RIYADH, 12 March — Seventy-six students will graduate this year at the Al-Maarefa International School (AMIS), which will be holding its 3rd commencement exercise on March 24 at the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh.

AMIS principal Teresita Aguila told Arab News that the number consists of 14 high school graduates, 27 in elementary, 27 in the pre-school, and eight in computer technology.

Of the 14 high school graduates, four took the University of the Philippines College Admission Test (UPCAT) and all successfully passed, giving AMIS a remarkable 100-percent passing mark.

Aguila identified the UPCAT passers as Mary Margareth Bernus, Reina Tejano, Glaiza Monica Martizana, and Christian Valor Sorisantos.

AMIS is the third Filipino school in Riyadh to be accredited by the Department of Education in Manila with Permit No. 009 s.2000 and licensed by the Saudi Ministry of Education with Permit No. 70/S.

The school, with Ahmed S. Al-Eid as its school manager, had a population of 400 students when it was founded in February 1999. It had grown to 450 students this school year. AMIS also offered a two-year computer technology course and had graduated already a total of 17 students, eight this year and nine last year.

According to the school management, AMIS is giving full scholarship to consistent honor students in all four quarters of the academic year in all grade levels.

In its three years of existence, the school already made a name in the Filipino community in Riyadh, school coordinator Ronnie Huertas said.

In the recent inter-school competition sponsored by the Order of the Knights of Rizal, AMIS bagged home the championship in the Battle-of-the-Brains category when its senior students Reina Tejano and Margareth Bernus excelled among the 12 contestants in the event.

Tejano, having registered the highest points, received a prize of round-trip ticket to Manila courtesy of the Philippine Airlines.

Huertas said that AMIS students excelled three times in the same number of years when it joined the inter-school competitions in Riyadh.

The school also won the Battle-of-the-Brains in 2000 and the overall championship trophy in 1999.