We are proud to announce that our school has been granted membership by the Council of International Schools (CIS), a globally recognized organization dedicated to promoting high-quality international education. This prestigious membership acknowledges our school's commitment to providing an exceptional learning environment to students from diverse backgrounds.

CIS membership is a significant achievement that reflects our dedication to meeting international standards of education and fostering a global mindset among our students. By becoming a CIS member, our school joins a network of more than 1,490 educational institutions across 120 countries, sharing best practices and collaborating with esteemed educators worldwide.

The rigorous process of gaining CIS membership involved a comprehensive evaluation of our school's academic programs, governance, ethical practices, and commitment to continuous improvement. This recognition speaks volumes about the exceptional efforts of our faculty, staff, and students in upholding educational excellence.

Being part of CIS will provide numerous benefits to our school community. We will gain access to a wealth of professional development opportunities for our teachers, enabling them to enhance their skills and stay abreast of the latest educational trends. Our students will benefit from a globally recognized education that prepares them to thrive in an interconnected world.

Deputy Head of Kindergarten
吴海玲
CIS Coordinator

What is a CIS membership?

The Council of International Schools (CIS) is a membership organization to recognise and support the development of international schools worldwide. School purpose & direction, high-quality learning & teaching, welling and the development of global citizenship are the four drivers of the CIS evaluation.

The CIS evaluation adopts a thorough standard-based framework, providing a rubric for each standard at different stages of school development. Considering the input and perspectives of all stakeholders in a school community, CIS puts great emphases on systematic and continuous school reflection and improvement.

As a result of the April CIS visit, our whole school, including both KCIS and DSAS, has been recognized as a member of the CIS community with a high pass. This indicates as one whole school we are the right track to enhance student and staff wellbeing, support effective student learning and teaching, and promote global citizenship in alignment with our guiding statements. This school community has been working hard together for 5 years and what an incredible external assurance we have achieved!

What preparations we have made for the application?

It was a lot of paperwork to complete and supporting documents to upload, for sure, long before CIS considered pinning down a specific date to visit us. Meanwhile, we had been preparing for application of the CIS membership since the embryonic stage of the school's development. The school structure has been designed with the CIS framework in mind from the very beginning. After taking on the role of Executive Principal in August 2022, Brendan Law requested the immediate formal application with the strong support of our Dipont Headquarters. Applying for the CIS membership became an invaluable means to reviewing the strengths and areas for improvement of the whole school, as well as the various school sections, from a wide range of domains. It was an approach to further glue all the sections together following a consistent set of expectations. It was also a wonderful process to recognize and celebrate how much we have achieved as the individual sections and as the whole school.

Your reflection of being the coordinator

It was an absolute honour of mine to coordinate and witness this whole process.  What I saw was that the whole community, including the Dipont Headquarters, the Senior Leadership Team, the middle management team, all the teachers and the non-teaching staff, put the wellbeing and learning of our students in the center of their decision making and daily practices. As it was a virtual visit from CIS, the IT department worked hard to ensure a smooth connection of internet and the best image and voice representation on the screen. There were 9 meetings arranged on this day and I was privileged enough to sit in all these meetings, listening to the leadership teams, the staff representatives and the student representatives of all age groups on their perspectives of the school progress regarding the aforementioned four drivers.

Supported by our school's guiding statements, all the school sections have been doing their very best to shine in their unique ways. As one school, we approach our curricula and teaching practices in an aligned manner. The student representatives spoke confidently and proudly of the provisions of our school, which Ray Davis, our CIS evaluator, could not commend enough. To support the easy access of our guiding statements to the entire school community, the expressive department was able to make them into a song within one day. What an enthusiastic, caring and vibrant community we are in! I look forward to the coming teamwork that will move our school to the next level, that is, the CIS accreditation.

How and what can students benefit from studying in a CIS school?

The recognition of KCIS as a CIS school will greatly help our school attract best qualified staff from all corners of the world. Our school can now access the professional development resources and opportunities that CIS makes specifically available to its members. With the support of CIS and the connections made with peer international schools, we will be further inspired to improve our policies and practices in promoting student wellbeing and learning. We will, no doubt, be in a much brighter position preparing our future global citizens!