The International Community School of Addis Ababa (ICS Addis; am, ኢንተርናሽናል ኮምዩኒቲ ትምህርት ቤት) is an international school in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

founded in 1964. The school has an enrollment of around 1,000 students from over 67 nations. ICS Addis has been accredited by the

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (Middle States Association or MSA) was a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit association that performed peer evaluation and regional educational accreditation, accreditation of public and priva ...

since 1992. The school was accredited again in December 2014. ICS Addis has been authorized to offer the International Baccalaureate Program (IBDP) since March 1982. ICS Addis is located on a 15-acre (61,000m2) tract. The sports facility of the school includes among others a 300-meter track dedicated to

Haile Gebrselassie Haile Gebrselassie ( am, ኀይሌ ገብረ ሥላሴ, ''haylē gebre silassē''; born 18 April 1973) is an Ethiopian retired long-distance track, road running athlete, and businessman. He won two Olympic gold medals and four World Champions ...

and a sports pavilion. The Early Childhood area, is on a separate campus right next to the main campus. The New Classroom Building (NCB), dedicated for the middle school, equipped with classrooms and laboratories. Image:ICSAA_campus_2.jpg, Library Lawn and Tukel Image:ICSAA_campus_3.jpg, Lockers Image:ICSAA_campus_4.jpg, International Day 2007 Image:ICSAA_Secondary_Library_2009.jpg, MS/HS Library Image:ICS_2009_graduates.jpg, Class of 2009 Image:ICS_MS_lockers.jpg, MS locker area

Programs

ICS Addis follows a college-preparatory American curriculum model, and the program is divided into four sections: early childhood (EC3-EC4), elementary (K-5), middle (6-8) and high school (9-12). The school offers an American high school diploma to all graduates who meet graduation requirements. Almost 100% of the graduates enter higher education immediately after graduation, and 85% of the graduates attend colleges and universities in the US and Canada. Many students also pursue the IB Diploma (International Baccalaureate). The school is the only testing center for the

SAT The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Schol ...

in the city, but does not offer the

TOEFL Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL ) is a standardized test to measure the English language ability of non-native speakers wishing to enroll in English-speaking universities. The test is accepted by more than 11,000 universities a ...

. The after-school program includes sports at all age levels, drama, clubs, activities and community service opportunities. Sports teams at several age levels participate in a local league with other international and national schools. Boys and girls varsity soccer, volleyball and basketball teams also participate in the ''International Schools of Southern and Eastern Africa'
ISSEA
league, with seven other international schools from Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Zambia and South Africa. Students of the middle and high school go on four- or five-night grade level field trips to areas of Ethiopia/ overseas, in support of the science or history curricula. However, domestic trips have been cancelled for 3 years, as of 2017, with the school administration citing safety concerns.

Philosophy

The school is in a PLC (Professional Learning Community) journey towards becoming certified as a PLC Exemplar School. The collaborative planning in all areas of the education is guided by the four essential PLC questions: Q1: What is it that we want our kids to know and be able to do? Q2: How will we know they know it? Q3: What will we do if they don't know it? Q4 What will we do if they already know it?

Admissions

Admission is based upon completed application forms, previous school records and results from previous or current academic testing as required by the professional staff. Placement tests at the time of application assist admissions and placement decisions. ICS does not offer part-time, partial or correspondence programs.

Events

Scholarship program

Since the early 1990s, ICS Addis has offered four 4-year scholarships every year to rising ninth graders from schools throughout Addis Ababa. The scholarships are need-blind and are based on merit. The selection process begins in March/April with applications from the top students from public and private middle schools around the city. Applicants are taken through a rigorous process that includes a 3-hour written test, student and parent interviews. The Scholarship Club hosts an Ethiopian Food Sale once or twice every year. The sale includes the traditional foods of Ethiopia; both fasting and non-fasting. Besides the food sale, the Scholarship Club also hosts a garage sale every year. These are funding programs, created to help the Scholarship Club financially. Many of the ICS scholarship students go on to win full scholarships at universities in the USA. In the past, ICS Scholarship Students have been awarded four-year scholarships to

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

, Vassar,

Davidson Davidson may refer to: * Davidson (name) * Clan Davidson, a Highland Scottish clan * Davidson Media Group * Davidson Seamount, undersea mountain southwest of Monterey, California, USA * Tyler Davidson Fountain, monument in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA * ...

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine ...

, Columbia, Duke and

Amherst Amherst may refer to: People * Amherst (surname), including a list of people with the name * Earl Amherst of Arracan in the East Indies, a title in the British Peerage; formerly ''Baron Amherst'' * Baron Amherst of Hackney of the City of London, ...

to name a few.

Governance

The school is governed by a nine-member Board of Governors. Two members are elected for two-year terms by the ICS Addis Parent Association, six members are appointed by the Board for four-year terms and one member is appointed by the US Ambassador.

Alumni

* The address to the ICS Addis alumni link is https://sites.google.com/icsaddis.edu.et/alumnilink *Scanned copies of yearbooks from the school's early years are available from Lee Miller a
US Mapping Mission

Notable alumni

Prince Joel Dawit Makonnen Prince Joel David Makonnen Haile Selassie of Ethiopia (''Yoel Dawit Makonnen Haile Selassie''; born 5 May 1982) is an Italian-born Ethiopian attorney, businessman, philanthropist, writer, and member of the Ethiopian Imperial House of Solomon. H ...

, lawyer and member of the Ethiopian imperial family *

Rediet Abebe Rediet Abebe (Amharic: ረድኤት አበበ; born 1991) is an Ethiopian computer scientist working in algorithms and artificial intelligence. She is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley. Previousl ...

, computer scientist and Junior Fellow at the

Harvard Society of Fellows The Society of Fellows is a group of scholars selected at the beginnings of their careers by Harvard University for their potential to advance academic wisdom, upon whom are bestowed distinctive opportunities to foster their individual and intell ...