The city of Jeddah, a major commercial centre in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, has been a port and trading city for centuries. The city, hence, is host to a cosmopolitan mix of inhabitants with expats and the locals supporting and complementing each other. A growing population meant that the city had to work on its infrastructure to support it in all possible ways. Education, one of the fundamentals, had to be upgraded and in sync with the growing demands of both the local and the expat community. Education had to be delivered at par with the global standards.

To cater to the growing educational demands, Nobles International School(NIS) was established in 2000 and promotes high-quality international education to the local community in Jeddah, based on the American curriculum. The curriculum is modelled on the Common Core State Standards for English, Math and Next Generation Science Standards for Sciences. The school caters to students in Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12.

An All-encompassing Curriculum

The school’s goals are centred on the student’s education and their potential to improve in both academic and social responsibility, to enable them to become independent and knowledgeable adults with self-driven focus. In line with the changing times and the rapid technological advancements, the school is committed to preparing its students for their careers while instilling in them a global perspective, a passion for excellence, and the qualities of being a leader. The curriculum and instructions in all content areas are designed to encourage students to think creatively, reason critically, and communicate effectively.

NIS Curriculum is divided into four comprehensive programs:

Kindergarten – At this fundamental stage of education, teachers motivate young students to build their confidence and learn from a range of resources. The cognitive and social development of students is best encouraged through collaboration with others, the discovery of the “how” and “why” of actions, and developing personal meaning through the application of what is learned.

Elementary Program –The curricular programs are purposefully spiralled and vertically aligned to provide students with a clear progression of concepts, content and skills. Subjects are aligned to internationally recognized standards and benchmarks and feature programs that are research-based and proven to be effective in meeting our students’ needs. In addition to daily English literacy, Math, Science, Arabic Language, and Islamic Studies, students explore Social Studies, Computer, and as well as attend Art, and Physical Education classes that are offered in a weekly schedule. Students are engaged in activities that develop skills and interest in the areas of life, physical and earth sciences. All students take daily Arabic Language classes in either native speakers or non-native speakers programs.

Middle School Program – The curriculum is organized based on a holistic view of education through which we aim to develop a well-balanced person with artistic, intellectual, physical and social skills. A greater emphasis upon mastery of life-long learning skills, such as research and communication skills, rather than on mastery of a pre-ordained body of knowledge is highlighted. The academic program is integrated with technology skills.

High School Program – The highly challenging academic program prepares the students for admission into competitive universities and colleges all over the world. Most of our graduates receive multiple matriculations from a variety of excellent colleges and universities. All High School students must attain predetermined credit from a series of core subjects, plus additional credit from electives, to remain on track to graduate.

Apart from these, NIS also runs the Individualized Educational (IEP) Program which aims to provide physically and academically challenged students with access to the general education curriculum. It incorporates common state content standards in its development and is intended to help students reach educational goals more easily than they otherwise would. Teachers apply differentiated instructions to meet the learning expectations of each student.

A Visionary Leader

The mention of Nobles International School is incomplete without mentioning its keystone figure, Mrs Huda Almasri, the Founder and Director. Her visionary personality has created a hospitable environment for education in the school. Owing to her strong leadership and management skills, NIS has become notable school throughout the Kingdom. She takes an active part in developing the school’s strategic plans and policies to achieve success in curriculum delivery, safe environment, workforce allocations, and produce talented and productive global citizens. She is a mother-figure to all students and a friend to all staff members. She upholds the open door policy, where she is keen to pay attention to every day’s details with utmost commitment.

A Campus for All-round Growth

Situated in the heart of the city, the school offers its students and staff with various facilities and resources to avail a quality education system. It provides a safe and caring environment where the needs of each student are prioritized and maintains the level of excellence and stability which is the vital purpose the school.

NIS believes in shaping its students into responsible citizens, rather than trending them to be brilliant in academics only. All students are talented and have the rights to get opportunities to exhibit their gifts in different challenging fields. NIS implements a holistic approach in education which balances the intellectual, social, mental, and spiritual aspects of our students. Aside from the academic program, the school has prepared various co-curricular and extra-curricular activities to develop different life skills required to overcome rigorous life in university and future workplace. Some of them are:

• Performance Tasks are summative assessments which are done by practical performance aligned with the content areas.
• Students Council is the school’s way of inculcating leadership and responsibility to its students.
• Robotics is a launching pad for the students to realize their passion and prepare them for the future. It is teaching them programming and ways of communication across different technological platforms.

The school also organizes Educational Field trips to expose its students to different professions and communities. Community Outreach Programs are run in environmental, social, cultural, and health fields.

The school administration identifies students who exhibit the potential for higher than normal performance in areas of intellectual, creative, artistic, academic and leadership capacity. For such gifted students, to fully develop their talents and capabilities, extra-curricular activities are encouraged inside and outside school settings such as enrolling them in Riyadi Program (Entrepreneurs Program).

Goals Ahead

Nobles International School envisions to become a premier educational institution offering quality education to children and stimulates their total growth. To achieve the same, it has remained flexible throughout to adopt the new trends in education to meet the expectations of the Z-generation and the demands of the changing world. For the new academic year, it is in the process of constructing LMS (Learning Management System). Vocational Courses is one of the plans of NIS to provide career and technical education to interested students and prepare them for jobs that are based upon manual or practical fields. It is also looking forward to incorporating AI to its Robotic Programs.