Profile

Developing Compassionate Leaders to Transform a Nation

History: The Burundi American International Academy (BAIA) opened in 2014. Located on the shores of Lake Tanganyika in the capital city, Bujumbura. Our educational values are the corner stone of any country’s development. Our focus is on creating a learning philosophy that provides academic excellence and basic human values. Burundi American International Academy is a college preparatory school with classes from Pre-School through 12th Grade. BAIA is accredited by the Burundi Ministry of Education and with Cognia in Alpharetta, Georgia. The current enrollment at BAIA is 109 students.
In April 2024 the school was flooded when Lake Tanganyika overflowed and we were forced to move out and find another location to continue classes. Fortunately, The French School offered us the use of their campus from April to June to finish the 2023-24 academic year. We have rented two building in Kinindo for the 2024-25 academic year and will continue in these buildings for the 2025-26 school year. We are hoping that the water will recede in the near future and will eventually be able to return to our original building.
Purpose:
To provide a challenging and outstanding academic program that develops successful and compassionate leaders for the future.
Leadership:
The Burundi American International Academy is led by a Director, Secondary Principal, and 20 faculty members. The faculty is composed of educational professionals from the United States, Burundi, Uganda, Kenya, and Congo.
Our curriculum:
Students follow a United States based curriculum that follows the Common Core Standards in the US. Students have classes in Math, English, Science, French, Social Studies, Technology, and Physical Education at each Grade. Since many of our students are not native English speakers, they will be given extra English classes named English as a Second Language (ESL) to advance their language skills. There are other activities for students which include art, music, chess, robotics, dance, table tennis, drumming, and sports which soccer, basketball, and volleyball.
Testing:
Students Kinder to 11TH grade at BAIA take the NWEA MAP Tests (Measurement of Academic Proficiency) twice a year. As well High School students take the SAT Tests for 11TH and 12TH grade students and the PSAT testing for 9TH and 10TH grade students.
Grading system:
The school year is divided into trimesters.