International and USA Accreditation

In May 2004 a team of school administrators representing both the Council of International Schools and the U.S. based New England Association of Schools and Colleges visited Luanda to do an evaluation of LIS in relation to possible granting the school accreditation status.

The New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) is the oldest of the six regional accrediting agencies in the United States.  Since its inception in 1885, the Association has awarded accreditation to educational institutions in the six-state New England region that seek voluntary affiliation.  In 1980, NEASC agreed to work co-operatively with the European Council of International Schools (ECIS) in serving institutions interested in seeking accreditation with both organisations. This cooperation continued when ECIS transferred responsibility for accreditation services to the Council of International Schools (CIS) in July 2003.

CIS is an independent, non-profit, membership organisation of approximately 500 international schools in approximately 110 countries throughout the world.  It serves the interests of some 340,000 young people, a constituency which represents many nationalities with varied cultural, religious, and linguistic backgrounds.  CIS also includes universities and colleges to which students from international schools apply.

Presently over 150 CIS member schools have been granted accredited status following a directed comprehensive self-study and a rigorous, thorough evaluation by a Visiting Team, which found them to meet the CIS Standards for Accreditation.  Accredited schools are subject to regular monitoring through routine progress reports and visits, and they must undergo a full re-evaluation every ten years.  CIS accreditation is accepted throughout the world, including in the USA through the recognition programme of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS).

The visit was successful and resulted in the school being granted full accreditation for preschool through Year 9. In the first half of 2007 we hope to earn accreditation for the four additional year levels added since the first visit.

Excerpts from the concluding statement:

“The Visiting Team was very impressed by the spirit and buoyancy with which everyone at LIS has tackled profound recent changes and has coped with a shortage of supplies and logistical difficulties. . . The truly collaborative spirit so evident everywhere in the school may have in part been a response to shared difficulties; it is also the result of the personalities of the LIS Administration and Staff and one cannot help but be optimistic about the school’s future. It has been a privilege for the Visiting Team to savour this open and constructive atmosphere and to witness the pride people take in the school and its development.

We are impressed by the deep and genuine commitment to an educational philosophy which is clearly expressed and truly guides the school’s actions and ambitions. A teacher was quoted as saying, “The school lives its philosophy“.  We have found this  to be true and  well deserving of praise. The school has the good fortune to have two highly committed and experienced Senior Administrators who have provided essential educational leadership. The documentation and implementation of the curriculum are of a very high standard as are the Assessment Policies and practice. The school’s commitment to professional development where everyone is a learner and the funding which is made available for it would be the envy of many schools.

The development of the school’s Mission and Philosophy and its daily use as a guide for all aspects of the school’s education, is impressive. LIS is also fortunate to have a Board of Directors and which is committed to providing the necessary means for the school and which have created, with the Administration the policies governing the life of the school. The simple fact that a campus such as this has been planned and constructed in such a short time is a great achievement.

LIS is subject to fundamental changes and the pressure on the school is great to provide high quality education and to accommodate the needs of the core companies in their efforts to attract employees and families to come to Angola. The shared commitment to excellence has already produced most impressive results.”