Ismailia STEM High School

Academic Program

All core courses are taught at Honors level, at a depth adjacent to Advanced Placement (AP) curricula. The school does not offer official AP or International Baccalaureate (IB) courses. Learning uses a project-based model built around the signature Capstone Research Project.

Grades 10 and 11 follow predefined, year-long core courses. In Grade 12, students choose one of two routes: the Mathematics Route, with exclusive Mathematics and Mechanics classes, or the Sciences Route, with exclusive Biology and Earth Science classes.

The research-based curriculum defines semester learning outcomes and concepts. Students may use any resource or textbook to cover the required concepts.

Capstone Research Project Model

The Capstone Research Project is a semester-cycled group project focused on Egypt's Grand Challenges and aligned with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. It takes classroom subjects into the real world and develops team-based problem solving, research, presentation, construction, and hand skills.

The model supports the school's mission of graduating pioneers and problem-solvers who can contribute to the Nation and the World. Projects progress from a design challenge through mandatory design requirements and constraints. On Project Exhibition Day, PhD-level faculty from Cairo University, the American University in Cairo, and Ain Shams University evaluate projects against college-level research rubrics.

Project assessment

• Group portfolio documenting the solution, research, methods, results, and discussion: 10%
• Research poster with extensive college-level documentation: 30%
• Prototype embodying the proposed solution: 10%
• Individual logbook documenting weekly project contributions: 10%
• Individual Project Exhibition Day evaluation of presentation and solution rigor: 10%
• Bi-weekly journaling exams connecting project implementation to the curriculum: 30%

Course Offerings

AP references below describe adjacent depth and breadth only. The school does not offer official AP or IB courses. Courses are grouped by level; credits and routes follow the 2026-27 profile.

Practical exams are listed for Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Earth Science, Mechanics, Hydraulics, and Electronics. “As listed” indicates that the profile does not specify a level or credit value for that course.

Grading System

Notable Achievements

• Research: students have authored and co-authored papers with university faculty, including peer-reviewed publications in reputable journals.
• Competitions: regular finalists and winners at Egypt's National Science and Engineering Fair and ISEF, Cairo Water Week, EISTF, Nile UGRF, SIC, NASA Space Apps, ECPC, BioGenesis, and IEEE competitions.
• International programs: alumni have participated in Lumiere Academics, Pioneer Academics, Polygence, IYRC Conferences, Yale Young African Scholars, and IYNA.

College Matriculation

Colleges attended by graduates from the Classes of 2018-2025, grouped as in the 2026-27 profile.