Bombay International School was established in 1962 by a group of parents who believed in education being a true learning process and not a structured way of imparting information.  The key to learning was and is a small class size (maximum 32 in a class) and a very high teacher - student ratio of 1 teacher to 15 students.  We believe in child - centered education in which we see the school as a medium through which the individual child can learn and develop; the school is for the benefit of the children and not vice versa.

There is a unique partnership at BIS in which parents are proactive and extremely involved in the functioning of the school.  The parents function through committees in which they work with teachers to complete several of the tasks which are required as support to the school.

The teachers are responsible for using imaginative teaching methods of a high standard.  The potential of an individual child is developed to his or her fullest capability.  In the junior school, learning can be unstructured and the children experience learning through projects and field visits, as well as worksheets.  There is very little homework and no pressure to perform or succumb to external parameters.  Each individual child is encouraged to learn at his or her own pace and compete with the self.  Our objective is to have an atmosphere in which the teaching - learning process creates a desire in children to learn and perform according to their own potential. 

Learning explores dimensions beyond the text book and there is an exposure to a wide range of activities from music, art, drama, elocution, debate, general knowledge quizzes, yoga, swimming and sports including team games and athletics. Participation in activities and performing to one’s best ability is more important than winning. Each week there are three Assemblies: Monday is for Middle and Senior School, Wednesdays is for the Whole School and Fridays is for the Junior School. These enable the children to develop confidence, as they present themselves before a supportive audience.

One of the most vibrant venues in our school is the library, which has an open shelf system.  Children are encouraged to borrow books and develop a genuine love for reading and learning from books. The library has a wide range of activities which encourage a love for books and expose the child to worlds within worlds.

Since we do not believe in competition, there are no exams in Junior School (Standards I - IV).  The child's progress is recorded through worksheets and projects.  In the middle school (Standards V - VII), the children are expected to work consistently throughout the year.  There are review tests at regular intervals which add up to a letter grade.  These classes have only one Annual Examination. Standards VIII - X are prepared to deal with the ICSE Board Exam. and hence the academic focus changes.  We support the classes for the preparation of exams by shifting our own approach to the teaching - learning process.  Even at this stage we do not compromise on the other aspects of education and the wide range of activities continues.

The school is also committed to exposing children to forums outside the immediate environment, be it inter-school games, competitions, creative writing, educational trips, international programmes.  We attend these in the true spirit of participation, and not for winning ONLY.  Exposure to the outside world starts at the pre-primary level through field trips, which continue all through Junior School.  For the Middle and Secondary School students, there is at least one annual educational trip which is compulsory and enables the students to bond together as a class.  This then prepares them to participate in international forums with great ease.

BIS is a school created by a pioneering group of parents who dared to dream.  The school was established with a unique vision and dynamic foresight.  We have tried to uphold the ideas and continue the tradition in which each child can express him / herself in multiple ways. At the same time we have embraced the challenges of the present times and equip our children to face the changing world of today with confidence and ease.