The Carlucci American International School of Lisbon (known as CAISL) is a prominent

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

international school An international school is an institution that promotes education in an international environment or framework. Although there is no uniform definition or criteria, international schools are usually characterized by a multinational student body a ...

Linhó, Sintra Linhó is an affluent village in the municipality of Sintra, on the Portuguese Riviera, known for its resorts, restaurants, and its two prominent gated communities, Quinta da Penha Longa and Quinta da Beloura. Linhó is home to a large expatriate ...

, a wealthy suburb of

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

on the

Portuguese Riviera The Portuguese Riviera (Portuguese: '' Riviera Portuguesa'') is a term used in the tourist industry for the affluent coastal region to the west of Lisbon, Portugal, centered on the coastal municipalities of Cascais (including Estoril), Oeiras ...

. Founded in 1956, CAISL is the oldest American school in the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

and the only U.S. State Department school in Portugal. It is named in honor of Frank C. Carlucci III, former U.S. Ambassador to Portugal and U.S. Secretary of Defense.

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

, at the time

First Lady of the United States The first lady of the United States (FLOTUS) is the title held by the hostess of the White House, usually the wife of the president of the United States, concurrent with the president's term in office. Although the first lady's role has never ...

, officially inaugurated CAISL's current campus in Linhó in 1998. CAISL operates as a dual American and

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate (IB), formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the IB Dip ...

(IB) program and is one of Portugal's most expensive schools. CAISL's student population is made up of about half of Portuguese and American students, and the other half is international. CAISL has numerous partnerships with institutions, such as the prestigious

Gulbenkian Foundation The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation ( pt, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian), commonly referred to simply as the Gulbenkian Foundation, is a Portuguese institution dedicated to the promotion of the arts, philanthropy, science, and education. One o ...

, to support research initiatives into teaching methods, philanthropic outreach, and to host international conferences and cultural exhibitions.RTP Noticias - Professores aprendem novo método de ensino através de experiências
/ref> In 2016,

Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...

(HP) awarded CAISL with the ''HP Award for Innovation in Education''. CAISL alumni have gone on to hold influential positions, both abroad and in Portugal, and have included

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

-winning artists, Presidents of Portugal,

Yamaha Artist A Yamaha Artist is a designation bestowed by Yamaha, by invitation, to musical artists, considered to be critically acclaimed in their instruments or genres. Acceptance as a Yamaha Artist is tantamount to a reciprocal endorsement by Yamaha. Like ot ...

-awarded concert pianists, and world-renowned journalists.

History

CAISL 50th Anniversary Memorial (cropped)

CAISL's history begins in 1956, when the school is founded as ''St. Columban's School'', by Irish professor Anthony A. McKenna, to serve the children of the American engineers who were in Portugal working on the Salazar Bridge (now 25 de Abril Bridge), in

, so that the children would be able to reintegrate back into the American system upon their departure from Portugal. During this time, the school was housed in the Quinta da Casa Branca, an 18th-century '' quinta'' (manor or estate) in

Carnaxide Carnaxide () is a former civil parish in the municipality of Oeiras, Portugal. In 2013, the parish merged into the new parish Carnaxide e Queijas. The population in 2011 was 25,911, in an area of 6.51 km².Oeiras, outside of Lisbon. The school renamed itself the ''American International School of Lisbon'' (AISL) in 1995, when management of the school passed from private ownership to the ''Fundação Escola Americana de Lisboa'' (American School of Lisbon Foundation; FEAL), a not-for-profit foundation was created by the American Delegation to Portugal, the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

, and Espírito Santo Financial Group. These three entities became the three, equal members of the school's board of trustees. With the school's new not-for-profit mission and with a new oversight organization, through FEAL, AISL became a U.S. State Department-recognized school. After the creation of FEAL in 1995, the foundation's main priority was to centralize all of the schools of AISL onto one purpose-built site, as the secondary school, elementary school, and early child center were housed in different facilities spread across the

. In 1997, in cooperation with the municipal government of

Sintra Sintra (, ) is a town and municipality in the Greater Lisbon region of Portugal, located on the Portuguese Riviera. The population of the municipality in 2011 was 377,835, in an area of . Sintra is one of the most urbanized and densely populated ...

, a new purpose-built campus was built in Linhó, in the ''

freguesia ''Freguesia'' (), usually translated as "parish" or "civil parish", is the third-level administrative subdivision of Portugal, as defined by the 1976 Constitution. It is also the designation for local government jurisdictions in the former Port ...

