The school follows the Common Core Standards (CCS) used in the United States for English, Math, and Next Generation State Standards for Science. Standards provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them.
The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers. With the standards our students will be fully prepared for the future, our communities will be best positioned to compete successfully in the global economy. Building on the excellent foundation of standards states have laid, the Common Core State Standards are the first step in providing our young people with a high-quality education. It should be clear to every student, parent, and teacher what the standards of success are in every school.
The Common Core State Standards focus on core conceptual understandings and procedures starting in the early grades, thus enabling teachers to take the time needed to teach core concepts and procedures well—and to allow students to master them. With students, parents, and teachers all on the same page and working together for shared goals, we can ensure that students make progress each year and graduate from school prepared to succeed in college and a modern workforce. Using the common core curriculum evens the educational field for all students in and outside the country.
This cohesive curriculum would also ensure that our students are taught all necessary skills to get into universities and colleges of their choice inside and outside of the Kingdom, Europe, American, Middle East, Asia, and other countries where American diplomas are accepted.
18 were selected for the KFF/IB Project (Developing learners, leaders, and teachers for the future of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia) and with pleasure, Rand Schools Group was one of them. By this spirited step, we will be connected locally and internationally with the family of IB world schools.
Founded in 1968, the International Baccalaureate® (IB) is a non-profit educational foundation offering four highly respected programs of international education (PYP, MYP, DP, CP) that develop the intellectual, personal, emotional, and social skills needed to live, learn and work in a rapidly globalizing world.
Teaching and learning in the IB celebrate the many ways people work together to construct meaning and make sense of the world. Through the interplay of asking, doing, and thinking, this constructivist approach leads towards open, democratic classrooms.
An IB education empowers young people for a lifetime of learning, independently and in collaboration with others. It prepares a community of learners to engage with global challenges through inquiry, action, and reflection. PYP will ensure that the school, students, and parents move together in a rewarding and rich learning journey that will allow all learners to express and discover themselves within the IB Learner Profile.
Provide a caring, safe, and warm learning environment with rich curricular and co-curricular programs that stimulate curiosity, freedom of expression, intercultural understanding, and life-long learning. RIS is dedicated to creating a supportive learning community for open-mindedness and life-long learning. “We are Life-Long Learners.”
A commitment to improving the teaching and learning in the school community by delivering a rich, high-quality program of international education that shares a powerful vision and develops the intellectual, personal, emotional, and social skills needed to live, learn and work in rapidly globalizing world. We encourage curiosity and learn through inquiry in a stimulating environment. We engage our community of learners in realizing their potentials and growing their knowledge and skills. We understand and appreciate our own cultures and personal histories, and are open to the perspectives, values, and traditions of other individuals and communities. We support intercultural understanding and respect the different views of others.
Rand school is divided into three sections: Rand international KG, Rand International Primary, and Rand Alhalyia Primary. This categorization is based on language-focused and grade level. The school is licensed by the Ministry of Education.
Rand school was initially founded as Rand International in 2006 in the city of Qatif. In its first two years, the school had functioned as simply kindergarten in a small building. It started with 75 kids and jumped quickly to nearly 140 kids in the second year with reaching its maximum capacity. Rand Ahalyia section was added in 2011 to offer a more Arabic-focused curriculum that was required by a very important segment of the population.
The growing demand for English focused primary curriculum offered the incentive to the owner to seize an opportunity of renting a huge building in the city of Saihat formerly a commercial shopping center that is approximately 5 miles away from the first school building. The mall was abandoned for several years due to its financial bankruptcy. A great effort and large investment were required to transform the place into a school complex. Constructions, renovations, and maintenance have continued throughout the years to reshape the current school building.
Today, the total number of Rand Schools is approximately 1800 students, of which about 520 students are in kindergarten and 800 are in English-focused curriculum and 520 are in Arabic-focused curriculum.
Rand schools have developed rapidly over the years in terms of educational quality and learning environment as started to attract a very large number of parents from both surrounding both Qatif and Dammam districts.
In the initial two years, the English-focused curriculum functioned as a mixed-gender school and was dominated by non-Saudis since there was a restriction on Saudis to get into International primary school. In contrast, Kindergarten has been dominated from the start by Saudis since there was flexibility for Saudis to get enrolled without government restrictions.
In 2012, our international primary school has become predominantly Saudis as we have obtained the official permit from the Ministry of Education to accept direct Saudi enrollment with meeting the requirements. This development has resulted in large Saudi enrollments especially in Grade One. The abolishment of grade four to grade seven for boys led to the loss of a large number of students, but this was being compensated by a greater number with the inflow of Saudis. Saudis in Grades have been transformed over the years from a small minority into the vast majority.
The rise of Rand schools over a short period within the region has not come from a vacuum. We were aware from the start that upgrading the learning environment and promoting self-learning are not easy tasks but they can not be achieved without effective utilization of resources, continuous improvement, and leadership commitment. Almost all our current leadership has risen from within the school staff based on their traits, cognitive skills, and commitment to professionalism. The school policy has always given the priority to distinguished school teachers and staff to move up to the management level which reflected the space for upward mobility.
Our endeavors have paid back by having an academic accreditation for quality in education from the AdvancED and being currently an IB candidate school (International Baccalaureate ). Both advanced and IB have been supporting our school to improve in all aspects concerning leadership capacity, resources capacity, collaborative culture, integrated curriculum, intercultural understanding, and life-long learning. The learning journey is endless and every year Rand School is exerting greater efforts to continuous improvement. We are reaching the moment where we are heading toward constructing a new school complex that includes all levels from K to 12 for boys and girls.
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