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China, Hangzhou
Let the school know you're thinking of applying — they can share their prerequisites and help you through the process.
It's best to ask — circumstances can change at any time.
• Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC / ACS WASC) — WASC is a U.S.-based regional accrediting body that evaluates K–12 schools against international standards; HIS states it is accredited by WASC, which provides external validation of the school's governance, program quality and student learning processes.
• International Baccalaureate (IB) authorization — HIS is an IB World School authorized to deliver the Primary Years Programme (PYP), Middle Years Programme (MYP) and Diploma Programme (DP); IB authorization means the school has met the IB Organization's requirements to teach those curricula and is part of the IB global network.
Only awards explicitly recorded on the HIS website in the past five years (institutional or school-level recognitions) are listed below.
• Forbes China — "Best International High School in Hangzhou" (Forbes China International School Annual Selection, 2025): Forbes China's 2025 selection ranked HIS the top international high school in Hangzhou (22nd nationally, 10th outside Shanghai/Beijing); the school's site presents this as a third‑party ranking of the institution.
• ACAMIS Jim Koerchen Award for Innovation (noted on HIS site, May 2024): HIS reports that its Global Issues Network (GIN) project won the ACAMIS Jim Koerchen Award for Innovation and that HIS was one of two ACAMIS member schools to receive the award and accompanying prize, as recorded in the school newsletter. (The school's news post frames this as an award to the school community through the GIN project.)
• RoboHangzhou awards (hosted event; HIS reported institutional awards, November): HIS hosted the first RoboHangzhou VEX IQ competition and reports that Hangzhou International School teams received the Collaboration Award and the Skills Champion Runner‑Up award at that event; the school's news item records these awards as recognitions won by HIS teams.
Notes and scope limits:
- I included only awards or recognitions that are documented on the HIS website and that refer to the school (or school teams/projects) rather than individual student prizes. Newsletters and Dragon Tales posts may report team- or club-level awards that represent the school community; where a post described an award to a student team or club but explicitly framed it as an award to the school community, I included it (see ACAMIS Jim Koerchen entry).
- If you'd like, I can (a) check the full Dragon Tales / News archive for any additional institutional recognitions in 2021–2026, or (b) extract the exact publication dates and direct links for each item above.
Hangzhou International School (HIS) is an IB World School founded in 2002 that serves Early Years through Grade 12 and reports a student body of over 1,020 children from more than 50 nationalities. HIS delivers the full IB continuum (PYP, MYP, DP) and all Grades 11–12 work toward a WASC-accredited High School Diploma with the option of the IB Diploma. In 2022 the school moved to a new campus of over 50,000 square metres made up of two buildings (The Cocoon for ECE and The Lantern for the main campus); listed facilities include a Performing Arts Theatre, Black Box Theatre, “The Wave” swimming pool, three indoor gyms, outdoor courts and a FIFA-rated football pitch. HIS operates a daily Mandarin programme and a wide co-curricular programme (100+ CCAs) including regional activities such as West Lake MUN and The Duke of Edinburgh's Award. (Information from HIS website.)
