro-rated according to the number of years enrolled at King’s Academy.
King’s Academy operates on a two-semester basis and there are 160 school days. The school uses a block scheduling system. Compared to shorter daily class meetings, our 75-minute class periods allow for more sustained engagement with class materials and more complex and dynamic class activities, all of which leads to deeper and better learning. The block schedule simultaneously gives students more free time for clubs, co-curricular activities, independent study and community service, and it prepares them for the kind of schedule they will encounter in most universities. The numbering of courses follows the system below. This system indicates the level of each of the courses offered at King’s. 100 – 400: Foundation courses (grades 7 – 10) 500: Upper level courses (grades 11 – 12) 600: College-preparatory courses (including some Advanced Placement courses) 700: College-level and Advanced Placement courses 800: Advanced Inquiry courses Acc: Accelerated Adv: Advanced
• Four years of CRLA English
GOA: Global Online Academy
• Four years of CRLA Arabic
R: Courses that can be repeated every year to develop skills
• Four years of Mathematics and Computational Thinking
S: Seminar courses that develop critical reading, thinking, analysis and synthesis skills
• Three years of experimental sciences • A one-year course on world history and geography in the 9th grade, a one-year course on the History of the Middle East in the Context of the World in the 10th grade, and at least one additional year-long course from the Department of History, Religion and Society in the 11th or 12th grade • At least one year-long course from the Department of Art, Design and Technology
P: Portfolio courses that develop writing skills with an emphasis on process and voice A complete list of course offerings and course descriptions can be found here: https://www.kingsacademy.edu.jo/academics/departments-and -courses
Curriculum Plan Subject
4-Year Program
3-Year Program
2-Year Program
1-Year Program
CRLA-Arabic
Four
Three
Two
One
CRLA-English
Four
Three
Two
One
Math and Computational Thinking
Four years of math
Three years of math
Two years of math
One year of math
Physical and Life Sciences
Three
Three
Two
History, Religion and Society
Three
Two
One
World Languages
Optional (two or more recommended)
Optional (two or more recommended)
Optional (two recommended)
Optional (recommended)
Art, Design and Technology
One year-long course
One year-long course
One semester-long course
One semester-long course
One from either department
Note: As per the guidelines of the Jordanian Ministry of Education, Jordanian Muslim students are required to take two years of Islamic Studies in the 9th and 10th grades, and one additional semester-long course either in the 11th or 12th grades. Jordanian students who hold a second passport may have different arrangements for Islamic Studies. For more information, they should check with the Department of Academic Affairs.
August 2020
King’s Academy Profile 2020-2021 2011-2012 www.kingsacademy.edu.jo
02 03
Grading Policy
93% - 100% = A (4.0) 89% - 92% = A- (3.7) 86% - 88% = B+ (3.3) 83% - 85% = B (3.0) 79% - 82% = B- (2.7) 76% - 78% = C+ (2.3) 73% - 75% = C (2.0) 70% - 72% = C- (1.7) 67% - 69% = D+ (1.3) 60% - 66% = D (1.0) 59% and below = F (0.0)
Academic work at King’s is graded on a letter scale in which the minimum passing grade is a D. To the right are the percentage breakdowns for letter grades and Grade Point Averages (GPA). Highest Honor Roll, High Honor Roll and Honor Roll distinctions are awarded to those students who achieve a minimum GPA of 3.9, 3.75 or 3.5 respectively. King’s Academy does not rank its students, and as of 2019-2020 King’s Academy no longer weights grades.
Grade Distribution by Course Class of 2021 - Junior Year
GPA Distribution Class of 2021 - Junior Year
90 - 100 80 - 89 70 - 79
Department
60 - 69
0 - 59
GPA Range
Number of Students
% of Students
3.5 - 4.0
99
71%
3.0 - 3.49
32
23%
2.5 - 2.99
6
4%
2.0 - 2.49
3
2%
1.5 - 1.99
0
0%
Under 1.49
0
0%
Arts, Design and Technology
100%
0%
0%
0%
0%
CRLA - English
77%
23%
0%
0%
0%
CRLA - Arabic
60%
37%
3%
0%
0%
59.5%
33%
6.5%
1%
0%
40%
40%
20%
0%
0%
62.5%
29%
8%
0.5%
0%
Physical and Life Sciences
51%
42.5%
6%
0.5%
0%
World Languages
76%
22%
2%
0%
0%
History, Religion and Society Interdisciplinary Studies Mathematics and Computational Thinking
SAT Summary for the Class of 2021 (through March 2020)
SAT Subject Test Scores for the Class of 2021 (through March 2020)
Middle 50%
Mean
Students tested
Evidence-based Reading and Writing
530 - 630
577
123
Math
27.5 - 33.5
31
123
Mathematics
550 - 670
619
123
Reading
26 - 31
29
123
Writing
26 - 32
29
123
1090 - 1310
1196
123
Section
AP Scores Total
AP Scores
Summary of A-Level Arabic Results 2020
Students tested
Mathematics Level 1
520 - 625
562
16
Chemistry
460 - 550
511
17
Mathematics Level 2
595 - 790
706
9
Physics
530 - 700
615
2
French
450 - 460
460
1
In 2020, 176 King's Academy students were recognized by the College Board: AP Scholar Award
75
AP Scholar with Honor Award
27
AP Scholar with Distinction
64
AP International Diploma
4
AP Capstone Diploma
6
Number of Students
A*
14
A
8
August 2020
Mean
AP Recognition Awards 2020
In May 2020, 317 candidates sat for 726 examinations. Scores of 5 were received by 30% of the candidates; scores of 4 were received by 31%; and scores of 3 were received by 22%.
