Schooling / Education

Saudi Aramco Schools (SAS) has provided educational services to dependants of Saudi Aramco employees since 1940. We’re proud of our accomplishments, and our educational program enjoys an outstanding worldwide reputation – receiving tremendous recognition from parents, former students, staff members, consultants, professional organizations and other schools. With talented professional staff, excellent facilities, and located in a fascinating region of the world, our education service has proved to be rewarding for both students and parents alike.

Our world-class education program helps us continue to attract and retain a superb international workforce, and so our vision is to offer our employees and their children a pre-eminent school system. We aim to see our students achieve their maximum potential in a culture of continuous improvement.

Our dedicated team of staff is passionate about promoting effective learning and providing unique opportunities for expatriate students to expand their cultural awareness.

Schools

Since it began as a one-room facility in Dhahran in 1945 Saudi Aramco Schools (SAS) has grown. We now cater for approximately 1,300 students, from kindergarten through to grade 9.

The SAS system is located in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia where it currently operates in four Saudi Arabian Oil Company communities: Abqaiq and 'Udhailiyah in the south, Dhahran in the central area and Ras Tanura in the north.

Each school campus is modeled on contemporary North American schools, with spacious, networked classrooms. They offer a wide variety of facilities, including learning media centers, art studios, music rooms, science labs, gymnasiums, swimming pools, sports fields, band rooms and shaded playground equipment.

School Year

The Saudi Aramco Schools 175-day calendar begins in September and ends in June. It is divided into three trimesters of approximately twelve weeks each. The school week is Saturday through Wednesday, with weekends on Thursday and Friday. This schedule conforms to the Saudi Aramco and national Saudi Arabian workweek. The school day for students consists of six contact hours in grades one through nine, and five and one-quarter contact hours for kindergarten. Company and national holidays are observed.

Class Size

Fixed student to teacher ratios have been established in our schools. In kindergarten through grade 9, the number of students per teacher may go up to 20 in core classes and up to 25 in exploratory classes. For band/chorus/PE, the maximum total daily contact per teacher is 200 students.