Welcome to another year of learning at the American International School-Riyadh!

The Learning Office coordinates and supports all learning programs from Pre-Kindergarten to adult learning.  We work cooperatively with all administrators and teachers to develop and align the curricular programs for our K-12 students.  Program improvement is ongoing and is based on current research related to best practice.  New resources are acquired regularly, and the instructional guides used as our main references are replaced on a cycle of a maximum of six years.

To support adult professional learning, the Learning Office promotes conferences, workshops and institutes offered by NESA (Near East School Association), the US State Department, the Harvard Graduate School of Education: Wide World Online Learning, ASCD (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development), and Columbia University’s Teachers College, as well as many other reputable, educational organizations for our faculty and staff.  After School Learning Sessions that support AIS-R’s  K-12 school-wide and divisional initiatives are offered by members of all levels of the school including administrators, teachers, and staff.  Our faculty's and staff's skills and knowledge are also shared as part of our in-house Professional Learning Program and within the different grade-level teams.  This year, our staff will continue to participate in a host of workshops on topics ranging from Writing & Reading Workshop, Skyward, Moodle, ELL, Differentiation, Assessment, and use of MAP data, to name a few.

During the 2011-2012 year, our school-wide initiative will focus on the AIS-R Accreditation Self-Study as part of the process toward re-accreditation that is awarded by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) and the Council for International Schools (CIS), with each member of our faculty, staff, and community taking an active role in this important journey of celebration on the road to excellence.  As well, we will continue to support our K-12 AIS-R Learning Initiatives of Assessment for Learning, Blended Learning with Technology (including the use of Moodle) and The Framework for Teaching (based on the work of Charlotte Danielson).

According to our mission, we want our students to be ". . . ethical world citizens with the skills and passion to think creatively, reason critically, communicate effectively and learn continuously.” AIS-R has developed an Honor Code that not only upholds our student-focused mission, as we personally and purposely honor and promote respect for others, inclusiveness, individual differences, and appropriate behavior, but encompasses 21^st Century learning principles and dispositions. We believe that ethics and values are essential in a principled community, and expect behavior that upholds the dignity and self-worth of all community members.

In order to reinforce these beliefs, AIS-R has defined what it means to be an AIS-R Eagle: Ethical, Adaptable, Global, Learning, and Environmental.  As a school committed to excellence, we believe that all members of our learning community are to be dedicated to the improvement of learning. Similarly, we are equally committed to improving the quality of teaching.  This is sustained through AIS-R's use of The Framework for Teaching, a research-based set of components of instruction grounded in a constructivist view of learning and teaching.  The Framework's full value is recognized as the foundation for professional conversations among AIS-R teachers as they seek to enhance their teaching skills.  Professional development and teacher appraisal processes are also supported through the use of The Framework for Teaching.

Welcome to AIS-R! We invite you to Learn With Us!

Renee Couturier
Director of Learning

Holly Raatz
Learning Coordinator