Jakarta International School

Jakarta International School
Address
Jl. Terogong Raya #33 Cilandak Jakarta Selatan, DKI Jakarta, Indonesia, 12430,
Information
School type	Private International School
Established	1951
Head of school	Tim Carr
Grades	Early Childhood through Grade 12
Gender	Coeducational
Age range	3 to 19 years
Enrollment	2,474 students at the beginning of the 2009-10 school year[1]
Language	English
Campus	Pondok Indah, Pattimura, Cilandak, 46 acres (190,000 m2)
School colour(s)	Blue and White
Mascot	Dragon
Tuition	$30,000 per year
Website	http://www.jisedu.or.id

Jakarta International School (JIS) is a private, international school in Jakarta, Indonesia. It was established in 1951 for expatriate students living in Jakarta and is the largest international primary and secondary school in Indonesia.^[2]

JIS has 2,400 students aged 3 to 18 from about 60 nationalities.^[3] The school adheres to North American and other curriculum models from pre-kindergarten through grade 12. It is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and the Council of International Schools.^[1] The United States Department of State reports the curriculum offered at Jakarta International School as "has a strong international focus",^[1] and considers it one of the best schools overseas for preparing students for American university entrance.^[4] JIS has three campuses, two solely for Elementary students in Pattimura and Pondok Indah, and one much bigger and considered the main campus for junior high and high school students in Cilandak, South Jakarta.

History

Jakarta International School was established in 1951, as a school for the children of United Nations staff posted in Jakarta, the capital of the then newly independent Indonesia.^[5] Due to an increased international presence in Jakarta, the school moved into newer facilities at its Pattimura campus in 1953. In 1969, the school became the "Joint Embassy School" under the sponsorship of the Australian, British, Yugoslavian, and United States Embassies.^[5] Architectural and engineering practice International Design Consultants (IDC) was commissioned to build additional facilities for the school. ^[6] The new campus was built in Cilandak, a residential area in South Jakarta. The Cilandak campus was completed in 1977 and serves as the middle school and high school.^[7] The school adopted the name "Jakarta International School" in 1978.^[5]

Facilities

Jakarta International School has three campuses totalling 46 acres (190,000 m²) and is one of the largest international schools in the world according to H2L2 Architecture.^[8] Pattimura Elementary (K-5) is located in the Kebayoran Baru area. Pondok Indah Elementary (K-5) and Cilandak (6-12) are adjacent to each other in Pondok Indah in South Jakarta.^[9]

Facilities are mostly air-conditioned and include 184 classrooms, four theaters, three cafeterias, three tennis courts, six gymnasiums, six playing fields, three swimming pools, 18 science laboratories, 22 computer laboratories, a design technology facility, and four libraries with a total of 130,000 volumes.^[1][10][11] The school has a three-level food court, medical clinic, a school bus system run by the Bluebird company and an ambulance.^[12]

Administration

Jakarta International School is an Indonesian foundation (yayasan) overseen by a board of governors and a school council, that functions like a school board or board of education. The School Council is an eleven-member Board of Patrons; nine elected, four of whom are elected by the parents and three appointed by the Founding Embassies. They, in turn, appoint four other members, one of whom must be an Indonesian citizen.^[1]

Enrollment

Nationality of JIS students by percentage (2007-2008)

JIS is the largest international primary and secondary school in Indonesia, enrolling 2,469 students from 61 nationalities during the 2007-2008 school year.^[2][13] The five most commonly represented nationalities were the United States, Republic of Korea, Indonesia, India, and Australia.

Secondary education

JIS offers tuition for grades 1-12. Students undertake the JIS Diploma, and choose to complete an International Baccalaureate Diploma,^[14] an International Advanced Placement Diploma (APID). Over 97 percent of graduating seniors go on to a university or college.^[1] For the 2010 graduating class, the universities that JIS students were mostly accepted in included: Boston University, the University of Toronto and the University of British Columbia.

Co-curricular activities

Students are known in athletic competition as the 'Jakarta Dragons'.

Middle and High school level students at Jakarta International School compete in intramural and interscholastic sports throughout the year.^[15] JIS belongs to the Interscholastic Association of Southeast Asian Schools (IASAS) which competes with six international schools in Asia. IASAS schools host each other for tournaments, exchanges, conventions and competitions. Three IASAS seasons per year frame the HS sports and cultural competition calendar.

IASAS Sports: Boys and Girls Varsity and Junior Varsity sports teams follow the IASAS season schedule at JIS each year.

