Prospectus & Annual Report 2017–18
Kirsten Asklin, grade 8
Welcome to Copenhagen International School
VISION MISSION
LEARNING TO BUILD COMMUNITY
Founded in 1963, CIS is the premier international school in Greater Copenhagen with students and staff from 84 different countries. CIS is one of the original IB Diploma Programme schools and we have offered the program since its very beginning in the mid–1960s. As an IB World School we offer the IB Primary Years Programme, the IB Middle Years Programme and the IB Diploma Programme to students aged 3 to 19.
CIS will develop the potential of each student by offering educational excellence in a stimulating environment of cultural diversity and mutual respect.
GOALS LEARNING
CIS is a member of the European Council of International Schools, the Council of International Schools, and the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). CIS is accredited by the Danish Ministry of Education, NEASC Council on International Education, and authorized by the International Baccalaureate Organization to offer IB programmes.
Teaching & Learning Provide a high–quality, varied educational programme for a diverse student population. Sustainability Promote long–term sustainable practice.
CURIOUS Page 2
BUILD
Staff Recruit and retain the best staff in an increasingly competitive global education market.
STRATEGIC PILLARS
Affiliation with these organizations provides access and transition for CIS students to other top international schools across the world.
EDUCATING CHAMPIONS OF A JUST AND SUSTAINABLE WORLD
COMMUNITY
Leadership Provide clear direction in the execution of the CIS vision and mission.
CIS Build an effective, life–long network to support students, parents and staff.
Management Create and document policies, procedures and practices to ensure the smooth functioning of the school in the service of its vision and mission.
Local Build connections with the local community that promote mutual support and collaborative learning.
Facilities Provide a safe venue that ensures academic, physical and social growth and well–being.
RESOURCEFUL
RESPECTFUL
International Build connections with the international community that promote mutual support and collaborative learning.
RESPONSIBLE
The CIS Board We have now spent our first calendar year in the Nordhavn Campus and the school is in the fortunate situation that CIS can now accommodate 1,200 students, which is close to twice the stretched capacity at the Hellerup Campus. The number of enrolled students continues to grow; we expect our 2017-18 average to be 943. The outstanding building and the facilities alone do not make a great school. A great school is made of excellent educators and happy students supported by a strong leadership team and a caring community. This is how we continue our vision of “educating champions of just and sustainable world.” The Board oversight of the school is organised around the Director’s annual operating plan, which is composed of three strategic pillars: Learning, Building, and Community. At regular Board meetings throughout the year, the administration reports to the Board on progress on key goals within each pillar. The Board and administration partner to support this important continuous improvement work. We aim to serve each student each day to the best of our ability. On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank the students, teachers and staff, and the leadership team for their hard work and contribution to make CIS – CIS. Last but not least, I want to express profound gratitude to all of our volunteers in our fantastic, truly international and inclusive community for offering their time and energy to bring our community closer together. Please continue to recommend CIS to your friends, family and colleagues. This is the best way for us to promote our continued growth. Lars Krogsgaard Board Chair Page 3
The Director
Theodor Meister-Paustian, Grade 1
This year we have continued to enjoy and explore what it means to be one community altogether in Nordhavn. We have brought cherished CIS traditions to our new locale. For example, on May 29, out front between our basketball and football courts, we cheered for our grade 12 students, who headed off in trucks for pre-graduation revelry. We have also been developing new traditions: several times a year, our whole community packs into the cafeteria together. We take time to welcome new students, say goodbye to friends moving away, celebrate holidays and have fun together. At the start of the year, the oldest students lead the youngest
to their classrooms to start the year. It is amazing how quickly all of our new spaces have become filled with with activities, performances, and celebrations. We are finding our rhythms together. We know that strong schools are tireless in their dual focus on both excellent education and a caring community. This year, we have been working on a number of ways to enhance and refine our support for students, from curriculum development to pastoral programs. As a staff, we have also been looking at the various aspects of professional educational practice. As a learning organization, we know how crucial reflection is; we are each identifying our strengths and setting goals for growth. We also recognize the vital role of collaboration, which allows us to leverage all of our strengths to enhance the support we provide students. Together, we have begun exploring this vital question:
What does it mean to be a sustainable community? We have learned that even small steps forward can be challenging but they are important and significant in becoming more sustainable. We have also learned that we are only at the beginning of our journey. We need to keep asking the question; it prompts inquiry and learning for our students and for all of us. In doing so, we join with our neighborhood and our city in seeking a more sustainable future. Jennifer Weyburn Director
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Early Years The Early Years Programme at CIS works to develop the potential of each child beginning at the age of three and moving through Grade 1. Educational excellence in these grades, especially Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten, is focused, where possible, through purposeful play. Teachers in these grades are methodical about observing children’s play, documenting the conversations and learning taking place, reflecting together on how the play connects to the curriculum and expected learning and deciding the next possible provocations. This cycle of observation, documentation, provocation offers students ownership and choice while allowing teachers to weave learning outcomes into the classroom. By the time children are in Grade 1, more time is provided for teacher directed learning, especially through small group instruction while continuing to allow student choice.
greet each other in the different languages of the children and the world, share a bit of their lives and join in an activity where they have fun together while continuing their learning. This is one way in which mutual respect grows among the children and teachers. Shared experiences such as assemblies, Peace Day, Motionsdag, Fastelavn and buddies from an older grade are other ways that children develop friendships in their class, grade and throughout the primary school. Parents are included in these communities through conversations, conferences and class visits for informal gatherings such as play and explore mornings to more formal events such as Open Houses where children share their learning.
