CIS seeks to give students an international education that promotes the students to become life-long learners, with a caring attitude, and a respectful approach to different cultures and beliefs.
CIS wants to provide the students with a positive work environment that includes an atmosphere of cooperation and a mutual respect for other individuals’ values and ideas.
CIS believes that by providing our students with a unique opportunity and foundation to develop a knowledge and appreciation of music and the arts we can guide our students to become responsible, respectful, and open-minded citizens within a global community.
CIS believes in preparing students for future innovations by upholding digital technology as a main component of their learning experience. CIS students are responsible digital citizens equipped for the modern digital age.
Care – respect for other people’s ideas and values is fundamental for everything we do.
Cooperation – working together for the common good of our community and the world
Change (Learning) – making meaningful change in our students through deep learning experiences, enabling them to make a difference in the world.
Our vision and values are a platform on which we build our school community. Our goal is to give our students the best learning environment we are capable of. We do this through the things we believe in; inquiry based focused and student centred learning, an extended Arts programme with music, dance and drama, and a technology programme giving students the most modern tools to help them in their learning.
I strongly believe that mastering the english language, experiencing a rich cultural school environment with focus on the Arts and acquiring the necessary 21st century skills through inquiry based learning, is what students need to be prepared for the world of tomorrow. Children’s International School started in Fredrikstad in 2012 to accomplish this. We recruit the main part of our teachers from English speaking countries or teachers with a Master’s degree in English language and literature, we have an extended Arts programme with music, dance and drama, and we use the inquiry based learning approach. We currently have three operational schools, one in Fredrikstad, in Moss and in Sarpsborg.
An important part of our success in education is that we provide a secure environment for teaching and learning. We believe in teaching good behaviour, good manners and that the children feel safe when they have teachers with clear rules and consequences. We also have high expectations for all members, both students and teachers, in our community. Every member of the school is committed to placing high quality education first.
Every year we have high scores on the National tests placing us as one of the leading schools in Norway academically. In addition, the student survey from UDIR show that the students are enjoying their life as students in our school.
We see the need to teach our students how to work hard and be ambitious, and to become life-long learners that are open minded and knowledgeable.
Focusing on both academic subjects and esthetic subjects develops the students and give them an excellent education. Our extended music programme is a big advantage for our students.
Our goal is to prepare our students for the 21st century and help them become lifelong learners.
Founder, Lise E. Holman
CIS started off in Fredrikstad in 2012 with 90 students from the local community. The leading founder of the school was Lise Evensen Holman. She is an experienced educational leader and a highly respected teacher, with a vision of creating an international school supplying it’s students with an educational programme of the highest quality in which the Arts play a central role.
During the spring of 2013 the school in Fredrikstad received many student applications and needed more space. A new building was constructed over the summer and opened in August of 2013. 220 students were enrolled at the time, and the waiting list was continuing to grow. The decision was made to meet the increasing demand for a larger school in Fredrikstad, by submitting an application for 21 more students. The school choir attended the «Mozartfestivalen» in Gamlebyen and performed pieces from Mozart’s Requiem together with the famous Norwegian string orchestra «Trondheimssolistene» in the old church.
In March of 2014 the application to start a new school in Moss was sent to the Norwegian Educational departement. After the opening of CIS Fredrikstad in 2012 the school has been contacted by several cities in Norway about starting new schools there. In Fredrikstad we accepted 21 more students and had a total of 231 students enrolled by August 2014. In July our oldest students did a modern version of the famous theatrical play «Peer Gynt» led by the Norwegian choreographer André Danielsen and the famous actress Mari Maurstad. The schools is awarded with «Fiberprisen 2014» for its groundbreaking use of technology in the classroom.
On the 1st of April the new school in Moss is approved. In Fredrikstad the older students are preparing to go on a school excursion with the «White busses» to Auschwitz. The new school in Moss is opened by the Mayor Tage Pettersen on Monday the 17th of August. Over 220 students have been enrolled from the first day. After 5 months of school the parents enjoy a Christmas Concert in the church of Jeløya filled with dance, choir, and orchestra music.
CIS enters a partnership with Læringsverkstedet. Læringsverkstedet owns many kindergartens in Norway, but in recent years they have established themselves in Sweden with schools and kindergartens. Læringsverkstedet’s ownership is first and foremost a strategic way in which to strengthen their schools abroad. CIS will be an important contribution to building successful IB schools abroad and especially in Sweden. This partnership will help to further develop the school and continue to give CIS a leading position among schools in Norway.
In December 2018 UDIR approved the applications to start CIS in Sarpsborg and in Ullensaker.