'' of São Pedro de Penaferrim, on land granted on a permanent lease by the municipality near the Quinta da Beloura. In 1998, the Linhó campus was inaugurated by

, then the

. In 2001, the school officially changed its name to its current designation as the ''Frank C. Carlucci American International School of Lisbon'', in honor of American diplomat, Frank C. Carlucci, who served as American Ambassador to Portugal, from 1974 to 1978. Carlucci, who went on to serve as Deputy Director of the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

and U.S. Secretary of Defense, played a prominent role in Portugal following the events of the 1974

Carnation Revolution The Carnation Revolution ( pt, Revolução dos Cravos), also known as the 25 April ( pt, 25 de Abril, links=no), was a military coup by left-leaning military officers that overthrew the authoritarian Estado Novo regime on 25 April 1974 in Lisbo ...

, especially in maintaining good Luso-American relations. CAISL has maintained a friendly

school rivalry Pairs of schools, colleges and universities, especially when they are close to each other either geographically or in their areas of specialization, often establish a college rivalry with each other over the years. This rivalry can extend to both ...

with the British St. Julian's School in Carcavelos, as competitive leading international schools in Portugal.

Academics

All students who complete CAISL's

graduation Graduation is the awarding of a diploma to a student by an educational institution. It may also refer to the ceremony that is associated with it. The date of the graduation ceremony is often called graduation day. The graduation ceremony is a ...

requirements earn an American

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

diploma A diploma is a document awarded by an educational institution (such as a college or university) testifying the recipient has graduated by successfully completing their courses of studies. Historically, it has also referred to a charter or offici ...

. Additionally, those who fulfill the

(IB) Program requirements, earn an IB diploma. CAISL graduates are eligible to apply for entrance into

universities A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

around the world, including the United States, United Kingdom, Portugal and other European countries.

(HP) awarded CAISL with its ''2016 Award for Innovation in Education''.ComputerWorld - HP Portugal Premeia Clientes
/ref>

Sciences

CAISL is known within the region as a leader in sciences education, with numerous initiatives and partnerships with institutions, like the prestigious

, Silicon Valley giant

, and technology education nonprofit Code.org, to develop innovative methods of teaching science and technology. Since 2005, CAISL and the

, one of the wealthiest foundations in the world, have partnered together to form the ''Experiential Learning Methods in Sciences'' Initiative, a project aimed at researching and developing innovative methods and best practices in

science education Science education is the teaching and learning of science to school children, college students, or adults within the general public. The field of science education includes work in science content, science process (the scientific method), some ...

. The initiative, led by a team of Gulbenkian researchers and CAISL professors, has been stated to have had profound effects in the teaching of science education in Portugal. CAISL is an affiliate school of Code.org in Portugal in participating in the ''

Hour of Code Code.org is a non-profit organization and eponymous website led by Hadi and Ali Partovi that aims to encourage people, particularly school students in the United States, to learn computer science. The website includes free coding lessons, sounds, ...

'' initiative. CAISL has participated annually in the

FIRST Lego League The ''FIRST'' LEGO League Challenge (formerly known as ''FIRST'' LEGO League) is an international competition organized by '' FIRST'' for elementary and middle school students (ages 9–14 in the United States and Canada, 9–16 elsewhere). Each ...

''National Championship'', an international

robotics Robotics is an interdisciplinary branch of computer science and engineering. Robotics involves design, construction, operation, and use of robots. The goal of robotics is to design machines that can help and assist humans. Robotics integrat ...

competition, since 2018.

Arts

CAISL is a member of The Association for Music in International Schools (AMIS) and sends a student delegation annually to the AMIS International Music Festival. CAISL hosts the annual Sintra Theatre Showcase ( pt, Mostra de Teatro das Escolas de Sintra), a showcase of school drama departments from across the

area of the

. CAISL hosts

art exhibition An art exhibition is traditionally the space in which art objects (in the most general sense) meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is rarely true, it is stated to be a "permanent exhib ...

s throughout the year across, where student art is presented to the communities of the

. CAISL's seasonal exhibitions, occasionally held in cooperation with other local

s, are always included within the official cultural agendas of local cities on the Portuguese Riviera, including

Cascais Cascais () is a town and municipality in the Lisbon District of Portugal, located on the Portuguese Riviera. The municipality has a total of 214,158 inhabitants in an area of 97.40 km2. Cascais is an important tourism in Portugal, tourist de ...

Estoril Estoril () is a town in the Municipality of Cascais, Portugal, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is a tourist destination, with luxury hotels, beaches, and the Casino Estoril. It has been home to numerous royal families and celebrities, and has host ...

