Note to Correspondents

UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL TO HOLD GRADUATION CEREMONY

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY HALL 13 JUNE

 

The Graduation Ceremony for the Class of 2008 of the United Nations International School will take place at 3 p.m. on Friday, 13 June, in the General Assembly Hall.  Ishmael Beah, a member of the United Nations International School Class of 2000 and author of the book A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier that chronicles his experience as a child soldier in Sierra Leone, will offer the Commencement Address.

The 126 graduates in this year’s class represent 63 nationalities and speak 28 languages as their mother tongues.  Fifty-eight per cent of the students are affiliated with the United Nations community; twenty per cent are part of the international community and twenty-two per cent represent the host country community.  Seventy-four per cent of the students have attended the International School for six or more years.

The students will leave the United Nations International School for over 85 of the world’s finest universities in 13 countries and 21 states in the United States, equipped with the best secondary-level preparation the world has to offer, the prestigious International Baccalaureate programme.  At the International School, students have had the privilege of daily exposure to all of the world’s cultures through social interaction with peers and instruction from a faculty that represents 28 countries.  As a result, they have developed values and understanding that will prepare them to truly become citizens of the world.

The United Nations International School was founded in 1947 by a group of United Nations parents to provide an education that fostered global awareness for their children.  From its modest start as a nursery school for 20 children in 1947 the school has grown to a K-12 college preparatory school on two campuses enrolling 1,570 students from 122 countries.  The school offers classes in nine languages and a balanced and rigorous educational programme that enables students to meet the entry requirements of universities worldwide.  Continued emphasis is also placed on community service and the value of the arts in daily living.

For further information, please contact Marjorie Nieuwenhuis, Director of College Counselling, United Nations International School, tel.: +1 212 584 3115, e-mail: mnieuwenhuis@unis.org.

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For information media • not an official record