Parent's Review of Cairo American College in Maadi, Egypt

What is the name of your child's school? (Please report on one school per survey.)

Cairo American College

In what town or city is this school located?

Maadi

How would you describe this school? (i.e. American, British, International, Local, etc.)

Enriched American Curriculum

What grade levels are represented at this school?

Pre K-12

How do most children get to school everyday? (bus, train, walk, etc.)

Either walk, ride bike, or school provided bus service

How would you describe the facilities at this school? What extra-curricular activities are available?

Facilities are excellent. They have a wonderful theater, two gyms, and huge pool with separate diving section, two large playing fields, a track, tennis courts, and basketball courts. Separate areas/buildings for ES, MS, and HS.

After school activities are numerous for all grade levels. Some activities include Tae Kwon Do, cooking, crafts, riding, swimming, tennis, soccer, volleyball, basketball, track and field, just to name a few.

What has this school done to help your child transition from the curriculum in your home country into the curriculum in your new country? Are there programs to prepare your child for repatriation?

I don't see this issue being addressed by the school very much. But they do have counselors assigned to each student that your child can see if they are experiencing problems like this.

How would you describe the social activities available for parents through this school? Are there parent-teacher organizations?

There is a PTO that is active with coordinating events such as the Halloween and Spring Carnivals. However it is often difficult to get parents to participate in the PTO for some reason.

What advice would you give to someone considering enrolling their child in this school?

It's a great school for all grades. My son really loves it there. The curriculum is far more challenging than in the US. For many new students new study habits will need to be formed and time management skills will have to be learned.

I want to address the block schedule in MS and HS that another reviewer mentioned. Yes it is true that they only have 4 classes per day, but they are 80 minutes long. So within the month you still get the 860 minutes of class in each subject as with the 8 classes a day for 40 minutes.

And the rotation is not that hard to catch on to. A,B,C,D classes meet on even days, while E,F,G,H classes meet on the odd days. So basically the same block of 4 classes every other day. Generally you get 2 core classes with 2 electives per day. My son loves that he doesn't have Math or Science everyday. They also have 15 minute breaks between each class which gives them time to speak with the teacher if they need help in a class.