College/Career Counseling

International Academy - Amman, 2015 - 2016 School Profile

Director: Dr Hana Kanan

Head of Secondary: Mr Martin Thompson

DP Coordinator: Ms Muna Darwish

College Counselor: Ms Aya Abdel Hadi

The School Community

IAA is proud to introduce our fifth graduating class of International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma students. IAA was founded in 2004 as an English medium, independent, non-profit, co-educational day school in Amman, Jordan. IAA is governed by an independent Board of Directors and is the hallmark institution working under the umbrella of the Queen Rania Foundation for Education and is the sister school to King"s Academy. The school caters for Pre KG to Grade 12 and currently is home to over 1061 students, of whom 444 are in the Secondary School. There are 45 students in Grade 12, many of whom have benefitted from the strong academic and financial scholarship programme. IAA is fortunate to have state of the art resources offering excellent IT, Arts, Design Technology and Science facilities. The teaching staff is truly international being drawn from many different countries and the student body is predominantly Jordanian (94%) although many students have dual nationalities and have resided overseas.

Our Philosophy

The Vision and Mission statements of IAA complement those of the IB as we aim to provide an international education in an Arabic setting. We are excited by the opportunity to help shape graduates who have a love for learning, are critical thinkers, have an awareness of their greater community and the role they can play in promoting international understanding and tolerance. As such all our Grade 11 students (whether Diploma or Course) are required to take the Theory of Knowledge (TOK) course. We are justifiably proud of our CAS (Creativity, Action and Service) programme which all Grade 11 and 12 students must complete and which is recognized for its diversity and quality.

Curriculum, Accreditation and Authorisation

In 2007 IAA gained authorization from the IB to offer the Middle Years Programme (Grades 6 to 10) and in 2009 gained authorization to offer the Diploma Programme (Grades 11 and 12). All Grade 12 students will gain "Equivalency" with the local Jordanian Tawjihi School Leaving Certificate. Our Primary school follows the UK national curriculum for Literacy and the Australian curriculum for Mathematics and both are strengthened by the International Primary Curriculum. IAA is a fully accredited member of the Council for International Schools (CIS) and the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), the International Schools Service (ISS) and the Middle East International Baccalaureate Association (MEIBA). We further validate our curriculum by taking the ISA tests annually for Grades 3 to 9. Since beginning the exercise our performance has consistently shown that our students perform above the world average and our record continues to show improvement.

Grading at IAA

Grades 6 to 10:

MYP students take 9 subjects for the MYP that are marked on a scale of 1 (lowest) to 7 (highest). The core subjects are English, Arabic, Mathematics, Science, Physical Education, Religion Arts and Humanities and students choose either Design Technology or Spanish,.

Grades 11 to 12:

Diploma Students: take 6 subjects (3 at higher level and 3 at standard level) for the DP that are marked on a scale of 1 (lowest) to 7 (highest) and complete the Diploma core (CAS, Extended Essay and TOK) as well as taking Religion.

Diploma Course Students: take 6 subjects (either 3 at higher level and 3 at standard level or 2 at higher level and 4 at standard level) that are marked on a scale of 1 (lowest) to 7 (highest) as well as taking Religion. Diploma Course students also take the first year of TOK and complete CAS.

GPA: scores are given on the transcript but are based on an average of the IB grading system of 1 to 7. High Honours are awarded for a GPA of 6.51 or more and Honours for a GPA of 6.0 or more.

Our Graduates

Our graduates are highly motivated and look forward to the challenge of higher education in countries all over the world. It is our expectation that nearly 100% will pursue 4 year colleges or universities. Students are applying to the USA, Canada, the UK, Europe and the Middle East.

Class Rank

Student Activities

IAA students are given many leadership opportunities. They may contribute to student literary productions such as the school newspaper and yearbook, be active in student government groups, as well as participate in the Model United Nations (we are particularly proud of our student organized MUN conference and the awards our own students gain in national and overseas conferences), Youth Talk, theatrical, choral, band and dance productions. Our overseas trips programme that concentrates on action, internationalism and community service is also very strong in the school. Volunteering within the community is required and the programme is very well supported, authentic and high profile for our students. Opportunities are available to participate in a wide range of interscholastic sports and our sports teams (both boys and girls) have a very successful record in competition in the local Amman Private Schools and the International METS competitions (held between schools in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Egypt).

Student Achievements in the Diploma Programme

We are very proud of the results IAA students have achieved in our first five years. Very few students in the world receive more than 40 points and we have an above average number of students attaining this honour. Our Diploma students for the past two years have a 100% pass rate compared to the world average of 78% and our average Diploma points grade has exceeded the world average for the past five years and now stands at 35 points. What we are most proud of is the proportion of our students who receive over 30 points, the world average is 51% and our average for our five graduating classes to date is well over 70%. We are also proud of the fact that our students, in a short amount of time, have gained access to 8 of the top 20 universities in the world.