Last spring, a group of Early Years teachers went to an Educational Collaborative for International Schools (ECIS) Early Years Conference. The teacher learning from this conference prompted the development of an EY vision for our learning environments and agreements about the common areas. Over the last year, the common spaces in the EY have become more purposeful, flexible and natural, creating a more child-centered, stimulating environment. The crowning moment has been the development of the EY Greenhouse. Thanks to the efforts of our dedicated EY teachers, the children now have a large ‘outdoor/indoor’ space full of wood, bark, pine cones and other natural materials with which to create and investigate the natural world. The EY Greenhouse has only recently opened and is already the highlight of the children’s day.
Sabrina Manhart Primary School Principal
What a great learning community we have in the Early Years!
“CIS will develop the potential of each child by offering educational excellence in a stimulating environment of cultural diversity and mutual respect” The CIS Mission Statement
As an international school, developing a community of cultural diversity is part of our children’s everyday lives. They begin each day with a Morning Meeting where they
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Primary School Students in the Primary School experience learning in a caring community deeply committed to educational excellence. Teachers in Grades 2-5 believe that to develop the skills of lifelong learners, students must engage daily in relevant and significant content, collaborate with their peers and solve meaningful problems. In doing so, teachers and students work together through an inquiry model of teaching designed to allow learners to take primary responsibility for developing essential skills and knowledge. Sharing all of this with our community has long been a priority for the Primary School. The open spaces and facilities at our new campus now provide an even greater opportunity for the community to comfortably join us for these events that make learning visible. This has been one of the most immediate and satisfying results of moving into our beautiful new building. Teachers at CIS model the spirit of continuous learning in their commitment to improving practice and developing skills as educators. Over the last two years, one focus of professional development in the Primary School has been to learn about and appreciate the power teacher language has on our students. Through focused book groups and in-house collaborative work, teachers are committed to exploring how the words we choose can engage students, encourage deeper thinking and support academic growth. As a by-product of putting this learning into action, teachers have seen how the modeling of intentional and focused language transfers into students’ own language. Classrooms have become richer learning environments where the skillful use of language by both teachers and students has profound benefits. Engaging with all stakeholders in the Primary School is an important focus in our effort to build and care for our community. Monthly Roundtable discussions facilitated by
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the Primary School administrators offer groups of parents the chance to meet, discuss and sometimes debate the issues that matter to all of us. Weekly assemblies provide opportunity for parents, students and teachers to come together to build community and have fun. The focus is always on the positive; we celebrate our learning, our big achievements and the small moments that connect us as a Primary School. A weekly theme of sustainability runs through each assembly reinforcing our belief that it is our shared responsibility to care for one another, our school and the Earth. The Student Council, also featured prominently in assemblies, is a visible and valued part of our Primary School. Grade 4 and 5 representatives learn leadership skills through advocating for all students on issues ranging from the playground and the canteen to raising money and contributing to charities. As we come together each week we are reminded that our connection to each other is essential to our collective learning and success. Our focus and commitment to learning in and through a caring community makes the Primary School at CIS a very special place. Moira Christensen Primary School Deputy Principal
Middle School Every day students are forming attitudes, values and habits of life that will largely direct their behavior as adults. Middle School has been focusing on two themes - educational excellence and caring community. Both reflect our school’s mission, ‘Learning to Build Community’. Staff began the year watching Rita Pierson’s Ted Talk, Every Kid Needs a Champion. The basis for all learning is relationships, building connections. Middle School has strong teams of adults and programs designed to address the specific academic, social and emotional developmental needs of each student. Our hope is to empower students to be the best version of themselves; to enhance the healthy growth of our young adolescents as lifetime learners who are increasingly competent, self sufficient, and optimistic about their future.
We believe students need a vibrant, dynamic learning environment. Ron Ritchhart, Harvard Project Zero, describes schools as cultures of thinking, where a group’s collective, as well as individual thinking, are valued, visible, and actively promoted, as part of the ongoing experience of all group members. As you walk through the classrooms and common spaces of the Middle School, you will see evidence of learning. The common spaces provide collaborative spaces extending the classroom, and the walls are our canvas! The walls serve to synthesize learning, showcase projects, and provide information about programs. To celebrate the diversity of our community, the walls provide a space where we can learn some initial language phrases from peers’ home countries.
Our students extend and challenge themselves in a wide range of academic subjects. The IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) relies on connecting classroom pedagogical practices and content to the outside world through the Global Contexts and the Learner Profile. Students study nine content areas, but more importantly, concurrently develop lifelong learning skills. The MYP Approaches to Learning and Learner Profile are key ingredients in our curriculum and advisory programs. We provide every student with the opportunity for personal success through exploration and self-reflection.
Our advisory program enhances the building of a respectful and supportive community through positive student and adult interactions. Units of study have focused on Me as a Digital Being, Me as an Adolescent and Service in Action (Grade 6) and Genius Hour (Grades 7 & 8). In addition to conferences, we collaborated with parents through monthly roundtables and individual meetings. Meeting topics included digital citizenship, Screenagers, teen issues, supporting our child’s success and wellness. Karen Rohrs Middle School Principal
In June 2017 Middle School hosted the inaugural Celebration of Learning evening for parents. All students shared their learning, focusing on different elements of our program. Students took responsibility for their contributions to the evening, including presentation for parents. It was inspiring to see students speak eloquently and reflect on their learning. In addition to classroom activities, other events include Sharing our Words, music performances, STOMP inspired MS Production, Hamlet performances, and Speeches.
