Al Nibras International Private SchoolPrincipal & Leadership Team

Al Nibras International Private School is led by Principal Dr. Jay Teston, who has held the role since 8 January 2020. A seasoned educator with over 35 years of experience — including 25 years in US schools — Dr. Teston holds a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership from Florida and a Master of Science in Special Education from Pennsylvania, with additional certifications from Italy and England. His tenure has coincided with a meaningful institutional turnaround: the school earned a KHDA rating of Good in 2023–2024, its first Good rating in over a decade after twelve consecutive Acceptable ratings stretching back to 2012–2013. Inspectors explicitly credited the actions of school leaders as having led to significant improvements in overall performance — a rare and direct endorsement of leadership impact.

The leadership team supporting Dr. Teston includes Ms. Althea (referenced as part of the core leadership team), Ms. Eman, Head of MOE Subjects, and Ms. Hannelie Cranko, Assistant Head for Upper Elementary — who was nominated as a finalist for Green Teacher of the Year at The Green Awards (COP28, 2023) and was among 120 selected educators invited to a Teacher Appreciation event hosted by HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Staff longevity is a visible feature of the school's culture: Arabic teacher Ms. Najwa Attil has served at NIS since 2008, a seventeen-year tenure that speaks to meaningful retention in a sector where turnover is common. The school is operated by International Schools Partnership (ISP), a global group of 116 schools across 25 countries, which provides governance oversight, professional development infrastructure, and its proprietary Learning.First™ pedagogical framework. Inspectors confirmed that governors know the school well and hold school leaders to account, with governance rated Good.

The school employs 93 teachers supported by 29 teaching assistants and 1 guidance counsellor, serving 1,488 students. This produces a student-to-teacher ratio of 1:16 — notably higher than the Dubai-wide average of 1:13.6 across 204 schools with available data, and above the typical ratio among American curriculum schools in Dubai. Parents considering class sizes should factor this in. [MISSING: staff qualification percentages — proportion holding Masters or above not disclosed in available sources.] Teaching quality was rated Good across all four phases in the 2023–2024 inspection, with inspectors noting improved quality particularly in Elementary and High School. However, consistency remains an area for development: inspectors recommended ensuring greater uniformity in high-quality teaching to raise attainment across key subjects.

Parent engagement is a genuine strength. Parents and the community were rated Very Good by KHDA inspectors — the highest sub-rating the school received — with inspectors describing the school's partnerships with parents as very strong. Wellbeing provision was rated Good overall, with inspectors noting that students and parents alike regard Al Nibras as an extension of their own families. The school's community culture is further evidenced by student-led initiatives such as the Nibras Gives Back programme and active participation in the Dubai Students Council. With 100 nationalities represented across 1,488 students, the school's leadership has built a genuinely multicultural environment underpinned by a clear and consistent institutional vision.