St. Constantine International School (SCIS) is a day and boarding school with two campuses located in Arusha, Tanzania. Founded by a Greek foundation in 1951, the school operates a British Curriculum with a Tanzanian slant and heart! SCIS delivers the Early Years Foundation Stage, Cambridge International Curriculum from Years 1 to 9, Cambridge IGCSE in Years 10 and 11, concluding in the A-Levels in Years 12 and 13. A member of Round Square and Cambridge International Examinations, the school is working towards an internationally recognized accreditation by 2024. SCIS is within easy reach of northern Tanzania’s great wildlife parks and less than two hours by air to Zanzibar Island. The school celebrates its awe-inspiring location:
We are very lucky in that we are surrounded by some of the most famous landscapes and national parks in Africa, making it easy for us to plan Outdoor Education activities.
Arusha is the safari capital of Tanzania! SCIS is about a four-hour drive from Serengeti National Park, which hosts the largest terrestrial mammal migration in the world. Less than three hours away is Ngorongoro Crater, the world’s largest inactive, intact and unfilled volcanic caldera. Formed around two to three million years ago, the Crater is now inhabited by hippopotamuses, elephants, lions, and other mammals, including the critically endangered black rhinoceros.
Two hours away stands Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain in the world! Many SCIS students climb this UNESCO World Heritage monolith as part of their Round Square adventure experience.
Also within the school’s reach are Lake Manyara, Tarangire National Park, and Lake Eyasi as well as Olduvai Gorge, known as “the seat of humanity,” where Dr. Louis Leakey discovered remains pointing to the early human evolution of Homo habilis.
Main Campus, which opened in 1952, is strategically located 15 minutes away from the Central Business District and a few meters from the biggest mall in Arusha. The school’s grounds are filled with boulevards of over 800 jacaranda and flame trees. Main Campus caters to children from ages 3 to 18. In addition to 550 day-students and 75 boarding students, bands of vervet monkeys, bushbabies, three and two-horned chameleons, and more than 100 species of birds populate the school. Surrounded by more than 1,000 acres of the famed Burka coffee plantation and at the foot of Africa’s eighth highest peak, Mount Meru, the school community enjoys majestic views from virtually anywhere on campus. The school’s design is a simple, but elegant Greek-style, encompassing 56 instructional classrooms. SCIS also boasts a wonderful on-campus swimming pool, basketball courts, tennis courts, cricket nets and excellent football pitches, which several outside teams are grateful to use for training and matches.
Town Campus was purpose-built in the center of Arusha in September 2011. Town Campus currently holds classes ranging from Nursery to Year 2, which means that families living close to town can benefit from an SCIS education without sending their little ones across town. Teachers collaborate across the two campuses to provide students with hands-on and appropriate learning activities, and the students at Town Campus are given many opportunities to interact with their peers at the main campus.
Facilities at SCIS include a library for primary and secondary levels, with welcoming spaces for study and collaboration, each staffed with professional librarians. Two fully-equipped computer laboratories, as well as Wi-Fi across both campuses, supporting computer and tablet use. We are moving towards a BYOL policy for Secondary students. The school also houses five science laboratories, a multi-purpose gym, an assembly hall, and a dining room. Boarders enjoy a dining room and common room with a plasma TV and pool table. Sports facilities comprise a 25-meter swimming pool, a 10-meter training/baby pool, two basketball courts, two tennis courts, two volley ball courts, two football fields, a rugby pitch, and a one-kilometer cross-country track circling the grounds.
At SCIS, every student is assigned to one of four Houses. Students take pride in competing for their House in a wide range of activities: sports, dance, debate, and music. The House system not only fosters a support network but also friendships and the exploration of interests, hobbies, sports, and cultural interests. Students build confidence, take on new responsibilities, and strengthen teamwork and leadership abilities. All Houses within the boarding community include support staff who oversee day-to-day care and supervision, and the monitoring of students’ academic and co-curricular progress. The House System alongside the Tutor System, complement SCIS’s Pastoral Care. SCIS aims to provide the necessary emotional support for each and every child.
SCIS offers more than 40 electives within the Round Square Programme, built around the IDEALS: Internationalism, Democracy, Environmentalism, Adventure, Leadership, Service. Activities on Wednesday afternoons align with full curricular integration across the different subjects.
Many extra-curricular activities are also offered. Primary students may participate in swimming, chess, music, taekwondo, dance, drama, roller skating and many more. Secondary school students may choose swimming, dance, music, drama, leadership programs, the Titans News Network, the Work Experience Programme and various others.
Students can explore and express their musical talents through the music co-curricular Peripatetic Programme. Lessons are available during the school day in drums, strings—including guitar-- woodwind, piano, and voice. Parents are notified annually of the lessons available and associated costs. Both the Secondary School Band and Secondary Choir—with its repertoire ranging from classical to classical contemporary and African fusion—perform on many school occasions and at events around Arusha.
Depending on the season and the age of the student, the following sports are offered: hockey, cricket, athletics, football, touch rugby, netball, basketball, cricket, and cross country. A member of the Northern Tanzania Schools Athletics Association, the school competes in football, rounders, athletics, swimming, cricket, hockey, touch rugby, netball, and cross country.
SCIS enjoys taking students off campus to learn. Nursery school students go on day trips to Kenya and Zanzibar as well as to the airport, fire station, and a farm. In recent years, primary students have travelled to India, the UK, and South Africa for Round Square conferences.
St. Constantine International School is interested in hiring certified teachers, including couples with non-teaching partners and newly-qualified candidates. Teachers must possess an academic degree in the subject they will be teaching and proof of COVID-19 vaccination. Those up to the age of 55 may obtain a work visa. A thorough reference and police check will be undertaken as part of the recruitment process.
The benefits package includes a non-taxed salary and allowances for housing, utilities, furniture, and airfare. Staff members are provided with lunch and home internet service. Tuition is free for up to two dependents. Professional development that is linked to the school's strategic goals is provided. Local health insurance, associated with six East African countries, is fully covered and includes dental. The low cost of living combined with the benefit package amounts to good saving potential.
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Please note: The information presented about this school was valid on the date published. This information may change, and the most up-to-date information can be found on the school profile.
