The ICS High School: a School on the Move!
If you are new to ICS or are thinking of enrolling your children in the ICS High School, please read my welcome message to new families .
Please read below for further information regarding our high school programs. Many of our teachers have web pages of their own that are linked below. There are also many links for curriculum maps and the standards and benchmarks that our teachers use in planning course curricula.
The School Day for Students
ICS classes begin at 8:00 AM, and students are expected to be in their seats, ready for work at that time. Most students arrive at 7:45 or a little earlier, for socializing with friends. Parents are reminded that the road construction problems in the city should be accounted for when planning to arrive at school on time. The HS school day ends at 3:20, ten minutes later than the elementary school day. Most ICS middle and high school students will stay on campus for after school activities and sports that begin at 3:30 or 3:45. Middle and high school students who are not in an organized activity are allowed to stay on campus to study or to socialize quietly until 5:30, when most of the activities end and the library closes.
High School Block Schedule
In 2006, ICS teachers and students began using a block schedule for the first time. Students are registered for up to eight classes. However, on Monday through Thursday, only four classes meet each day. Each class is a block of 90 minutes. Teachers are able to plan a variety of lesson activities and strategies to engage students in many ways: much more than simply lecture and note-taking! Students and teachers all get a good break in between their long blocks.
On Fridays that are a full day of school, we have all eight classes in short, 44-minute periods. On some Fridays we have an early release day at noon for faculty professional development or planning activities. On those Fridays we plan a special morning schedule or event for students.
After School Sports and Activities at ICS
Students in the ICS middle and high schools will have trouble picking among all the options available for after school! Drama? Two or three productions are scheduled each year for middle and high school students to join in. Music? How about Jazz band, or joining an ensemble to play live music for a musical drama production? Sports? Three sports seasons with several offerings in each season, with local competitions for all levels and international travel for our varsity athletes. Clubs? Qualify for the National Honor Society, or join the French Club, the Math Club, the Green Science Club, Student Council or Model UN. Art? Our teachers and parents offer a wide variety of opportunities to create art in many media after school...and often invite local artists, weavers or potters to join us on campus to give you a special Ethiopian art experience. Community Service? Weekly and once-a-year opportunities abound, such as tree planting, orphanage visits, teaching ESL, community fun-run fundraisers, Habitat for Humanity, and more.
Grade Level Trips
Students in the ICS Middle and High School participate in grade level trips throughout the school year. These curriculum-connected trips are subsidized by the school's budget: families are expected to pay a nominal amount. All trips are chaperoned by ICS faculty, and accompanied by an experienced nurse or doctor. Two trips include flights with Ethiopian Airlines, and all trips include school-certified transportation (safe, insured drivers, and seat belts for all students). Trips have occasionally been cancelled, postponed or moved to alternate venues, depending on weather or other variables. This year's trips should be:
• Grade Six: history in Gondar and Bahr Dar, and the Nile River.
• Grade Seven: people groups in the Arba Minch area of southern Ethiopia.
• Grade Eight: Islamic history and culture in Harar, a World Heritage Site.
• Grade Nine: field biology in the Bale Mountains
• Grade Ten: African history in Lalibela and Bahr Dar.
• Grade Eleven: an introduction to college planning, and details of the IB Program. A second trip for the IB Science "Group IV" Project may be planned as well.
• Grade Twelve: an on-campus fall retreat to prepare for the college search, and a post-graduation, "what's next" trip to say goodbye to each other and turn our minds to university.
Summary Information About the Class of 2008
Thirty-five ICS seniors walked across the platform to receive their ICS High School Diploma on May 30, 2008. Our 35 seniors came from 17 countries. All of our seniors were accepted to college: 28 in the USA and the others to four different countries. Students went to Cornell, Georgetown, Leicester, Loyola, McGill, Rice, Stanford and Yale. Sixteen of our USA-bound graduates were offered a total of US$1.15 million per year in financial aid to US universities, and they accepted more than US$289,000 at the universities they chose to attend.
If you are interested in applying to ICS for high school with children entering grade nine or above, please visit the ICS Admissions page.
For more information about the high school, you can download the following:
• Secondary School Profile (484 KB)
• High School Course Guide (1.5 MB)
• High School Student/Parent Handbook (1.2 MB)
• All families with children in the high school should be familiar with our Secondary Dress Code (76 KB) for 2008-2009.
All these files are in PDF format and can be viewed or printed. Click to download Adobe Reader if required.
Best regards,
Jim Laney
High School Principal / Deputy Director
Curriculum at ICS
The International Community School of Addis Ababa, accredited in the United States, develops the talents and intellects of a multicultural student body using learner-centered, holistic instructional methods, empowering each student to contribute in an evolving world.
To accomplish our Mission of empowering each student to contribute in an evolving world, ICS has adopted standards and benchmarks in all curricular areas. These standards and benchmarks guide the teacher's planning, assessment, and materials selection. The standards have been selected from a variety of sources. Some are from American professional organizations, such as the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) or the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Others were developed by international teachers, such as our social studies standards which reflect a more international perspective than those developed from a particular national perspective.
Each teacher designs a curriculum map to ensure that the instructional activities and their assessments align with the standards and benchmarks. The curriculum maps are revised and refined yearly.
One of the objectives of the strategic plan at ICS is to monitor and assess individual student learning. The curriculum at ICS is dynamic and able to be adjusted to meet the needs of individual students. Teachers meet frequently in grade level or subject area teams and in committees comprised of teachers from Kindergarten through Grade 12 to evaluate, articulate, and refine the instruction delivered to the students at ICS.
Standards and Benchmarks Standards and Benchmarks
Art
Biology
Chemistry
Computer
IB Business and Management
IB Theory of Knowledge
Language Arts
Social Studies
Physical Education
Physics
Speech and Debate
US History
Library
The ICS library plays a central role in the life of the school. It provides academic support, study facilities, and a welcoming environment for students, parents, and staff.
The library is open Monday through Friday from 7:15AM-5:00PM. Personalized service is provided by Mr. Douglas Glenn, the PK-12 librarian and Mr. Dagne Woldie, the library assistant.
The library contains nearly 24,000 books and subscribes to 60 periodicals. It also contains 16 computers with internet access.
Elementary students can check out books for one week and secondary students for two. The number of books a student can have at any given time depends on the grade level- first graders can borrow one book, second graders two, etc. Parents and other community members can borrow materials for two weeks, but there is no limit as to number.
Teachers can sign up for class visits for the library and library computer lab. Otherwise, the lab is open to all until 4:30 PM.
In order to maintain an optimal study environment, library users are asked to keep their voices low, use the computers for academic purposes only, and refrain from bringing cell phones, MP3 players, and food and drink (except water) into the library.
Class / Department Websites
IB Art
