SABIS International School Runda

Nairobi's outpost of the SABIS global network, opened in 2018 in the leafy Runda suburb and pitched as the most academically driven of the city's newer international schools.

Part of the SABIS network of around 100 schools across roughly 20 countries, the Runda campus runs the standard SABIS Point System with continual short-cycle assessment and a pace that families either love or find relentless. The school covers ages 3 to 18 with around 210 students, and offers Cambridge IGCSE alongside Cambridge A Levels and AP. Fees run KES 790,500 to 2,226,000, which is mid-market for Nairobi internationals. The campus has 24-hour security, a serene compound with parking, sports facilities, and accessible design.

Families pick SABIS Runda when they want a more academically focused environment than the older British-style Karen schools. The drilled, points-based methodology rewards children who like structure and steady drilling. Multilingual classrooms and Kiswahili lessons land well. The Parent School Association is active. Transfers in and out of other SABIS schools globally tend to be smooth, which suits diplomatic and corporate-relocation families who move every few years.

• Opened in 2018 in Runda, north Nairobi, on the SABIS proprietary curriculum with day and boarding options for ages 3 to 15.
• The school sits on the Nairobi shortlist for expat families near the UN and embassy circuit. r/Kenya commenters add it to standard Nairobi school lists alongside Brookhouse, ISK and Braeburn.
• Independent commentary praises the campus, security and co-curricular facilities. Reviewers describe it as more academically focused than other Nairobi international schools, with the SABIS digital platform giving parents continuous visibility on performance.
• Network-level signal cuts the other way. Former teachers describe SABIS schools as exam factories with heavy rote testing and limited direct contact between parents and class teachers, which colours how the SABIS model is read in Nairobi threads even where Runda is not specifically named.
• No safeguarding or fee-handling threads on the Runda campus surfaced. The independent parent pool specific to this campus is shallow.