Our Story
The Rabat Academy was born from a personal journey—one that began in a fruit and vegetable market in Niger in 2017. While working there on assignment, I met Moussa, a bright and enterprising 10-year-old orphan who had already spent years working as a personal grocery shopper for expats. I was struck by his intelligence, resilience, and natural drive. With some encouragement, Moussa agreed to pause his work and enroll in an accelerated learning program that allowed him to complete primary school in just two years.
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Since then, Moussa has spent his summer breaks with my family in Morocco. But after Niger closed its borders following the July 2023 coup, he was unable to return home. Unfortunately, we discovered that Morocco does not allow children who are more than three years over the typical age for a grade to enroll in traditional schools—leaving Moussa, whose birth certificate added five years to his real age, with no place to continue his education.
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We explored several options, including CNED, the French distance learning system, but it wasn’t accessible due to his age and his lack of formal enrollment in a French government school. Ultimately, I decided to homeschool him using an accredited British curriculum and supplement it with English tutoring and extra-curricular activities. It wasn’t easy at first, especially as Moussa was adjusting to several new languages - English and Arabic - and navigating dyslexia—but he’s made remarkable progress. In just a few months, his English improved dramatically, and he became an independent, curious learner—researching his own questions and excelling in his studies. Today, he speaks Moroccan Arabic and balances academics with his passion for soccer, training several times a week.
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As I supported Moussa through this journey, I realized that his story wasn’t unique. Many bright, capable children face barriers to traditional education due to life circumstances beyond their control—whether that’s age, displacement, illness, or gaps in schooling. Rabat Academy was created to serve those students. Our goal is to provide a flexible, supportive, and high-quality learning environment that meets them where they are and helps them thrive.
Our Mission & Vision
Our Vision: We believe that true happiness comes from living a life of purpose, cultivating kindness and compassion, and contributing to the world around us. We envision a society where education is not merely a pathway to material success, but a journey toward human flourishing. We do seek to simply impart knowledge but to equip students with the wisdom, confidence, and ethical foundation to become thinkers, leaders, and lifelong learners who strive to make the world a better place.
Our Mission is to nurture students who are not only knowledgeable but also thoughtful, ethical, and purpose-driven. In a world where schooling is often reduced to utilitarian ends, we strive to remind our students of its deeper purpose: to perfect human nature. Beyond the utilitarian, education is about asking big questions and pursuing the good. We aim to equip our students not only with the skills to achieve material success but with the wisdom needed to lead meaningful lives. Through a rigorous academics rooted in the Cambridge International Curriculum, we challenge students to excel intellectually, act with wisdom and compassion, and pursue knowledge with curiosity and humility.