Admissions
Admissions
Our unique admissions process changes the landscape of who can access quality education.
Still I Rise International School – Bogotà offers world-class education completely free of charge. We’re the first worldwide to democratize élite schooling specifically for refugee and vulnerable children.
Admission at SIRIS is a carefully designed and competitive process aimed to the most disadvantaged as well as the most gifted in the city of Bogotà and beyond.
Most International Schools offer access to only those who can financially afford the fees. If discounted or full-ride scholarship places are offered, this is often a competition among the most academically performing. Either way, the most disadvantaged are always locked out.
VULNERABILITY
Our selection process is firstly based on evidenced long-term economic and legal vulnerability. Visits and events held by our Community Team, along with collaboration with a trusted network of local partners, help us identify children aged 10 and 11 in and beyond Bogotà who have been denied quality education and have the most to gain from a holistic, transformative and highly innovative approach to education.
APTITUDE
Understanding the benefit of diversity, we welcome refugees from surrounding nations as well as Internally Displaced Persons and local Colombians. Girls and boys have equal access, and their academic preparedness does not matter as much as their aptitude.
LEADERSHIP
As we aim to raise tomorrow’s leaders among todays’ most vulnerable, we select students not for their ability to read and write but for their innate capability to positively impact others and generate tangible change.
Potential
After interviews with caregivers and verification measures, we invite cohorts of children each year to participate in a special Education Camp at the school. For two weeks, each child has the opportunity to take part in a series of engaging projects:
CHANGE
A group project about making positive change in the community.
INNOVATE
A group project about being entrepreneurial.
EXPLORE
An individual task about storytelling.
LEARN
A dip into academic classes delivered via the SIR Model.
As we select students, we do not award for performance, but rather potential. We don’t look for the most academically gifted. We look for the most ambitious, the most brave and the most caring. We look for children who display the ability to grow and thrive within our system. That’s how we lay the foundations for an eight year long journey to change the world.