Proud in Our Diversity: JAIS has students from over 23 countries around the world. It is a learning environment unlike any other in Jerusalem. As a secular school, we are uniquely positioned to welcome everyone on an equal footing. At JAIS our students learn about each other’s traditions and cultural identities. JAIS becomes a home away from home, where every student is celebrated.
Truly International: 90% of JAIS students are from overseas, giving the community a truly international student body. Our International families are posted in Jerusalem for a variety of reasons: as diplomats, NGOs, journalists, university researchers and professional athletes, to name a few.
Our Academic Program & Student Success: We promote an investigative and student discovery led approach to our American Standards Based Curriculum. As a small school, with a high ratio of staff to students we are experienced in transitioning students who are new to our curriculum, or new to an English Language medium school. High quality and individualized teaching and learning takes place in a nurturing, but sufficiently challenging pace, to support each child in achieving his or her full potential. Our students consistently score in the top percentiles on standardized testing (NWEA Measures of Academic Progress – MAP) when compared with norm groups from the USA. And on the qualitative side, our school culture exudes a friendly and welcoming place which enables our students to gain self-confidence and lasting friendships.
Our Student-Centered Approach: JAIS motivates students to learn through student-engagement, student-curiosity and discovery. We facilitate our students to grow in independence, critical thinking, resilience, self-reflection and self-assessment so our students are well positioned to thrive, wherever their next journey leads.
Our Warm Welcoming Family-like Community: JAIS provides a safe, welcoming and stimulating environment in which positive self-esteem, trusting relationships and personal growth are core.
Teaching the Whole Student: We encourage active, creative and independent learning for all students. We believe that the critical components of a student’s development include social, emotional, physical, academic, and non-academic pursuits. We offer programs in art, music, modern language, makerspace, advisory, sports, digital citizenship, and technology in order to enrich our students’ experiences, expand their critical thinking, and to keep them abreast with the ever changing 21st century necessary skills.
Hands-on Experiential Learning: We believe that students learn best in an environment that gives them authentic experiences. Therefore, whenever possible we take students off campus on field studies, where they encounter the real world and all it has to offer.
Our Dedicated and Experienced International Teaching Staff: Our faculty are committed lifelong learners and reflective practitioners who also keep themselves professionally updated in their various fields. For more information about our faculty, click here.
Our Focus on Community Service: JAIS believes in giving back to our community through service projects. Part of giving our children a global education means raising awareness to how they can contribute actively to society. Our core belief is that through these experiences, we all benefit with increased awareness, expansion of our horizons and building relationships outside our community. Jerusalem is an excellent location to explore these themes and to give service. For more information about community service projects at JAIS, click here.
Our After School Activities Program: Our ASA program offers an opportunity for growth and development in non-academic realms. Our after school program offers a combination of recreational and educational activities such as tennis, yoga, ceramic painting, chess, origami, soccer, mosaics, animation and game design, iPad coding, Lego robotics, Capoeira, and hip hop dance. For more information about our ASA program, click here.
Our Learning Support and English Language Learners programs: JAIS is an inclusive school where we provide support and nurture for a wide range of learners to excel in their learning. Students with different learning needs are able to receive in and out of class support from learning specialists. Students who are English language learners receive specialized instruction that builds their receptive and expressive language skills as they transfer their skills and concepts to English. Click here.