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The American School of Bahrain (ASB) has been busy recruiting its school leadership team and conducting admissions virtually in anticipation of the school’s first official academic year starting this September.
The 17-acre (68,796sqm) campus of the ASB, centrally located in Wadi Al Buhair in North Riffa near the Bahrain National Stadium, is being established in the kingdom by the Esol Education family of top-tier schools in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Hong Kong, Cairo, Nicosia and Lebanon. It will be offering a holistic standards-based American curriculum for up to 1,200 students from Pre-kindergarten to Grade 12, with the option of the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma in Grades 11 and 12.
The school recently announced the appointment of key members of its school leadership team. As GulfWeekly had reported in February, Steve Bodnar will be the principal of the new school, working closely with ASB’s founding director, Dave McMaster to build a solid foundation for the school during its first couple of years.
Steve brings to the team 33 years of experience as an educator in Canada, Venezuela and Switzerland, gaining valuable international experience as he developed a passion and energy for a holistic approach to education. For the last 21 years, he has served as an elementary school principal in Ontario, Canada.
In addition, ASB has also recruited its early childhood lead teacher Sandra Al-Ajmi. Sandra, who hails from Ohio, US, has more than 30 years of experience in education, having served as a teacher, vice principal and principal in Bahrain, Kuwait and the US. For the last 12 years, she operated The Learning Tree, which is a cutting-edge kindergarten and nursery in Bahrain, She has built a rapport with parents and has become a pillar in early childhood education in the country as a knowledgeable and reassuring expert on the subject.
Complementing its avant-garde American academic programme, the ASB’s newly recruited head of Arabic language and culture, Fuad Al Anzarouti, will be spearheading an additional focus on honouring the local language and customs. Fuad has decades of experience across the region and internationally and has served as teacher and leader at Riffa Views International School and St Christopher’s School. Fuad is also a school liaison officer with the Ministry of Education and has worked as the official translator in the corporate world.
“Providing sound leadership is especially important in a new school,” said Dave. “It is the responsibility of the leadership team to set the tone and ethos at ASB so that it quickly becomes a school where the smile index is always high and there is a pervasive love of learning throughout the community. I am extremely pleased with the combination of talent, character and experience that our leadership team brings to ASB.”
The school is equipped with technology-enabled classrooms, art studios, music rooms, performance spaces, STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and maths) labs, maker spaces and separate libraries/media centres for junior and senior students. It is a joint venture between Esol Education and Elm Education Fund, a Bahrain-based education platform with a vision for investing in world-class education international institutions, backed by the Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company, the country’s sovereign fund.
For the past few months, Dave and his wife, Shelley the admissions manager at ASB, have been busy building the school’s community. While Dave has been busy recruiting the educator teams, Shelley has been busy with the school’s competitive admissions programme.
And even with the Covid-19 restrictions, the school’s admissions process continues, virtually. The entire admissions experience is being conducted online so prospective families can meet the admissions team and students can be assessed from the comfort of their own homes. Parents are invited to learn more and apply by visiting www.asb.bh.
Scan the QR Code below for a virtual tour of the campus.
