When you walk onto a Canadian International School campus, the noise is the first thing you notice. This is true whether the campus is in Khalifa City in Abu Dhabi or on the western edge of Singapore. Not really chaos. That sound is more like a dozen different languages talking together. The kids shout at each other in French, English, Korean, and Arabic. It’s all done without a hitch by the teachers. It seems like this is more than just an international school. In practice, it really feels international.
People often don’t realize how important that difference is. A lot of schools use “international” in the same way that some restaurants use “authentic.” It’s more about marketing than truth. But the Canadian International School, which has campuses in Singapore, Abu Dhabi, Bangalore, Hong Kong, and other Asian cities, has at least tried to make something that fits the description. It’s a good question to ask whether it always works. You can’t really argue with a track record.
The Singapore campus has been open since 1989, when it was first called the Canadian Overseas College. It may be the oldest of the three. In the world of international education, 35 years is a very long time. Schools usually open with a lot of fanfare and close quietly ten years later. Even though it has been around for a long time, CIS has grown and now offers the full International Baccalaureate curriculum from preschool to grade 12. The IB framework is tough. Not all schools that adopt it do so because they really believe in it. The lessons at CIS seem to really be about teaching students how to think, not just what they’ll be tested on.
There is a small difference between the IB and the Alberta, Canada curriculum that is used at the Abu Dhabi campus. It’s important to note that Alberta’s provincial education system has a reputation for being tough because it always does well on global tests. CIS Abu Dhabi was rated “outstanding” in its 2023–24 inspection round and is one of the best private schools in the emirate. It has more than 1,000 students, and they come from more than 70 different countries. Such a range of people doesn’t just happen. It needs thoughtful admissions and a school culture that actually works with differences instead of just putting up with them.
When you read about how CIS explains its philosophy, the word “curiosity” comes up a lot. It’s not just used by CIS, but there is something unique about how they do it. The Singapore campus is honest about helping students who are good at school but have trouble communicating with others. This is the kind of nuanced, honest admission that most school marketing avoids. Something refreshing about being honest like that. It shows that the staff has worked with real kids and not just written vision statements.
Another theme that runs through many CIS campuses is hands-on learning. In Bangalore, for example, what the city is known for are “EL Day experiences,” which are learning opportunities outside of the classroom. It’s possible that this is done better some days than others. But it’s clear what the goal is, and the philosophy isn’t just taken from a branding book.
Finding the right school is one of the most stressful parts of moving internationally. There are millions of families who do this every year for work, opportunity, or a dozen other complicated reasons. The Canadian International School has set itself up to be a reliable answer to that worry. All campuses share the same values, follow the same curriculum, and have a culture that tries to make new students feel like they belong right away.
That’s more difficult to create than any test score. Three and a half decades of work have shown that CIS knows how to do it.
