American School of Bahrain (ASB) earns parents’ confidence and hits record enrollment within its first year of operations. As the school gains momentum, a surge in registrations for the new academic year has already prompted waiting lists.
With an inquiry-based learning model, that allows students to drive their own learning, ASB’s standards-based international American curriculum has demonstrated excellent results. The community has responded enthusiastically to the school’s unique approach to teaching and learning, blending technology with STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) learning, project-based learning (PBL) with cross-curricular links and design-thinking.
Faisal Al Awadhi, parent of a Grade 9 student at ASB stated: “I was one of the very keen parents to have my son here. I was so glad to see the projects my child started thinking about, which is eventually the American way of thinking and encouraging creativity and openness to change. This is what I am touching with my child today. I think my son wouldn’t have had the same experience at any other school specially during the world pandemic.”
Dave McMaster, Founding Director of American School of Bahrain, said: “We are delighted to see how swiftly we have grown as a reliable educational institution in the Kingdom and we now have waitlists at several grade levels. It has further been advantageous that our expansive campus size has enabled us to have on-campus learning with ease and in a safe environment.”
This adaptive need to shift learning environments and accommodate the students within both virtual and on-campus learning setups has been a challenge faced by private and governmental educational institutions alike. However, the school’s preparedness for on-campus learning during the pandemic, as well as swift deployment of virtual learning programmes during school closures has gained positive feedback from the parent community.
Director Dave McMaster learned a lot from his experience during SARS in Hong Kong in 2003. “Not only do you need to be proactive in your preparation during a pandemic, but you have to adapt on a daily basis as things shift very quickly. You might have 100% of your students in school one day, be forced to close the next and in two weeks bring back 50% of your students. It is vital to reach out and continuously communicate with your student and parent community.”
American School of Bahrain is a joint venture between Esol Education and Elm Education Fund (Elm), a Bahrain-based education platform, established by Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company (Mumtalakat), the sovereign wealth fund of the Kingdom of Bahrain. Elm establishes and co-invests in world-class educational institutions in partnership with leading global operators. Located in Wadi Al Buhair, near the Bahrain National Stadium, the premium K-12 American preparatory school has been designed to meet the highest standards of international education. To learn more visit www.asb.bh.