The Dhahran School is an international schoolowned and operated by the Saudi Aramco Schools district. It is part of the Saudi Aramco Expatriate Schools District. Dhahran School is exclusively used by children of Saudi Aramco employees and serves children from kindergarten through grade nine. Dhahran School is free of charge for all children of Saudi Aramco employees. The Dhahran School is located inside the Saudi Aramco Residential Camp in Dhahran, operated by Saudi Aramco, within the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. The school is divided into the Dhahran Hills School and the Dhahran Middle School, where the Dhahran Hills School serves children from kindergarten through grade four and the Dhahran Middle School teaches students between the grades five and nine. The mascot of the Dhahran Hills School is the Arabian Horse, while the mascot of the Dhahran Middle School is the Wildcat. There is also a Dhahran High School that is in Saudi Arabia, but it is not in the school district.
History
The school was first opened in 1940 to cater the education needs of children whose parents were working for ARAMCO or Saudi Aramco.
Campus
The Dhahran Hills School and the Dhahran Middle School are located on separate campuses, both within the Saudi Aramco Residential Camp in Dhahran. The Dhahran Hills School campus has 3 buildings and hosts Grade Kindergarten-4. The first building has all 3rd grade classes. The second building is the main building and has all Kindergarten and Grades 1, 2 and 4. The main building also has the school offices, teachers lounge and counselors. There is a gymnasium used for Physical Education that is attached to the main building, this gym is known as the 'Old Gym'. The third and newest building is a stand-alone gymnasium that is known as the 'New Gym', this gym is also used for Physical Education. Both gymnasiums are used after school hours by the community for activities such as basketball and Taekwondo. The Dhahran Middle School campus has 6 buildings. The first building is the main building. It has a mix of Grade 5, Grade 6, Grade 7, and Grade 8 classes, there is also one Grade 9 class. This building also has the school front office, tech office and counselors. There is a gym attached to this building that is called the 3rd Street Gym. Th second building has Grade 8 classes on the ground floor and Grade 7 classes on the first floor. This building also has the Band and Choir rooms. The third building is split into two parts, one part has the Central Office for the whole SAES District which has 6 schools. The second part of this building holds Grade 6 classrooms. The 4th building is Ibis Gym, Ibis Gym is a stand alone gymnasium that is used for Physical Education and for the needs of the community. This gym also has a fully Top Rope certified rock climbing wall.
Curriculum
The school follows an American-style curriculum that is certified by multiple US based organizations, but also works to meet the needs of non-American students. Starting from the 2010 to 2011 school year, the school has started a house program like that of a Greek college. The program divides the school into four 'houses', each including at least two homeroom classes from each grade. All faculty members are assigned to a specific house as well. Each house has a different mascot, where the name of each is a Latin world. The names of the houses are: Indomitus, Torva, Agrestis, and Ferox.
Technology
The schools have a combined total of more than 20 computer labs. All labs are equipped with state of the art, Windows 10 powered, Lenovo desktops. The school is also fully equipped with 3D printers and laser cutters. The school has a personal laptop pragram starting in Grade 6. All students in Grade 6 and above are expected to bring personal laptops. These laptops are used in a productive manner to enrich the school's learning environment and enable students to extend their learning using digital platforms. Platforms used by the school include Geometer's Sketchpad, PowerSchool Learning, Khan Academy and SmartMusic. The school also has a private Gmail domain which is titled saeslearning.com, every student and member of school staff is provided with an address on this domain. All use of technology is monitored and supported by the school's tech office which has 6 staff working with the school's tech on a daily basis.