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High School What brings almost 300 people from more than 54 countries together over 180 times a year? It is not a difficult question, nor is it a unique situation. The answer is the High School at Copenhagen International School and it creates a very special set of circumstances. Students from age 14, from all over the world, travelling in from all over Copenhagen, mix with staff and teachers from a similar range of backgrounds and they each have a common aim, learning. It is one of the pillars of the school’s Mission and Vision and a fundamental reason for our existence. In the classrooms Grade 9 students in mathematics tackle trigonometry, Grade 10 students polish their German pronunciation, Grade 11 IB Diploma students tackle the nature of knowledge in TOK and Grade 12 Visual Arts students put the finishing touches to their exhibition. Learning across an extensive range of academic subjects is pursued and supported by dedicated teachers whose joint aim is to make these endeavors as successful and fruitful as possible. Similarly, outside of the classroom, learning opportunities abound. Lunch in the cafeteria teaches students to cooperate and live together harmoniously; activities on the Social Overnight trips each August build leadership and teamwork; essential communication skills are honed presenting at Model United Nations and Global Issues Network conferences; and empathy is acted upon when students take the initiative to help others in the communities they live in. It sounds simple, however much has gone into building the special set of circumstances within which this transformational learning takes place.
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Another question to consider is, what makes students learn, and keep learning? The answer to this one is perhaps not so simple. Research on student motivation suggests they maintain engagement when they see the virtue in doing so and when they feel a sense of autonomy in the learning processes. Students also need to feel they belong, that they are surrounded by warmth and openness, enthusiasm and helpfulness, and that they have ownership of their learning. This building of community are the other pillars of our Vision and Mission and are equally important. In the High School and across CIS you can see examples of everything listed above every day. Students learn in diverse and rich contexts, individually and collaboratively, and above all in a manner and in circumstances that make CIS the special learning community in which we work together every day. Stephen McIlroy High School Principal
May 2017
Exams Sixty three students graduated from CIS in June 2017. Of these, 55 were registered to take the full IB Diploma, and six worked towards receiving a High School Diploma. Four of these six students took some or all of their subjects as IB Courses and received an IB Certificate in addition to their CIS High School Diploma. The remaining two students completed just the CIS High School Diploma. For the Diploma exams, we were joined by two former CIS students who re-took some of their May 2016 examinations. In total, our IB examination registrations amounted to 63: 55 Diploma, six Course and two Retake. Of the 55 students taking the full IB Diploma, 53 passed, and two failed, giving us a pass rate of 96%, an increase on the 93% of 2016 and 16 percentage points above the global pass rate of approximately 80%. Our top scoring students (two students) achieved 44 points out of a possible 45. Just under 1% of all DP candidates achieved such an outcome in 2017. Ten of our students scored 40 points and above, the equivalent of 18% of our DP students as opposed to 8% of all DP candidates worldwide in May 2017. Our average grade was 33 points, three points above the world average of 29.98, and similar to the average we have maintained for the past two years.
DP School Statistics
CIS 2017
May 2017
University Acceptance
Number of candidates registered in the session
63
Number of Diploma Programme candidates registered
55
Number of Diploma Courses candidates registered
6
Number of Re-take students registered
2
Number of Diploma candidates who passed the Diploma
53 (96%)
Average points obtained by candidates who passed the Diploma
33
Highest Diploma points awarded to a candidate
44
Average grade obtained at the school by candidates who passed the Diploma
5.19
Number of subject entries
462
Twenty two of last year’s graduating class chose to take a gap year. Two students will complete military service, and one is joining the Royal Australian Air Force. Thirty six of our graduates plan to attend universities in countries including the United Kingdom, Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Canada, Germany, Thailand and the United States, studying a range of subjects including Management, Physics, International Relations, Geography, Law, Biology and a variety of Engineering courses. Universities which our students will attend include Oxford University, the London School of Economics, King’s College London, Imperial College London, the University of Bath, Delft University of Technology, Georgia Institute of Technology, McGill University and the University of Melbourne.
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Student Support Services The Student Support Services department consists of three distinct, but related, services at CIS: •• Learning Support •• School Counseling •• Nursing
Learning Support The learning support branch represents the largest within the department serving approximately 10% of our students who require specialized learning support or accommodations to successfully access the curriculum. Students eligible for Learning Support receive an individual learning plan developed to identify specific skills development for the upcoming year. Accommodation Plans are developed for students to provide an equal opportunity to participate in the general education curriculum and/or demonstrate mastery of standards on an assessment. Early Intervention is provided to targeted students in the Early Years program to promote early literacy skills. Our goal is to provide a continuum of services to meet the needs of all students, including individualized services for students with intensive needs. A focus of learning support in the 2017-18 school year has been building co-teaching teams in Primary, Middle, and High School divisions. Co-teaching is an inclusive instructional model in which two teachers join together to teach a group of students. In August 2017, a group of general education teachers and learning support teachers spent two days learning about co-teaching models, effective collaborative practices, and implementation of instruction with two teachers in a classroom. Additional training sessions and discussions have continued throughout the year to help teams build and refine their co-teaching practice.
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Laura Svarrer, Grade 12
School Counselors School counselors promote educational, career, and personal/social development for all students through targeted support for students, parents, and teachers. School counselors align standards from the International School Counselor Association standards and models of instruction with teachers through Primary morning meetings, units of inquiry, classroom lessons, and advisory programs. This year, school counselors have focused on student supports including refining school protocols for child protection, bullying and suicide prevention. Counselors at the Primary level have provided ongoing training for teachers and parents in Positive Discipline. The Middle School counseling program focused on cyber safety and building community. High School counselors continue to assist students to plan and prepare for university as well as support social and emotional health of students.
