King's Academy, Amman | International Schools Guide

Founded by King Abdullah II in 2007 in homage to his own school days at Deerfield, this is the only full New England-style boarding school in the region. Grades 7 to 12 only.

144-acre campus at Madaba-Manja, about 30 minutes south of Amman. Around 500 students from more than 40 nationalities, with a meaningful boarding population and roughly 40 percent on need-based financial aid. The curriculum is American-style liberal arts, with AP exams in 24 subjects and Middle Eastern history, Arabic and culture woven through.

It is the school US embassy and regional NGO families actually mention by name when they want a real boarding option for older teenagers. Outcomes into US, UK and Canadian universities are strong. Day fees run JOD 27,000 to 38,000 and full boarding tops 53,000 USD, putting it in a price band of its own in Jordan. Penny Townsend, an experienced US head, took over in 2022.

Year level	Age	Fee
Middle School (Day)	12	JOD 18,860
Upper School (Day)	15	JOD 29,800
Upper School (Boarding)	15	JOD 37,750

Year level

Age

Fee

Middle School (Day)

JOD 18,860

Upper School (Day)

JOD 29,800

Upper School (Boarding)

JOD 37,750

His Majesty King Abdullah II's flagship boarding and day school, sitting on a vast purpose-built campus near Madaba, roughly half an hour down the airport road from central Amman. Modelled on Deerfield Academy in the US, it runs an AP curriculum across grades 7 to 12 with a mostly foreign English-speaking faculty, 45-plus nationalities in the dorms and a level of facilities Jordan's private sector cannot otherwise match. The endowment funds an unusually deep financial aid programme: a clear majority of Jordanian students attend on partial or full scholarship, which keeps the social mix wider than the JOD 28,000-plus day fee would suggest. University outcomes are the strongest in the region. Two recurring caveats: the price tag is in another league for full-fee families, and the Madaba location means a long daily commute for day students whose families live in Amman.

Positives

Academic experience and faculty. AP curriculum delivered by a largely international English-speaking faculty, with small classes and close teacher-student contact. Graduates describe a workload that exceeds what they later find at American universities, and credit the school with preparing them for selective admissions.
University destinations. Outcomes from recent cohorts include Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Dartmouth, Penn, Stanford, Duke, Northwestern and Georgetown in the US, alongside St Andrews, Edinburgh, King's College London and Toronto. The 2025 class placed around a third of its 142 seniors at universities inside the global top 100.
Boarding and campus life. Purpose-built residential campus with single-gender dorms, round-the-clock supervision, weekend trips, dorm traditions and a packed extracurricular calendar. Alumni single out the boarding experience and exposure to peers from 45-plus countries as the bit no other school in Jordan replicates.
Financial aid reach. Royal-foundation endowment funds an unusually deep aid pool. Estimates from former students put roughly half to two-thirds of Jordanian pupils on partial or full scholarship, including families from outside Amman who could not otherwise afford private education. Admission is by entrance exam and interview rather than ability to pay.
International mix and networking. Forty-five-plus nationalities in residence, with a notable contingent of regional and international boarders alongside Jordanian day and boarding students. Alumni talk about the network of classmates as a long-term asset, with the social environment a clear step up from a typical Amman private school.

Fees and accessibility. Day tuition runs roughly USD 26,600 to 42,000 and full boarding sits around USD 53,000, well above anything else in Jordan. Locals describe full-fee enrolment as the preserve of senior officials, business owners and royal connections; the scholarship pool exists precisely because the headline price excludes almost everyone else.

Location and commute. Campus is in Madaba-Manja, off the airport road. Day families typically face a 30-minute drive each way from southern Amman neighbourhoods like Dahyet al-Nakheel or Sahaba, and longer from north Amman. Boarding is the cleaner option for families not already near the airport road.