Frequently Asked Questions

FIS has always aimed to be international in more than just name. This commitment is what has prompted us to review and revise our school-wide language policy and expand the language programme in the Upper School to give students more choice and flexibility in their language learning. The UN Sustainable Development Goals are woven into our curriculum across all of the divisions. Further, our commitment to international mindedness drives and underpins student action that addresses issues including poverty, human rights, and the climate emergency.

That said, recent world events prompt us to look more deeply into what it means to be an international school and to investigate the experiences of our community members. We want to take actions that will move us toward not just an inclusive, internationally minded community, but a community in which everyone feels they belong. Read our position paper from December 2020 for more background.

The EJB team began as the Global Awareness team. As we looked into how the broader Global Awareness initiative could be narrowed to explicitly explore and address issues of social justice, we noticed our group language evolving to use 'DEI' to describe our work - diversity, equity and inclusivity.

As time went on, we noticed that more recent publications add the word 'justice' to make 'DEIJ'. Other organizations are shifting away from 'inclusion' towards 'belonging'. The EJB team and the principals had multiple conversations about the naming convention we would follow, and ultimately we decided on Equity, Justice and Belonging.

Belonging seemed especially fitting for our community given the value we place on international mindedness and the transient nature of our community, where a large number of families are living here without extended family. We want to ensure FIS is not just a diverse community, but one in which our differences are appreciated and considered vital to the success of the school.

We see Equity as the avenue through which we can explore the individual experiences of our community members and how they engage with the facets of school life, including curricular opportunities, REAL activities and support systems of the school. Equity is different from equality because equality implies everyone has the same: equity is about meeting individual needs to maintain fairness and access for all community members.

Justice speaks to the deep evaluation of our systems, policies and practices that will shore up equity in the school community. This is where we will examine the accountability and transparency of school processes such as admissions and recruitment, ensuring the school community is underpinned by systems that safeguard the inclusion and well-being of all.

The Head of School brought together a diverse team comprised of 9 members of the community who fulfil various roles and come from a range of backgrounds, including parents, teachers, board members, alumna and school leadership. View the team here.

Over 100 community members participated in the AIM Discovery Summit in March 2021, and a further 1300 took the online climate survey. Future action steps arising from this data will provide many opportunities for community involvement. Look out for invitations by email and in the Head of School news. In the meantime, you are welcome to contact the EJB team with questions, resources or to share your experiences via our email address belonging@fis.edu