North American International School
Acceptable Al Mizhar, Dubai · American
- KHDA rating
- Acceptable
Meets minimum standards; may be on an improvement plan. Read the full report before enrolling. From KHDA’s 2023-24 inspection - now more than two years old. Checked against KHDA’s directory on 14 September 2026.
- Dubai focus areas
- Wellbeing: Weak · Inclusion: Acceptable
KHDA’s separate judgements for student wellbeing and for inclusion, from the same inspection.
- Year groups
- KG1 to Grade 12
As registered with KHDA. Typical ages about 4 to 18.
- Annual fees
- AED 30,700 to 49,100 a year
Varies by year group. 2026-27 fees are frozen by KHDA directive.
- Curriculum
- American
KHDA lists: American.
- School transport
- Bus service available
- Location
- Al Mizhar, Dubai
Open in Google Maps. KHDA records the community as Al Mizhar First.
- Contacting the school
- Ask us and we will ask them
We hold this school's details and put questions to it for parents - fees for a year group, whether there is a place, what happens next. KHDA's own page for the school, linked below, carries its published contact details if you would rather go direct.
Map not loaded. It comes from Google, so nothing is requested from them until you ask for it.
Pin from KHDA’s directory entry for this school. Check the entrance with the Google Maps link above before your first drop-off.
We do not publish schools' own contact details. Ask us a question below and we put it to the school; KHDA's page for this school carries its published details.
KHDA’s page for this school - every inspection report
Check travel time from your location
Opens live directions in Google Maps - real traffic from your own address beats any published estimate. School-run traffic peaks roughly 7-8am; test your route at drop-off time.
How far is this from another school? What the bus costs
If your children may end up at different schools, the distance that decides your mornings is the one between them, not from home to each.
In context
Its mid-range fee is about 17 per cent above the median for American schools in this guide (AED 33,996). It is one of 52 schools in this guide currently rated Acceptable.
Worth comparing: GEMS Founders School Al Mizhar (AED 24,877 to 37,856 a year) - a lower-fee option in the same area.
These comparisons are computed from the verified data in this register, not editorial opinion.
What the inspectors said
Strengths the inspectors named:
- Teaching and assessment rated Good in Kindergarten and Elementary, where the inquiry-based, student-centred approach with cooperative learning and real-world application is most visible.
- A community school of around 890 students on a campus built for 1,500, with Emirati students the largest single group at roughly 27% - and enrolment growing steadily since 2021-22.
- Arabic and Islamic Education delivered to UAE Ministry standards and integrated into the wider social studies curriculum.
What they asked the school to improve:
- This school was downgraded: Good in 2019-20 and again in 2022-23, then Acceptable in the November 2023 inspection - a decline, not a plateau, and the single most important fact on this page.
- Inspectors were specific about why: in Middle and High school, expectations are often too low and learning activities insufficiently challenging - the finding that directly caused the downgrade.
- Fees of roughly AED 30,700-49,100 sit mid-range for the American curriculum, which makes an Acceptable rating a harder proposition - ask leaders directly what has changed since November 2023, and what evidence they can show.
- The downgrade matters more for Emirati families, given KHDA’s policy of encouraging them away from Acceptable-rated schools.
Inclusion (students of determination): We have not found a published inclusion rating for this school in the sources we can verify, and rather than infer one from the overall Acceptable judgement we say so plainly. What is verifiable: around 890 students at the November 2023 inspection, a relatively small US-curriculum school, with entry by assessment and an interview conducted by the principal for kindergarten applicants. If your child needs structured support, the questions to put directly are how many students of determination are on roll, who leads inclusion, and what the assessment at entry is actually used to decide. See the special educational needs guide for the questions to ask on a visit.
Inspector summaries are being added school by school as each report is read - 221 of 230 so far, dated per cycle, never invented. A school without a summary yet is unread, not unjudged.
Paraphrased from KHDA’s published inspection record for 2023-24. Read the dated report on KHDA’s page for this school.
Visit kit
Questions worth asking on a tour - tuned to this school’s rating and curriculum:
- What did the last KHDA report ask you to improve, and what has changed since?
- Who leads inclusion here - and may we meet them before enrolling?
- How much staff turnover did you have last year, and why?
- What are actual class sizes this term - not the maximum?
- How and how often will I hear about my child’s progress?
Saved only on this device - never uploaded, never shared.
Special educational needs? Read the inclusion guide before you visit.
What we don't know about this school
Every other page on this site tells you what we have verified. This one tells you what we have not, because a register you cannot calibrate is worth less than one you can. We do not currently hold:
- whether it is co-educational, boys or girls
- how many children are on roll
- its facilities - sports, arts, science, library
- published exam results or university destinations
- what registration, transport, uniform and meals add to the fee
- the year it opened - the figure we held was wrong on every school we checked
None of it is guessed or filled in from a similar school. Ask for any of it using the form below and it moves up the queue - requests are how we decide what to collect next.
Ask this school a question - we'll do the asking
Tell us the year group, and we will ask North American International School what it costs, whether there is a place, and what the next step is. Then we send you what they say. Every answer we get is also checked into this school's record, so the next parent finds it already here.
Your details stay with us. We contact the school ourselves, and we do not pass your name or address to them, or to any agent, unless you ask us to. No school pays to appear in this guide, and none can pay to change what it says.
Other schools in Al Mizhar
- Al Mawakeb School Al Khawaneej - Good, To be updated
- Al Mizhar American Academy - Good, AED 36,485 to 65,270 a year
- GEMS Founders School Al Mizhar - Good, AED 24,877 to 37,856 a year
- Mirdif American School - Good, AED 23,894 to 37,638 a year
Work at this school? Correct or update this record - checked against the source and answered within five working days. If you disagree with something we are not going to change, reply on the record and we publish your statement on this page.