Our School
General Information
The North American International School (NAIS) was started in 2001 to meet the educational needs of the international diplomatic and expatriate community in Pretoria, South Africa. The School has grown each year to the point that NAIS occupied a new campus in August of 2008. This was an exciting step forward in the history of the School and demonstrated our dedication to providing the best facilities possible to enhance the learning experience for all of our students.
Grades Offered
Pre-Kindergarten through 10th grade.
Curriculum
We use the North Carolina Public School curriculum as our basis. We supplement with numerous other courses and topics to reflect the history and culture of our host country. The four core courses are English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies. All students also take Art, Music, Computers, Foreign Language (Spanish or French), and Physical Education.
Calendar
NAIS operates with a traditional U.S. model school calendar (Northern Hemisphere). We have two semesters per year. The first semester typically starts in the second week of August and runs through the second week of December. The second semester typically starts in the second week of January and ends the last week of May.
Teachers
Our teachers are all qualified and experienced. The majority of our teachers are U.S. citizens, although we have several qualified host country teachers and third country nationals on staff. We think that the diversity of our staff reflects the diversity of our student population and is one of the strengths of the school.
Class Size
NAIS believes in the benefit of small classes. Our target is to have no more than fifteen students in a class. This ratio of students to teachers allows for a dynamic learning environment.
Sports and Extracurricular Activities
NAIS offers a wide range of sports and activities to meet the varied interests of our students. This year we are offering the following: Soccer, Tennis, Basketball, Drama, Karate, Ballet, Chess, Boy Scouts, etc. We add activities, as they are needed.
Many extra-curricular activities are offered at NAIS. We recognize that these activities are an integral part of the school experience and we try to offer a variety of sports and clubs to meet the diverse interests of our students. Because we are a small school we concentrate on providing activities geared towards small teams and individual efforts. This year we will offer the following activities: Karate (taught by a 5 times world champion instructor), Ballet, Soccer, Basketball, Tennis, Drama, Chess Club, Cheerleading, Hiking, Yearbook, Walking and Running and others as requested.
All of these activities meet after school either on campus or at sites appropriate to the sport. The school provides transportation home from the on-site activities where possible.
Our curriculum has Physical Education as a regular subject built into the schedule. We utilize an organization of professional coaches to teach our children proper exercise and sport techniques.
NAIS believes in the value of healthy living and athletic activity. We hold three or four Sports Days each year where the students get the change to compete in friendly competition in a variety of sports. Each student is assigned to one of the three school Houses (Rhino, Buffalo, Leopards and Elephant Houses). They compete as Houses during these Sports Days. The parents are very supportive of these events and we usually hold picnics or barbeques at the Sport Days.
Transportation
Many of our students use our school vans for transport to and from school every day.
School Advisory Board and Parent Teacher Organization
We have active parent organizations that support and advise the administration on a variety of issues. The School Advisory Board members are all parents in the School. They have the primary responsibility of advising on issues relating to Academics at the School. The PTO supports the students and faculty through a variety of events and functions that they sponsor throughout the year. NAIS counts itself fortunate to have such a dedicated group of parents who are willing to become involved more fully in their children’s education.