Established 1951 Enrollment 1,350 Head of School Coreen Ruiz Hester Colors Black, Orange | Grades K–12 Alumni 12,653 Phone +44 20 7449 1200 Founded 1951 | |
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Type International schoolNon-profit Profiles | ||
The American School in London (ASL) is an international, private, independent K-12 school in St John's Wood, London, England for students aged between 4 and 18 years.
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76% of students have at least one parent with a US passport, but the school’s admissions policy stresses that the school tries to admit a diverse student body, and 41% of pupils have at least one other passport. It is, however, very much an American school. The school takes children aged 4 all the way to 18 and provides “American education with a global perspective”. The kindergarten classes are inspired by the Reggio Emilia method. The school has been rated “outstanding” across the board by Ofsted. The high school has a great track record for Ivy League placements.
History
The school was established in 1951 by journalist Stephen Eckard. It was first situated in Eckard's home, and was a school primarily for 13 students.
Visitors to the school have included U.S. Presidents Harry Truman, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama during their visits to London. At a visit to The American School In London, Mr Obama made a short speech in which he talked about the US-UK relationship and the importance of children as the future.
According to the Good Schools Guide, eighty per cent of the 1,350 students hold US passports, and half of those are multi-passport holders from dual national families.
A 2013 Ofsted inspection report rated ASL as "outstanding" in all fields inspected.
In 2011 Walters & Cohen won an invited competition to design a new community arts building for the American School in London. The new building’s sculptural quality is fitting to the work that goes on inside. The ground floor provides exhibition space, with art, sculpture, ceramics and photography studios on the other three floors. An elegant concrete frame provides long span, column-free studio space at all levels, bringing in daylight from the north and south and creating a flexible, spacious and comfortable environment in which pupils can develop their art.
New photographs - published on the Architects Journal website on 27 January 2017 - reveal the school’s new £10m underground sports centre and swimming pool, and a four-storey arts block complete with an exhibition space and studios for photography, sculpture and ceramics.
About 20 years ago the school brought in architectural practice Orms to look at a masterplan for the school’s future development. The 15-year plan was aimed at providing more sports facilities, more science teaching space and better facilities for the arts. These two projects – a swimming pool and sports centre by Orms and an arts building by Walters & Cohen won via an invited competition in 2011 – complete this masterplan, marking the final chapter in this phase of the school’s development.