American Creativity Academy P.O. Box 1740, 32018 Hawally, Hawalli, Kuwait +965 2267 3333

info@aca.edu.kw www.aca.edu.kw

School type	Co-educational Day
Founded	1997
Status	Private
Heads of School	Dr Claire Shea (Hawally Campus) & Dr Mary Pearce (Samiya Campus)
Language of Instruction	English
Co-ed Age Range	3-18 years
Number of pupils	6,600
Authorised IB Programmes	IBDP
Diploma Coordinator	Shaheed Carter
Associations	MSA, IB

Mission and Beliefs

The American Creativity Academy is a private school that delivers a standards-based American curriculum within an environment in which Islamic values are respected and practiced. The school is dedicated to preparing students for university success.

Core Beliefs:

• Developing students' character with honesty, integrity and responsible behaviour
• Partnership among parents, students and staff
• Students learn and thrive in a healthy, safe and caring environment
• Challenging students to think critically and creatively
• Developing the whole child intellectually, spiritually, socially and physically
• Preparing students to contribute constructively to a global society
• Effective communication
• Learning is a life-long process
• Inspiring excellence

Global Citizenship at ACA

Global Citizenship at ACA is the development of global citizens who have knowledge, skills and attitudes that make it possible to be actively involved in their local and international communities and systems that impact on their lives and the lives of others.

ACA offers a trans-disciplinary opportunity for students to expand their worldview and consider multiple perspectives. It's about both rights and responsibilities around global topics. Students engage with current issues to understand how they may interact in diverse social, economic, and political contexts that are not restricted by geographic boundaries.

American Curriculum

We have a vibrant, standards-based, American curriculum which is the result of years spent in horizontal and vertical alignment meetings, specialist group meetings, and cross-campus collaboration meetings. It is articulated, available to all staff on our Atlas platform, properly paced, and is the reference point from which our teachers derive instruction. It is used by all teachers for our K-12, non-IB subjects.

International Baccalaureate

ACA has been proudly offering the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme since 2008 for students in grades 11 and 12. The students go through a process of application, interviews, course selection based on their career goals, and discussions with parents. Students may opt for a full diploma or individual certificates. The process of preparing for the rigors of the IBDP high level courses starts as early as in grade 2 with students participating in the Enrichment Program (grades 2 to 8) and the Honors Program (grades 9 and 10). The Enrichment and Honors Programs use the same US standards-based curriculum as the mainstream classes; however, the standards of performance are set higher with more emphasis on critical thinking, logic, reasoning, research, writing, debate, and creativity. To participate in the Enrichment or Honors Programs, students must pass a series of assessments, teacher recommendations, interviews, and demonstrate the desire to be challenged.

IB DP Courses Offered at ACA

We offer a robust and diverse selection of IB courses that will thoroughly prepare our children no matter where their post-secondary pursuits may take them.

Approaches to Teaching and Approaches to Learning

Our teachers are trained in IB's pedagogical strategies known as Approaches to Teaching and Learning, ATL. These strategies focus on inquiry, conceptual learning, developing local and global contexts, effective teamwork and collaboration, differentiation, and data-driven instruction. Additionally, through ATL's learning strategies, our students are directly taught thinking, communication, social, selfmanagement, and research skills. These skills aid them in the acquisition, personalization and ownership of their knowledge throughout life.

Every year, our IB team focuses on one Approach to Teaching and one Approach to Learning. We undergo a process of implementation, observation, feedback and reflection as part of our ATL Implementation cycle, which helps us to be reflective practitioners in our IB programme.