School Health Nurse The primary role of the school health nurse is to support student learning by implementing strategies that promote student health and safety, responding to immediate health needs of students and helping students and families to access community health resources. The school nurse has been active this year in developing allergy and nutritional guidelines alongside our onsite catering service, contributing to the CIS child protection policy development and training of our staff. Kristen Koehler Director of Student Support Services
Biology conservation trip to
Madagascar
Last summer, fourteen students and two teachers went on the school’s biology trip to Madagascar. It was an extraordinary experience and provided students with a unique vantage point on what is studied in biology. Madagascar broke off from India approximately 88 million years ago and was thereafter completely isolated. This created a special biosphere with 90% of all the plant and animal species being endemic to Madagascar. However, its beautiful flora and fauna are threatened by local deforestation and environmental degradation. It is therefore important to preserve the area through projects such as Operation Wallacea. Opwall aims to collect data on marine and terrestrial biodiversity in order to catalogue what is there and figure out how to conserve it.
simple to perform on land, but once in the ocean, it required more skill in terms of buoyancy and precision than most of us possesed. Despite a few failed attempts, we managed as a group to collect some nice sets of data, which would become a part of the larger conservation project taking place in Marodoka Bay over the summer. Camp life was very primitive with no toilets, bland food, early mornings, and constant walks or dives. Nevertheless, it was amazing to feel that we made a difference and to interact with so many exotic animals. Ida Ahm Poulsen Grade 11
We spent the first week at a terrestrial site in the jungle by a place called Mahajanga. Here we conducted a variety of standardised monitoring and specialist surveys, to collect data about butterflies, lemurs, trees, reptiles, birds, and insects. We would do two lectures and three surveys a day, each survey requiring hours of walking and observing. This was for the purpose of estimating biodiversity and detect possible growth or decline. Following this, we spent a week at a marine site in Marodoka Bay. The majority of the group spent the week taking their PADI scuba diving certificates and as such didn’t get to conduct any surveys, but still attended the lectures on corals, fish, mangroves, and threats to marine biology. These were super interesting and laid out a solid foundation for those of us who went to collect data below the surface. We did two dives a day to identify fish or corals, or collect data about the state of the coral reef through HAS and quadrat surveys. These surveys looked at the types of corals present, their height and width, how much percentage ground they covered, and whether they were bleached or not. They were relatively
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The CIS Community Mural In connection with the Color Theory and Composition unit I was teaching in Visual Arts class, twenty-eight art students from Grades 10 and 11 created the mural that hangs outside our school for their final art piece this past fall. After six months in the new campus, this project was a welcome opportunity for the community to take ownership of the space, and for the Visual Arts Department to introduce the students to public and large size artwork.
To help us realize this challenge, we joined forces with artist Jacoba Niepoort, a local muralist with a lot of experience both with outdoor painting techniques and the paperwork that public projects such as this require. In September we sent a mural proposal to the Metro company and we were thrilled to learn that the 43-meter wall that runs parallel to the CIS parking lot had been approved for our mural project. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for students to beautify and visually reflect their school environment on a large scale, while receiving professional artist guidance and experimenting with new techniques and materials. It was also an opportunity for the entire CIS community to be reflected outside of the school building, strengthening our connection to the local area surrounding the new campus.
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The students painted 28 interconnected portraits of individuals from the CIS community, who have in some way inspired them during their school life. Students came up with a long list of inspirational characters, including CIS staff, parents and siblings, whom they photographed to create large portraits. They also faced new challenges of working on a collaborative artwork, including the democratic process of choosing the mural’s color scheme and order, how to visually convey their ideas to the audience through symbolism and creative expression, and how to approach painting on a larger scale than any of them had ever tried before!
I was amazed at the deep commitment and enthusiasm that the group generated and demonstrated throughout the whole process. After an exhaustive preparatory phase, the painting period took place in a very intense couple of weeks. Many of the students were initially frightened at the idea of painting on such big panels and the responsibility of exhibiting publicly. However, this only made them work harder and fully support each other. Additionally, the daily interest and appreciation demonstrated by the people passing by while the students were painting, contributed to building up their confidence.
By December 2017, the Metro walls were covered with colorful student artwork, which will hang until the end of the school year. After this period we hope to display it somewhere else around the CIS Campus. Every time I see the mural it makes me smile, and I feel immensely proud of the artists, their effort and achievement. Congratulations to all of you! Gora Lizaso High School Visual Art Teacher
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The annual Staff Appreciation Lunch hosted by the PTA left everybody totally full of delicious food – and reciprocal appreciation
PTA One of the main goals of the PTA is to encourage the growth of a caring community by creating a CIS Family that strengthens the connection between home and school. In a community such as ours, where many of us are far from home and family, this connection takes on a special meaning. This is made possible through the wonderful work of volunteers who so generously give to make CIS a home away from home. Their time, passion and dedication is a huge factor in what makes CIS such a special place.
diverse community. Over 80 nationalities took part in the Parade of Nations and joined together for a fun filled day of cultural experiences. We had a taste of the many diverse cuisines at CIS, we danced and performed the Haka! The Country Basket Silent Auction gave people a chance to take home a piece of another culture.
vote online as to the distribution of these funds; giving them a voice as to how the funds were allocated.
In January 2018, a Baby and Toddler Group was established, providing a support network for parents while allowing our youngest community members to enjoy the new campus.
I am confident that the coming year will bring more opportunities for the CIS family to grow.
Having just completed a full year at the new Nordhavn campus it is an excellent opportunity to look back on some of the many highlights of the past year. It was a year of settling in and adapting while enjoying our new waterfront surroundings.
This year PTA was fortunate to be in a position to donate 80,000 DKK back to the Community to be used for projects that are beneficial to the current and future CIS community.
In May 2017, PTA held the Inaugural International Festival where we celebrated our truly international and culturally
Many diverse proposals were submitted by students, parents and staff. For the first time parents and staff could
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It has been an amazing year for all, and I believe the community has surpassed itself with the time and dedication shown throughout.
