Bandung Independent School_ Empowering Inquiring, Reflective and Caring Lifelong Learners (1).pdf

The names of these schools are countable but in the landscape of Indonesia, Bandung Independent School under the leadership of Marci Russell

1. Bandung Independent School: Empowering Inquiring, Reflective and
Caring Lifelong Learners

2. With the rising access to quality education, it is now easier to find a school
environment that offers a dynamic curriculum fulfilling modern educational
needs. With a dynamic curriculum, these schools lay the foundation to
nurture ideal professionals by instilling academic values.
But what makes few schools stand out in this competitive environment is
their pursuit of providing international educational experiences woven into
an impeccable curriculum. This amalgamation of educational values not
only motivates students to excel in their professional fields like the normal
school environments; It nurtures the ideal citizens of tomorrow,
contributing to the welfare of society.

3. 1. Intro
➔ The names of these schools are countable
but in the landscape of Indonesia, Bandung
Independent School under the leadership of
Marci Russell, Head of the School surely
grabs the most headlines. BIS, originally
founded in 1972 as Bandung International
School, emerged from the vision of the
International Study Group Bandung
Foundation—a non-profit organization.
➔ Conceived by expatriate parents seeking an
international and secular educational
experience, BIS started as a small study
group and has since evolved into a
non-profit institution providing international
education to students aged 2 to 19.
➔

4. A Thriving Community School
BIS currently boasts a diverse enrollment of 207 students representing 17 nationalities, supported by a dedicated staff of 73
individuals from 7 different countries. Accredited by the International Baccalaureate (IB) as the only Continuum school in
Bandung, BIS has offered the Primary Years Programme since 2004, the Middle Years Programme since 2022, and the
Diploma Programme since 2005. Additionally, the school holds accreditations from the Council of International Schools (CIS)
and the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) and locally by the Indonesian government.BIS thrives
as a community school, driven by collaboration between passionate educators, administrators, parents, students, and a
Board of parent volunteers. Guided by the BIS Mission, Vision, and Values—designed collaboratively by all
stakeholders—the school places a strong emphasis on defining and maintaining high-quality learning and teaching
standards.

5. Empowering Lifelong Learners
The school’s vision is to champion individual potential and cultivate leaders, as the school of choice for the internationally
minded community of West Java.
Through engaging IB programmes, the school aims to empower inquiring, reflective, and caring lifelong learners to continue
striving towards a better world.
BIS stood strong while facing the challenges of the pandemic and navigated a declining enrolment and the implementation of
online/hybrid learning with resilience. Adopting a one-year “transition plan” the school bridged the former strategic plan with
the new 2022-2025 plan, enabling it to adapt to the uncertainties of the future swiftly.

6. Ensuring Seamless Learning Experiences
During the pandemic, BIS quickly developed an Online Learning Plan, emphasizing support for students,
particularly the younger ones requiring parental assistance. A resource pickup system was implemented,
ensuring tangible learning materials for students. Upon the safe reopening of the campus, the school
introduced additional support systems, including a school counselor and learning support teacher, aiding
students through the transitions.
BIS encourages the use of a variety of technology-based tools. This offers the community members a
diverse range of possibilities to enhance and contribute to an effective and positive teaching and learning
environment. The school wants all community members to have the freedom and knowledge to effectively
use technology to explore ideas and concepts as it believes that the ability to inquire plays a key role in
education at all levels.

7. 2. Examples
➔ To help facilitate this, BIS has instituted a 1-to-1 digital device
program for Grades 1 to 12 and has digital tablets in its Early
Childhood classrooms. The school offers a range of digital learning
platforms, including Managebac (for Secondary) and Toddle (for
Primary), which it uses to streamline content delivery,
assessments, and communication between the school and
community members. The school is a Common Sense recognized
institution and all of its teaching and classroom support staff are
Google Certified educators.
➔ Ideal Incorporation of Technology
➔ BIS offers innovative learning spaces, like Maker Space, Baker
Space, and Computer Lab where students can explore and create
using technology, like 3-D printers, robotics, cooking tools, and
web-based resources and tools that help foster a hands-on and
experiential learning approach. The school also utilizes interactive
digital content, multimedia resources, and online simulations to
help make learning engaging and dynamic for its students. For
example, many teachers make use of E-Learning modules, like
Kognity and In-Thinking, that go beyond traditional textbooks and
can include multimedia elements, such as videos, animations, and
simulations to make complex concepts more accessible. Many of
its teachers also make use of podcasts and webinars to expose
students to a variety of perspectives and enhance auditory learning
experiences and also bring digital storytelling tools into their
classes to help develop creative thinking and communication skills.
➔

