Although the mother school started in 1886 in Lebanon, the first branch of The International Schools of Choueifat (members of the SABIS® School Network) in the Gulf started in 1975-6. Now, there are nine schools located in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Al-Ain, Ras Al-Khaimah, Ruwais, Um Al-Qiwain, Doha and Muscat. Courses in all the schools are followed at the same rate. Through the use of videoconferencing, for both teaching and weekly administrative meetings, these nine schools run practically as one. Accordingly, students who transfer from one SABIS® School to another will continue in the new school at exactly the same point at which they left. Transfers can be made at any time during the year, subject to availability of places. This feature gives a definite advantage to parents who may move from one city to another on a temporary or a permanent basis.
All but one of The International Schools of Choueifat in the gulf operate in purpose-built premises set in campuses of various sizes (the construction of the purpose-built school in Doha will start soon). The schools have an international body of staff and students. Currently, the student population in the nine schools is 10520 in academic year 0304 (Gulf Region) drawn from around 80 countries. This provides a diverse cultural exposure to complement the high-level education offered.
During the last twenty-seven years, hundreds of students have graduated from The International Schools of Choueifat in the Gulf region and then graduated from top universities in the world. In the UK, these universities include Oxford, Cambridge, LSE, Bristol, Edinburgh, Bath, The Imperial College of Science and Technology and all other London Universities, Birmingham, Liverpool, etc. In the USA, they include Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Yale, Stanford, U-Penn, and tens of other prominent universities. In Canada these universities include McGill, Columbia, McMaster, Concordia, etc. Still other ex-students graduated from top universities in Japan, Germany, France, Belgium, Australia, and other countries. These students graduated as engineers, medical doctors, economists, computer scientists, and so on, and are presently very successful in their careers. Some letters of acceptance that our students received from top universities are displayed in the administration lobby of the school.