Our Vision & Values

Our Vision

To be an exceptional, forward-thinking international school community in every respect.

IICS aims to be a top international school—not just in our region, but among the best international schools worldwide. To provide the best education to meet the needs of every learner is the target that directs all our planning and action as an educational institution. Every learner should be empowered.

We are a heterogeneous community with students representing more than 62 nationalities, many of whom have multi-country experiences. This wealth of diversity offers us opportunities and challenges to continually improve our academic offerings to ensure our community of learners is empowered and engaged in their academic journey.

Our Mission

Through its challenging curriculum and strong staff-student relationships, IICS provides a caring environment that inspires each student to excel and to be inquisitive, creative, compassionate, balanced, and internationally-minded.

A school’s mission doesn’t mean much if it is not put into practice. At IICS, we strive to weigh every school decision based on its confluence with the school’s mission. This means that board decisions, curriculum choices, administrative policies, and basically everything we do should reflect what our values are. How do we do that? We make our Mission a living, breathing part of what we do.

Our Philosophy

We believe:

  • the three IB programs are challenging to all learners, and we believe in the importance of the IB Learner Profile (inquirers, risk-takers, thinkers, communicators, principled, open-minded, caring, knowledgeable, balanced, reflective).
  • healthy relationships and effective communication between all members of the community, especially between students and teachers, are the key to school success.
  • IICS provides a caring environment where everyone involved with the school, including parents, the Board of Directors, staff and students, has an important role in making the school a community of learners.
  • students learn best when they are happy at school and actively involved in their own learning.
  • learning is personal, as each student is unique in his or her interests, aptitudes and learning styles.
  • the needs of each individual ought to be met so that each student has opportunities to excel.
  • internationally-minded people are those who strive to learn about the values and beliefs of their own culture so that they can better understand those found in their host country and elsewhere in the world. Internationally-minded people are world citizens who seek out commonalities and also appreciate differences between cultures so that they can bridge cultural divides and help create a more peaceful world.

Our Objectives

Guided by our mission, the Istanbul International Community School shall exert every effort to:

  • maintain a challenging academic program through the use of the IB Evaluation process, together with CIS/NEASC Accreditation, to facilitate regular reviews of teaching, learning, assessment and the effectiveness of the school’s professional development program,
  • provide and foster opportunities for members of the school community to remain well informed and involved in all appropriate aspects of school life,
  • ensure an environment where everyone is welcome, cared for, and successful,
  • provide and ensure that students participate in a balance of academic, creative and physical activities within and beyond the classroom,
  • ensure that students have explored theoretical and practical issues of local and worldwide significance from multiple perspectives and actively consider other people’s viewpoints,
  • ensure that students are provided opportunities to apply their learning and innovative thinking by taking action,
  • maintain a comprehensive admissions process to ensure compatibility between students’ needs and the learner expectations of the IB programs, and
  • develop a highly effective university counseling program to assist each student in gaining entrance into his or her preferred post-secondary educational institution.

IICS Core Values

Integrity

Strong sense of fairness, justice, and respect for the dignity of all people.

 

Inquisitiveness

Develops natural curiosity – shows the independence of learning – actively enjoys learning.

 

Caring

Interacts with compassion from a place of empathy assuming positive intent.

 

International MindednesS

Recognises our common humanity – develops IB learner profile attributes – practices intellectual humility through lifelong learning – mindful of shared guardianship of the planet.