Fall 2009
Message from the Director

As the only truly international school in Jamaica, AISK opens its doors to you in over 35 different languages!

This fall the American International School of Kingston resumed classes for the first time at its new Kingston 6 campus.  After facing construction all summer long, the AISK team was thrilled to have 265 students fill our walkways and classrooms in early September. For the second year in a row student enrolment at AISK has grown by roughly 10%.

AISK is 14 years old and has a history of close association with the United States Embassy in Kingston.  We offer pre-school through high school programs that combine the inquiry methods of American education with the rigorous standards of some more traditional national programs.  This is our second year offering the highly respected International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme to grades 11 and 12 students making us one of only seven schools in the region that can be called an International Baccalaureate World School.

AISK is divided into Elementary (PS-5), Middle (6-8) and High (9-12) schools, taught by an experienced and motivated faculty. Our students enjoy small classes and close associations with their teachers.  These teachers are fully credentialed and recruited from North America, Europe, the Caribbean and our host country, Jamaica.  This brings a very international flare to AISK and ensures that our students are introduced to very diverse points of view. The school administration is lead by myself with the support of a dedicated team of principals, office staff, technical support staff, learning support staff, a school councilor and a full time nurse. The school’s Board of Directors includes elected parent members as well as a member appointed by the American Ambassador. AISK is fully accredited by AdvancEd(SACS).

Phase One of our build is now almost finished. With the completion of our two main classroom buildings we have now doubled our student enrolment capacity. We will soon have completed all of the remaining Phase One buildings including the cafeteria, dance studio and administrative building.  Sporting facilities include a regulation football pitch and soon to be completed tennis and basketball courts.

This year our 1:1 laptop program has been extended to include the entire middle school and grade 9. Plans are in place to roll out the 1:1 laptop program to all of high school next year. This program is supported by a state-of-the-art Apple iMac lab and help desk. All teachers work with Apple MacBooks and classrooms are equipped with projectors to help bring the widest possible range of information to our students. The AISK campus is now Wi-Fi throughout.

I finished last year’s message by saying: “We benefit from a visionary Board of Directors, an enthusiastic PTO and a talented and hard-working staff. “ One year on I am proud to say that I still stand by that statement.

I encourage you to visit our new campus and experience the AISK difference.

Yours truly,


Sean Goudie, Director