Company Profile

Company Overview

Introduction

The United Nations International School of Hanoi would like to announce an attractive career opportunity for candidates with the right background who are interested in pursuing a leadership position in Advancement. It is a wonderful time to be in Vietnam in this period of economic growth and development. It is an even better time to be in Hanoi where the celebration of its 1,000th anniversary was marked by slow modernization while it retains the charm and allure of the Southeast Asia of old. UNIS Hanoi has evolved into an outstanding international school with a beautiful campus to match its high quality program. And now it is the right time to take the school further with the introduction of an advancement program.

The School

The United Nations International School of Hanoi (UNIS Hanoi) was established in 1988 through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Vietnamese Government represented by the Ministry of Education. The VN government continues to honor the MoU and the implied special status that UNIS enjoys in Vietnam as a result of the acknowledged unique relationship between the school and the UN here in Hanoi. And the Vietnamese Government is proud of UNIS Hanoi and views it as an exemplary model for all international schools in Vietnam as well as a model for its own K-12 schools.

The school has grown from 12 students to over 900 students in the last 23 years. UN children make up 10% of our student population, diplomatic children make up 22%, and the remaining 68% are NGO, business and host country children from both the business and government sectors. Through the school diversity policy, no nationality can exceed 20% of the student population in any grade level. The three highest nationalities are Vietnamese, Korean and American, all at around 15%.

Sixty-three nationalities make up a diverse student body from early childhood to grade 12. The school has been accredited by Council of International Schools (CIS)/New England Association of Schools and Colleges since 1999 and just received re-accreditation in December 2009 from CIS/Western Association of Schools and Colleges. UNIS Hanoi was the first school in Asia to be fully authorized by the International Baccalaureate Organization to offer all three IB programs: Primary Years (PYP), Middle Years (MYP) and Diploma (DP).

1. Organizational Structure

The Head of School manages an administrative team of principals and assistant principals, Director of Finance, Director of Technology, Director of Operations, and Communications Manager. The MS/HS Principal and ES Principal manage a full supporting cast of professionals including full time Assistant Principals, Counselors, IB and Curriculum Coordinators, and a highly skilled and hardworking team of educators and support staff.

2. Students

The School has an enrollment of 900 students from over sixty different countries. There is an atmosphere of mutual support as faculty and students work to help students achieve their maximum potential in all aspects of their lives.

3. Curriculum

The curriculum has been developed to the highest international school standards and driven by the IB Diploma program in grades 11/12. Grades Discovery-Grade 5 have adopted the IB Primary Years Programme as its pedagogical approach that is based on inquiry. Grades 6-10 have adopted the IB Middle Years Programme as its pedagogical approach and at the same time the school has worked to develop a strong Middle School ethos for students in grades 6-8. The whole school (Discovery-Grade 12) is embarking on the development of a standards and benchmarks-based fully articulated curriculum with a focus on student learning.

There are high expectations for students and a strong work ethic within the student body is in evidence. Students are encouraged to go for the full IB diploma and provided with as much support as possible to be successful. Over the last few years, 85% of the grade 12 students were full IB diploma candidates and of those, almost 90% achieved the full IB diploma.

UNIS Hanoi has a fully-staffed English as an Additional Language (EAL) program for those students who are in need of English language support. There is also a Learning Support program for students with mild special learning needs.

The emphasis on the use of technology is profound. All students in grades 4-12 are provided with a tablet PC upon entry to the school as the school promotes an ubiquitous environment and prepares students for the digital world.

4. Faculty

There are over 110 faculty and 50 local support staff in the School. UNIS Hanoi manages to attract and retain some of the best international educators from around the world. The school is an established and well-respected international school in Vietnam, in the region, and around the world. Students are admitted to the best universities worldwide, consistently score above the world averages on the IB Diploma examinations and the International Schools Assessment based on the PISA Testing Program. This is primarily due to the hard work of the students, strong support from parents, and the outstanding faculty. A constant theme among UNIS Hanoi teachers is their strong belief in the UN principles and the attraction of being in a school that works hard to actualize these principles every day with students. Thus the school’s strong and close relationship with the UN is a crucial aspect of our recruiting strategy to attract and retain the best faculty available internationally.

5. Co-Curricular Activities

For co-curricular activities, the school is a founding member of the Mekong River International Schools Association (MRISA), and has recently joined the Asia Pacific Activities Conference (APAC). The school is actively involved in Model United Nations, hosting its own conference as well as participating in the MUN conference in Singapore. It is also an enthusiastic participant in the EARCOS-led Global Issues Network (GIN). On a day to day level, there is a plethora of After School Activities offered for students of all ages.

6. Service

While the school is proud of its academic and co-curricular achievements, it is equally proud of its record of service in the community. Over 1,500 students, faculty, staff and community members performed over 20,000 hours of community service impacting over 3,000 Vietnamese children and families last school year. What is most important about this is the learning that the students take away from these experiences. Our vision is that the notion of “doing for others” becomes as natural for our students as waking up in the morning and having breakfast – it is simply what you do as a human being on this planet.

7. Facilities

The school started with four borrowed classrooms housed in a local Vietnamese school for four years before moving into its own campus in the diplomatic compound of Van Phuc in 1992. It remained in the diplomatic compound area for 12 years before relocating in September 2004 to its present campus, a purpose-built, state-of-the-art campus in the Tay Ho District. The 9.2 hectare site is located within a new international community development, six kilometres north of the centre of Hanoi. Its spacious grounds and quiet surroundings offer an inviting learning environment and top quality facilities. The school is currently building a Centre for the Arts and an indoor multi-purpose Sports Centre which should be ready for the start of the 2011-12 school year. With these additions, the school has enhanced its program in a significant way, and increased capacity to around 1100 students, which the board has approved as the maximum size for the foreseeable future.