“We challenge and empower students to be compassionate and inspired people, who act for the good of all and for the sustainable development of the world”.

Founded in 2005, Beijing City International School (BCIS) is a non-profit private school located in historical city of Beijing in China, well-known for its extraordinary educational frame-work and global methodologies of imparting knowledge. Originally established as a small elementary school, BCIS has rapidly escalated its stature and earned the much-deserved reputation of a comprehensive international school. Besides imparting the basic fundamentals of education, the school challenges and empowers its student-community to be compassionate and inspired people, who can ultimately act for the good of all and for the sustainable development of the world.

Global Acclaims and Recognitions

With the approval of the Education Committee of Chaoyang District, Beijing, BCIS acts as a pilot school offering educational reform and innovation through international educational practices that incorporate 15 grades of schooling, from pre-school to Grade12. By creatively and authentically implementing the Chinese national curriculum, the school curriculum consists of Early Childhood, Primary Years Programme, Middle Years Programme and Diploma Programme. All the programs are accredited and authorized by the International Baccalaureate Organization. The school is also accredited by the Council of International Schools (CIS) and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). As a member of the East Asia Regional Council of Schools (EARCOS), the Association of China and Mongolia International Schools (ACAMIS), and the International Schools Athletic Conference, Beijing-Tianjin (ISAC), the school is an active participant in various activities among the member schools and communities.

Peculiarity that Matters

BCIS is unique as it is the first international school invested by a Chinese national, whose vision for the school sees BCIS as a bridge between China and the World. As a result the school is permitted to enroll students who hold passports from Mainland China. The school’s Central Business District city location serves families who are employed by embassies, multinational corporations and other businesses. The school has current enrollment of approximately 1,122 students from twenty-seven different nationalities. Majority of expatriate faculty is mainly from the US, Canada, Australia and the UK as well as from a number of other countries and regions around the world.

Impeccable Leadership at BCIS

Julie Lawton, is the head of the school who is originally from Yorkshire, in the North of England. She has been at BCIS since the school’s founding in August 2005. She held the positions of Elementary School Principal for 13 years, as well as Deputy Head of School until she became the Head of School in 2018. Her countless contributions to the school have been invaluable and the growth of the school under her leadership has been phenomenal.

Unrivalled Curriculum

BCIS has developed a curriculum that provides best opportunities to differentiate and personalize the mode of learnings, according to a child’s readiness, interests and learning styles. English is the main language of instruction at BCIS.

• Early Childhood Center and Elementary School

As an International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (PYP) school, the BCIS curriculum creates a balance between acquiring essential knowledge and skills, developing conceptual understanding, demonstrating positive attitudes, and taking responsible action. Using a Trans disciplinary approach, grade levels follow BCIS’ curriculum outcomes for Mathematics, Language and Personal, Social and Emotional Development, Science, Social Studies, Visual Arts, Music, and Physical Education.

• Secondary School

Secondary School covers Grades 6 to 12. In Grades 6, 7, and 8. Students work through the first three years of the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (IB MYP). In Grades 9 and 10 students are finishing the last two years of their IB MYP, while the Grade 11 and 12 students are engaged in their IB Diploma Programme (DP). They also offer their own BCIS Diploma and IDEATE Program that students can use in support of their applications to colleges and universities around the world.

Rewarding the Merit

BCIS Scholarships are normally awarded to students in their final four years of school (exceptional students aged at least 14 years by August 31 of the relevant school year). In Grades 11 and 12, scholarship awardees are required to study either the full IB Diploma Programme or the BCIS IDEATE Program. Students awarded scholarships are expected to complete their High School at BCIS.

BCIS awards two kinds of scholarship: academic scholarships and merit scholarships, which are intended to inspire and nurture exceptional talents for students who embody and exemplify the mission and vision of BCIS.

Plethora of Opportunities

BCIS provides a very strong educational foundation to its students. It thoroughly prepares them for the challenges that the students will encounter after school. The results attained due to these efforts are splendid too.  BCIS students have received acceptance offers from more than 270 prestigious colleges and universities around the world. Many of the alumni have gone to study business, philosophy, engineering, medicine, law, music, and other majors in pursuit of their passions and skills. The Some have become entrepreneurs with their own boutique shops and online businesses, while others have joined well-known global companies to make their mark on the world.

Diversity at the Campus

BCIS students come from more than 27 different countries and regions of the world. They bring with them different linguistic, cultural and educational backgrounds to BCIS, where they share one thing in common – an outstanding educational experience for everyone.

Students at BCIS are encouraged to be inquirers, knowledgeable, thinkers, communicators, principled, open-minded, caring, risk-takers, balanced, and reflective. With the intellectual, social, and emotional development as well as the international and intercultural awareness and understanding that are nurtured in the truly international learning environment at school, BCIS students will definitely be the leading talents of the 21st century.

Learning Beyond the Classrooms

Each year, the school holds three large community events: the autumn festival; Christmas Bazaar; and Spring in the City. Further, BCIS also has Enrichment activities (EAs) that inspire and empower students to engage in authentic experiential learning activities and compliment their curricular learning. EA’s substantiate BCIS’s balanced holistic education which encourages the discovery of lifelong interests and striving to always do one’s best. Opportunities for social growth, where students engage with like-minded community members, result from these rich and real-life experiences.

Words of Trust

“The BCIS mission is “Empowering and inspiring through challenge and compassion,” performing has always been challenging for me as it is hard to try different genres of music as well as standing up in front of an audience. Since I’ve been at the school, I’ve tried many different genres of music and tried performing in front of more audiences, which shows me challenging myself. Through this, I hope to empower other performers to do the same”

-Xinyi (Grace) Wang – Class of 2018

“Many other teachers and staff experiences and values of life also inspired and encouraged me to explore life, go after my dream and be myself. All those stories from different teachers that start with ‘When I was in Ethiopia…’ or ‘India’ or ‘Thailand’ or wherever, are not just some stories that we chat about and laugh at, but life experiences that nurtured me with the value of life, and inspired me to become a passionate and fulfilled person”.

– Chiao-Yu Tuan – Class of 2010