Policy

The purpose of the Association of the International Community School of Addis Ababa is to provide a school for "children of the international community residing in Addis Ababa and throughout Ethiopia and for Ethiopian children, to the extent feasible, in accordance with Ethiopian law” (Articles of Association: Article III). To ensure that this purpose can be met, the Board expects the administration to enact fair and transparent admissions guidelines regarding places for children of the international community.

Early Years 3 (EY3)

EY3 Eligibility: Applicants are eligible to join ICS after their 3rd birthday, on the next available entry point date. 

Entry Point	Age 3 on or before:
August (first day of school year)	31 August
October *	30 September
January *	31 December
April *	31 March

*entry point date is the first of the month, or the first available school day after the first of the month.

EY3 August Entry Point: Applicants who are 3 years old on or before 31 August are eligible to enter EY3 at the beginning of the school year. Those who are in the first three categories of the Admissions Priority Guidelines will be accepted by the guidelines, in order of receipt of the completed application requirements. All other applications (category 4) for the following school year will be considered for an August space after 1 March.

EY3 Mid-Year Entry Points: Applicants to a mid-year entry point (October, January and April) are placed on the wait list. After an entry point date has passed, applicants for the next entry point are considered for a space. Exception: applicants in category 1 of the Admissions Priority Guidelines.

Early Years 4 (EY4)

EY4 Eligibility: Applicants are eligible to join EY4 if they turn 4 years old on or before 31 August. Students in EY3 who are not eligible for promotion to EY4 will continue in EY3 in the next school year.

EY4 Applicants: Applicants in the first three categories of the Admissions Priority Guidelines will be accepted by the guidelines, in order of receipt of the completed application requirements. All other applications (category 4) for the following school year will be considered for an August space after 1 March.

Wait List

Wait-listed early years students are prioritized according to the Admissions Priority Guidelines. If a wait-listed student is offered a space, the space must be taken immediately or within a reasonable period of time without a loss of revenue, at ICS's discretion.

All students must be toilet trained.

Special circumstances: early years 3-4 applicants applying to the STEP Program are considered under the Early Years 5 to Grade 12 admissions policy.

Applicants living outside Ethiopia are international applicants. International applications are considered in order of receipt of all required admissions materials; upon meeting our admissions criteria they will be admitted on a space-available basis. In circumstances where space is not available, international applicants will be placed on a wait list.

Wait-listed students will be prioritized according to the Admissions Priority Guidelines. Wait-listed students who temporarily attend another school in Addis until a space is available at ICS Addis are still considered international applicants. If a wait-listed student is offered a space, the space must be taken immediately or within a reasonable period of time without a loss of revenue, at ICS's discretion.

Mid-year applicants who apply before the school year begins are placed on the wait list until the end of September. 

Transition to a new school is an adjustment for any student; a thoughtful and managed transition can be a positive experience and support the student's learning and well-being. The local applicant process ensures a more planned and positive transition for local applicants.

Who Are Local Applicants?

Applicants living or attending school in Ethiopia are considered local applicants. Local applicants are eligible to apply to ICS Addis for August enrollment only. Local applicants to early years 5 through grade 12 who complete the admissions process and are eligible for enrollment are placed in the wait pool. Applicants in the wait pool are not ranked by the Priority Guidelines.

Exception: applicants in categories 1, 2 or 3 of the Priority Guidelines are considered international applicants.

Local applicants in the wait pool are considered for space after a set date. Families who enroll all their eligible children at ICS are given priority. 

The local applicant deadline for 2024-25 is 15 May 2024. 

Timeline for Local Applications

1 November: applications open for next school year

November-May: applicants complete all admissions requirements and Admissions Committee completes preliminary review

March-May: applicants complete assessments at ICS (may include math, reading, writing, world language and interview/observation)

March-May: Admissions Committee completes final review of admissions requirements and assessments - applicants eligible for admission are placed in the wait pool

1 May: ICS begins allocating spaces to applicants in wait pool (those who have completed all admissions requirements and assessments)

15 May: deadline to complete all admissions requirements (local applications are not accepted after this date)

ICS may not have spaces for all applicants in the wait pool. If a wait pool applicant is not offered a space in May, the family may choose to stay in the wait pool until the start of school in August. After August, wait pool applicants are no longer eligible to enroll for that school year. They may renew their applications starting on 1 November for the following school year.

Final determination of a student’s status is decided by ICS Addis.

Within the guidelines below, families who enroll all their eligible children at ICS are given priority. 

The following Priority Guidelines apply to international applicants only.

