Dubai, UAE · PrivateDwight School Dubai stands in Dubai Sports City and runs all the IB stages in sequence: early years from the Pre-K group to KG2, the Primary Years Programme in grades 1-5, the Middle Years Programme in grades 6-10 and the Upper School in grades 11 and 12. The school is part of the Dwight Schools network, founded in New York in 1872, with campuses in New York, London, Seoul, Shanghai, Dubai, Hanoi and Cairo and the Dwight Global online school. The network counts its firsts: the first school in the Americas authorised to offer the full IB curriculum (2014) and the first US independent school to establish an overseas campus (1972). What gives the Dubai campus its own face is Spark Tank, an incubator where more than a hundred student-entrepreneurs run their own projects; the school calls it the place where pupils design, prototype and launch ideas. Its stated task is to ignite the spark of genius in every child, and that is how it explains its choice of the IB.
Key facts
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
NEASC · accreditationIB · PYP, MYP, DP, CP · authorised programmeDwight Schools · school is part of the networkWhat stands behind each entry
An American accreditation working since 1885. For international schools it uses an approach where the visitors look first at live lessons rather than at folders of paperwork: the team works in the school for about a week. It is the only one here whose public directory honestly separates accredited schools from candidates.
What the badge means for this school. The school has been through this organisation's accreditation. It was judged as a whole: governance, safeguarding, staff, premises, teaching. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →A Swiss non-profit, working since 1968. Its programmes are among the most widely recognised school programmes in the world. Authorisation is granted stage by stage, so a school with the final stage does not necessarily run the younger ones; which stages this school holds is set out in the line below.
What the badge means for this school. The school is allowed to run this programme and to award its certificate. This is a confirmation of the programme, not a judgement on the school as a whole. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it. At this school: PYP (ages 3-12), MYP (ages 11-16), DP (ages 16-19), CP (ages 16-19, with a vocational slant). PYP is the primary stage, ages 3 to 12. It is not a set of subjects but a frame for the whole school: learning is built around lines of inquiry, and there are no exams at the end. MYP is the middle stage, ages 11 to 16. There are no exams here either; at the end an optional electronic assessment of pupils' work is possible. DP is the final stage, ages 16 to 19: six subjects plus a compulsory core of theory of knowledge, an extended essay and CAS. The diploma is accepted by universities all over the world, and in a number of countries it counts for admission on the same footing as the local leaving certificate. CP is the final stage with a vocational slant, ages 16 to 19: some of the DP subjects plus an applied qualification. It is meant for those heading into a trade or an applied degree rather than an academic one.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →Dwight Schools - an international family of International Baccalaureate schools grown out of a New York school founded in 1872. Its own site speaks of nine campuses and lists them by name: New York, the Franklin School in Jersey City, London, Seoul, Qibao Dwight in Shanghai, Dubai, Hanoi, Cairo and the online school Dwight Global. The Cairo one, though, is declared as opening in September 2026, so a site that is not working yet is counted in the nine. The years for the individual schools: New York 1872, London 1972, the online school 2014, Dubai 2018, Hanoi 2024, Cairo 2026. The network does not name an owner and nowhere divides ownership, management and franchise: on what terms the schools belong to the family the site does not explain. The leadership is described as a family one, chancellor Stephen Spahn and vice-chancellor Blake Spahn, three generations. The programmes are IB everywhere: the New York school is called the first in the Americas to offer all four programmes, and the Seoul one the first full IB continuum school in Seoul.
What this means for this school. The network owns or operates the school. Its accreditation and programme authorisation the school obtains separately, in its own name.