At the British International School of Charlotte, we go beyond traditional education to create personalized learning experiences that encourage your child to participate in the classroom and to build a love for learning. Using overarching themes across all subjects, interactive lesson plans, and small collaborative groups, our teachers create differentiated lessons that cater to the unique learning styles of each child. 

Our teachers work collaboratively with you and your child to create a personalized success plan (PSP) that acts as a helpful roadmap in highlighting key skills and action points for your child to follow. Student progress is continually evaluated in collaboration with class teachers and overarching Phase Group Leaders — ensuring your child is making outstanding progress that’s personal to their potential.

Alongside each child’s academic goals, 50% of your child’s PSP will focus on personal goals and essential life skills, such as time management, problem solving, or resilience. These personal goals enhance their understanding of how they learn best, and this also increases their self-confidence, sense of social and emotional fulfilment at school, and ability to succeed in higher education and life.

At the British International School of Charlotte, we go beyond academics. Your child will experience a curriculum delivered in an enriching environment that supports a balance between their studies and their social and emotional wellness. To reinforce this, we nurture a strong sense of self, international mindedness, resilience, and empathy. 

We bring every child’s love of learning to life, beginning in Early Years, where our youngest learners engage in various activities in creative indoor and outdoor learning environments that activate their curiosity and imagination. Fast forward to Secondary school (Middle and High School), and students participate in ecological renewal projects, residential visits, and age-appropriate internships that guide them towards a future aligned with their personal interests. 

Students enjoy a well-rounded education at BIS Charlotte that also includes specialist courses. Each week, students study French or Spanish; dance, music, and drama, as part of our Juilliard collaboration; and STEAM programs through MIT, where students solve real-world challenges each year. Additionally, in Upper School, we support our students’ well-being and creativity through our Creative Best and Personal Best programs, where we utilize similar specialist courses and extracurricular activities in the arts, STEAM, and athletics to provide an engaging outlet and skill-building opportunities. We encourage every student to explore their interests and uncover new ones, while applying their creativity and critical thinking skills.

Vital to our wellness and success as a community, we embrace parents and students alike at BIS Charlotte. We know that having family involved can make a world of difference to each child’s journey. We create many opportunities for parents and families to be present at BISC and to participate in our inviting learning culture — such as through volunteering at school events or classroom visits. BISC’s Parent Community takes pride in bringing our whole community together, whether it’s through personal “coffee chat” introductions among families or open communication with our school.

During all-school events and celebrations, we learn about each other’s cultural backgrounds and experiences in the world. Parents annually lead World Fest, for example, where they make a favorite food from their family’s culture and raise charity funds. Other exciting events include the BISC winter play and Winter Fest (featuring the creation of an outdoor “Winter Wonderland”); Trunk or Treat during Halloween; Turkey Trots during Thanksgiving; Family Quiz Night; and Upper Secondary Prom.

With our Nord Anglia international family around the world, our students also look forward to events that encourage their friendships, such as through our online platform Global Campus, as well as our annual Global Games sporting competition for our Lower Secondary students. On Global Campus, students learn from peers around the world during stimulating global challenges and virtual adventures, as they collaborate and share their perspectives. Global Games, meanwhile, is a thrilling one-week, in-person sporting event for our students build their teamwork skills in friendly competition with peers from other schools across the Americas. 

Throughout our international curriculum with many hands-on learning experiences at BIS Charlotte, we build your child’s global citizenship. They consider who they are, what they can do, and how they help with their unique set of skills, abilities, and talents. In this way, they build their “social purpose” as they discover they can make a difference in the life of another.

From the Early Years, we nurture empathy in each child to lay strong foundations for a future of global citizenship. In Primary School, we proceed to focus on expanding each child's international mindedness and global self-awareness. By Secondary School, we enrich our students’ worldview and encourage their leadership. Our students become increasingly experienced at recognizing differences between themselves and others. They also make appropriate connections to projects where they can assist or contribute solutions — including around problems of inequalities, unfairness, or needs from vulnerable groups.

All Secondary students participate in the “creativity, activity, service” (CAS) component of the International Baccalaureate (IB), which guides them as changemakers. Many design their own service projects and fundraise for local communities, like running the BISC Book Fair, cleaning up the stream at the local greenway, or participating in a Habitat for Humanity building project. Through journaling, our students go on to reflect on their service, deepening their understanding of an issue or need and considering their impact for those who benefited.

At BIS Charlotte, we have a dynamic and lively learning environment, where students move from space-to-space buzzing with ideas, connecting across subjects and collaborating with friends. The layout and design of our school has been carefully arranged and brightly designed to stimulate these connections with murals, displays, and classroom projects that showcase the learning that happens inside the classrooms and inspire connectivity and growth throughout the school community.

There are several areas students especially gravitate to such as the Makers Space where your child will develop and utilize “design thinking” skills through MIT challenges to create solutions for real-world problems. This dynamic space is equipped with 3D printers, virtual reality sets, drones, programable Spheros and worktables for construction of projects, - encouraging every student’s curiosity and creative thought process, whether through tinkering, coding, or play.

Our IB Suite is another special space in our school, designed exclusively for the preparatory needs of our IB students in Years 12 and 13. This unique space offers private cubicles, group meeting spaces and a reference area for our IB students to manage their schedule to study, work on projects and collaborate with their teachers and peers to prepare for the demands of higher education and success beyond.