FAQs

We are well aware of the hardship many families have faced due to the war in Ukraine. We also recognize that any online learning program brings its own unique challenges, including an increase in daily parent involvement and childcare. Below are some important financial considerations for all KIS families.

TERM-BY-TERM ONLINE LEARNING DISCOUNT

As we plan for a difficult financial school year, we must keep both the school’s operating cost and that of each family in mind. For this reason, we will be offering a discount on a term basis this year, determined by whether or not we have to engage in distance learning. 

• The discount will be for all students, Preschool-Secondary 4, who are engaged in online classes, and will cover the full term fees (tuition and capital fund fees).
• If the school starts with online learning but switches to face-to-face in November, the discount will continue until the end of first term, with the expectation to pay regular fees beginning the second term.
• As a result of this discount plan, KIS will not have an additional discount for full or timely payments.
• Additional invoices or refunds can be made for those who would like to make full yearly payments as necessary.

Below are the regular tuition and capital fund fees with the possible online learning discount fees. This is only applicable if KIS is not able to move back to Kyiv for face-to-face learning. If KIS moves back to Kyiv, we will return to our normal fee structure the following term.

ONE-YEAR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE SCHOLARSHIPS

As a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, on February 24th, 2022, many families have been financially impacted by property damage and economic destruction in Kyiv and around Ukraine.  Kyiv International School (KIS) is offering temporary (one year) Financial Assistance Scholarships to KIS families. 

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE SCHOLARSHIP GUIDELINES 

1) Additional scholarships are available for families who have financial need due to the war in Ukraine.

2) The child must be in good health as required of any full paying student.

3) Parents should explain the reason for financial assistance and need. Many have lost businesses, property, and other sources of income and this is the intent for the temporary financial assistance, so we ask those who are still in good financial standing to pay full tuition.

4) One-year financial assistance will be given according to set percentages that are meant to best match the needs of each specific family.

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE SCHOLARSHIP RENEWAL
This is a one year financial assistance scholarship and as such, there will be no renewal process for families the following school year.

MAINTAINING ELIGIBILITY
Maintaining eligibility is still dependent upon the student meeting all of the following criteria throughout the academic year.

• Academic Excellence
• Social Excellence
• Attendance 

Students who have their scholarship revoked, may have the opportunity to continue their studies at KIS as non-scholarship students whose parents pay full tuition.

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION WINDOW
KIS will be accepting financial assistance requests throughout the school year as necessary. Those seeking additional support should email directly to director@kyiv.qsi.org.

We hope that some of these policies and adjustments will help during a difficult financial year for families.

FROM AUGUST 2022

The Russian invasion of Ukraine and current fight against occupation has greatly impacted our ability to guarantee when we will return to our KIS campus. The result of this horrific event has also pushed many Embassies, organizations, businesses, and families out of Ukraine. We hope for the day that Ukraine will be victorious and many will be able to return home. Given the many unknowns, KIS is planning for a very flexible program and mode of operation. We are making preparations to offer a full program throughout the entire 2022-23 school year for any who will be joining the school.  

SCHOOL PLAN FOR 2022-23 – FLEXIBLE MODES OF OPERATION
We are now making decisions  based on where we are now with the hope of being able to shift and change towards where we want to be.  

Option #1 – Online Program 
If we remain in a situation where we need to operate our program online, we will do so, and would need to start the year like this. This is in the hope that we will be able to transition back into Ukraine, at some point. We will need to make some adjustments to this schedule and program given the number of students and staff.  

Option #2 – On Campus – Hybrid Program 
At some point, we may be able to transition our teachers back to Ukraine and Kyiv, but understand that not everyone in the community may be able to return at the same time. It is also important to note that we will need to have some buffer time built in to accommodate for the time it takes to move people back and the decision to do so.  

Option #3 – On Campus  
 We hope for the day when our staff and all students will be back in  Kyiv and on our beautiful campus once again. This is our dream and easily the best option for us. We don’t know exactly when this day will come, but we look forward to it.

KIS is open to and committed to exploring any other options that may exist to best teach our students and serve our community, as long as it is deemed safe.

KIS TEACHERS AND FACULTY  
There is a possibility that we will have several staff still teaching from different locations outside and inside Ukraine. If we need to begin the school year online, we will be moving many of our staff to one location near Ukraine to be together. This will provide us with some options, but essentially, we will be able to better collaborate, plan, and coordinate all things connected to KIS. This would also make it easier to coordinate a return.   We may also have others living inside of Ukraine who will continue to teach from their location there. Some of these staff members are located in Kyiv, but others are now spread out to other areas in Ukraine. 

IB & AP OPTIONS
We are building a schedule around the continued option for IB and AP classes. We will be offering both Year 1 & 2 courses for students wanting the full IB Diploma Program. This is important for many IB Year 1 students, as it is extremely difficult to change to a different school during Year 2. We will also use the QVS option to support several AP course options for students.

SCHOOL FEES - FINANCIAL SUPPORT AND FLEXIBILITY 
We know that many have been negatively impacted by the war in Ukraine. We have published our fees in line with previous school years. We hope that everyone will be in a situation to continue paying school fees, but will also have different ways to be flexible with tuition fees and payment timelines. This is all in attempt to also collect the fees necessary to support a challenging financial school year.  

HOW WOULD WE KNOW WE COULD RETURN
There would need to be several indicators that it was safe to return to Kyiv and we would rely on the advice and recommendation from many different perspectives. 

• The threat of  danger is clearly no longer a concern
• Embassies and organizations returning to Kyiv
• Infrastructure necessary is in place
• Food and resource services and functioning adequately
• International transportation services are operating to and from Ukraine.

REBUILDING KYIV INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL We understand that it will not be as simple as moving back to KIS and operating on campus within a day. It will take time to make sure our campus is cleaned and prepared.

KFN Cafeteria Services has also drastically been impacted by the war. We do not fully know what it will take to offer food services on the campus again and how this situation has changed their staffing and financial standing.

Transportation Services - we will need to do an assessment of our transportation options and services in order to offer this for anyone in the community. This may take some time, and so parents may need to plan on their own transportation to and from the school for some time. 

Staffing - if we are in need of more teachers than anticipated, we do not feel like it will be a concern, as many are interested to join the KIS team. There may be some time needed to move new staff to Ukraine. It is hard to know what we will need to rebuild until we know more.  What we do know for sure is that we will have a team that is very committed to doing what it takes to be involved in this process and put things in place to rebuild the school and our community to what it once was. 

CLARITY OF VISION, FLEXIBILITY OF PROCESS
This is something that we have always tried to live by at KIS these past few years. This will continue to be a focus for us, as we know the situation is fluid and the needs and opportunities shift and change. This requires us to be open to seeing needs as they arise and being willing to adjust and change as we go

If you need to access current and previous status reports and narratives, please follow the directions below (Parent Korner - Moodle) to do this. They should be available on your Family Profile.

We are working with the Linden Global Learning and Support Group https://www.linden-education.com/ to organize some meetings with staff and parents concerning counseling and emotional support. You will see more information about this next week, but wanted everyone to know that this organization is volunteering to help support our community.

As always, please reach out to the administration or the finance office if you have any questions. We are doing our best to provide the best we can. Our hearts are with all of you right now and the people of Ukraine.

If you go to https://kyiv.qsi.org/discover/stand-with-ukraine, there is a page with information concerning how people can support Ukraine. We are pulling links and information from a variety of sources. We will also post school initiatives here for people to see and know how to be involved.