Our History

Tanzania, February 1947. A small mud-walled, thatch-roofed building with four pupils and their teacher was the beginning of Rosslyn Academy. This school, called Hilltop School quickly grew to 16 children with more permanent buldings. Malaria became such a problem that the school moved to a higher elevation, just outside the Maasai Mara Game Reserve in Tanzania.

The school’s name was changed to Mara Hills Elementary School. Because it was a boarding school, students would study for three months and spend one month at home. Students transferred to other schools after middle school because the school only went through eighth grade.

Growth became so rapid that the Mennonite Mission Board authorized land purchase in a more central location with better health care and air travel, specifically Nairobi, Kenya. The Mission Board approved the purchase of 20 acres of land from British Major General Charles George Phillips. The majority of the land was a coffee estate.

The school, now named Rosslyn Academy, opened in August 1967 and followed the American educational system. The Board soon added ninth grade, and the Southern Baptist missions became a part owner in August, 1975. In 1986 the dorm closed and Rosslyn became a day school. Enrollment grew and new buildings were added. The Assemblies of God became the third owner in February 1988.

With the dorm closed and an increasing number of middle school students, Rosslyn moved to establish a high school. The first class graduated in 1991. With a fully functional high school, Rosslyn was accredited in 1992. As new facilities have been built, the capacity of the high school doubled. As a result, many more student positions are available for the international community. With the completion of the gym, the auditorium and the media center the basic infrastructure of Rosslyn was completed.

On December 27, 2007, the long awaited dream of having a swimming pool finally became a reality. The pool is now open to the Rosslyn Community. The pool operation hours are regularly published in the Rosslyn Reporter which can be found in the “News” section of this website.