School Profile
The School
The American School of Asuncion, founded in 1955, is a highly selective co-educational day school, which offers an instructional program from pre-kindergarten through grade 12. The school is a bilingual, multi-cultural educational institution that incorporates U.S. and Paraguayan culture, language, pedagogy, and values in an educational program for students from the United States, Paraguay and twenty other nationalities.
Accreditation
The school is accredited in the United States by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) and recognized in Paraguay by the Ministry of Education and Culture. ASA is a member of the Association of American Schools in South America (AASSA) and recognized by the U.S. Office of Overseas Schools (A/OS).
Enrollment
Currently, there are 188 students enrolled in high school: 44 seniors, 46 juniors, 46 sophomores, and 52 freshmen. The Class of 2010 is composed of approximately 18% United States citizens, 69% Paraguayan, and 13% third-country nationals representing six countries.
Faculty
ASA employs 24 full-time faculty and administration at the secondary level. Forty-five percent (45%) of the faculty hold advanced degrees, and 100% of the faculty meets certification requirements either stateside or from their host countries.
Academic Calendar
The calendar consists of two semesters with 180 total days of classroom instruction. The first semester commences in early August and finishes mid-December; the second semester commences mid-February and concludes in late June. The school day begins at 8:00 a.m. and ends at 3:30 p.m., followed by an extensive co-curricular program.
Program
All ASA students pursue a comprehensive, college-preparatory curriculum. In addition, students have an opportunity to participate in a variety of athletic, artistic, academic, and social clubs, such as National Honor Society (NHS), Student Government, Class Governments, Jazz Ensemble, Community Service Projects, Operational Smile, Yearbook Staff, Newspaper Staff, Varsity Basketball, Varsity Soccer, and Varsity Volleyball.
Graduation Requirements
Students must complete 32 credit hours to fulfill graduation requirements and earn both an American diploma and a Paraguayan diploma.
All U.S. diploma courses are taught in English.
Class Ranks
Class sizes are small, admission is selective, and all courses are college-preparatory in rigor. As a result, ASA does not rank students.
Grading System
Students are graded on a 4.33 grading scale. A student’s academic performance is evaluated by using number or letter grades based on the standards listed in the chart below.
Advanced Placement course offering 2009 - 2010
ASA offers AP courses that have been approved by the College Board through the AP Audit process. The chart below details the AP courses and the grade level at which they are offered:
Calculus AB 12
English Literature 12
Studio Art: Drawing 11/12
Comparative Government 12
Environmental Science 12
Spanish Language 9-12
English Language 11
Psychology 11
World History 10
Spanish Literature 12
U.S. History 11
Advanced Placement
The Advanced Placement (AP) program plays an integral part of the American School of Asuncion’s curriculum. Sixty-six percent of students in the Class of 2010 will graduate with at least one AP exams taken, and forty-one percent will graduate with at least two AP exams taken. In May 2009, ASA students took a total of 165 exams. Thirty nine percent of ASA students taking AP exams scored 4 or 5, while fifty-seven percent scored a 3 or higher.
SAT Results in 2009
The American School of Asuncion does not eliminate non-native English speakers from its statistical representation. Ninety-nine percent of our SAT I test takers are classified as ESL students. The ten members of the Class of 2010 who took the SAT received a mean critical reading score of 479, a mean mathematics score of 564, and a mean writing score of 506. The mean scores for the May 2009 SAT II exams for the Class of 2010 were 535 for U.S History (2 test takers), 523 for Math Level I (3 test takers), 770 for Spanish Reading (2 test takers), 720 for Chinese (1 test taker), and 430 for English Literature (1 test taker).
College Entance
Historically, 95% of ASA graduates enter colleges and universities around the world. The graduating classes from the past three years have matriculated at the following post-secondary institutions:
