Brett Masters '04

Under the guidance of the Jordan's King Abdullah '80, a Deerfield model school is slated to begin accepting students at what will be a verdurous New England-style campus on a hill north of Amman, Jordan, in 2005. It has been likened by some to the acclaimed Seeds of Peace program, a camp program in Maine designed to promote peace, whose founder, former Associated Press editor John Wallach, died of lung cancer in July.

An abandoned military base now occupies the site where construction of classrooms and dorm facilities for the school's 300 charter students will begin in September, 2003.

Planners hope to attract as many as 500 students and 80 resident faculty members from throughout the Middle East, including Israel, by 2007.

A secular, coeducational boarding school, the Jordanian school is intended to resemble Deerfield Academy in its curriculum, facilities, and student life. Courses will be conducted primarily in English, students will enjoy sit-down meals, school meetings, and they will be required to abide by the traditional Deerfield dress code.

King Abdullah, who is responsible for the premise and the school's funding, believes this form of education will succeed in the Middle East. King Abdullah envisions the school contributing to a vanguard generation of informed citizens and possibly, thereby, to peace in the region.

"The American boarding school is a unique creature that very simply doesn't exist in the Middle East," said Director of Alumni Relations David Pond, who traveled to Jordan this summer with Headmaster Eric Widmer and Mr. Widmer's wife Meera Viswanathan to tour the site.

"King Abdullah hopes to try it. The school will prepare students for the best American universities, and in its own small way may someday play a role in solving the problems that face the Middle East," said Mr. Pond.

In October, Safwan Masri, the chief architect from a Jordanian firm charged with the new school's design, will visit Deerfield, along with Khaled Azzam, associate dean of the Columbia University Business School and advisor to King Abdallah, to meet with administration, faculty members, and students. They hope to gain a better understanding of how Deerfield's campus works.