Class Placement
At BIS, students are assigned to homeroom classes according to their birthdays. BIS classes do not use the traditional American terms of pre-school, kindergarten, first grade, fourth grade, sophomore, senior, etc. For elementary classes the terms used are five-year-old class, six-year-old class, etc. In some cases, students will be assigned to classes based on levels completed at previous schools.
Example: A student is assigned to the eight-year-old class if he/she has turned eight years old before the 31st of October.
Literacy and Mathematics Placement
Students are placed by age in homeroom classes to support their social and emotional growth; they are placed by achievement level in Mathematics and Literacy to support their academic growth and provide appropriately challenging instruction. To best meet the individual needs of students, observations and evaluations provide a more accurate initial placement in Mathematics and English Literacy Reading and Writing, and to allow for changes throughout the year. This placement policy is intended to best meet students’ needs by supporting movement in Mathematics and Literacy levels.
School administration and parents will also discuss the academic, social, emotional and physical development of the child to determine the appropriate placement for Literacy and Mathematics.
Exceptions for Placement
Any exceptions can only be made through a meeting with the Director. Following this, the Director will meet with any teachers that are involved with the student. If an exception is made (either to place above or below age level), the meeting will be documented with the rationale for out-of-policy decision written and placed in the student's permanent file. Parents will meet with the Director and sign off on the plan.