It is an exciting time to be at CIS! Jennifer O’Brien PTA Chair
Sustainability @ CIS This school year, student members of Roots & Shoots (R&S) have been busy taking action to help make a positive difference for our planet. One R&S Team initiative involved the removal of litter from our school grounds. The students sorted the litter (paper, glass, plastic, etc.) and attempted to determine where it came from. They found that most of the litter is blown here by the wind. “We have to pick up the litter before it blows into the sea, because once it’s in the water animals could eat it. Then they get sick and die,” explained Helena, a Grade 2 student.
Taking care of the planet starts at home ..., and at school.
problem, or even make a paper airplane, they’re welcome to take a sheet from a GOOS Box.
Paper is a valuable resource which must be used wisely. Meanwhile, in the High School, the Global Issues Network (GIN) club teamed-up with Roots & Shoots to make a video introduction to the GOOS Boxes. Mainly, however, GIN has focussed on local and regional projects addressing sustainable ocean management. Students delivered lively presentations on both coral awareness and turtle conservation at a GIN conference in Bremen, Germany last November. In March 2018 CIS GIN members attended a major regional conference in Luxembourg where they
presented workshops on climate refugees and ocean conservation amongst thirty-four European schools and a number of thrilling keynote speakers – ALL focussed on the various angles of environmental sustainability. Here at home, GIN club members have hosted a coral conservation documentary film screening and have sold stickers and reused cloth shopping bags with handmade turtle logos to help address the amount of plastic bags making their way into the sea. GIN is planning a beach cleanup for the spring as well as a reusable bottle campaign to reduce our consumption of plastic here at CIS. Daniel D’Andrea and Kasey Kozara The CIS Sustainable Community Group
The creation of GOOS Boxes was another R&S initiative. (GOOS means ‘Good on One Side.’) “We want everyone at CIS to understand that paper should be recycled only after BOTH sides are used,” stated Carleigh, a Grade 5 student. “If a sheet of paper is still ‘Good on One Side’ then it should be placed in a GOOS Box.” When anyone needs a piece of paper to write a note, draw a picture, solve a math
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8%
Source of income
26%
Other income
Government subsidy
1%
Donations
65% Tuition
52%
7%
Other teaching cost
32%
Property management
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9%
In order to be able to continue to serve the Copenhagen area with international schooling CIS has recently moved into a newly built campus in Nordhavn with state-of-the-art learning facilities, and a heightened focus on sustainability. The new campus can accommodate approximately 1,200 students from Pre-Kindergarten through High School. Due to the higher rental and operational costs in Nordhavn, a deficit is expected as long as student numbers are considerably below capacity. The fiscal year 2017 ended with a deficit of DKK 23.3 M, compared to a profit in 2016 of DKK 9.8 M. A deficit was expected and planned for in long term strategy. As circumstances have changed, necessary steps have been taken to secure sufficient reserves to operate until student numbers reach the level of break-even. The total income amounted to DKK 175.2 M. Costs were DKK 198.1 and financial expenses DKK 0.4. On average the school had 200.9 full time employees in 2017.
Distribution of cost
Salaries, teaching
Finance
Administration
The main part of the school revenue in 2017 was tuition, but another major source is the subsidy from the Danish Government. The focus of the school’s administration remains to be to ensure a sound approach to the operational and fiscal management of the school while committing to deliver a consistently outstanding educational experience for our students. The aim is to continue to allocate the main part of our revenues to our core activity: student learning. In 2017 59% of the school’s costs were connected to this area. Birgitte Høegh Chief Financial Officer
Fundraising Gala 2018 The school was transformed into a winter garden on March 3rd for the second fundraising Ball held at the new Nordhavn campus. The Emerald Ball committee chaired by the newly appointed Fundraising and Events Manager, Jo Britton and long standing parent (and ex PTA chair and Board member) Isabella M. Smith, led a dedicated team of parent volunteers to create a glamorous and fun evening, raising invaluable funds for Sustainability projects. Guests were treated to a fun packed evening of entertainment from both students and professionals, a three-course dinner, raffle, silent and live auctions, photobooth, live band and disco. The event raised DKK 270,000 which will be used for setting up the greenhouses at CIS and also for creating a Sustainability Symposium during the next academic year. Special thanks must go to all those who supported this evening by either sponsoring part of the event, by participating in one of the many fundraising initiatives both prior to and on the evening itself or by donating their time. Everyone’s generosity is greatly appreciated. Jo Britton Events and Fundraising Manager
Student numbers
Admissions Many of the parents we meet here at Copenhagen International School have lived in foreign countries before and their children may have experienced a few schools before enrolling at CIS. We cherish our “experienced educational buyers” as we learn from them and share experiences and stories from other international schools. At the same time we are also proud of taking part of the growth trends which the international school markets are experiencing now. International School Community (ISC) predicts that internationals schools worldwide will be serving 4.9 million students by 2019 growing to 6.9 by 2024. English medium schools no longer exist only to support expat mobility. Rather, a confluence of factors – financial markets growth, increased demand for English language instruction and curriculum, continued demand for admittance into best universities worldwide, and a growing desire for the best pedagogy available – are driving the exponential growth of International Schools.
1000
With changes in the student populations, new facilities and new competition in the market, international schools have to navigate and manage a competitive landscape. At Copenhagen International School we have over the past five years seen some disruption in the local International School market, but we have maintained a stable growth and stayed on the growth course due to the factors mentioned. Our average growth of approx. 3% annually over the past five years shows a solid interest in our school and the programs we offer to our more than 950 students.
952
900
910
892
917
800 798 700
822
830
13/14
14/15
600 707
500
11/12
12/13
15/16
16/17
17/18
17/18 2nd sem
For the academic year 2017/18 we opened our doors to 917 students of whom more than 200 were new to CIS. Our stable return rate of 80% gives our new students a solid base of “CIS knowledgeable” peers who will help them through a smooth transition the first couple of weeks. 75% of our new students enroll into CIS from a foreign country whereas 25% come from other international schools in Copenhagen or local Danish schools. The CIS Admissions Office receives more than 350 applications a year and manages over 600 inquiries and 300 tours of our campus in Nordhavn.
