“We will take your children with typical development, intellectual, and cognitive abilities, but not your child with a significant disability.”
This is the heart-breaking sentiment heard by too many families when searching for an international school in which to enroll all of their children. Want to learn about the characteristics of an international school? Click here for information.
At ISB, we are committed to maintaining an inclusive school environment where diversity in students enriches and strengthens our whole school community. Discover how ISB defines diversity.
Our campus is diverse and inclusive in many ways and inclusion isn’t just about disability. We want to discuss inclusion in a way that includes everybody. It includes our gifted children, our children who are learning English, our LGBTQ+ population, our Chinese population, our American population, our females, our males, our introverts, our extroverts, etc. We’re looking at it in a broader sense rather than just disability.”
>> Learn more about our diverse and inclusive campus <<
Before we explore further how ISB discusses and reinforces inclusion on campus, first let’s explore the benefits that come with a diverse student body.
ISB believes in developing an inclusive school, where all of our students feel accepted as full members of the community. An inclusive school mirrors the world outside of our school and prepares all students to work, socialize, and live with people who are both different and the same.
When it comes to the specific benefits of a diverse student body, they are seen in every aspect of our community.
Having a diverse student body helps increase our teachers’ ability to teach.
Benefits include:
Parents know their child is accepted and cared for. Especially in cases where one child might have a significant learning disability, an inclusive school with an in-depth support services program provides a home for all children in the family, rather than only those deemed ‘capable’ of learning the curriculum.
For students without learning challenges, they learn that not all children learn the same way. Through diversity, they understand everyone learns at different paces and at different levels of proficiency. Students without learning challenges become allies, advocating for and supporting students with learning challenges. Click here to learn more about how diversity in your child's education helps prepare them for the future.
One of the most important benefits for students with learning challenges attending a school with support programs is that they feel included.
Students learn the same cognitively complex curriculum as students without learning disabilities, and thanks to this they inherently come to believe in themselves. The whole school community becomes kinder and more compassionate.
Student support services are designed to promote academic, language, and social-emotional development.
The department currently meets the unique learning needs of a wide range of student learning profiles including:
We also provide extensive language and content support for English language learners where we emphasize English language acquisition in content areas.
One of the most important aspects of the department – and supporting diverse learning needs in general – is maintaining the same beneficial, academic standards required in an IB World School in the entire student population.
If a child has a disability we maintain academic standards and the challenge, while providing appropriate access and support. We encourage them and make sure they know, ‘You can do it, you have support, we believe in you, and you can be as successful as you want, you can define that success how you want’. ISB chanellenges the myth many parents have that an international school can’t have a challenging program and services for students with special needs.
A school with an extensive Student Support Department can have a life-changing effect on families. We give families an opportunity to keep their children together in the same school, which means they can continue to explore their overseas experience and ensure long-term stability for the whole family.
ISB offers a highly individualized curriculum for students identified as having an intellectual/cognitive disability such as global developmental delay, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Down syndrome, Fragile X syndrome, cerebral palsy etc. Students who require long-term specialized support in multiple areas and an individualized curriculum will focus on functional academic skills, adaptive and daily living skills, social and pragmatic skills, community access, vocational skills, and skills to facilitate greater levels of independence. We emphasize social integration of students with intellectual disabilities in same-age classrooms and activities with the greatest degree of integration possible.
This individualized curriculum will help students who require long-term specialized support in multiple areas. One of the largest elements of this curriculum is inclusion to the highest degree with same age peers without disabilities. This integration enhances communication, social, and academic skills.
Students with disabilities need a different curriculum at different times in their school lives. As students grow older, their curriculum focuses more on daily living skills that foster greater levels of independence and preparation for adulthood (i.e. functional math, reading, writing, community access, vocational skills, and other adaptive skills).
When a campus is rich with a diverse student body, everyone benefits. Learn more about how ISB defines diversity here.
We believe inclusion is the right thing to do, with both our Mission and Vision referencing compassion, challenging learning, and learning together.