Christian Worldview at TCIS
What Does a Christian Education Mean for My Child?
TCIS is a Christian international school, and our Christian identity shapes how we understand learning, relationships, character, service, and purpose.
Students do not need to be Christian to attend TCIS. Our international community includes families from different cultural and faith backgrounds, and we welcome that diversity.
At the same time, we want families to understand clearly what choosing a Christian school means.
Students will encounter Christian perspectives, biblical teaching, prayer, chapel, service, and conversations about faith, character, meaning, and purpose. They will be encouraged to consider not only what they are learning, but also what they will do with that knowledge and how they will use their abilities in relationship with others.
We believe education should develop the whole person.
Our goal is not simply for students to know more. We want them to become thoughtful, compassionate, principled people who learn deeply, care for others, and use their knowledge and abilities with purpose.
A Christian School in an International Community
TCIS has been shaped by Christian faith throughout its history, but we are also an international community. Students and families come to TCIS with different cultures, experiences, traditions, and beliefs.
We believe these two characteristics can strengthen one another.
A clear Christian identity does not require us to avoid difference. Instead, Christian faith calls us to approach others with love, humility, grace, honesty, and respect. Students are encouraged to ask meaningful questions, listen carefully to perspectives different from their own, and think seriously about what they believe and why.
They are not required to claim beliefs they do not hold.
They are expected to treat others with dignity and to engage respectfully with the Christian character of the school.
We believe a community can be clear about what it believes while also being genuinely welcoming toward people from different backgrounds.
As a Christian school, we DO NOT expect:
- We do not expect that our applying students need to profess the Christian faith as their own.
- We do not expect that our students have to make a decision to "be Christian" during their time at TCIS.
- We do not expect for students of other faiths to engage in acts of Christian worship, in those community times when Christian observances are held.
As a Christian school, we DO expect:
- We do expect that students be respectful of all people in the community and their beliefs.
- We do expect that students attend community events and are respectful during times that recognize Christian observances.
- We do expect that all members of the community should actively contribute to the overall atmosphere of peace, unity and acceptance.
As a Christian school, we HOPE:
- We hope that all students would feel loved and accepted in our school, and that they would feel comfortable being part of the community.
- We hope that all students would learn more about God's love that is evident in the life and message of Jesus Christ.
- We hope that all members in our community would be an encouragement to each other to explore and grow in faith.
- We hope that all members in our community would be encouraged to live selflessly and learn to serve others.
If a student feels called to embrace the Christian faith, we ask that they respond in their own way to become a Christ follower. We do not want them to follow Christ to please their teacher, their school leaders, their parents, or their peers, but to become a follower because they believe in Him and are personally ready to do so.
**Academic preference is not given or withheld on the basis of professed faith or religious practice.
How Christian Worldview Shapes Learning
Christian worldview at TCIS is not limited to chapel, Bible classes, or designated spiritual activities. It also influences the questions we believe education should help students consider.
- What is true?
- How should knowledge be used?
- What responsibilities come with our abilities?
- What does it mean to treat another person with dignity?
- How should we respond when we encounter injustice, suffering, disagreement, or need?
- What makes a life meaningful?
Students continue to develop academic knowledge and critical-thinking skills through the International Baccalaureate. At the same time, they are invited to consider the ethical, relational, and spiritual dimensions of what they learn.
Faith and intellectual inquiry are not presented as opposites. We encourage students to ask questions, examine evidence, consider different perspectives, think carefully, and reflect on their own assumptions.
Christian education at TCIS is not about giving students fewer questions. It is about encouraging them to ask deeper ones.
Curiosity, Truth, and Critical Thinking
We believe curiosity is part of learning well. Students should be able to explore ideas honestly, ask difficult questions, and develop the ability to distinguish evidence, assumption, opinion, and belief.
The IB emphasis on inquiry, reflection, communication, and international-mindedness fits naturally within this approach. Students encounter different perspectives because they live and learn in a genuinely international community. They are challenged to listen carefully and respond thoughtfully rather than dismissing people whose ideas differ from their own.
Our aim is for students to develop both conviction and humility – the ability to think carefully about what they believe while continuing to learn from others.
Character Is Part of Education
Academic achievement matters at TCIS, but achievement alone does not define a successful education. We also care about the kind of person a student is becoming.
