Hillcrest School, also known as Hillcrest International Schools, is a British private international day and

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

located in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

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. Established in 1965 as a pre-school, the school has grown to now encompass Hillcrest Early Years (HEY), Hillcrest Preparatory School and Hillcrest Secondary School.

History

The origins of Hillcrest International Schools started with Hillcrest Preparatory School which was founded in 1965 by educationalist Dorothy Noad and long-serving government employee Frank Thompson. Hillcrest Preparatory secured its international school status in 1972, when it became a member of the Independent Association of Prep Schools; joining a conglomerate of British curriculum schools across the world. In 1975 Kenneth Matiba, Stephen Smith, and Frank Thompson partnered to start the Hillcrest Secondary School.

Campus

It is situated on a site in the Nairobi suburb of

Karen Karen may refer to: * Karen (name), a given name and surname * Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding woman displaying certain behaviors People * Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand ** Karen languages or Karenic l ...

. The school caters for the international, professional, and local business communities.

Hillcrest Early Years

The school has; Nursery 1 (18 months – 3 years), Nursery 2 (3 – 4 years), Reception (4 – 5 years) and Year 1 (5 – 6 years).

Hillcrest Preparatory School

The preparatory school's facilities include 32 general classrooms, two laboratories, a library, two art rooms, a multipurpose hall, a swimming pool, a music centre with four practice rooms and a teaching/rehearsal space, an open-air amphitheatre, two computer laboratories, and a learning-support Center, Design and Technology center and an art room.

Hillcrest Secondary School

The secondary and preparatory school share facilities such as a twenty five metre pool, canoes, basketball courts and netball courts. There is a conserved area commonly known as 'The Nature Trail' which mainly consists of indigenous trees and hosts animals such as jackals, snakes, birds and hares. The sixth form has 60 to 75 students in each year, most of whom continue to

university 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 ...

, mainly in the UK, but also in the United States, Canada,

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and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Boarding

There is also a boarding house, Toad Hall, which sits on the school site, capable of housing 16 girls and 16 boys.

Academics

The school year runs from September to July and IGCSE/'O' and 'A' level exams are set and marked by CIE (Cambridge International Examinations), AQA and

Edexcel Edexcel (also known since 2013 as Pearson Edexcel) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational education and examination body formed in 1996 and wholly owned by Pearson plc since 2005. It is the only privately owned examination board ...

. The school has also recently introduced BTEC programmes in Performing arts, Sports, Business, Travel & Tourism and Art & Design (Photography). The school, of about 440 students, has its largest groups coming from Kenya and Britain. The staff are recruited from Britain and Kenya.

Notable alumni

* Jo Theones, a DJ at Fox FM in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

Zain Verjee Zain Verjee (born February 11, 1974) is a Kenyan journalist. She is a former CNN anchor and correspondent, and now works in public relations. Her communications firm, Zain Verjee Group, has worked with Bloomberg Media, Bloomberg Philanthropies, ...

, anchor woman at

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

international

References

External links

Hillcrest International Schools official website
International schools in Kenya Cambridge schools in Kenya Schools in Nairobi Educational institutions established in 1975 1975 establishments in Kenya {{Kenya-school-stub