Maseru, Lesotho: American International School of Lesotho: 2023-2024 Fact Sheet

The American International School of Lesotho (AISL) is a non-profit, independent coeducational day school, which offers an American style educational program to students from preschool (age three) through grade eight. Pre-school and Pre-K are currently half day programs. The school, founded in 1991, serves the needs of the wider American community, and other students seeking an American style education delivered in English. The school year is divided into three trimesters extending from August to November, December to March and March to mid-June. AISL is accredited through Middle States Accreditation (MSA).

Organization: AISL has a school board comprising up to fifteen members. Five members are elected from the parent community, two board members are appointed by the U.S. Ambassador, and the board itself may appoint up to three extra members who may have specific skills the school needs. AISL aims to involve the parent community as much as possible when organizing events, and community building activities.

Curriculum: AISL’s standards-based curriculum is similar to that of established U.S. public schools. Regular academic courses include language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. In addition to the regular academic courses; music, French language, technology, library, art, and physical education are offered across grade levels. The standards used by all grades are those from the American Education Reaches Out (AERO) program.

Faculty: In the 2023-2024 school year, AISL has 32 total staff including 17 teachers, 1 of whom are U.S. citizens, 11 host-country nationals, and 6 third-country nationals. Our faculty and staff represent 7 nationalities from Australia, the U.S. Nigeria, Philippines, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and India. All teachers have Bachelors or Masters in an educational field.

Enrollment: At the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year, enrollment was 109 (Preschool = 8, PreK = 7, Kindergarten = 16, G1 = 10, G2 = 10, G3 = 14, G4 = 5, G5 = 18, G6 = 6, G7 = 6, G8 = 9). There are 19 U.S. citizens, 49 host-country nationals, and 41 third-country nationals. Our admissions process includes successful completion of an application, and enrollment is based on previous school records, age, and an entry assessment.

Students with special needs: While we are a small school, we are able to support a number of needs within our student population. This is dependent on the student’s requirements. We have the ability to push-in support within the classroom or pull-out should the need be required. The more information a family provides to us well in advance, even if only considering Maseru as a post, will help us in knowing what support we can provide.

Facilities: AISL consists of several buildings on campus with a total of 14 classrooms. All classrooms have one or more computers with internet capability and teachers have use of digital whiteboards in classrooms. AISL has a multipurpose building that houses our library, and serves as a safety haven, and an assembly hall. The campus has a 24-hour security presence. There is ample area to play using playground equipment, and a soccer field with an all-season artificial surface. An optional door-to-door school bus service is available at an additional charge.

Finances:  As of October 1st (school year 2023-2024), about 95% of AISL’s income is derived from tuition. Annual tuition rates are as follows: PS and PK: approx. $3,286 USD a year; K-Grade 8: $14,840 a USD. There is a one-time application fee of $220 and a one-time capital fee of $3,630 for grades Kindergarten and above. A sibling discount applies for two or more children from the same family. All fees are payable in U.S. dollars for sponsored parents. Host country families, or self-paying parents have the option to pay in Lesotho Maloti.

Special Needs: Review the Special Needs Profile for this school to learn more about their capability to support students with exceptionalities.

This Fact Sheet is intended to provide general information. Prospective users of the schools may wish to inquire further of A/OPR/OS or contact the school directly for more specific and up-to-date information. Information and statistics are current as of September 2023 and are provided by the school.