, and

. CAISL is also part of the

International Thespian Society The International Thespian Society (ITS) is an honor society for high school and middle school theatre students. It is a division of the Educational Theatre Association. Thespian troupes serve students in grades 9–12; Junior Thespian troupes s ...

, and the

Tri-M Music Honor Society Tri-M Music Honor Society, formerly known as Modern Music Masters, is an American high school and middle school music honor society. A program of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), it is designed to recognize students for their ...

Athletics

CAISL's athletic teams, known as the ''CAISL Wolves'', compete in sports tournaments on regional, national, and international levels. CAISL is a member of the European Sports Conference, a sports conference of international schools across

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. CAISL is a host school of both the Iberian Volleyball Tournament, the Iberian Soccer Tournament, the Iberian Basketball Tournament, and competitions of international schools across the

Initiatives

Research

CAISL partners with the prestigious

Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation ( pt, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian), commonly referred to simply as the Gulbenkian Foundation, is a Portuguese institution dedicated to the promotion of the arts, philanthropy, science, and education. One o ...

in supporting research and development of new teaching methods, allowing CAISL to utilize innovative

pedagogical Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and Developmental psychology, psychological development of le ...

methods in its curriculum. Since 2011, CAISL has had an partnership with the BPI Portuguese Investment Bank to facilitate investments in primary and secondary education. In 2013, CAISL hosted its 1st ''Conference on Early Childhood Learning'', in cooperation with Pais&Filhos, an international child education publication. In 2018, CAISL hosted the ''Symposium on Intercultural Learning'', an event held in partnership with the Council of International Schools.

Philanthropy

Since 2006, CAISL has partnered with Novabase, the largest

information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system (I ...

firm in Portugal, in an initiative to promote and support

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

language education Language education – the process and practice of teaching a second or foreign language – is primarily a branch of applied linguistics, but can be an interdisciplinary field. There are four main learning categories for language education: ...

in public schools across the

, through teacher training and school outreach. In 2018, CAISL has become an affiliate of the Sharing Foundation, an international philanthropic organization dedicated to promoting literacy and early childhood education. CAISL and

Habitat for Humanity Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI), generally referred to as Habitat for Humanity or Habitat, is a US non-governmental, and nonprofit organization which was founded in 1976 by couple Millard and Linda Fuller. Habitat for Humanity is a Ch ...

have partnered together since 2007 to send a delegation of students annually to help provide

humanitarian relief Humanitarian aid is material and logistic assistance to people who need help. It is usually short-term help until the long-term help by the government and other institutions replaces it. Among the people in need are the homeless, refugees, and ...

to disadvantaged people.

Culture

CAISL has regularly partnered with institutions, such as the American Embassy, the Portuguese Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Culture of Cabo Verde, among other cultural organizations and government institutions, to host and promote cultural events and awareness.

Iberian Model United Nations

CAISL founded and hosts one of Europe's largest

model United Nations Model United Nations, also known as Model UN or MUN, is an educational simulation in which students can learn about diplomacy, international relations, and the United Nations. At a MUN conference, students work as the representative of a count ...

conferences, the Iberian Model United Nations, since 1995. The conference is held in the

Centro Cultural de Belém Centro may refer to: Places Brazil *Centro, Santa Maria, a neighborhood in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil *Centro, Porto Alegre, a neighborhood of Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil *Centro (Duque de Caxias), a neighborhood of Duqu ...

, in

. IMUN's keynote speakers have included prominent politicians, diplomats,

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

officials, and rights activists, such as internationally awarded author

Richard Zimler Richard Zimler (born 1 January 1956 in Roslyn Heights, New York) is a best-selling author. His books, which have earned him a 1994 National Endowment of the Arts Fellowship in Fiction and the 1998 Herodotus Award, have been published in many c ...

and U.S. Ambassador

Robert A. Sherman Robert A. Sherman (born 1953) is an attorney who served as United States Ambassador to Portugal from 2014 to 2017. Early life and education Sherman hails from Boston, Massachusetts. Sherman earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science at th ...

. For the 2017 edition of IMUN,

President of Portugal The president of Portugal, officially the president of the Portuguese Republic ( pt, Presidente da República Portuguesa, ), is the head of state and highest office of Portugal. The powers, functions and duties of prior presidential offices, an ...

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa Marcelo Nuno Duarte Rebelo de Sousa (; born 12 December 1948) is a Portuguese politician and academic. He is the List of presidents of Portugal, 20th and current president of Portugal, since 9 March 2016. He is a member of the Social Democrati ...

served as keynote speaker.

