Transforming Futures: The Hong Kong International School Journey
“Dedicating our minds to inquiry, our hearts to compassion and our livers to service and global understanding an American style education grounded in the Christian faith and respecting the spiritual lives of all – Hong Kong International School’s Mission Statement.”
Hong Kong International School (HKIS) is a leading private co-educational college preparatory school for students from kindergarten to grade 12 has been focusing on the advancement of every child. The school encourages its students to soar high at every point of their lives while offering an inspiring environment. HKIS offers a warm and inclusive learning environment for over 2,800 students of 40 nationalities and diverse religious backgrounds.
Since its inception in 1966 the school’s vision has been to be the leading platform of learning that inspires a socially engaged community of collaborative, robust and creative learners dedicated to realizing their full potential. With the passing of its 50th anniversary, beyond the shadow of doubt one can say that HKIS is a well-established school which sets its students into the path of success.
HKIS is an East Asia Regional Council of Schools member and is fully accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.
HKIS provides an American-style education grounded in the Christian faith and respecting the spiritual lives of all. The school’s position is “not to convert children to a particular religious point of view but to teach students the basic tenets of the Christian faith and the ways of living that follow with from it along with other world religions” Its programs reflect the rich multi-cultural and international character of its student body.
“We are committed to delivering exceptional teaching, and continually evolve our programs and facilities to enhance our student experience”, comments one of the authorities of the school.
Teaching for Understanding
HKIS follows a comprehensive standard-based curriculum. It challenges and inspires its students to be lifelong learners and global citizens. The graduates of the school attend the top universities around the world, with close to 85% attending American institutions.
Hong Kong International School seeks to structure teaching for understanding while guiding it in the formulation of its written curriculum. The school aligns curriculum, instruction, and assessment to allow students to demonstrate their knowledge and skills by developing enduring understandings from previous learning experiences. The expert pool of teachers at HKIS regularly updates and revises the curricula to reflect the current best practices and research.
Hong Kong International School believes that the purpose of assessment is to promote learning. A healthy system of assessment is relevant and accurate, ongoing, informative, timely, and understandable to all. The school also uses multiple forms of assessment that allow students to demonstrate their understanding: formative assessments are used to guide instruction and student goal-setting, while summative assessments summarize the mastery of content, knowledge, or skills at a particular point in time. The academic year of HKIS is divided into two semesters: August – Mid-January and January to June.
Lower and Upper Primary
In Lower Primary School at Hong Kong International School, for children aged four to seven years old, students are in a hands-on environment where they get actively involved in exploring, experimenting, and talking. The program focuses on improving literacy and math, while specialized teachers offer classes in Chinese, technology, library, music, PE, and art. Here, the students learn about Christianity through Bible stories, songs, and prayers while also gaining insight into other religions by sharing celebrations and visiting temples, shrines, and mosques, as well as studying religious and cultural books.
Children aged eight to ten years attend Upper Primary School at Hong Kong International School. The curriculum includes learning language arts (reading, writing, speaking, and listening), math, Christianity and other religions, science, social science, and Mandarin. Students take specialist classes in PE, Chinese studies, music, and technology. The main highlight of this curriculum is an off-campus overnight trip (camp) that gives students a learning experience beyond the classroom.
Middle and High School
The Middle School teaches students from sixth to eight grades. The curriculum of this school includes maths, science, language arts, music, social science, religion, PE, modern languages and Mandarin. The school day is begun with an advisory or Pastoral Care Group. The students also take part in a five-day adventurous program with programs ranging from trips staying in Hong Kong to service in Cambodia.
The voyage of education at Hong Kong International School ends at High School wherein the students from 9th to 12th grade are taught. The High School of HKIS resembles American schools in the U.S. with homerooms, a comprehensive counselling program, and the Advanced Placement program. Over 25 advanced placement subjects are available to the high school students. The subject courses undertaken here are Chinese, performing arts, social studies, religion, visual arts, design and PE. Each student is assigned a counsellor who advises them on what course to take.
