As partners we share common objectives: To establish a “democratic life” for students, achieve an international vision in education, and to contribute to the growth of individuals who combine self-confidence with a firm sense of personal and social responsibility; and to exhibit true human concern and scientifically-based care for the ill. With the Turkish Health and Education Foundation, Sağlık ve Eğitim Vakfı (SEV) in Istanbul which manages the schools and hospital, and the American Board Secretariat Amerikan Bord Heyeti (ABH) their founder, FABSIT works to insure the continued successful achievement of these goals at these institutions:
American Collegiate Institute, Izmir, Turkey (Est. 1878)
“ENTER TO LEARN, DEPART TO SERVE”
Like all the American Board schools, ACI is open to all Turkish citizens regardless of gender, religion, race, or family background, who compete for entrance on the basis of the results of the national private secondary school entrance examintation. ACI is the only school on Turkey’s Aegean coast offering bilingual Turkish-English education with a staff that is 20% native English speakers including many from the United States. The school gives priority to periodic renewal and self-evaluation using educational review systems such as Total Quality Management (TQM). ACI consistently draws students who are headed for selective universities, and currently has a university acceptance rate of 100% to institutions in Turkey and abroad.
Tarsus American College, Tarsus, Turkey (Est. 1888)
“LEADERS FOR TURKEY, LEADERSHIP FOR THE WORLD”
Founded as St. Paul’s School for boys and located in the south/central plains region of Turkey, TAC, in 1979, was the first of the American Board schools to become co-educational. It is now an evenly mixed co-educational high school known in the region for its intensive bilingual Turkish-English curriculum and diverse social service program. Its native English faculty gathers from Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and the United States. TAC maintains a boarding component that attracts some of Turkey’s brightest students from outlying areas of the region. Its sports program, considered one of the finest in the country, stimulates learning and growth and frequently interfaces with social service activities.
Üsküdar American Academy, Istanbul, Turkey (Est. 1876)
At each grade level the academic program is rigorous with English as the primary language of instruction, and Turkish language, Turkish literature and social studies taught in Turkish. Present faculty numbers 78 teachers of whom 33% are native speakers of English primarily from the United States and Canada. There is a strong emphasis on the teaching of math and science throughout the curriculum and a broad range of extra-curricular activities with an expanding sports program. Each year UAA hosts the Turkish International Model United Nations program bringing together over 300 students from Turkey and abroad. ÜAA students currently have one of the best college placement records among all schools in Turkey, with a matriculation rate of 100% of which roughly 25% attend universities in the US.
ACI, TAC, and ÜAA are accredited by the Council of International Schools (CIS), the European Council of International Schools (ECIS), and the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Program. They admit students through a competitive nation-wide centralized entrance exam. All offer a five-year curriculum consisting of one preparatory year plus grades nine through twelve. As well as excelling academically, their students, like their predecessors, dedicate significant time and effort to social service. They teach English to pupils at neighboring schools, assist the blind and disabled, and work with street children. This commitment to care is the underlying ethic that remains at the root of the American Board school experience.
SEV Gaziantep American Hospital, Gaziantep, Turkey (Est. 1879)
The hospital was founded and continues to exist for the purpose of providing affordable, high quality health care to the people of the Gaziantep region, especially to middle and lower income patients. SAH was the first modern, western style health care facility in all of Asia Minor and for many years the only such hospital in the entire region of southeastern Turkey. It was the first non-profit private hospital in Turkey, and was the first in the southeastern region to employ female doctors, admit female patients, and provide care by nurses. Today, with a 60-bed capacity, 36 doctors in over twenty specialities from cardiology to dentistry, a well-equipped emergency ward, surgery, intensive care unit and internal medicine section, and a staff of approximately 300, SAH is one of the finest private health centers in southern Turkey. The SAH diabetic center, equipped with the latest medical technology, treats an average of 12,000 patients a year in this region of high diabetes prevalence. Its specialists provide information and testing for prevention and early diagnosis as a public service. Care and service for all are still the values at the core of service offered by SEV American Hospital.
SEV – Sağlık ve Eğitim Vakfı (Health and Education Foundation), Istanbul, Turkey (Est. 1968)
The nineteenth century founders of the American Board schools and hospitals in Turkey, the Congregational missionaries of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, later known in Turkey as the Amerikan Bord Heyeti (ABH), owned and managed the institutions until 1968, when Turkish law changed to require the transfer of the properties from foreign owners to a Turkish non-profit organization. Sağlık ve Eğitim Vakfı (SEV — Health and Education Foundation) was formed by ABH personnel and graduates of the Board Schools to meet the new regulations. While the American Board is the contemporary representative in Turkey of the founder and holds the schools’ operating licenses, SEV owns the schools’ and hospital’s property, and has full responsibility and authority for each institution’s management and compliance with the requirements of the Turkish Ministries of Education and Health. SEV is governed by a 40-member Board of Trustees and a nine-member Board of Directors. Its daily operations are managed by a team of seven administrators headed by the General Coordinator.
SAC – SEV American Colllege, Istanbul, Turkey (Est. 2014)
SEV American College opened its doors in September 2014 after a long and thorough planning phase. SAC is the continuation of the Health and Education Foundation's other schools that were established in the mid 1800s. In 1968 the foundation was founded and the high schools were transferred to SEV. In 1997 three elementary schools were founded by SEV to complement the three high schools. Given the need in Turkey for quality high schools, particularly in Istanbul, the foundation had the vision of establishing a high school based on the traditions put into practice at the other three high schools to bring up tomorrow's successful leaders at its new and awarded school campus
