American International School of Jeddah

What the school is

History and the Mohammadiyah campus

AISJ was founded in 1952 by expatriate parents as the Parents Cooperative School and took its current name in 2004. The purpose-built Mohammadiyah campus opened in January 2019. It covers approximately 50,000 m² and was designed for around 1,750 pupils, with a 650-seat auditorium, two gymnasiums and a shaded pool. The library holds more than 20,000 print materials.

The State Department’s 2026 fact sheet lists 1,501 students: 146 in PreK, 656 in elementary, 295 in middle school and 404 in high school. The largest student nationalities are Saudi, American, Egyptian, Lebanese and Canadian. There are 130 faculty, 40 of them US-trained. The fact sheet records MSA accreditation and a non-voting board seat for the US Principal Officer’s representative.

Academics in practice

American curriculum and Advanced Placement

AISJ’s curriculum follows the AERO standards and leads to the AISJ High School Diploma; the school does not admit students into Grade 12, because the diploma needs at least two years of study. All Grade 9–10 students take at least four Pre-AP courses, and AP courses run in Grades 9–12, including AP Capstone (AP Seminar and AP Research) and the AP International Diploma. Each AP course costs SAR 600. AISJ is accredited by the Middle States Association. Wikipedia records IB Diploma authorisation in 2022, but the school’s current high-school pages describe an AP pathway and list no IB courses.

The fee page lists annual learning-support charges of SAR 12,000, SAR 18,000 and SAR 60,000 for its three levels. English-language learning costs SAR 6,900 or SAR 10,500, and speech-language or occupational therapy SAR 7,826–39,130 depending on weekly sessions. A Talented & Gifted service costs SAR 10,000, and one-to-one assistants are charged at cost. An offer of a place may depend on accepting one of these services. Service fees are paid by semester and refunded for unused quarters.

Admissions and cost

Tuition, joining charges and payment terms

The 2026–27 tuition table is shown below. Tuition includes textbooks, classroom assessments and PSAT. New students pay a SAR 500 assessment fee and a SAR 10,000 registration fee; there is no application or capital fee. Pre-K entrants pay registration only when they reach Kindergarten. The board sets the next year’s fees by March. Tuition is paid in two semester instalments, or four for families with three or more children. One week’s attendance makes the full semester payable, and refunds cover only unattended semesters. Late balances attract a 2.5% monthly charge.

Sibling discounts are 5% for the second child, 10% for the third and 15% for later children, counting the child in the highest grade as first; they exclude special services and AP fees. Returning families pay a SAR 4,000 seat deposit by February, credited to tuition and refundable before May 1.

AISJ accepts applications year-round, with no deadline; full grades have a waitlist. Places go first to US passport holders with a sibling at AISJ, then other US passport holders, then siblings of any nationality, then all other applicants. Applicants must use the passport their iqama is issued under. Saudi nationals apply on their Saudi passport and need a Ministry of Education approval letter. Students arriving from a southern-hemisphere school after the first semester repeat the grade they just completed.

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Source: AISJ Tuition and Fees, 2026–27 (Saudi nationals pay no VAT)

The family experience

Travel and the school day

AISJ is in Mohammadiyah in north Jeddah and does not run school buses; parents arrange transport, and compound buses or private cars enter the parking area only with an AISJ ID card or vehicle sticker. Students must arrive by 7:40 am for an 8:00 am start. Kindergarten to Grade 12 finishes at 3:00 pm (2:30 pm on Tuesdays), and Pre-K at 2:30 pm (2:00 pm on Tuesdays).

Questions to ask the school