Copenhagen International School - København

Jan K.

Copenhagen International School ligger flot i Nordhavn i København og med udsigt over Øresund og Københavns Havn.
Nordhavn er igang med en rivende udvikling og med en ny Metro station.
Tag dig en gåtur og oplev forandringerne for dine øjne. 👀

Taika Y.

I genuinely don’t understand how this school is trying to fight off a leakage problem for over a year now by doing virtually nothing, the lights constantly flicker, not only that but whilst I was in primary the music teacher was very controlling and did almost no teaching. There was another incident in middle school where I was sent out of the classroom for puffing my hair up, this was all during a formative assessment that I never ended up doing. And also for an entire semester my math grades dropped severely because my math teacher was out sick and the school gave the class incompetent substitutes who sat in the classroom doing nothing for the entire duration of the lesson. The school is trying to slowly eliminate phone usage during school, and some teachers were ready to take them for an entire weekend. For the most expensive school in Denmark Copenhagen international school is lacking in education quality and organizing the maintenance problems the school faces. (Edit: I have not addressed all of the schools issues.)

Update: The school has finally finished with the pipe problem.

Fizzbin T.

TLDR summary: This school absolutely fails at every aspect of communication. The main motivation is paying off the building, which looks beautiful, but fails at the basic functionality and usability needed for a school.

Our review is based on experiences in Primary.

We’ve been at CIS for several years now in the primary school. The good: accessible location near the Orientkaj metro stop. Some of the primary teachers (homeroom and single subject) are amazing, and you feel fortunate your child received guidance and instruction from them. The primary counsellor works incredibly hard, overseeing over 400 students by himself.
Unfortunately, that’s the end of the good.

Tuition costs continue to increase year over year, with no change to services and little to no change to staffing. The majority of your tuition dollars are going to that big building—not your child’s education. There is no green space for the kids to play on (they are waiting on the commune buildout of Nordhavn and the addition of a public school and its green space, recently scheduled for 2029). The school is understaffed, and it shows when someone is out, and there is no coverage, and no communication.

The sports program and after school activities (ASA) are incredibly limited. If you try to ask questions via email, you are told the department does not have time to respond to you.

For homeroom teachers, there seems to be no consistency whatsoever in approach, or communication. You may have an engaged teacher, or you may have a teacher who shows up five minutes before class starts and leaves immediately when school ends. Teachers shouldn't devote their every waking hour—it is a job. But even one day a week where you might be able to do an off the cuff check-in would be nice.

If you have a child who needs learning support (especially after 2 years of Covid affecting the world), you will be disappointed. Learning Support is divided between learning support for diagnosed issues and occupational therapy. Plainly, CIS does not want students who need learning support, which is ridiculous in a post COVID world. The decision was also made for 2024 that “In exceptional circumstances, Tier 2 and 3 students can remain at CIS past Grade 8 only if they do not need curricular modifications in credit-bearing courses in Grades 9-12. New students must exit CIS at the end of Grade 8 if they require curricular modifications." So, kick them out, even if they've been with CIS since preschool.

Another challenge for primary school is in the music department—or lack thereof. Parents of primary kids literally refer to this department as “killing a love of music for an entire generation of kids”. Parental feedback has been given multiple times about the curriculum, the challenges of maintaining a consistent approach to discipline (ex: punishing all kids for a few kids' behavior), the use of a single musical instrument (recorder) have all been brought up—absolutely nothing changes.

Communication at CIS is inconsistent, poorly timed, and overall atrocious. In primary, we will see events listed out in months in advance on the school calendar yet receive a request for volunteers the week of a field trip. Every teacher communicates differently—or not at all--but you’ll never know what you’re missing unless you ask another parent school also uses the app Toddle; in theory, this is to share things your child creates, and provide a means of communication. The reality, again, is that teachers use the app inconsistently, and often upload information to the app in incompatible formats (Toddle is a mobile app, trying to open a Word doc on your phone is an exercise in frustration). The main means of communication for primary is a weekly emailed newsletter that requires you to click into different boxes to access down-level pages.

To the Director of Marketing/Admissions/Comms: Tim was messaged directly. No response back. Tells me everything I need to know about how seriously issues are taken.

Rui S.

A major concern is that the school environment may not prioritize student well-being. There are mentions of a focus on strict rules and punishment, creating a potentially stressful and unwelcoming experience for some students.

Some parents have expressed concerns about the teaching staff and management's capabilities, suggesting the educational experience may not meet expectations considering the high cost of tuition.

The school's culture is perceived as rigid and non-inclusive, potentially alienating students who don't conform to the school's norms. There are concerns about a high rate of student expulsions.

Ben D.

I have been to multiple IB schools and this school is most likely one of the best ive been to. The teachers are very enthusiastic compared to other teachers in some schools and the rules are very benevolent. Everything gets better once u get into highschool since you gain alot of freedom, and I mean alot. Ive been in CIS for about 5 years and the friends I made along the way will stay with me for the rest of my life. The only bad thing I would say is that it can get extremely stressfull but you will get through it. This school is amazing. Much recommended.

Max H.

Management of the school since the move to Nordhavn has been shaky but my experience with the teachers was always good. Simply cooking wasn't the best either, but if you're not satisfied with the food at campus you can just make some at home and bring it to school. As a C.I.S alumni it's disappointing seeing so many negative reviews of the school when I personally had such a great time. My sincerest thanks to my high school teachers for pushing me and the rest of the class through the tough periods of the I.B and being there for support when we needed it, despite their schedules being so full. Unfortunately the I.B isn't for everyone and I had to learn that the hard way, but it isn't fair to blame the entire C.I.S staff for my results. I look back on my memories at C.I.S as some of my best times with great friends and outstanding teachers.
Thank you C.I.S.
Sincerely, Class of 2018.

Jennifer O.

CIS Rocks! An amazing building housing an even better school. Absolutely best location for a school ever, surrounded by calming water and a view of Sweden. This architectural dream houses an amazing international school, with an incredible staff who nurture and care for students and their parents 🙂 in every way. I have heard many parents say that they wished they could go back to school here. I volunteer in CIS and there are days I don't want to go home as every one from the maintenance staff, teachers, administrators, the director and the students are so welcoming and friendly. We are coming up to the end of our first year at CIS and couldn't be happier with it. So, if you are looking at schools in Copenhagen look no further. You have just found the best one.

Some R. D.

This school looks nice and has a few good teachers but the positives end there the classrooms are usually packed full of kids many of the teachers are completely useless and have no interest in helping anyone learn the lights of the school randomly flicker. If I had to describe the school in one word it would be disorganised. The teachers have been given new laptops and new smart boards and have no idea how to use them. The food is awful the restaurant pretends to be fancy and sells vegan food the simply cooking neglects to remember they are serving food for a low quality school not a hippie restaurant in Canada. They sell glass bottled drinks, bad idea.

Just a note
There are many fake reviews made by the staff here just look for the accounts with only 1 Google review and 5 star rating

I have also heard some students have been forced to post positive reviews about the school or they would get their grades lowered.

Recently (Nov 15th 2017) the school has had to fire some teachers due to severe budget cuts one of the best teachers in the school has been fired while leaving some of the worst teachers employed this has caused over 30 students to protest outside of the school.