Result
Middle 50%
Section
King’s Academy Profile 2020-2021 www.kingsacademy.edu.jo
03
Three-Year University Matriculation List
UNITED STATES Babson College Bates College Beloit College Bentley University Blinn College Boston College Boston University Bradley University Brigham Young University Brown University Carleton College Case Western Reserve University Centre College Claremont McKenna College Clark University College of William and Mary Colorado College Columbia University Connecticut College Cornell University Drexel University Duke University Elon University Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University — Daytona Beach Emory University George Mason University George Washington University Georgetown University Georgia Institute of Technology Harvard University Houston Community College Hult International Business School Illinois Institute of Technology Indiana University-Bloomington Iowa State University Johns Hopkins University Kent State University At Kent Lehigh University Lone Star College Loyola Marymount University Loyola University Chicago Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences New York University Northeastern University Northern Arizona University Northwestern University Occidental College Ohio State University Orange Coast College Oregon State University Pasco-Hernando State College Pomona College Pratt Institute Purdue University Rhodes College Rochester Institute of Technology Rollins College Saint Mary's College of California Santa Monica College Santiago Canyon College Savannah College of Art and Design School of Visual Arts Skidmore College Smith College Stanford University Suffolk University SUNY Plattsburgh Swarthmore College Syracuse University
August 2020
Temple University The College of Wooster The New School The University of Texas At Arlington The University of Texas At Austin The University of Texas At Tyler Trinity College Tufts University United States Coast Guard Academy University of California, Irvine University of California, Los Angeles University of California, San Diego University of California, Santa Barbara University of California, Santa Cruz University of Charleston University of Evansville University of Florida University of Massachusetts, Amherst University of Michigan University of Notre Dame University of Pennsylvania University of Pittsburgh University of Rochester University of South Florida University of Southern California University of Virginia Virginia Tech Wake Forest University Wellesley College Wesleyan University Wheaton College Whitman College Yale University Youngstown State University
UNITED KINGDOM Cardiff University City University of London Coventry University Durham University King's College London, University of London Kingston University London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London Queen Mary University of London Queen's University Belfast Swansea University The University of Buckingham The University of Edinburgh University College London University of Birmingham University of Bristol University of Edinburgh University of Exeter University of Glasgow University of Huddersfield University of Kent University of Leeds University of Manchester University of Nottingham University of Nottingham Trent University of Portsmouth University of Reading University of Sheffield University of Surrey University of Sussex University of the West of England, Bristol University of Warwick University of Westminster University of York
CANADA Carleton University Concordia University Dalhousie University McGill University Ontario College of Art and Design University Queen's University Ryerson University The University of British Columbia University of Alberta University of British Columbia University of Calgary University of Manitoba University of Ontario Institute of Technology University of Toronto University of Waterloo York University
MIDDLE EAST American University of Beirut American University of Madaba — Jordan American University of Sharjah Georgetown University Qatar German Jordanian University Gulf Medical University — United Arab Emirates Jordan University of Science and Technology New York University Abu Dhabi Northwestern Qatar Prince Sultan University — Saudi Arabia Princess Sumaya University For Technology — Jordan Royal College of Surgeons In Ireland Medical University of Bahrain Tel Aviv University University of Jordan University of Qatar Weill Cornell Medical College — Qatar Yarmouk University — Jordan
OTHER Bahcesehir University — Turkey Franklin University — Switzerland Glion Institute of Higher Education — Switzerland The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology IE University — Spain Jacobs University — Germany Karlsruhe Institute of Technology — Germany Korea University Koç University — Turkey Maastricht University — The Netherlands Nagoya University — Japan Nizhny Novgorod State Medical Academy — Russia NYU Shanghai — China Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences — Germany Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland Sabanci University — Turkey San Antonio Catholic University of Murcia — Spain SUNY Korea Universita Bocconi — Italy University College Cork — Ireland University College Dublin — Ireland University of Amsterdam — The Netherlands University of Debrecen — Hungary University of Malta University of Pecs — Hungary University of Szeged — Hungary Yokohama National University — Japan
King’s Academy Profile 2020-2021 www.kingsacademy.edu.jo
04