Nationality distribution
13%
41%
US
4%
Others
US/dual
Over the course of the academic year 2017/18 the student population is expected to grow to 975. Copenhagen International School continues to represent the largest diversity within the student population in Denmark, representing over 80 different nationalities. Christiane Conradt-Eberlin Head of Admissions
15%
4%
DK
India
5%
2% NL/dual
6% NL
3% UK/dual
7%
DK/dual
UK
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Sport The Athletics Department had an exciting year with nearly 50 teams in various sports competing in local and international leagues. Our sports program continues to provide an outlet for student-athletes in Grades 1-12 to have fun while developing individual and team skills. Many of our athletes take the opportunity to play different sports during one of the seasons (Fall, Winter and Spring). Overall, the sports program continues to be a vital part of CIS with almost 750 participants registered to play on a CIS team during the 2017-2018 school year.
Schools Network Athletics Conference (DISNAC) continues to expand and CIS remains an integral member of this organization providing additional well-organized sporting opportunities for our students.
CIS Sports Club and Local Leagues
New Nordhavn Campus
CIS teams compete locally as the CIS Sports Club in the Danish club system in football, basketball, volleyball, track and athletics along with cross-country. In an exciting addition, our High School girls football team competed in the Denmark Football Union (DBU) winter tournament for the first time. We have continued our beneficial partnership with Skjold Football Club for the 6th consecutive year to provide opportunities for our students to play on football teams in all age groups within the DBU. Additionally, we are a member of Nordhavn IF, a group of ten local clubs working together to ensure adequate sporting facilities within the rapidly developing Nordhavn region.
The new facilities have had a very positive impact on the Athletics program. The three gyms are being used constantly (even on Sundays) and CIS is delighted to host many sporting competitions. Almost 800 visiting athletes have come to participate in one of the following events hosted by CIS during the previous year:
International School Leagues NECIS remains a highlight for our teams as CIS participates in approximately 18 tournaments in several sports during the school year with 10 other international schools across Northwest Europe. CIS is a founding member of the Nordic League and the 2nd year of competition with international schools in Helsinki, Oslo and Stockholm provided great sporting experiences for Middle School and High School basketball and football teams. The Denmark International
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DISNAC - Basketball; Football NECIS - Volleyball and Football; Track and Athletics Nordic League - Basketball Grand Prix Volleyball DGI Basketball The Athletics Program continues to grow with the support of the entire CIS community. The focus remains to provide sports for everyone which fosters resilience, team spirit and integrity in all CIS athletes. Gil Grant Athletics Director
After School Activities The After School Activity program went through an overhaul with its registration and invoicing system which received great feedback from parents. The new registration system is akin to an Amazon shopping experience so the ease of use and new sleek look seem to have created more interest in the program. Our average registration numbers have grown by about 5% this school year. We were lucky this year to have a visiting up-and-coming Danish Fashion designer teach an Introduction to Fashion Design activity for our Middle School students. Students built on their sewing machine skills that they had learned from previous Design Technology classes and learned how to design and sew their own fashion project. Our Hip Hop dance program continues to grow and be very popular. They can barely fit in the the Dance Studio anymore! Our program has extended to Middle School and we are currently trying to build interest with the High School. Yoga is back in our program and we have a wonderful class for students in Primary School. We are also trying to build interest in this with our Middle School and High School students. We are making wonderful use of our Teaching Kitchen and our older students have enjoyed an after school activity called Conscious Kitchen where they learn to shop, cook and eat healthy! Our Teaching Kitchen is now fully stocked with everything a class would need to make delicious and healthy snacks, thanks to the help of dedicated parent volunteers. Perhaps one of the more exciting and relevant activities that have started since our move to Nordhavn is the Roots and Shoots Club/ECO Club. With a huge focus on sustainability in our new building, we now have a regular
group of Primary School students who meet every Monday and help support our recycling program here at school. They are active members of our student community and we are fortunate to have dedicated young world citizens committed to sustainability and ECO matters! Some of the other activities we have offered this year are: Lego Club, Drama Clubs, Tennis for younger students, Tinkering Club, Live Streaming Club, Parkour, Arts and Crafts, and many more! Sarai Halliday After School Activities Coordinator
The Arts It has been a successful year for the Arts at Copenhagen International School, with the exciting challenges of exploring the possibilities of our new semi-professional facilities. Integrating the state-of-the-art technical equipment into the curriculum is an ongoing focus, and the boost to the level of professionalism is obvious, exemplified by the almost weekly performances and learning activities in all the Arts spaces. The Music Department attended the AMIS (The Association for Music in International Schools) Solo and Ensemble Festival, at which several students stood out with their performances. The preparation for excellent performances continues to be a focus point, with regular concerts and recitals featuring work from both the curricular and cocurricular programmes.
