Main

• Andria Tayeh as Mariam
• Rakeen Sa'ad as Noaf
• Noor Taher as Layan Murad Fathi
• Yara Mustafa as Dina
• Joanna Arida as Rania
• Salsabiela A. as Ruqayya

Recurring

• Nadera Emran as Principal Faten Qadi
• Reem Saadeh as Miss Abeer
• Jana Zeineddi as Laila
• Ahmad Hamdan as Laith Radwan
• Sari Silawi as Hazem

Season 1 (2021)

Development

When Tima Shomali developed the idea for AlRawabi School for Girls, she was not thinking about a release on Netflix. According to an interview Shomali gave for Amman TV (and summarized by Al Bawaba) however, "the global streaming platform loved the show and translated it to several languages."^[5] Shomali also indicated in the same interview that her goal was to create a dialogue about the concept of bullying, as when she was growing up, the term "was not used, and we did not know what bullying meant, but we lived through it and did not know about it."^[5] Shomali also commented on her intent to introduce women's voices the "one thing I always found lacking in most shows that talk about women is the female perception on their issues. So I gathered around a brilliant team of women to work on developing and executing the show's creative vision. Together, we envisioned and built the elements of the Al Rawabi world, starting from the characters, set design, colors, lighting and even the music."^[6][7] Later, on April 13, 2019, Shomali announced to her followers on Facebook that she was working on creating an original Arabic Netflix series, in collaboration with her Jordanian production company Filmizion Productions, titled AlRawabi School for Girls.^[8] On May 18, 2022, Tima Shomali, Netflix MENA and the cast announced a season two to AlRawabi, despite the fact it was supposed to be a mini/limited series. She shared 3 photos via Instagram.^[9] Filming wrapped in May 2023.^[10]

Casting

Working alongside the writer Shirin Kamal, Tima Shomali created a full female cast drama series,^[11] that takes place in an all girls school and explores the ideas of revenge and bullying.^[12] They cast "new faces", and allowed the actors to choose the characters that they wanted to portray.^[13]

Response

According to Jordanian psychologist Samira H., AlRawabi School for Girls "depicts the significant impact of bullying on the mental health of young girls." She also states that she hopes "stories like the one portrayed in the series encourages parents and schools to be more sympathetic with those who are bullied so that they don't feel so alone."^[14] AlRawabi also created controversy, as many thought it was an inaccurate representation of Jordan, their culture, lifestyle and society, along with Arabs as a whole. People have also criticized AlRawabi for some of the topics mentioned in the show.^[4][15] However, many loved this show. On social media, many praised the show for openly portraying topics which don't often get talked about. Many have also praised the show for portraying young/teenaged Arab girls.^[4][15]