International Schools

Vientiane International School (VIS) is a private, coeducational day school offering an educational program from preschool through grade 12 for qualified students of all nationalities. The School operates under status conferred by the Lao Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The school year extends from late August to late June. VIS is governed by a 7- person Board of Directors, composed of parents of children attending the School. Board members are elected at the Annual General Meeting of the parent body. The U.S. Embassy, sponsoring embassy for the School in Lao PDR, appoints a non-voting member to sit on the Board. VIS is a member of East Asia Regional Council of Overseas Schools, Mekong River International Schools Association, and Council of International Schools. VIS has developed its curriculum by adapting those from other international schools as well as U.S. and other Western-based national curricula. The school utilizes many American textbooks to set a standard of education comparable to many other international schools of comparable size. VIS aims to prepare its students for return to schools in their home country or for moving on to another international school, and for entry into college and university. Primary classes are self-contained except for art, music, and computer, which have separate classrooms. Secondary School instructors teach courses in specialized classrooms. ESL (English-as-a-Second-Language) is taught within the regular classroom, with the exception of some pullout classes for beginners. Dutch language lessons are provided to Dutch nationals enrolling in a special program. Swimming instruction at the Australian Embassy Recreation Club is a part of the VIS physical education program. An extensive after-school activity program includes sports, cultural studies, arts and crafts. Community programs for children include weekend soccer, Friday night basketball and swim team. VIS does not offer a special education program for students with learning or physical disabilities nor are there such services available in the local community. At the beginning of 2006-2007 school year, there are 27 full-time and 3 part-time faculty. Maximum class size in Preschool and Primary 1 is set at 20. In the older grades, the maximum size is 24 students. VIS currently has just one class per grade level, except for prekindergarten (the School has one class for 3 year-olds and another for 4 year olds, two classes each for primary 4 (grade 3), secondary 1 (Grade 6) and secondary 2. VIS is located on a single campus. Though small by Western standards, all rooms are air-conditioned. In addition to the eleven grade classrooms presently in use, the campus also has separate rooms for art, music, French,Secondary science, and computer lab. The library has over 8,000 volumes. There is a covered basketball court, two small grass fields, a small court and play equipment. A small school run by the Swedish Embassy enrolling approximately 8 students shares facilities and some VIS courses; the Japanese, Nepali and Thai and Dutch communities have established after-hours home culture and language classes on the VIS campus, as well.