1. Dependents of US government direct-hire employees and dependents of eligible ICS faculty and staff.
2. Siblings of current students, and returning former ICS students.
3. Dependents of ICS alumni and former students.
4. All other applicants in order of completion of the admissions requirements, with the following priority:
    a. Applicants with accepted incoming siblings
    b. Applicants with foreign passports
        i. Both parents with foreign passports
        ii. One parent with a foreign passport
        iii. Both parents with host country passports
    c. Applicants with host country passports

International Community Enrollment

The percentage of children from the international community should be at least 95% of the enrollment in any grade level in the early years and elementary school, 90% of the enrollment in any grade level in the middle school, and 85% of the enrollment in any grade level in the high school. The overall percentage of spaces for children from the international community should be at least 90% schoolwide. At all times and at all grades, the school has discretion to ensure diversity. Any exceptions to the percentage of international children at a grade level must be approved by the Head of School and reported to the Board of Governors. If the overall space available for children of the international community is approaching 90%, the Head of School must notify the Board of Governors, and the Board will approve any exceptions that reduce the spaces available for children of the international community below the overall 90% requirement.

As a responsibly inclusive community school, ICS Addis values the contributions of each student to the learning environment. To ensure that each student can learn at the highest levels, we continuously evaluate our capacity to support exceptional learners. Our admissions process is designed to be simple and clear; additional information and assessments are only requested when we must confirm our ability to meet a student’s learning and social-emotional needs.

ICS charges additional fees for specialized educational services, including occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, educational psychology assessments and the STEP Program. Need for services is determined by ICS and neither services nor fees may be waived. Visit the Tuition and Fees page for more information on the fees.

Learning Support

ICS Addis can provide an appropriate education for most students, including non-native English speakers, students with mild to moderate learning disabilities and highly capable students. However, because of the limitations of the local professional support network, ICS is not able to serve the educational needs of those students with more serious mental, physical, emotional or learning disabilities. The campus is also not handicapped accessible. Admission is open to those students who are able to participate successfully in a mainstream class with some specialist support. In cases where ICS determines that it may have an appropriate educational program for a child, the school may require the parents to fund extra assistance beyond what is available in the classroom.

ICS may deny admission to students whose needs cannot be met by the school's support services, or whose needs could be detrimental to the classroom and school environment. In addition, ICS may deny admission if parents fail to disclose all relevant information about their child's learning needs during the admissions process.

Please contact the Admissions Office immediately if your child requires special services, so that we can attempt to determine if we can provide a suitable program for your child and if we have space in our programs before you accept an assignment in Addis Ababa.

Students entering the early years must be the appropriate age for the class to which they are applying; no exceptions are made. All early years students must be toilet trained.

Students entering the early years 3 (EY3) program must be three years old and are eligible to start school after they turn three years old, at one of four entry points during the school year.

Students in the early years 4 (EY4) program must be four years old on or before 31 August. Students in EY3 who are not eligible for promotion to EY4 will continue in EY3 in the next school year.

See the Early Years 3-4 Admissions section HERE for more information.

Students in the early years 5 (EY5) program must be five years old on or before 31 August.

Students entering ICS mid-year will be placed in the age-appropriate class. If students were attending kindergarten or a kindergarten-equivalent in schools that follow a different school calendar, they will continue in early years 5/kindergarten at ICS, even if they are age-appropriate for the next grade.

Grade placement for grades 1 to 12 is determined by ICS based on the previous educational system and calendar, academic success within the previous system and any additional assessments required by ICS. The applicant’s age is also considered.

For social and developmental reasons, ICS does not not enroll students who are more than one year older or younger than the expected age for the grade into which they should be placed academically. 

Grade 11 Enrollment: Grade 11 students must select a diploma pathway - the ICS diploma or the International Baccalaureate Diploma (IB Diploma). Applicants to each of the diploma pathways must demonstrate the potential to benefit from that program and pathway.

To support success in the IB Diploma pathway and/or IB Diploma courses, applicants must demonstrate adequate fluency in English in their academic history and records. Applicants from non-English medium schools are evaluated holistically, considering their academic preparation and performance along with WIDA testing to determine the best diploma pathway, including level of engagement with the ID Diploma program.

Grade 12 Enrollment: Grade 12 students must attend for the full academic year. It is not possible to start grade 12 after the beginning of the academic year.

ICS is conservative when placing students transferring from other school calendars and students will continue in the grade level in which they were enrolled, or which they just completed. Students will not skip ahead to the next grade level.