Administration

Bust of Anthony McKenna, CAISL (cropped)

CAISL is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (MSA). The school is licensed by the Portuguese Ministry of Education and an authorized

(IB) World School. CAISL is the only school in Portugal with support from the U.S. State Department. Leadership of the school's direction over its curriculum is entrusted by the Board of Trustees to the School Director, currently Mr. Nathan Chapman, who assumed the position in 2022. CAISL is divided into two sections, which are led by their own principals: the elementary school (k-5) and the secondary school (6-12). The current Elementary Principal is Katie Morris and the current Secondary Principal is Alan Shanks.

Governance

The Carlucci American International School of Lisbon is governed by the ''Fundação Escola Americana de Lisboa'' (FEAL;

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

for "American School of Lisbon Foundation"), a private foundation under

Portuguese Law The Law of Portugal is the legal system that applies to Portugal. It is part of the family of the civil law legal systems, based on Roman law. As such, it has many common features with the legal systems found in most of the countries in Contine ...

, which is in turn governed by a three-member

Board of Trustees A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

. The Embassy of the United States, Lisbon and

Visteon Visteon Corporation (VC) is an American global automotive electronics supplier and Fortune 500 company spun off from the Ford Motor Company in 2000. Visteon is composed of multiple businesses that design, engineer, and manufacture vehicle cockpit ...

, having played important roles in the formation of CAISL's

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

status, each appoint trustees (2 from the Embassy and 1 from Visteon) which serve for three-year terms. The current Board of Trustees of the Fundação Escola Americana de Lisbon is composed of: *Michael de Mello (representing U.S. Embassy, Lisbon and President of the Board) *Maurilio Rojano-Garcia (representing U.S. Embassy, Lisbon) *Ricardo Mergulhão (representing

) Management of CAISL's financial matters is delegated by the Board of Trustees to the Chief Business Officer, currently Paulo Parreira.

Demographics

At the beginning of the 2022–23 school year, enrollment was 737, with 175 Portuguese students enrolled, 176 American students enrolled, and 386 of other nationalities. Additionally, there were 97 full-time faculty members, of which 67% were fluent English speakers. At the beginning of the 2019–20 school year, enrollment was 705, with 295 students enrolled in the elementary program and 380 enrolled in the secondary program.

Notable people

Alumni *

Jorge Sampaio Jorge Fernando Branco de Sampaio (; 18 September 1939 – 10 September 2021) was a Portuguese lawyer and politician who was the 18th president of Portugal from 1996 to 2006. A member of the Socialist Party, a party which he led between 1989 a ...

- Former

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...

-winning Canadian musician * Pedro Pinto - Chief of Press for

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

, former

CNN International CNN International (CNNI, simply branded on-air as CNN) is an international television channel that is owned by CNN Global. CNN International carries news-related programming worldwide; it cooperates with sister network CNN's national and inter ...

anchor * Princess Diana de Cadaval, Princess of Orléans, 11th Duchess of Cadaval - Portuguese noblewoman and author *

Artur Pizarro Artur Pizarro (born Lisbon, 1968) is an internationally-acclaimed Portuguese concert pianist.Kennedy, Michael and Joyce Bourne. "Pizarro, Artur" ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music''. Oxford University Press: 1996. Designated with the presti ...

- awarded Portuguese concert pianist *

Mariana Bandhold Mariana Vasconcelos Bandhold, more popularly known by her stage name as Mariana Bandhold, is a Portuguese- American singer, actress, and songwriter from the Portuguese Riviera. She was a contestant in the second season of The Voice Portugal. ...

- Portuguese singer and actress * Mikkel Solnado - Portuguese-Danish musician *

Paula Lobo Antunes Paula or PAULA may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Paula, in video game '' EarthBound'' * Paula, in ''The Larry Sanders Show'' * Paula Campbell (''EastEnders''), in 2003 Film and television * ''Paula'' (1915 film), a s ...

- Portuguese film and stage actressSol - Paula Lobo Antunes: ‘Cheguei a fazer voz erótica em linhas telefónicas’
/ref> * Mishlawi - American rapper Faculty * Suzanne Anton - Former

Attorney General of British Columbia The attorney general of British Columbia (AG) oversees the Ministry of Attorney General, a provincial government department responsible for the oversight of the justice system, within the province of British Columbia, Canada. The attorney general ...

"About Suzanne"
, ''Suzanne Anton Website'', Accessed August 29, 2009.

References

External links

*
CAISL IB information
{{Authority control International Baccalaureate schools in Portugal International schools in Lisbon

Educational institutions established in 1956 1956 establishments in Portugal Education in Sintra Private schools in Portugal