Located at the heart of Taguig City, Chinese International School Manila (CISM) is a coeducational non-profit day school currently accommodating more than 300 students from around 30 nationalities from Preschool to Grade 12. CISM follows the American Core Curriculum from Grades 1 to 10 and offers the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (IBDP) for Grades 11 and 12—a globally recognized program that allows students to study within their field of choice.
Before you decide to apply to Chinese International School Manila, here are some things you should know about the school:
History of Chinese International School Manila
Founded in 2007 by Felicia Hung-Atienza and Maria Louisa Sian, CISM started by offering the American Core Curriculum to 20 students with its faculty of 11 teachers. CISM also offered Mandarin as their second language program across all grade levels. Eventually, CISM expanded into a K-12 International School, offering the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program since its accreditation in 2011 from the International Baccalaureate Organisation. CISM has also been accredited by the Council of International Schools in 2014, and is affiliated with the East Asia Regional Council of Schools (EARCOS) that enables them to provide learning opportunities in collaboration with other member schools.
What Chinese International School Manila Offers
CISM’s IB Program follows the standards of the IBDP, which is designed to cater to students in their last two years of high school, as a preparatory program for university. Generally, the program requires students to study six subjects and a program core throughout those two years. One subject will be chosen from each of the 5 IB subject groupings: Studies in Language and Literature, Language Acquisition, Individuals and Societies, Experimental Sciences, and Mathematics. The sixth subject, The Arts, is geared towards engaging its students with the arts. You may opt out of this sixth subject but you will be required to take up additional or Higher Level courses from the first five IB subject groupings.
At CISM, students from Grades 11 to 12 may pursue either a Full IB Diploma, or a Diploma Programme Course. The full diploma requires students to take three subjects from the subject groups at Standard Level, and another three at Higher Level. Students pursuing a Diploma Programme Course don’t need to follow the Full Diploma curriculum as it is an entirely separate academic program from CISM’s IBDP.
Following completion of the IB Diploma Programme, graduates have been accepted into prestigious universities both locally and abroad, including Johns Hopkins University, New York University, Vanderbilt University, and Imperial College London.
CISM’s campus also includes facilities that can cater to different fields of interest that align with their commitment to nurture each student’s extracurricular enrichment. These facilities include a design technology area for food, a visual arts room, a dance/drama studio, and a specialist laboratory for Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. The entire campus is also Wi-Fi enabled to support a wide range of learning modalities.
Apart from their IBDP offerings and top-of-the-line facilities, CISM also commits to encouraging its students to engage in activities outside of their academics. Their After School Activities (ASA) Program allows the whole student body to immerse in different areas of art, recreational activities, and sports. They also take pride in encouraging students to engage with communities as part of their Service Learning Opportunities—from fundraising for local charities to supporting education in rural areas of Cambodia.
How to Apply to Chinese International School Manila
Ready to attend CISM? Here are the steps to apply:
Step One: Register online through this link. An email and text will be sent within 24 hours through the contact details you have provided, confirming and listing any other additional steps for registration.
Step Two: You will need to email their admissions team at admissions@cismanila.org to retrieve a copy of the necessary forms. You will also need to prepare the following documents:
- Copy of Applicant’s birth certificate
- Copy of Applicant’s passport page showing date of birth
- Copy of Applicant’s visa and ACR/ICR, if relevant
- Copy of Mother and Father’s passports, visas, and ACR/ICR, if relevant
- Transcripts of current and previous school year (Transcript of records) which can be requested from your previous school)
- Three 2” X 2” photos, taken within the last 6 months, white background; digital copies may be sent via email)
- Special needs report (if any)
Step Three: Sign all necessary forms, have them scanned, and send via email to admissions@cismanila.org.
Step Four: Instructions will be sent regarding payment of a P2,500 Application and Assessment Fee. Additional required fees will be discussed prior to admission. You may check out full details on CISM’s Admission policies here.
Tuition and Other Fees at Chinese International School Manila
Annual Tuition Fees for Grades 11 to 12 at CISM cost around P546,770, as of writing. Other fees are required to be paid in full prior to admission before every term.
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