The American International School of Niamey

Dear AISN Community,

I trust this message finds you well despite the challenges we are currently facing. Today, I wish to address the ongoing situation and its impact on the American International School of Niamey. Due to the unfolding political unrest in Niger, we have had to make the difficult decision to temporarily close the school.  We are making plans to reopen AISN on January 8, 2024. Many families have already made the decision to enroll their students in their home country or at other international schools across Africa.  The decision to close the school was not taken lightly and was deliberated over the last two weeks.  Unfortunately, we have no choice but to close AISN to create a sustainable path for the school’s future.

The safety and well-being of our students, staff, and their families have always been our top priority. The decision to close the school was made to ensure everyone’s safety.  We have been closely monitoring the situation in collaboration with local authorities and international organizations.  Many of the organizations that send children to AISN are on temporary evacuations ranging from thirty to ninety days and some have already designated Niamey as a non-family posting.  As of now, we have very few students and teachers in Niamey. Over the next few months, we will determine who will be able to return in January so we can restart school.  Planning for the future with so many unknowns is difficult, but we believe waiting until January allows all families enough time to make good plans and gives the school enough time to create a quality program and properly staffed school for our returning students.

The AISN Board and I have made the decision to change AISN to a preschool through Grade 9 school.  We will not be continuing our high school program for grades 10, 11 and 12 from January 2024 onward.  We realize this will be upsetting news for some families.  However, this is part of a larger plan to create a sustainable path for AISN.  I am glad to announce that AISN will partner with Avenues Online School for the 2023-24 school year as a bridge for our students until they can attend classes face-to-face.  Avenues is a comprehensive school that offers all grade levels. Please look at this LINK for more information.  If your child(ren) is/are interested in enrolling in Avenues from August to December or for the entire school year, please let me know and I can work with the director of Avenues to make the transition as easy as possible.  Once we reopen school in January, any high school students in grades 10 to 12 that are enrolled in Avenues will be able to come to school every day for a place to study and get help from teachers. Finally, I would encourage families with students in grades 10 to 12 to ask your sending organization for boarding school opportunities.

AISN is also working directly with the QSI American School in Benin as a location for our students to attend school from August to December.  The school in Benin is letting our students attend from August to December and then return to AISN in January.  Of course, they have their own school fees and procedures, but it can be difficult to find an international school with open spaces at this time of the year.  If you are interested in having your children attend school in Benin for the first half of the school year, please email me and I will connect you to the school director.

AISN holds a special place in my heart, and I know it does for many other people across our school community. I never anticipated having to share this news with everyone.  The AISN administrative team and the AISN Board is dedicated to keeping the warm, welcoming, and caring environment that was so evident last school year.  When we reopen in January 2024 the school will be very different and we will have a lot of work to start moving forward again.  We will miss everyone who does not return, but we will always have the memories from last year and I encourage everyone to stay in contact with your friends and colleagues.  We look forward to reopening in January and continuing the long and successful history of AISN in Niger.

*This email will be sent via WhatsApp also and please forward this to any member of our community who needs to know.

Sincerely,

Tim Kruger
Director
American International School of Niamey