The American International School of Kuwait is a private school located in Maidan Hawalli, Kuwait, offering education from grades K to 12. The school has been a member of IBO since 1993. The school's curriculum is based mostly on the US curriculum, however religion and Arabic classes are provided due to the Ministry of Education's requirement. The school has a review in the Good Schools Guide International, which states, "The school has a relaxed yet purposeful air to it throughout," adding, "Given that a majority of the students do not speak English as a first language, they do reasonably well."
The American International School of Kuwait has undergone many changes over the years, the most noticeable being those made to campus. A state of the art theater style auditorium was built and it has a capacity of about 1,000 people. Many new classrooms were built and existing facilities, such as the bathrooms, were remodeled. The school sees continual improvements to the campus and has gone through major renovations each summer. In 2004, the new Kamil Al Rayes Theater was built. By 2005, the canteen was rebuilt, and the gym was replaced completely. The school offers a wide range of classes, such as Math, English, History, Science, Individuals & Societies, Arabic, French, Drama, Fine Arts, Band and Design. All classes are taught by teachers who are mostly Canadian or American, though there are some other nationalities. The IB diploma is offered, as well as the PYP and MYP programs implemented. AIS has Under-14 teams, Junior Varsity, and Varsity teams for several sports. The sports teams participate and sometimes host a national competition between other schools in Kuwait called KSAA. AIS used to be a part of a regional competition known as EMAC. As EMAC folded in 2011, AIS was involved in ISAC but in 2014 began participating in NESAC instead.
Students
Approximately one half of AIS students are Kuwaiti. Twenty-five percent are also Arabic nationals from other countries, and the remaining quarter are non-Arabs. Students of all nationalities study Arabic, either as a first or foreign language, as required by the Kuwait Ministry of Education. Muslim students, regardless of nationality, are also required by the Kuwait Ministry of Education to study religion.
School uniform
The school uniform for the grades K-11 consists of a white shirt with the AIS logo on it and navy blue pants, skirt or dress, and as of recently, an ID tag. The uniform must be purchased through the school, from an on-campus store, however the ID tag is given complimentary to students, but purchasing a custom lanyard is acceptable. Uniform regulations restrict girls to wearing skirts that cover their knees. Boys are only allowed to wear pants. Although the regular school shirt is white, seniors and KG-1 students are allowed to wear red shirts as well. Every year the administration allows the seniors to create their own senior shirts as an effort to make the seniors feel more special.
University admissions
Graduates of AIS Kuwait attend English language universities around the world including Harvard, MIT, Yale, Stanford, Johns Hopkins University, UC Berkeley, Cornell, McGill and the University of Toronto. Roughly half of the approximately 120 graduates attend universities within Kuwait and the Middle Eastern region. The other half begin university abroad with the majority attending American schools. The graduating class of 2011, according to information provided at the graduation, received acceptances in more than seventy North American universities.
