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Written by Administrator   
Monday, 04 May 2009 13:28

The American International School of Kingston opened its doors to 27 eager students in September of 1994.  During the previous year, five capable women collaborated and made their dream school come to life.  Alida Vessey  (the Dutch wife of the then Deputy Ambassador of the U.S.A.) emerged as the leader and first principal of AISK.  The school began with four teachers, a principal, and secretary and, of course, our House Master, Anthony Morgan, who has been with us from the very beginning.

The school began with teacher taught classes from grades Kindergarten to five.  Grades six through twelve were supervised in correspondence courses offered by the Calvert School and the University of Nebraska.  Each academic year, the correspondence courses were phased out one grade at a time, starting with grade six, until the whole School benefited from teacher-taught classes in the 2001-2002 academic year when AISK gained its accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
We have accomplished a great deal in the last fourteen years.  Our Junior and Senior Debate teams were amongst the best in the nation.  The performances of Fiddler on the Roof, Grease and My Fair Lady left audiences stunned by the talent of our small student body.  The annual Evening of the Arts showcases the artistic and musical talents of our students.  The majority of our juniors and seniors take Advanced Placement (AP) classes and many of our students also earn the AP Scholar Award.  We have been approved as an International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma school and will be offering our first IB diploma to the graduates of 2010; beginning classes next fall (August 2008).  Our students are routinely admitted to the best colleges and universities in the world.

We have laughed and cried, struggled and excelled.  Our alumni, now graduates of university and the world, come by or e-mail every so often and let us know about their latest adventure.  Whether they are working in Japan, getting their doctorates in Biology, a part of the international banking sector in New York City or back home in Jamaica giving back some of what they have learned to the country they love, they remember AISK fondly, the quirky little school on Bamboo Avenue (not so little anymore!) that got them started!