The Arabic Program at American Community School (ACS) Beirut is the first to receive the Middle States Association World Language Program of Distinction for offering an exemplary language program, a model of excellence in curriculum design, instructional strategies and assessments.
American and international schools face challenges in building strong Arabic programs that seamlessly merge U.S. approaches and methodologies with Arabic language specifications. Often, host governments require schools to take a traditional approach to teaching the curricula. This, combined with a lack of proper resources, teacher training, and access to engaging materials, add to the challenges overseas U.S. schools face in developing meaningful Arabic language programs.
To respond to these challenges, ACS Beirut’s Arabic program initiated a major overhaul of its curriculum in 2003, and a second curriculum review in 2013.
Today, experienced Arabic teachers incorporate both U.S. and Arabic-specific approaches to a standards-based curriculum that also meets requirements of the Lebanese Baccalaureate track (LB), the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Program and the AERO project.