8. When the school moved online, many of the tools that it used have become staples in the classroom such as online art galleries
and exhibitions, interactive assessments and gamified learning tools, and simulations and virtual experimentation. BIS features
Google Workplace for Education as its main communications platform, for collaborative learning, and enhancing the learning
experience.
Moving forward, BIS embraces the opportunity to find new and innovative ways to bring even greater technology integration into
the school environment as it continues to mold its students into respectful, responsible, and effective digital citizens.

9. Education Beyond Classrooms
BIS offers more than 50 extracurricular activities (ECAs) to fit the interests and passions of students of all ages. The activities
include sports, service clubs, leadership opportunities, the arts, and technology. ECAs connect to the UN Sustainability Goals
and cover 6 areas of holistic development: Leadership, Well-being, Community, Academic, Service Learning, and Creativity.
BIS believes that learning extends beyond the classroom, and the school looks for ways to engage students and connect the
curriculum to real-world experiences both inside and outside of the classroom. This includes our Outreach program where
students travel to various locations around the world to learn new skills and about different cultures while making lifelong
memories with other students from different grade levels.
The educational offering of BIS is widely recognized. The school has received numerous awards for its innovative approach.
Some of the most notable awards received by BIS are:
● Common Sense School
● K-12 Digest identified BIS as one of the “10 Must Watch Schools in Asia” in 2023
BIS has always been a true international school with a diverse community. Its shared definition of global citizenship and
intercultural learning describes the school’s commitment to fostering both. Within its curriculum and extracurricular activities,
students are encouraged to share their varied perspectives and seek understanding of others’ perspectives. At BIS, the school
goes beyond the surface of celebrating diversity and takes it to a new level of valuing each other’s cultural identities.

Story for illustration purposes only

10. Fostering Global Citizenship
The Bandung Independent School community is committed to working towards fostering
global citizenship and intercultural learning both inside and outside of the classroom.
BIS believes quality education is a human right, and thus, education should be inclusive
and equitable to all learners in the community. As stated in its Vision and Mission, the
school strives to nurture individual potential and to inspire every learner to become skillful
and courageous, empowered to participate responsibly and successfully.

11. BIS believes in an inclusive educational environment, wherein:
● All BIS community members are welcome, safe, and valued.
● All BIS community members havethe right to exercise their voice, choice, and agency to create an affirmative, responsive learning
environment.
● All BIS students experience learning opportunities that are engaging, challenging, and relevant.
● All BIS educators are educators of all students. BIS educators share a belief that all students can be successful, and the school nurtures the
individual potential of every learner.
● All language and cultural backgrounds are viewed as valuable resources and enrich our community.
● All assessments are fair and equitable. They unlock individual potentials, build on previous knowledge, and celebrate the unique learning
journeys of every student.
● All BIS community members develop the IB Learner Profileattributes and develop intercultural understanding and respect.
A Rewarding Journey
Most recently, some of BIS Grade 11 students, Valerine Wijono and Declan Gunawan achieved runner-up in the National Schools Debating Championship
in Indonesia. They continue to show their debating skills throughout the year at debate competitions and have inspired other students to follow in their
footsteps and join the debating club.
Its alumni are still very well connected to BIS and often send stories and updates about their achievements.
Tommy Tjandra, class of 2015, left BIS with a full IB Diploma and went on to earn his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of
Michigan in 2019, and his Master of Science in Education, Learning Sciences, and Technology from the University of Pennsylvania in 2022.

12. He is currently working for Apple in Cupertino, California, and hopes to change the world by developing
innovative new Edtech tools for teachers and students.
Cyrus Tanade, Class of 2016, is currently a PhD candidate in Biomedical Engineering and a National
Science Foundation Graduate Fellow at Duke University. He is working at the intersection of
high-performance computing, physics-based modeling, and machine learning to address grand challenges
in cardiovascular medicine. Using some of the world’s most powerful supercomputers and cloud resources
with collaborations from Amazon and Microsoft, he focuses on establishing digital twins for coronary
arteries. These personalized models, constructed from medical images and 3D blood flow simulations, help
diagnose and treat coronary disease, a leading global cause of death.

