His Majesty King Abdullah II took part in a ceremony yesterday evening marking King's Academy's official commencement of its first academic year. The convocation ceremony brought together the faculty and the school's 106 students.

During the ceremony, Chairman of King's Academy's Board of Trustees Safwan Masri said: “This is a historic moment that is the culmination of many years of hard work dedicated to the realization of His Majesty King Abdullah II's great vision to build a world-class institution that will serve Jordan and the region for generations to come.”

Addressing the audience, which also included present and former members of the King's Academy board of trustees, Headmaster Eric Widmer welcomed the classes of 2010 and 2011.

“On this incomparably beautiful campus,” he said, “our beginnings have been anything but humble and yet, we look humbly on those exciting challenges now before us, and all the opportunities that go with them.”

This first group of King's Academy students consists of 66 boys and 40 girls, equally divided between 9th and 10th grades. Twenty-three are full boarders, 52 are weekday boarders and 31 are day students. This year's students hail from Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Palestine, the United Arab Emirates, Taiwan and the United States

Inspired by His Majesty, and modeled after his high school alma mater Deerfield Academy in the United States, King's Academy is a private, progressive, co-educational boarding and day school integrating the New England boarding school experience in the historical and intellectual context of the Middle East.

Welcoming talented students from all backgrounds, religions and social classes, the school aims to foster empathy, tolerance and harmony. The dynamic curriculum includes an integrated co-curricular program of athletics, activities, and community service, and students live in a nurturing residential environment that facilitates their intellectual development.

The school is situated 30 minutes south of Amman, near Madaba, on a 575-dunum site and is comprised of 23 buildings and state-of-the-art facilities.

King's Academy is the only private, co-educational not-for-profit boarding school in Jordan and the Middle East, with 30% of its income allocated to full and partial scholarships for students from Jordan.