Abaarso School
An American accredited leadership boarding school for Somaliland
Our story
Abaarso School was founded in 2009 to develop the future leaders of Somali society. Our students became the first from the country in more than 30 years to matriculate to U.S. universities including Harvard, MIT, Yale, Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, and Penn. In total, over 350 alumni have earned more than $55 million in scholarships.
Abaarso became the only American accredited school in the country in 2017. The school and students have been featured on CBS’s 60 Minutes, The New York Times, BBC, Washington Post, Forbes, and the Wall Street Journal.
Our Mission
Abaarso School nurtures the academic, intellectual, and character development of promising Somali boys and girls, so they can effectively and ethically advance their society.
Our Values
Abaarso strives to create great people, not simply great students.
Our focus on ethical development, determination, and rigorous independent thought equips students with the characteristics they will need to succeed in international environments, and ultimately, as exemplary leaders of the Somali people.
Our approach
Boarding environment
Abaarso School is a 100% boarding environment which allows students to benefit from English immersion and have much fuller learning experiences. Students begin the school day early in the morning, have extracurricular activities in the afternoons, and then additional academic opportunities in the evenings.
Project based learning
Our whole-school Project Days develop creative problem solving and curiosity while strengthening school community bonds through hypothetical scenarios and design thinking challenges. Student groups also develop their leadership skills by organizing their own Project Days for the school community.
Character development
Ethical leaders require a strong character foundation. Abaarso School has developed a custom tailored character and leadership grade-specific curriculum designed to form good students, good leaders, and good people. Additionally, all students are paired with a faculty advisor to help guide them on their journey.
Extracurricular activity
As part of our belief that whole education occurs both in and of the classroom, all students participate in at least 3 hours of scheduled extracurricular activities per week. These activities include clubs, sports, and community service. Additionally, all students participate in gym once per week and serve their community through scheduled chore time.
Community service
Community service programs at Abaarso provide students the opportunity to “give back” and instill the value of service into their everyday. The Primary Tutoring Program provides after school education to young students from the local village. The Mahadsanid Program provides adult education lessons for staff from the local village and our on-campus soldiers.
Our impact
Our alumni
Abaarso School students were the first in the country in decades to matriculate to schools and universities in the United States. After graduating abroad, alumni have returned to Somaliland to play a critical role in founding Barwaaqo University and Kaabe Schools as well as serving in top management positions across Abaarso Network and as active board members.
Our alumni have already served in Somaliland’s government in the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Education, Planning, and the Presidency, founded the first women’s health clinic in Somaliland, been featured as one of BBC’s 100 Most Influential Women in 2020, worked for the UN, World Bank, Goldman Sachs, BlackRock, Bain and many other incredible success stories.
Abaarso alumni are making an impact at home and across the world.
United States
Universities and Colleges
Agnes Scott College
Amherst College
Babson College
Bates College
Berea College
Bowdoin College
Brown University
Carleton College
Carnegie Mellon University
Clark University
Columbia University
Connecticut College
Cornell University
Dartmouth College
Deep Springs College
Emory University
George Washington University
Georgetown University
Grinnell College
Harvard University
College of the HC
Lake Forest College
Lafayette College
Luther College
Marist College
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Michigan State University
Middlebury College
Northwestern University
Oberlin College
Smith College
Soka University of America
St. Olaf College
Swarthmore College
TCU
The College of Idaho
Trinity College
Tufts University
University of Oklahoma
University of Pennsylvania
University of Rochester
Wellesley College
Westminster College
West Virginia University
Whitman College
Yale University
Boarding Schools
Berkshire School
Chatham Hall
Choate Rosemary Hall
CF School
Culver Military Academy
Deerfield Academy
Emma Willard School
Ethel Walker School
Hebron Academy
Hockaday School
Hotchkiss School
Kents Hill School
La Lumiere School
The Lawrenceville School
The Loomis Chaffee School
Master's School
Miss Hall's School
Midland School
Milton Academy
Northfield Mount Hermon School
Perkiomen School
Phillips Academy Andover
Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School
Riverdale Country School
Spence School NYC
St. Albans School
St. Andrew's Sewanee School
St. Christopher's School
Taft School
The Gunnery
Westminster School
Westover School
Westtown School
Wilbraham and Monson Academy
Woodberry Forest School
Worcester Academy
Wyoming Seminary, Pennsylvania
International
Universities
African Leadership University, Mauritius
African Leadership University, Rwanda
African University of Zimbabwe
American University of Beirut, Lebanon
American University of Cairo, Egypt
APU Ritsumeikan
Ashoka University
BINUS, Indonesia
Carnegie Mellon University, Qatar
Doshisha University
Earth University, Costa Rica
Edinburgh University, UK
Georgetown University, Qatar
Jacobs University, Germany
Kepler University, Rwanda
Nagoya University
Quest University, Canada
United States International University, Kenya
University of Glasgow, UK
University of Stirling, UK
Boarding Schools
African Leadership Academy, South Africa Aiglon College, Switzerland
Gashora Girls' Academy, Rwanda
United World Colleges, Atlantic UK
United World Colleges, ISAK Japan
United World Colleges, Costa Rica
United World Colleges, Tanzania
United World Colleges, Germany
United World Colleges, Hong Kong
United World Colleges, Armenia
United World Colleges, Netherlands
Woodstock School, India
Prospective students
Abaarso School offers a free public entrance exam each year at various locations across Somaliland for the incoming 7th grade class. The dates and locations for the exam are posted in advance on our social media pages.
For other questions or inquiries, please contact info@abaarsoschool.org.
School leadership
AHMED QALIB
Co-Head of School
(Abaarso School Alumni ‘15)
TOMOKI SASAKI
Co-Head of School