13. Catering Diverse Learning Needs
BIS encourages students to hone leadership skills, work together as a= team, and be good global
citizens. The school offers them many opportunities to do so. Not only are these skills taught within
the classroom during group work projects and by making connections with real-world issues, but
students are also able to run extracurricular activities in areas they are passionate about. The BIS
House system gives students the chance to collaborate in teams including students from Nursery up
to Grade 12 showing teamwork and camaraderie. Each House has House Captains, who learn
leadership skills while organizing events and being mentors and role models for younger students. Its
Student Council (STUCO) includes an executive council, an internal council, and class
representatives. STUCO works with the administration to share the students’ perspectives. BIS values
students as stakeholders and includes them in many things the school does. Its STUCO has even
helped to develop documents for accreditation about student agencies.
At BIS, we pride ourselves on championing individual potential. Our dedicated Student Support Team,
comprised of the Principals, School Counselor, Well-being Coordinator, Child Protection Officers,
English Support Coordinator, and Learning Support Teacher, provides personalized attention for each
student. We create tailored action plans for those facing academic or social challenges, and everyone
who works at BIS has been trained in child protection to ensure a safe learning environment for our
students.

14. 3. Examples
➔ An Inclusive Learning Hub
➔ BIS has a well-developed definition of Global Citizenship
and Intercultural Learning, which is alive in everything the
school does. Its diverse community is not only welcoming
to students from all over the world, but it also seeks to
understand and respect the multiple perspectives that they
bring to the classroom as well as those not represented
within the classroom.
➔ In all BIS classes, students examine local and global
issues critically and thoughtfully to prepare for action,
service, and responsible decision-making. While students
develop analytical skills to examine global challenges, they
often connect these challenges with UN Sustainable
Development Goals to encourage them to think critically,
evaluate their research, and find innovative solutions to
real-world problems. In addition to academic knowledge,
teacher emphasize the IB Approaches to Learning skills
and IB Learner Profile attributes to help students develop
the skills needed to communicate effectively with open
minds and hearts.
➔

15. The school often brings in experts from the community to discuss different aspects of
intercultural learning and propose service-learning opportunities. A strong suit at BIS is how
passionate students are for learning more about global initiatives and giving back through
community service connecting what they learn in the classroom to a sense of responsibility
and global citizenship. The school has dedicated teacher coordinators who work to support
students through this important learning journey.
Everyone who has been at BIS finds the community special. The school is lucky to have
such an involved parent community which is known as Friends of BIS (FoBIS). FoBIS
parent class representative’s liaison between the school and the parent community to keep
them abreast of all of the wonderful activities and events that are regularly occurring. From
orientation sessions to parent workshops and seminars about education, teacher
conferences, easy-to-use platforms such as Toddle and ManageBac, and weekly
newsletters, BIS keeps parents informed. The school believes that home-school
communication is key to supporting each student as the individual they are.

Source: theguardian.com

16. More than 50 million Americans
travelled abroad in 2015

THAT’S MORE THAN THE
POPULATION
OF
OMBINED
So
BIS is thankful to parents who volunteer their time as guest speakers, to organize events, raise money for and donate educational
resources, and participate in school committees. The BIS Board of Directors is a group of dedicated BIS parent volunteers who serve
the school and its community and work with the Head of School to set the strategic plan for continual improvement moving forward.
As the Head of School, Marci’s goals and visions for the future of education at BIS come from conversations with students, parents,
Board members, faculty, and staff. The school developed its Mission and Vision with the collaborative efforts of the community; thus,
the goals are aligned. As a school, BIS values its community, the quality of teaching and learning, and the future of the school. As a
school that has over 50 years of history, BIS has many deep-rooted traditions. However, staying true to its values while keeping
teaching and learning relevant, exciting, and challenging with the most modern educational programs is always a goal. The school,
under the leadership of Marci, aims to continue to develop its MYP which it just adopted in 2022. BIS hopes to bring in more
community members and will continue to develop and update its campus to to always improve it’s already stellar facilities.