about

a message from
the Interim Superintendent

Greetings, and Welcome to EIS! We are honored and humbled to serve you in our vibrant, engaged, diverse, and spirited community. For nearly seventy years, EIS students have earned a reputation for their strong sense of community, commitment to service, academic prowess, athletic success, artistic talent, and desire to lead. EIS provides students with opportunities to develop and enhance their unique abilities with an inquiry-based academic program facilitated by experienced, passionate educators. As a culminating result, at the end of the EIS High School experience, most students are recognized with two diplomas - the American Diploma and the Honduran Diploma - while also participating in a rich co-curricular program. This is the EIS Bulldog experience! Strategically aligned, the Early Childhood Center, Lower School, Middle School, and High School are actively bustling environments. On any given day, you may hear musicians preparing for concerts, see artists working on several studio projects, and watch the EIS Bulldogs train for local, regional, and international athletic competitions in our world-class sporting facilities. EIS students are steadfast, confident, and always abounding in excellence, knowing that their labor is not in vain.

Internships, entrepreneurship, problem-solving, and community engagement are all important pillars of the EIS experience. EIS students have access to robust educational programs that apply acquired expertise in their current scholarly career as well as their future professional career. EIS also has a variety of continuously evolving community engagement programs that serve our local school community, the surrounding area, and sometimes even other parts of Honduras. Students and faculty work (on weekdays and weekends) to transform their own lives and the lives of others. From participating in and hosting international sporting events, festivals, and conferences on our campus to helping others through community service programs, EIS students are always striving to become more caring, passionate, skilled, ethical, and actively engaged critical thinkers.

EIS students are nurtured to be eager and inquisitive. With organized guidance and diverse opportunities, they naturally seek out and discover knowledge, thus equipping them with relevant and meaningful understanding. As a result, many of our EIS graduates move on to pursue their education at some of the world's top colleges and universities. Upon graduation, EIS students are equipped to succeed, possess a drive to excel and positively influence the world, and are prepared to take on leadership roles in an ever-changing and complex world. Alumni frequently characterize their time at EIS as "the best years of my life."

Furthermore, over the past few years, we have created and refined our learning principles representing foundational teaching and learning elements. Here is a preview of our learning principles:

The PURPOSE Principle

We all seek to make sense of things. Learning is a process of making meaning and must be driven by a clear, intentional sense of purpose. Learners are more engaged when they are convinced by ‘the why’.

The PEOPLE Principle

We are a social species. Learning for us is not only cognitive. It is also a deeply personal, social, and emotional process. Human relationships may just be the most powerful influencer of learner success.

The OWNERSHIP Principle

We all learn differently. Everyone can learn how to learn and has the right and responsibility to own their own learning. We meet learners where they are and help them write their own story.

The CONNECTIONS Principle

We learn by making connections, with our prior knowledge, across disciplines and between our school and authentic real-world contexts.Learning transfer happens best in rich, relevant contexts.The number and strength of connections we make will impact the quality of our enduring understandings.

The WONDER Principle

We are naturally curious and playful. We learn through an enjoyable lifelong process of playing, wondering, questioning, inquiring, reaching conclusions and then inquiring further.

To frame our students’ success, we also created the Portrait of a Bulldog. We are continuously committed to developing these habits of mind with our students throughout their time at EIS so they become learning experts. These competencies will serve them well throughout their lifetime.

Our Cognia accreditation identified areas of success and needs that we must target. The review team recommended a revision to our mission and vision statements. The school began working with Ariel Raz in the 2022 to guide us in the process. Mr. Raz is engaged in the business of providing services related to professional development program design and delivery. He is a faculty member with Stanford University and has experience working with international schools in strategic scenario planning. Mr. Raz’s first trip was focused on working with the SLT and the Board in our improvement journey. He also provided professional development to our technology and innovation teachers in design thinking.

Please take some time to explore our school online. The world-class EIS experience is positively palpable as a family of one united school from toddlers to grade 12. We look forward to meeting and serving you in speech, charity, love, and integrity! Once again, welcome! Dr. Raymond J. Schmidt ​