Joelle Basnight

Joelle grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico and now calls Austin, Texas, home in the summers. She joined AISC as the High School Principal in 2014. Prior to Chennai, she served as the High School Principal at Cairo American College and the Lincoln School in Buenos Aires, Argentina as well as the High School Assistant Principal at Shanghai American School. Prior to moving into Administration, Joelle was a social/emotional, college and academic counselor at Shanghai American School and the American Embassy School, New Delhi. Prior to that she taught IB Psychology, IB TOK and Chemistry at Colegio Americano de Quito in Ecuador. Joelle has her B.Sc. in Biology and History of Art (Oxford Brookes University), an M.A. in Mental Health Counseling (Webster University), an M.A. in International Administration (Lehigh University) and an M.B.A. (Endicott College). She is a National Board Certified Counselor as well as a licensed K-12 Counselor and K-12 Principal in the State of New Mexico. In 2019, Joelle was chosen by the U.S. Department of State – Office of Overseas Schools (DoSOS) to be one of two Principals of the Year, an award conferred by the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).