Damascus Community School
Damascus Community School is an unlicensed American school founded by the former US secretary of state John Foster Dulles in 1957 in Damascus, Syria. The school was built to promote American ideals and culture and to help steer Syria away from becoming a Soviet satellite. Since 2012, due to the situation in Syria, the school has been effectively shut down. Mission The Damascus Community School laid its foundation with the help of Syria's former foreign minister Salah al-Bitar, who was one of the co-founders of the Baath party. After much controversy between the school and the Syrian government, Damascus Community School, was finally able to obtain full license from the government. However, throughout the decades the school has seen itself become part of a political tug-of-war between the Syrian and American government whenever the relations of the two countries become sour. The school is credited with introducing Valentine’s Day to Syria, as well as many other Universal holidays. Annual tuition reaches to about US$17,000. Current enrollment is about 400 students. After an American raid into Syrian territory on October 26, 2008, the Syrian government decided to shut down the Damascus Community School in light of the violation of Syrian international