The Drama Department attended several festivals with students exploring diverse and artistically challenging themes such as the High School Festival in Dßsseldorf, where the theme explored the Fluxus Arts movement. The year also saw CIS hosting a Middle and Primary School International Schools Theatre Association Festival. Other major projects included a student-directed production, an original musical based on the songs of The Beatles, and several integrated Visual Art, Music and Drama productions, e.g. in Middle School using the methodologies of STOMP, and in Primary School with the Grade 3 production exploring Greek theatre and mythology. A fledgling programme of bringing professional productions to the school also saw its first performance in the new Theatre, with That Theatre Company’s highly successful Educating Rita visiting. In the Visual Arts, the continuing regular exhibitions continued, and a major achievement was the mural project, which decorated the walls to the neighbouring Metro building site with dozens of large portraits of CIS community members. Daniel Sarstedt Theatre Teacher
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Team Peru Mama Cocha is a children center programme designed for children who are mentally or physically disabled and need extra support and care. These children in Peru are often considered to be “children of the devil”. Their families are poor and unable to give them the right care and stimulation, making it hard for the children to integrate into society. Therefore this children center is a second chance, allowing them to become accepted in society. Team Peru is the only charitable organisation supporting Mama Cocha meaning that they rely heavily on our donations. We are committed to raising DKK 24,000 quarterly to cover the needs of Mama Cocha. In the past two quarters we reached a total of DKK 55,000 leaving us with a surplus of DKK 7,000. We raised this money through events organized by CIS high school students in Team Peru. Some events have already been completed, including the Fun Run, the Wine & Cheese Evening, helping at Halloween, Crafts Days where we make products to sell at school fairs, orientation evenings and babysitting events whilst parents enjoy Zumba and other activities. Team Peru is still actively involved in organising and helping at birthday parties upon parents’ request. Additionally Team Peru started new events this year
such as Sustainability Tours where students have taken leadership for their CAS project to become knowledgeable about the sustainable features of the Nordhavn campus and share this knowledge with visitors. Six 12th graders also organized the “Peruvian Night” as their CAS project, an event where they served traditional Peruvian food and had two passionate Salsa instructors teach the participants how to dance the Salsa. There are many events to complete before the year is over to ensure that we continue to reach our quarterly goal. These events include the Talent Show, Spring Fair, selling Team Peru water bottles for NECIS Track & Field and many more! This year is a travelling year which happens once every two years, where a group of students in Team Peru have the opportunity to visit and help at Mama Cocha. The goal of this year’s trip is to build four new bathrooms as a part of their outreach programme, in which students go visit and work at the affected families in the neighbourhood. On behalf of Team Peru, it is with great pleasure that we all put our efforts into supporting the children in Mama Cocha and sustain them in the future.
Charity Club The children in the photo above are now in school and eating healthy meals thanks to the Charity Club’s fundraising efforts. Their mothers have received income generating micro credit loans, and through our cooperation with Metropolitan University, the moms have learned to make more nutritional meals. When children’s labor is no longer needed for the family to survive, school becomes possible. Especially for girls! The main goal of these women is to have happy, healthy, well educated children. The Charity Club is helping them meet these goals. This year’s big event was the Trivia Night, which was lots of fun! See you there next year February 1st. Everyone welcome! The Charity Club
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Simply Cooking Can you imagine cooking for 84 different nationalities in the age range of 3 to 65? Doesn’t sound like simple cooking does it? But Simply Cooking do it, five days a week at CIS. Healthy food with lots of vegetables and in great variety. Every day you can choose between a hot meat dish, a hot vegan dish, a small hot dish and a hot soup - plus a range of sandwiches on home baked bread. Home baked buns for breakfast and snacks in the afternoon complete the picture. It’s food for thought and motion - for a community of active learners. The caterer’s latest initiatives include the development of a healthy and delicious snack bar in collaboration with our high school students as well as a takeaway service allowing busy CIS families to take home frozen meals produced on site. And when CIS celebrates big events, Simply Coking
Alumni can be relied upon to go the extra mile: 250 packed lunches for visiting sports teams during a NECIS competition, a fancy three-course dinner for the annual Gala Fundraiser, a yummy Julefrokost for the CIS staff to mention but a few.
The CIS Alumni Department is devoted to strengthening our alumni community in Denmark and around the world, and to develop close ties to our school and our current students.
And to top it off, like CIS, Simply Cooking are dedicated to a sustainable practice which includes extensive use of organic produce as well as sorting and recycling of waste. Thus food scraps are carefully collected, then converted into a homogeneous biomass and sent to a biogas production facility. After finished biogas production the waste is used as fertilizer in agriculture to complete the cycle from farm to table.
Currently, we are working on updating our files with contact information of all CIS alumni. We are putting up art pieces and other memorabilia from our old campuses to make our new campus feel “hyggelig” and teaching our current students about the history CIS.
Thomas M. Nielsen Director of Communications
We are fortunate to have close contact to Jim Keson who worked as a CIS administrator from 1968 to 2005. And one of our High School teachers, Anne Collignon, is doing a PhD at UCL in the history of Education and her case study research is based on the history of CIS so she can provide a lot of useful information about the 55 years that CIS has existed. Throughout the year we have had several CIS alumni visit our new campus. When alumni visit we ask them to sign their name on our mural at the entrance to the school. It adds to the history in our new building. This year we say goodbye to our 58 Grade 12 students. We have had a couple of Grade 12 lunches throughout the year. At one of them we invited CIS alumn Kasper Weis to speak to our students about his career as an entrepreneur. Kasper graduated in 2005 and later founded Weis & Wise, a boutique digital design and development agency. We are excited about hosting a CIS alumni reunion on Saturday June 9. All CIS alumni are cordially invited! Cindie Juul-Larsen Alumni Coordinator
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Primary School Student Council
Middle School Student Council
In Primary Student Council we are embarking on possibly the biggest fundraiser for Primary School this year: Team Peru is a CIS service-learning programme which supports an education center for special needs, abused and abandoned Peruvian children (see p. 20). The fundraiser is challenge-based and if CIS can raise a certain amount of money for Team Peru, one of the Student Council teachers will do a challenge, such as jumping into the harbour next to our school, in the winter!
