International School of Indiana

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Community Minded, Globally Relevant

International School of Indiana (ISI) Remains Committed to Academic Excellence

Writer / Brenda Geren

Photographer / Justin Sicking

As the 2022-2023 school year begins, school spirit is running high throughout International School of Indiana (ISI). For the first time in its 28-year history, the school will welcome all ISI students, administrators and staff to one single location – the Michigan Road campus located on the near northwest side of Indianapolis.

It has taken more than 20 years of vision and planning to achieve this single-campus layout, culminating with the completion of the new, state-of-the-art Chen Family Lower School. The school will accommodate students aged 3 (pre-K) through fifth grade. Facilities include a working garden, greenhouse, playground, library, art studio, stage and gymnasium, as well as STEM labs.

ISIs Head of School Elizabeth Head sees the addition of the Chen Family Lower School as more than a single asset for the ISI campus. She sees the new school in a bigger picture. We are celebrating this new building, but more than anything we are celebrating the global mindedness and internationalism for the state, and the fact that Indiana has a school like this where students are graduating with this type of skill set, Head says. For the state of Indiana, the school is a real highlight because it consolidates what Indianas priorities have been. It helps Indiana move forward into the future by continuing to support relocation of families, international recruitment, foreign investment, and a global and international mindedness for Hoosiers.

ISI first opened its doors on September 1, 1994, to a student body of 38 students across four grades. Four years later ISI acquired 63 acres off of Michigan Road and began, in earnest, turning the property into a school campus. In 2002 ISI officially became an International Baccalaureate (IB) accredited school and two years later celebrated its first graduating class of eight seniors.

ISI is the only school in the Midwest to offer the IB program to all students aged 3 through grade 12, with complete language immersion tracks in French, Spanish or Mandarin. Indianapolis really has a gem, Head says. Very few states have what Indiana has by offering a truly international school for all grade levels to its residents.

According to Head, ISI has two features further distinguishing the school as unique not only in Indiana, but also across much of the United States. First, ISI offers the full IB program to 100% of its students. Other schools tend to limit enrollment to gifted or advanced students. Second, in every grade, ISIs language immersion teachers are native-speaking teachers.

ISIs IB program also requires all students in grades six through 12 to serve their community in some manner every school year. Students may work on specific projects, serve in clubs, or volunteer their time to improve their communities. All of each students work is reported and documented.

Athletic programs at ISI include golf, tennis, cross-country, soccer, volleyball, basketball, swimming, lacrosse, and track and field.

The success of the IB program and ISIs student population may be explained with a few statistics and numbers. Weve had 19 graduating classes in a row where 100% of our students have been accepted to four-year universities, Head says. On average, our graduates receive $150,000 to $200,000 in merit scholarships, and they are going into college with 30 university credits already earned.

Head is concerned with more than the academic performance of her students as she faces the 2022-2023 school year. Continuing to foster a deeper, more unified culture at ISI is equally important to her. One thing we hope to accomplish is every single student, staff and family member feels safe and welcome in our community, she says.

ISI currently has openings for the 2022-2023 school year in many grade levels and language tracks. At ISI, new students can come in at any grade level with zero language ability outside of English, and we can accept them and put them into a language learning program so that they graduate with language ability, Head says.