Academics

The Middle School

Head of Middle & High School
Hala Pharaon

Since 1988, ZSIS has been such a haven that not only enlightens students’ consciousness but also enables them to discover the potentials that lurk deep within their psyches.

Grades 4 to 12 school years compose a fundamental period in students’ lives. At this life stage, students are usually in an urgent need of having the dedicated follow-up that would insure them the essential knowledge in core subjects as well as the proper acquisition of social, ethical, and communal integrity--the components of the ideal universal individual ZSIS so aspires to contribute to formulating.

A multicultural community as it is, ZSIS aspires to nurture the principles of forbearance and community spirit in its primary and intermediate students’ fertile hearts. Together with this as a chief concern comes ZSIS restless work on building and fostering primary and intermediate students’ critical thinking, analytical and synthetic skills.

ZSIS finds the afore-mentioned strategy greatly obligatory as it is required to help ZSIS students have smooth and successful mastery of the core content of SAT, TOEFL, IELTS, IOWA, Stanford, and other standardized tests that students would need after graduation for any admission to local and international universities. Varied instruction being at the heart of the school’s policy, ZSIS offers its high school students a wide range of electives (Psychology, French, First Aid, Advanced Arts, Journalism, etc.) as these are highly beneficial to the practical course of senior students’ lives in the future.

In one word, ZSIS fosters more than a school: It is a community that holds much within. The future days, I believe, will unfold more wonders ZSIS is so keen to grant its community as it has ever had.

Hala Pharaon
ZSIS Assistant Director

The Secondary School provides a responsive and nurturing atmosphere. We bridge the elementary and high school years providing a smooth transition between the two. We recognize that adolescents have unique needs that we address in our program. We believe that learning should be worthwhile and rewarding. We aim to help students take initiative, and encourage them to seek knowledge and think independently. We help students develop the skills necessary to achieve academic excellence while also engaging in critical thinking. We guide students to understand the techniques that will help them organize work in an allotted time frame. We seek to create an environment in which students develop appropriate self-expression with peers and persons in authority. Students learn to accept responsibility for their actions and through both positive and negative consequences, begin to understand the link between their behavior and its effect on others. We promote honesty and integrity, develop social and civic responsibility and foster good manners and courtesy. We aim for our students to become well-rounded individuals and encourage them to participate actively in their community.

Introduction

The Secondary School curriculum is based on American educational aims. Our materials and curriculum reflect those used in the accredited international schools and in independent schools in the U.S. Most of our students intend to continue through the American educational system. We expose students to a broad background in mathematics, science, social studies, language arts and foreign languages while also developing thinking and problem solving skills. Student interaction and self-expression are encouraged. We supplement the core curriculum by including instruction in computer science, art, and physical education. While we usually select American textbooks, we also take advantage of other enrichment materials published in the United Kingdom, Lebanon, and Jordan. While our major emphasis is toward the American system of education, we take into consideration the needs of our international students. We are able to provide a program that will help them develop the skills and knowledge needed to enter an alternative educational system (i.e. the International Baccalaureate).