Hangzhou International School

HIS is authorised to deliver all three IB programmes. The PYP (Early Years to Grade 5) is inquiry-based and transdisciplinary, and the early years are Reggio-inspired. The MYP (Grades 6-10) includes a Community Project in Grade 8 and a Personal Project in Grade 10. In Grades 11-12 students can take the full IB Diploma, the IB Bilingual Diploma or individual DP courses, choosing from English and Chinese Language A, Chinese, English and Spanish Language B, Business, Economics, History, Psychology, sciences including Sports Science and ESS, two mathematics courses and Music, Visual Arts, Theatre and Film. Every student in Grades 9-12 also completes the credit-based HIS High School Diploma.

English is the language of instruction. Students whose strongest language is not English receive ESOL support in Grades 1-8 through in-class and pull-out lessons, and high school students are expected to access the curriculum in English. Mandarin is taught from K to 12 for both native and non-native speakers: early years classes have a Mandarin-speaking co-teacher, the MYP offers Chinese as Language A or Language B, and the DP includes Chinese Language and Literature, Chinese B and Chinese ab initio. Spanish is offered as Language B in the MYP and DP, and students may earn the IB Bilingual Diploma.

HIS is divided into a Lower School and an Upper School. The Lower School covers Early Years and Pre-Kindergarten (in the Cocoon early childhood building, from age 2), Kindergarten and Grades 1-5, following the IB PYP. The Upper School includes the Middle School (Grades 6-8) and the High School (Grades 9-12); Grades 6-10 follow the IB MYP and Grades 11-12 the IB Diploma Programme, while all high school students work towards the HIS High School Diploma.

HIS aims to give international learners opportunities to pursue academic and personal excellence within a caring community. Its vision describes a diverse student body, equal chances of success and university admission, and a system that adapts to each learner. Five General Learning Targets guide teaching: effective communication, higher-level thinking, a solid foundation of knowledge, positive learning behaviours, and international-mindedness with appreciation of the local community. The IB Learner Profile supports the development of attributes such as resilience, inquiry and balance.

HIS offers more than 100 co-curricular activities from Kindergarten to Grade 12, among them robotics, coding, drone club, cooking, yoga, chess, aerial dance, ballet, taekwondo, golf, rowing, podcasting and debating. Its Gold Dragons field 42 teams in 12 sports, including volleyball, basketball, football, badminton, table tennis, Ultimate, cross-country, track and field, tag rugby and a year-round swim team, competing in HISAC, ACAMIS, SISAC, SCISAC, ISNAC and the Shanghai Swim League. In the arts there are musicals, theatre, a rock band, band, strings, choir, cheer and a film festival, and students join the West Lake MUN and the Duke of Edinburgh's Award.

Since 2022 HIS occupies a purpose-built campus of over 50,000 m2 with two buildings: The Cocoon, a three-floor early childhood centre with its own library, cafeteria, gym and indoor and outdoor playgrounds, and The Lantern, the main campus. Facilities include a Performing Arts Theatre and a black box theatre, a 25 m six-lane competition pool, two double-court gyms with spectator seating plus further indoor gyms, a floodlit full-size artificial-turf football pitch, outdoor courts, studios for dance, yoga and taekwondo, a 20 m indoor bouldering wall, a fitness centre, three libraries and a computer lab. The campus sits next to trails, hills and rivers.

Tuition includes daily lunch, compulsory programme trips and a starter uniform set. A bus service with Chinese-speaking monitors and seat belts serves residential areas across the city for an extra fee. Learning support specialists in the Lower and Upper School help students with mild learning differences, with Individualized Learning Plans where needed, and counsellors provide social, emotional and university guidance. Upper School students bring their own Apple laptop, and the Parents and Friends Association organises community events.