How to Apply for School Membership
To qualify for membership, your school must demonstrate its commitment to provide students with the knowledge, skills and abilities to pursue their lives as global citizens and to provide high quality international education.
The process to become a member includes two stages. First you will share information about your school so we can confirm eligibility. This stage is completed online. Next, we engage with your school to understand how you apply the CIS membership standards in your community, including the CIS Code of Ethics. Your school will share perspectives related to the four CIS drivers for school improvement. We will also review additional documentation at this time. This stage includes submission of a report and a virtual engagement where CIS will talk with members of the school leadership team, a board representative and students.
Eligibility requirements for membership include:
- be operational at the time of application
- having a license for operation from relevant authorities
- provide a sequential course of study leading to full primary/elementary and/or secondary education
- apply as a whole school (not a section of the school such as the International Section or only the primary or secondary school)
- be fully accredited by a recognised national agency; or commit to begin the CIS International Accreditation process within two years of membership approval
Membership process
Our membership application process and support are conducted in English. In addition, CIS membership resources and services are also provided in English. Membership fees are invoiced annually.
| Stage 1 |
The first step is to submit the online application form. You can learn about the information we will collect in advance of starting the form. We use this information to confirm your eligibility for membership. The application requests information such as your school address, website, student enrolment, governance structure, language of instruction, licensing authority, accreditation status (if applicable), and information about why you are applying for membership. |
| Stage 2 | After we confirm your eligibility, we will engage with your school to understand how you apply the CIS membership standards in your community, including the CIS Code of Ethics. You will be given access to the CIS reporting tool and complete a short report that includes your reflections on our drivers and supporting documents we will review with each driver. |
| Stage 3 | An important part of the membership process, is meeting with your leadership team, students, and a member of your board. During this virtual visit we discuss your commitment to our four drivers. The visit will include reflective conversations with school leaders, students and board representatives. This is the final stage of the process. |
Timeline
The timing of the membership application process depends on two variables:
- School’s readiness to supply the required documents (such as documents that describe how the governance works in the school, examples of policies and procedures, audit reports from an external organization, etc.)
- The scheduling of the visit which is dependent on your school calendar and our available resources.
Learn more and apply
- Review the membership standards and annual membership fees.
- Sign-up to connect with our membership team
We're excited about the opportunities that CIS membership will bring our school ... valuable resources, professional development, and collaboration with other esteemed educational institutions around the world. We are eager to embark on this journey with CIS and start our accreditation process and continue our efforts to provide a world-class education to our students.