School and Community
Rosslyn Academy, an international Christian school founded in 1947, is a private coed day school with a North American curriculum for grades Pre-K through 12 located in Nairobi, Kenya. Approximately 34% of the 538 students are American, and more than 41 nationalities are represented in the school.
Rosslyn Academy sits on 40 acres of former coffee plantation in a residential area on the outskirts of Nairobi, and is within a kilometre of the United States Embassy and United Nations Offices headquarters. Rosslyn provides a beautiful and calm refuge from the bustle of the capital city. In the center of the campus, the original plantation house serves as the administration building. The Elementary School, Middle School and High School are all located on the same campus, each school with a separate administration, facilities and culture.
The High School consists of 211 students grades 9 through 12. The Class of 2012 has 54 students. With a school year of 180 days, the first semester begins in August and ends in December. The second semester begins in January and ends in May.
Accreditation: Rosslyn Academy is accredited with the Middle States Association of Schools and Colleges (MSA) and the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI). The Academy is also affiliated with the Association of International Schools in Africa (AISA).
Facilities: The high school building includes academic and fine arts classrooms, while the theater houses an auditorium, individual practice rooms and music classes. The secondary media center houses 13,000 volumes as well as the secondary school technology lab.
Rosslyn is networked with student access to email, online reference tools and other web based applications. A gym and weight room add to a holistic approach to education.
Faculty: Sixty-two full-time professionally certified teaching staff, with an average of 5.2 years teaching experience at Rosslyn, provide a 1:9 ratio of teaching faculty to students. Supporting the teachers are 5 administrators, 1 chaplain, 2 librarians, 4 IT specialists, a guidance counselor and 2 school counselors, one full time and one part time. A full time and one part time resource teachers provide support for students with mild learning needs and 2 part time ESL teachers support students needing English Language assistance.
Academic Program
Requirements: Twenty-four Carnegie units are required for graduation. These include 4 English, 3 Math, 3 Social Studies, 3 Science, 1.5 Physical Education (including Health), 1.5 Fine Arts and 0.5 Technology Units. Students are required to take one semester of Religious Education each year of their attendance.
Advanced Placement (AP): The school offers a broad range of AP courses including Biology, Calculus, Chemistry, English, French, Physics, Studio Art, U.S. History, World History, and European History. Other academic courses include Model United Nations, Pre-Calculus, Statistics, and Environmental Science.
| 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | Average | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biology | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4.00 |
| Calc, AB | 6 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4.09 |
| Eng. Lit. | 6 | 11 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 3.69 |
| Physics B | 3 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 3.42 |
| Spanish | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3.40 |
| U.S. History | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.40 |
| World History | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 3.09 |
The year-long Senior Social Studies class,
required for Seniors, includes study in Economics,
Current Events and Comparative Government. The
course culminates in “Senior Seminar,” comprised
of a 10-12 page research paper and a half hour
High School Area multi-media presentation.
Grading:
The GPA of students is calculated at the end of each semester. There are three grading periods per semester.
Ranking: Rosslyn students are not ranked because small class sizes can mean that small differences in GPA make significant differences in rank (see class sizes in box). Rosslyn’s curriculum is academically rigorous and targets college preparation. Every student is expected to strive for academic success, and the student population at Rosslyn performs quite strongly (see GPA information in box). More than 96% of students who graduate from Rosslyn Academy attend university in the United States, Canada, Australia, Kenya, United Kingdom and Korea.
Past University Acceptances
Abilene Christian University
American University
Appalacian State University
Arizona State University
Azusa Pacific University
Baylor University
Bethel University
Boston College
Boston University
California State University
Calvin College
Cambridge University
CanadianMennoniteUniversity
Carleton University, Canada
Carlton University, MN
CaseWesternReserve University
Cedarville University
Colgate University
College of Charleston
College of William & Mary
Columbia International Univ.
Cornell University, NY
Dallas Baptist University
Davidson College
Daystar University
DePaul University
Drake University
Drexel University
Duke University
Emory University
Evangel University
Furman University
George Fox University
George Mason University
GeorgeWashington University
Goshen College
Greensboro College
Handong University, Seoul
Harding University
Hope College
Hope Intern’l University
Houghton College
John Brown University
Lee University
LeTourneau University
Liberty University
Maryland Inst/College of Art
McGill University, Canada
McMaster University, Canada
Messiah College
Michigan State University
Moody Bible Institute
New York University
Northeastern University
Northwestern University
Old Dominion University
Ouachita Baptist University
Pennsylvania State University
Pepperdine University
Pratt Institute
Princeton University
Purdue University
Rutgers University
Saint Francis Xavier University
Samford University
SavannahCollegeofArts&Design
Seattle Pacifi c University
St. Johns University (NY)
St. Louis University
Stanford University
SUNY-Platts
Syracuse University
Taylor University
Texas A & M University
Texas Christian University
Trinity Western University
Tufts University
Tyndale College, Canada
Union University
United States Int’l University
United States Naval Academy
University of Alberta, Canada
University of Brandon, Canada
University of British Columbia
University of California, Berkeley
University of California, LA
University of Calgary
University of Chicago
University of Colorado, Denver
University of Kentucky
University of Manitoba
University of Minnesota
University of Michigan
University of Nebraska, Lincoln
University of North Carolina
University of Nottingham (UK)
University of Ottawa
University of Pennsylvania
University of Southern California
University of Wisconsin-Milw
University of Toronto
University of Virginia
University of Washington
University of Western Australia
Utica College
Vanderbilt University
Virginia Military Institute
Wake Forest University
Waldorf College
Washington and Lee
Washington University
West Virginia University
Wheaton College
York University
Co-curricular Activities:
Sports Programs: Interscholastic competition is available to all students and includes soccer, basketball, field hockey, volleyball, swimming, tennis, track and field. Rugby is available for male students. Most sports have both varsity and junior varsity levels. The track and weight room are open to all students after school and on weekends.
Fine Arts: Three drama programs are presented each year, with detailed staging, costuming and lighting. Students participate as actors, stagehands, set designers, lighting and sound technicians, and assistant directors. An art gallery in the secondary school displays exhibits of student’s art and photography.
Cultural Field Studies (CFS):
All high school students participate in a one-week field placement which emphasizes cultural experiences, education and service. Activities such as living with a Kenyan family for a week or building a house with Habitat for Humanity help foster a broader appreciation of the world community.
