International Schools Group (ISG), with a history of nearly 50 years, is the oldest and best established co-educational expatriate school organization in the Kingdom. Licensed by the Ministry of Education since 1974, ISG (www.isgdh.org) operates not-for-profit schools in Dammam, Dhahran, Jubail and Yanbu.

Pending approval by the IBO (anticipated in May 2011), the ISG Dhahran Baccalaureate Center (DBC) will begin offering the International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma program to students in September 2011. Currently a candidate school, DBC will operate under the auspices of Dhahran High School (DHS) and enable students to stay with their families in Kingdom while pursuing an IB diploma. Drawing upon the leadership skills and in-depth IB program knowledge of co-coordinators representing DHS and Dhahran British Grammar School (DBGS), the DBC partnership establishes a foundation for collaboration and communication with stakeholders.

ISG American Division schools are accredited by the Middle States Association (MSA) of Colleges and Schools. SAT9 standardized test scores are well above the US national norm. DBGS is accredited by the Council of International Schools (CIS). DBGS is now in its 11th year of offering (I)GCSE examinations and is a registered examination center for Cambridge International Examinations and Edexcel. National tests are taken at the end of key stages 1, 2 and 3. 

Why is it important to seek accreditation? The answer is simple. It is not acceptable for ISG to say that we are a quality school organization without submitting to a rigorous and searching external scrutiny. In doing so we acknowledge our strengths but — more importantly — we find out where we need to improve. We believe that reflective self-evaluation and external accreditation are vital partners in organizational improvement. We owe this to our families.

ISG consists of three divisions:  the American division (US curriculum); the British division (British national curriculum) and the International Division patterned after a US curriculum offering a National Home Languages Program in Arabic, Hindi, Filipino and Urdu. ISG programs accommodate all elementary and secondary education levels (Pre-Reception/Pre-Kg to high school and key stage four programs), offer a range of advanced placement (AP) courses, a broad spectrum of global languages, elective courses and extensive opportunities for after-school activities. The learning environment at ISG is rigorous, yet holistic, open-minded and supportive, with over 45 nationalities represented.

ISG students are accepted by the world’s most prestigious universities/colleges, including: Cambridge, Cornell, Essex, Exeter, Georgetown, Stanford, McGill, and Queens, the Universities of Cape Town, London, Pennsylvania, and Warwick, American University-Beirut, Carnegie-Mellon, London School of Economics, MIT, and Regents (London) to name only a few.