2007-2008
The American International School of Lagos (AISL) is a private, coeducational school, which offers an American educational program for students of all nationalities in grades pre-kindergarten through grade 10. The School was founded in 1964 and is supported by school-to-school partnership with Tacoma Public Schools in Tacoma, Washington. The August to June school year is divided into trimesters for elementary students and semesters for secondary students.
Organization: The School is governed by a 9-member Board of Directors, 8 of whom are elected for 3 year terms by the American International School of Lagos Association, the sponsors of the School, with one seat reserved for an appointee of the U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria. Membership in the Association is automatically conferred on the parents or guardians of children enrolled in the School.
Curriculum: The program is an upgraded curriculum of an American Educational Institution. The elementary (PreK-5) curriculum materials, instruction, and assessment program are developed using a U.S. curriculum development model based on national standards, and each subject area is reviewed every 5 years. Instruction is in English. The School does provide ELL services. Instructional technology skills are integrated into core instruction. Special Courses include IT, French, P.E., music (instrumental grade 5) art, African Studies and Library. The elementary school administers the ITBS as an annual standardized assessment. The secondary curriculum (grades 6-10) are developed using U.S. national standards and the International Baccalaureate rubrics. The school will be expanding to grade 11 in 2008 and grade 12 in 2009 with the first graduating class scheduled for commencement in June 2010. The high school will teach the International Baccalaureate curriculum and student will be able to earn an IB diploma. The high school students are assessed annually using the standardized ITED. Grade 10 and 11students are required to take the PSAT.
Faculty: In the 2007-2008 school year, there are 58 full-time, including a full curriculum coordinator and 2 counselors. 65% of the AISL faculty members hold a Masters Degree. Two faculty members hold a PH.D. All faculty members are certificated with a minimum of two years of experience.
Enrollment: At the beginning of the 2007-2008 school year, enrollment was 636.
Facilities: The main school building is situated on an 8 acres campus, a 3-level structure with 37 teaching stations of about 800 square feet each and 7 smaller instructional areas. Specialist teaching areas include an art studio, drama classroom, technology lab with Internet connectivity, and three science laboratories (both junior high and elementary). An additional annex was built to accommodate the secondary program. The building includes 9 additional classrooms with expansion planned for next year as well. There are two music instruction rooms with 2 adjacent private practice rooms. Each classroom has at least two networked computer workstations, and 5 portable computer carts containing a full classroom set of laptops with wireless networking capacity for different areas of the campus. The library holds over 25,000 volumes and is approximately 2800 square feet in size and incorporates a group instruction area, individual reference and study areas, primary age student reading room, computer lab, periodical section and audio-visual resource facility. The sports and recreational facilities includes a full size gymnasium that is also used as an auditorium, 3 lighted tennis courts, an outdoor basketball court, a 100m x 55m sports field with a 100-meter sprint tract and long jump pit, aerobics and weight training rooms and extensive Big Toy play apparatus. The facility also includes a 25-meter swimming pool, and two conference rooms are also on the site.
Finances: In the 2007-2008 school year, about 93 percent of the School's income derives from tuition and fees. Annual tuition rates are as follows: PK: $7,700; grades Kdg.-grade 5: $11,680; and grades 6-8: $15,400. In addition, there is a nonrefundable application fee of $350 and students attending AISL for the first time pay a registration fee of $6,000. (All fees are quoted in U.S. dollars.)
