Brussels American School

] It is located near Brussels, Belgium on a 17 acre area in Sterrebeek, part of the municipality of Zaventem. The school serves as a DoDDS private school for all US military or diplomatic dependents. It celerated its fortieth anniversary in late 2007. It also takes many European students as well. Its proximity to NATO(North Atlantic Treaty Organization) helps serve as an excellent opportunity for American children to enroll in a school taught to familiarize them with the American school system.

If Brussels American School was compared to any public American school in the States, it would be placed at the top half to third.

School's Policies

Its mission statement is stated as such,
* provide a broad curriculum encompassing proven instructional techniques that meet the special needs of all students and which utilize appropriate assessment instruments;
* establish an environment where students can participate in and understand the democratic decision-making process and that encourages students to explore new, and challenge existing ideas;
* foster a positive atmosphere that promotes socially responsible behavior;
* enrich student experiences through exposure to a variety of aesthetic and cultural activities;
* help students to reach maximum physical potential and to see the relationship between proper health habits, their physical well-being, and performance; and
* encourage interaction between students of all nationalities with emphasis on understanding their host nation.

The rules of BAS could be described as strict at best. Most students feel that they're restrained excessively. However, the term 'excessively' is used in comparison to the average American high school. The higher level of discipline can be attributed to the higher student:teacher ratio, which is abnormally high due to a low number of students.

Student Body

The school has fifty-five faculty members, not including volunteers. Many who have been at Brussels American School for more than fourteen years. The student body holds, on average, three hundred students K-12, and a little under one hundred students in its highschool. With so few students, BAS changed from Division Three to Division Four in the year 2006. Of all the DoDDS schools, Brussels American School holds the highest percentage of students who graduate, highest average SAT scores, and highest acceptance rate to the Service Academies.

Sports

The school's mascot is a brigand, or land pirate. Being a Division IV school, BAS has trouble overcoming the competition of the many more active, larger, and better schools, but still manages to compete aggressively. Brussels American School has seven active sports. They are; Cross-country, Girl's Volleyball, Football, Wrestling, Boy's and Girl's Basketball, Soccer, and Track. Brussels has been the leading D-IV champions for almost every sport for several years running, 2000-present, except for Football, Boys' Basketball, and Track.

References