Amman - School Report Question and Answers
Are students generally challenged appropriately by the curriculum? Please describe any particular strengths or weaknesses in this area. Do you have any thoughts how the curriculum is applied and implemented at this school?
My kids were challenged and teachers were responsive. My two kids are kind of at either end of the student spectrum. One really pushes herself and one needs pushing and the teachers did well with both. - Jul 2022
Seemingly dated curriculum. There was one assignment where 6th grade girls were asked to describe their ideal boyfriend, and boys were asked to describe an ideal girlfriend as part of a writing assignment. Yes, this is a hetero-normative, conservative Muslim country, but maybe then ask them to describe their ideal vacation/friend/adventure/day? Asking 12 yr olds to reflect on partners seemed odd. There was also emphasis on teaching kids to advocate for themselves and manage their own workload and communications, which seems like a good idea. However, the school was not very good at minimizing confusion or providing the kids with a road map, so much time was spent with parents scrambling. Where is this assignment posted? When is this due? There was an excellent math teacher and social studies teacher. - Feb 2021
Absolutely. Love the European history bits, too. I don't like common core, so, I'm not sad that my kids avoided it. - Sep 2019
My daughter is only challenged by the curriculum. Foreign languages are taught in target-language only, for example. At the other international schools, I'm sorry to say, Arabic is a joke. At King's Academy, Arabic is a *must,* and kids are expected to learn and function in the local language. Even though math is not my daughter's strong suit, the teacher has already given her a vision for reaching AP calculus by senior year. King's Academy somehow pushes and inspires these kids to do more than they think they can. It's amazing. She also likes art and aspires to take AP studio art next year as a sophomore. She has learned so much about art this year including photography. The kids sign out a fancy digital camera that they bring home with them for homework assignments. - Nov 2018
Oh my goodness, yes! I love ICS. They focus a bit more on European history versus U.S. (duh), and I'm learning along with my kids! My daughter was showing me videos of her chemistry experiment just yesterday, and she's not even in high school yet. I feel that the standard is higher than what we have experienced in the past at least for the younger grades. - Feb 2018
Yes, there are AP and Honors courses and generally an atmosphere of academic rigor. - Apr 2017
No, I didn't feel that my child who finished at ACS in the third grade was challenged at all by the curriculum. From my experience, there does not seem to be much differentiation taking place in the classroom, so students who grasp the material easily are left unchallenged. The materials and the way they are presented and communicated didn't seem to cater to different learning styles.
In the Early Childhood Education classes, on the other hand, the curriculum seemed just right, with the focus being primarily play-based and building social competency. - Aug 2016