Middle School Student Council is a voluntary activity which provides students with an opportunity to take a leadership role within our community. Building on from the established role that Student Council has been playing in organising social events for students, this year welcomed a voluntary group of Middle School students who are committed to not only organising social events, but are also brimming with ways they can positively contribute to and support student life in our CIS community. During lunch on Tuesday, and supported by the Middle School Counselor, Alison Black-Storm, students brainstorm, discuss, plan, and design activities, events and actions to support student life in the MS. After outlining the purpose of Student Council and student leadership in an assembly in late autumn 2017, students were invited to apply to become members. Their application required that they shared why they wanted to be part of the Student Council, what strengths and skills they might bring to the group, as well as what they would like to gain from being part of this group.
In Student Council we like to do fun events too. For example we had a holiday themed movie night where students in Grades 2-5 got together to watch a holiday favorite: Elf! We served popcorn and juice and had a nice time together. Some other fun events that we look forward to hosting are art day where we will build a mural made of different pieces that each student has worked on during art day, recycling day where each student will be asked to build a sculpture made of recycled materials, playground discos, wacky hair day, and an end of the year celebration sponsored by Student Council. As Student Council reps, we are also tasked with being the voice of our student community. Recently Student Council presented some ideas to improve our playground and playtime, to the Deputy Principal. She was very happy to meet with us and she fully supports our ideas and vision. We are currently working with the Primary School staff on how to make these ideas happen so we can all have the best possible play times! Sarai Halliday Primary Student Council Coordinator
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Recognizing their role as student leaders in the community the Student Council specifically consider ways in which they can work together to support school issues, improve student/teacher relations and take a leading role in the planning, presenting and organising of school events such as assembly, sports, activities, dances and spirit week. One recent project that was initiated by Student Council members was focused on supporting kindness in the community. Each student was given a paper heart with a Middle School student name and space to write “Three nice things about me”. Anonymously, each student filled out a heart for another student. Each student subsequently received a heart and read three
nice qualities about themselves. This is part of a “pay it forward” initiative which, in Student Council, we support and value as an important contribution to being together in a caring community. It is my hope that many other such projects will be initiated in the community. Since Student Council launched in late November, they have organised spirit week, presented assemblies, set up a student council information board and organised a student disco. On the cards for the remainder of this school year, the students plan to design a monthly newsletter highlighting student life at CIS, organise a dance and end of year school prom, have more spirit days, survey the students to identify and respond to student issues and, continue to focus on organising Middle School community and social events. Alison Black-Storm Middle School Counselor
High School Student Council The focus for the High School Student Council (STUCO) has been the student experience at CIS, with energy and time spent organising a number of successful student events and having transformative conversations regarding dayto-day life in the High School. With Fastelavn celebrations, a Grade 12 ‘lock in’, a Grade 10 movie and pizza night, and a formal Winter Ball, the Student Council has put social events across the calendar. Special mention should go to the Grade 11 students and Mr Ferrari who organised a fabulous Winter Ball where students ‘dressed to impress’, were photographed in party booths, danced to student DJs, and enjoyed delicious food provided by parents! Students are also now enjoying relaxing on the new sofas on grade level floors and whenever the sun comes out, hurrying up to the roof to enjoy the views at break time. This year has seen the introduction of a new Student Council. Campaigns and elections took place in January and we were very pleased to welcome 18 students to the High School Student Council. Renee White and Johannes Hækkerup took up positions as President and Vice President of the group. The structure and remit of the STUCO has evolved, with students now working in mixed groups across grade levels, focusing on a number of key areas to improve and extend the experiences of students across the High School. One group of students are in the process of creating a student bulletin that will be emailed to the students weekly. Information will also be accessible via a STUCO website. This will improve communication in the High School by ensuring that students know about upcoming
events, activities and opportunities as well as making everyone aware of what STUCO is doing and how each student can get involved! Building on the social media presence from the previous STUCO on Facebook, the new team have also just created its first ever Instagram page. In following this, CIS students will receive regular updates on school events and volunteering opportunities. One such volunteering opportunity is to become part of the new High School Ambassadors group. This group will have the important role of being responsible for welcoming new students and ensuring that their transition to CIS is fun, memorable and as smooth as possible. Students and teachers have also been using surveys to seek feedback from students in a number of areas. Surveys have helped to ensure that students have a voice in the matters that affect them most, such as teaching and learning, the cafeteria and grade level common spaces. The final (and possibly most important task!) is to decide and plan social events to bring the community together. With so many possibilities and ideas on the table, the STUCO are now in the process of narrowing these down to create an exciting shortlist of events that may become CIS traditions. The new STUCO have worked with energy, enthusiasm and imagination these first few months and are excited about projects and initiatives to come. Watch this space! Renee White, Grade 11 and Laura Ream, High School Teacher
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Copenhagen International School Levantkaj 4-14 DK-2150 Nordhavn DENMARK Phone: (+45) 3946 3300 email: cis@cis.dk website: cis.dk Admissions Christiane Conradt-Eberlin Phone: (+45) 3946 3315 email: admission@cis.dk Communications and Advancement Thomas M. Nielsen Phone: (+45) 2724 4899 email: communication@cis.dk
COVER ART by Kirsten Asklin: “I chose to paint a Koala using an aboriginal Australian painting style which consists of dots and symbols and I took inspiration from an artist that we have studied in class,
Dave White. Through his use of dripping paint, Dave White made me assume that the running paint represented that the animal in the painting was dripping away, becoming extinct. I wanted to do something similar so I painted very few dots on the top of the Koala, and then the dots slowly increased until they gathered very tightly together at the bottom of the Koala to illustrate that there is still hope.”
PHOTOS: Adam Mørk, p. 3, 5–7, 17, 22-23. Thomas M. Nielsen: p. 4, 8-9, 14, 18, 21. Additional photos: Students, parents and staff at CIS LAYOUT: Kathrine Dahl Nielsen DESIGN: Inger T. Klixbull EDITOR: Thomas M. Nielsen Printed in Denmark by MVMedia Copyright CIS, April 2018