Round Square IDEALS at King's

King’s Academy actively fosters and encourages global understanding and citizenship. This is reflected in the diverse student and faculty body, participation in international collaborations (projects, events such as Round Square Conferences, Model United Nations, and debate competitions), curriculum material, and student exchanges to name a few examples. Through the student exchange program, students have travelled to Australia, Colombia, Germany, India, Japan, Kenya, Namibia, Peru, Singapore, South Africa, Tanzania and the United States, and in turn, hosted students from these and other countries. The King’s Global Times newspaper, launched in 2020, is one example of a student-led initiative to celebrate the diverse range of languages at King’s, by inviting students to write articles in their native or learned languages.

King’s has also participated in annual international conferences across the globe in countries including Canada, Singapore, India, Kenya, South Africa, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many of these activities were held virtually. For example, students participated in the Zoom Postcards initiative, whereby Round Square students around the world met online to discuss topics ranging from the significance of colors in different cultures, cultural festivals and environmental issues.

Read more about the summer exchange program at King’s:

• Summer Exchanges Offer King’s Students a Global Perspective
• Summer Exchanges Immerse King’s Students in Global Cultures
• King’s Summer Exchanges Expand Student Horizons
• RS Students Opt for Exchange At King’s

King’s Academy provides students with many opportunities to put democracy into action, such as practicing voting through the Student Leadership Council (SLC), Academic Honor and Disciplinary committees and debate through activities such as Model United Nations and Jordan Model Parliament (JMP), advocating for environmental issues, and representing the community through the Food Committee.

Read more about the Jordan Model Parliament (JMP):

• JMP: Preparing the Next Generation for a VIbrant and Professional Political Life, Beyond King's Spring 2023 Issue
• The Evolution of JMP, Beyond King’s Spring 2017 Issue
• King’s Hosts Inaugural JMP Conference

In its commitment to environment protection and sustainability, King’s Academy has launched numerous environmental initiatives with the ultimate goal of becoming a “green” school. Since joining the Eco-Schools, King’s has taken on a range of projects in the local community, which have grown to include regular street clean-ups, tree planting with the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, raising climate change awareness through 350.org’s “Drops of Hope” initiative, a recycle bin launch in partnership with the Greater Amman Municipality and an awareness campaign for the coral ecosystems in Aqaba with the Royal Marine Conservation Society of Jordan (JREDS). King’s green activities around campus include hosting the Ecos and Greens Conference (EGC), establishing composting bins, replacing plastic water bottles in the Dining Hall with reusable ones, recycling paper, and reducing plastic consumption by reusing plastic bags in classroom bins. In 2021, students in the Environment and Sustainability Club lobbied for the protection of the Dana Biosphere Reserve and Na’ur Forest through the creation of a petition that garnered nationwide and international attention.

The Round Square Office at King’s Academy provides community members with opportunities to discover another side of Jordan through a range of local hikes in which environmental trips are often integrated. Explorers experience cultural immersion upon visiting historic and archaeological sites such as the Dead Sea, Petra and Jerash, and witness the natural beauty of the kingdom’s green and desert valleys, including Wadi Rum, Dana Biosphere Reserve and Wadi Mujib in addition to opportunities to adventure abroad through hiking trips in the Himalayas and the Sultanate of Oman.

King’s Academy provides students with many opportunities to practice and hone their leadership skills through real-life experiences; students can serve on the Student Leadership Council (SLC), and as proctors or junior counselors, and as big brother-big sister mentors. They can lead and coordinate school conferences such as MUN, JMP and Ecos and Greens, and can start clubs and initiatives related to issues they are passionate about.

Read more about the Jordan Model Parliament (JMP):

• JMP Middle School Conference Inspires Students to Make Jordan Better
• Youth Urged to Drive Change at Sixth JMP

Community service is a major focus of extracurricular life at King’s Academy, and the school has a robust service program based on various student initiatives and community partnerships which involve working with the immediate and wider community. From tutoring younger children English and math, to working with refugees, the elderly and patients with disabilities, to building homes for underprivileged families around the kingdom, summer volunteer opportunities, fundraising and awareness drives, and the senior class service project, students participate in a wide range of service initiatives. Read more about how King’s serves its community here.

Read more about living the Round Square IDEALS here.