AAIE News & Updates

Khartoum American School Sets Sights on August Reopening as Sudan Rebuilds

Two months ago, the head of Khartoum American School, Kerry Jacobson, stood on a campus littered with glass shards, bent metal, and bullet casings. Today, the front gate opens, the grounds are clear, and a reopening date is set: August 24, 2026.

The school's recovery mirrors the city's. Across Khartoum, electricity is still out in many neighborhoods and most businesses remain shuttered. Shops, offices, schools, and homes stand half-broken, walls and windows shattered. But the signs of return are everywhere if you look for them. A fresh sign goes up on a leaning storefront. A salvaged solar panel rises from a repurposed roof. A cart of vegetables and a couple of chickens gets unloaded at a street corner. Each morning, more people gather at the main intersection before dawn, thumbs out, heading to jobs they've found somewhere in the recovering city.

"Along each city street, little springs of hope lope along by donkey, tuktuk or old 4-wheel drives. One has to look carefully."

KAS leaders see the school as part of that infrastructure of return. Many local business families have split up to manage the transition, one parent in Khartoum repairing a home or business, the other with the children in Cairo, Dubai, or Canada. International agencies and embassies face the same waiting period. More staff are on the ground, but Khartoum isn't yet re-established as a family post. For these families, a functioning international school is one of the signals that it's safe to come home.

Four staff members have protected and cleaned the property since fighting forced an evacuation, hauling away the debris of war by the wheelbarrow. With the campus now secured, attention has turned to repairs. A two-phase restoration plan is underway: Phase 1 would secure and operate enough of the campus for limited enrollment in 2026-27, and Phase 2 would fully rehabilitate the school.

The total cost of Phase 1 is estimated at $500,000. The school expects to raise half locally and is seeking the other $250,000 through an online campaign, the Friends and Supporters of KAS Restoration Fundraiser. Supporters have already contributed services, reduced fees, pro bono work, and direct funding worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to date.

For Sudan and for the families planning their return, the reopening of KAS carries weight beyond the classroom. As one school leader put it, its re-emergence is a marker of returning civility, and a promise of quality education waiting for families as they come home.

Help rebuild Khartoum American School. Every gift moves Phase 1 closer to the August reopening.

Donate here: https://donorbox.org/rebuild-khartoum-american-school-kas