Our History

The Birth of NESA

By the early 1960s, American and international schools across North Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia were operating in increasingly complex contexts, often far from national systems of support. While diverse in setting, these schools shared common needs around quality, stability, and access to professional collaboration.

In 1963, during the administration of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) contracted the National Education Association to conduct a study of overseas schools and the needs of U.S. dependents living in the region. The study was led by Finis Engleman (for whom NESA’s highest honor is named), and its findings led the U.S. State Department to establish its Office of Overseas Schools (A/OS), creating a formal mechanism to support American-sponsored schools abroad through regional associations.

NESA was established as one of these associations, with its first by-laws drafted in 1964. In 1968, the Near East South Asia Council of Overseas Schools was formally incorporated as a U.S. non-profit organization, and officially launched with a conference in Tehran, Iran, in November of that year – where its first Board of Trustees was unanimously accepted.
 

Early Collaboration and Shared Leadership

In its early years, NESA functioned as a collaborative effort among member schools, with leadership rotating among heads of school.
 

Establishing the NESA Center

In 1974, Pat Howard of Tehran American School was appointed part-time Executive Secretary, transitioning to a full-time role in 1977 and opening the first NESA Center in Athens. The following year, Stanley Haas – former head of the Overseas School of Rome and the American Community Schools of Athens – became NESA’s Executive Director, and established the NESA Center at its current location on the American College of Greece campus.

Leadership and Organizational Continuity

Dr. Haas served as Executive Director until his passing in 1995. His wife, Mary Anne Haas, served as interim Executive Director until David Chojnacki assumed the role in 1996.

David Chojnacki led the organization for more than two decades, during which time NESA expanded its professional learning programs, deepened its focus on standards-based education, and strengthened regional and international partnerships.
 

NESA Today

In 2017, Madeleine Hewitt became NESA’s Executive Director, ushering in the organization’s next phase of development.

Today, NESA continues to build on this history as a professional learning community rooted in collaboration, shared leadership, and regional connection. While its programs and scope have evolved over time, NESA’s core purpose remains unchanged: supporting schools and educators through sustained partnership in service of student learning.