Admissions

• TIS accepts students with no previous experience with English from preschool through 13 year olds (US Grade 8).  

• Secondary students must demonstrate increasing levels of language proficiency, as determined by an English language assessment administered at the schools. 

• At Tirana International School, students are assigned to classes according to their birthdays. TIS classes do not use the traditional American terms of pre-school, kindergarten, first grade, fourth grade, sophomore, senior, etc. For elementary classes the terms used are five-year-old class, six-year-old class, etc.  In some cases, students will be assigned to classes based on levels completed at previous schools.  

Example:  A student is assigned to the six-year-old class if he/she has turned six years old before the 31st of October.     

• Any exceptions can only be made through a meeting with the Director.  Following this, the Director will meet with any teachers that are involved with the student. If an exception is made (either to place above or below age level), the meeting will be documented with the rationale for out-of-policy decision written and placed in the student's permanent file.  Parents will meet with the Director and sign off on the plan.   

The MAP placement examination is given to applicants 7 year old and up, to determine the appropriate placement. The assessment involves reading, language arts, and mathematics. Some students may be given a writing prompt as well.  This is more likely to occur at the secondary level to determine writing proficiency and credit transfer.  School administration and parents will also discuss the academic, social, emotional and physical development of the child.  Screening will be carried out by the classroom teacher for the first couple of weeks that a student is in the class.   

• Some middle school students entering TIS might have secondary credits from other institutions.  If this is the case, then their transcript must clearly state that such credits are secondary level so that these courses might be considered as counting towards graduation requirements.   

• Courses taken during the Sec I-IV years at another school may be eligible for transfer to TIS for graduation.  The Director will work with families to determine which courses apply toward transfer credits for each class.   

• Grades of A, B and C (or their national equivalent) may be transferred into TIS from other schools.  Any other grades will not be accepted at a mastery level. 

• In order for any completed courses to be transferred for credit, an official transcript from the school must be provided to TIS. 

• The child must turn two before November 1 in order to be admitted to the program.  

• Children must be aware of their toileting needs and be toilet trained—which means that children must consistently demonstrate the following habits: recognize when they need to use the toilet; ask to go to the toilet or seek to go to the toilet on their own; be able to manipulate clothing to assist in using the toilet; be able to use the toilet. 

• We understand that accidents happen and that small children often don’t have the fine motor skills to perfectly manipulate buttons, snaps, and zippers—and we are prepared to help children with these obstacles.  It is essential, however, that children have moved out of diapers or pull-ups before they enter this program. 

• Children must be able to feed themselves.  They should be able to use basic utensils to eat their snacks and lunches when required.  We will open bottles and assist children with their lunch needs; however, we do not feed children at snack or lunch time. 

• Children must demonstrate both the willingness and ability to appropriately engage with peers and be led by the teacher. 

• Any exceptions to the admission policies must be approved by the school director.

TIS admits students with special needs within the scope of meeting the student's needs in the classroom. For students with more moderate to severe disabilities, the school will review additional information including; educational psychological evaluations, IEPs, teacher and counselor recommendations, and parent information. The school will review this information and speak to relevant service providers to be sure we are able to appropriately meet the student's needs. At times, TIS accepts students with special needs based on the family or sponsor providing the additional school fees to cover the cost of appropriate professional services.
TIS values an inclusive approach to educating students with disabilities. We believe an inclusive and diverse school community helps us to grow together and effect positive change in our world. This means that our students with special needs are active learners with their age appropriate peers, their differences are celebrated alongside the differences of all TIS students, and they are encouraged to form authentic and possibly lifelong relationships with their peers.

The Intensive English program is for students in TIS  who are in need of additional instruction in verbal and written English, particularly those for whom English is not a first language. The principal goal of Intensive English is to bring students to a level of academic English, including oral competency, which allows them to transfer to regular classes as rapidly as possible. Students of different ages, maturities, linguistic backgrounds, and previous exposure to English will progress at different rates.  Students are assigned to the appropriate level to best meet individual needs.  The content of Intensive English parallels that of the Elementary literacy courses while building a foundation for academic success.