Carthage Classical Academy

Carthage Classical Academy (CCA) is an American international school in Tunisia teaching students from Kindergarten (age 5) to Grade 12. It began in 2013 as an initiative of expatriate families, mostly American, who wanted a classical American education built on strong intellectual foundations, character and moral leadership, combined from the start with Arabic and French so that students could integrate into the local culture. The founding association was registered with the Tunisian Ministry of Education for the 2014/15 school year, and in 2017 the school became Carthage Classical Academy SARL, moving to a second campus on Nahj Tamiya in El Menzah 4. The primary school stresses hands-on, collaborative learning with one-to-one support, while the secondary school runs from middle school to high school, where students can take Advanced Placement and dual-enrolment courses. Classes are small, and the school's mission has academic, social and spiritual strands. Admission involves an interview, an application and pre-admission assessments.

CCA's support services work alongside teachers so that each student has what they need. The learning support programme serves students with mild learning difficulties through push-in support in class or pull-out small-group instruction, and primary teachers regularly work one-to-one with pupils because, as the school puts it, students learn in different ways. Students who are still developing their English receive English Language Learning assistance. Each campus has a health office with dedicated staff for first aid, medication, infection control and vision screening, and a child protection specialist works with students and staff and also teaches social and emotional learning.

After-school activities run from 3:30 to 5 pm and change by semester. Primary pupils can choose from ballet, a Derja (Tunisian Arabic) language club, chess, a science club, basketball, soccer or volleyball, taekwondo and Tech Fun. In secondary, activities become more structured and club members become team members who compete with other local and international schools, in basketball, cross country, chess, flag football, swimming, volleyball and robotics. Secondary students also elect a student council each year, which develops leadership, plans activities for the school community and gives students a channel to raise ideas and concerns.