• Season One: cross-country, volleyball, soccer
• Season Two: basketball, rugby/touch, swimming, tennis
• Season Three: track and field, badminton, softball, golf

Cultural Convention: Held in March, JIS participates in IASAS Cultural Convention, which includes three separate components: "Art and Music", "Dance and Drama", and "Debate and Forensics". JIS hosted the "Debate and Forensics" portion of Cultural Convention during the 2012-2013 school year.

Model United Nations: Held in November, JIS participates in the non-competitive IASAS Model United Nations.

IASAS Math: JIS participates in the IASAS Math program.

Middle School Volcanoes: Students in the Middle School are assigned to groups named after one of 6 different Indonesian volcanoes. Competitions in events are held each semester to determine the winner of the Caldera Cup, onto which is inscribed the reigning champion volcano's name. In December, 2012, the Salak volcano group nearly won the Cup for the third consecutive semester, which would have been an unprecedented accomplishment at JIS. In 2013, Agung won the Caldera Cup for the first time in more than 5 years.

List of recent Caldera Cup winners:

• December 2011 - Salak
• June 2012 - Salak
• December 2012 - Rinjani
• June 2013 - Agung
• December 2013 - Salak

JIS CARES and Letters from Aceh

Following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, JIS started a campaign called JIS CARES to raise money for schools affected by the disaster. The campaign included Letters from Aceh, a collection of letters and photographs exchanged between the children of the tsunami affected Indonesian province of Aceh, students from JIS, and schools worldwide.^[16] The collection has a foreword by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and proceeds were donated to a school-rebuilding program.^[17] The funds raised by JIS CARES went towards a new community high school on the campus of Syiah Kuala University in Banda Aceh.^[18]

Threats and security

A security gate at JIS

Since its founding, JIS has been affected by the political and economic turbulence of Jakarta, receiving both direct and indirect threats to its security. During the 1960s, an attempted coup d'état by the Communist Party of Indonesia forced the evacuation of the school. In 1998, the school year ended early due to riots leading up to President Suharto's resignation, during which time most expatriate families were evacuated from the country.^[5]

JIS has also been a potential target for terrorism.^[19] Following the 2002 Bali bombings, JIS and other international schools in Jakarta closed for several weeks after warnings of a possible terror attack.^[20][21] JIS was also on the target list of the terrorist group responsible for the 2003 Marriott Hotel bombing, which killed 13 people.^[22]

In response to these threats, JIS has made security upgrades. In 2002, the school added a three-meter-high "blast wall," a "boom gate" in front of the school, and protective security film over exterior windows.^[23] According to the head of the Australian International School in Jakarta, JIS received $2 million in US government security assistance in 2004.^[24] By 2005, the school had installed a security fence, with guards checking cars before they enter the premises.^[12]

From May 2005 to June 2008, counterterrorism officials stated their belief that the threat of a terrorist attack in Jakarta had diminished, although authorities continued to stress the need for vigilance.^[19][25][26]

Notable alumni

• Aditya Mittal - Chief Financial Officer of ArcelorMittal^[27]
• Angela Kinsey - American actress best known for playing Angela Martin in the US version of The Office^[28]
• Arthur Irawan - professional Indonesian footballer who currently plays for the Espanyol B team in Spain^[29][30]
• Atika Shubert - Class of 1991 - CNN Foreign Correspondent and News Anchor^[31]
• Cinta Laura - Indonesian singer and actress
• Erin McLeod - Olympic medalist, professional footballer for the Canadian national women's team and the Houston Dash
• Jackson Curtin - professional skateboarder^[32]
• James Mahmud Rice - sociologist, and co-winner of the 2009 Stein Rokkan Prize for Comparative Social Science Research
• Maya Soetoro-Ng - teacher and maternal half-sister of Barack Obama^[33][34]
• Roger Mathey - Director/producer/playwright/actor, who won the 2002 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Direction for the Los Angeles stage production of Trainspotting,^[35] and also the 2002 LA Weekly Theater Award for Direction, also for Trainspotting.^[36]
• Sean Michael Thomas - International News Correspondent for Russia Today^[37] and children's book author/illustrator^[38]
• Tanya Noble - Participant of American telivision show "Master Chef," placing 10th place in the 3rd season.
• Ferran Artigot - Indonesian player for the Catalan football team Futbol Club Barcelona

References

External links

• Official website
• Alumni website