Christian faith shapes our emphasis on qualities such as:
- Integrity
- Compassion
- Humility
- Responsibility
- Forgiveness
- Courage
- Honesty
- Service
- Respect
- Hope
These qualities grow through relationships, choices, challenges, mistakes, reflection, and opportunities to take responsibility. Students experience this in classrooms, athletics, boarding, arts, service, leadership, advisory, friendships, and daily community life.
The goal is not perfection. The goal is growth.
Faith, Relationships, and Belonging
Jesus placed love of God and love of neighbor at the center of Christian life. That has practical implications for how we believe a school community should function.
- Students should be known.
- People should be treated with dignity.
- Those who are struggling should receive care.
- Conflict should be approached with honesty and reconciliation.
- Difference should not become a reason to devalue another person.
- Success should include concern for others, not simply personal achievement.
This is closely connected to the TCIS belief that students learn best when they experience genuine belonging. Our Christian identity should be visible not only in what we teach, but in how people experience the community.
Service and Purpose
Christian worldview also influences how we understand leadership. We do not want students to see knowledge, talent, status, or opportunity only as tools for personal success. We want them to ask:
How can my learning and abilities be used for others?
Students are given opportunities to serve, lead, solve problems, contribute to communities, and consider their responsibilities beyond themselves. Leadership at TCIS is therefore closely connected to service. This reflects both our Christian identity and our mission to cultivate internationally-minded learners who lead in purposeful change.
Learn • Love • Lead
The TCIS motto expresses much of what Christian education means in practice.
Learn
We pursue knowledge with curiosity, intellectual honesty, and humility.
Students are challenged to think deeply, ask questions, seek understanding, and continue growing as learners.
Love
We recognize the dignity and value of others.
Students learn that relationships matter and that compassion, grace, respect, forgiveness, and service should shape the way we live in community.
Lead
We use what we have learned with purpose.
Students are encouraged to take responsibility, serve others, make thoughtful decisions, and use their abilities to contribute positively to the world around them.
Learn • Love • Lead reflects the kind of people we hope students are becoming.
What If Our Family Is Not Christian?
Your child does not need to be Christian to attend TCIS. Families from different faith traditions and backgrounds are part of our community.
However, families should also understand that TCIS is intentionally Christian.
Students will encounter Christian beliefs and biblical teaching. They will attend community gatherings where prayer, scripture, worship, or Christian reflection may take place. Questions of faith, character, service, and purpose will be part of school life.
We ask students to participate respectfully in the community while allowing them to be honest about their own beliefs. We do not ask students to pretend to believe something they do not believe.
For many families, this clarity is important.
A good school fit depends not on every family believing exactly the same thing, but on families understanding the character of the school and being comfortable with the educational environment their child will experience.
A Non-Denominational Christian School
TCIS is not affiliated with a particular Christian denomination. Our intention is not to promote the doctrines, traditions, or worship practices of one denomination over another. Instead, the school finds common ground in the core Christian beliefs expressed in the TCIS Statement of Faith.
These beliefs provide both the foundation and the boundaries of the Christian faith presented within our community.
This approach helps TCIS remain both clearly Christian and intentionally international.
TCIS Statement of Faith
We believe the following as the core of that faith in which we find unity as a diverse Christian community:
- God is the Creator of the world and of humankind.
- Each person is responsible to God for stewardship of the world and of human life.
- All people have separated themselves from God through sin, and this separation can only be healed through the reconciling work of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
- The possibility of pleasing God depends upon each person's acceptance of Jesus Christ as Savior, and upon receiving and being obedient to the indwelling Spirit of God.
- The full revelation of God's will to humanity is found in the sixty-six books of the Bible.
Christian Worldview Across the TCIS Experience
Christian education does not belong to one department. Students encounter it in different ways throughout school life:
- Learning – through questions of truth, ethics, responsibility, meaning, and purpose.
- Pastoral Care – through relationships, belonging, wellbeing, reconciliation, and personal support.
- Spiritual Life Office – through chapel, and opportunities to explore faith.
- Service – through opportunities to recognize needs and contribute to others.
- Leadership – through responsibility, integrity, humility, and purposeful action.
- Boarding – through daily community life, relationships, accountability, and care.
These experiences work together. Our hope is that students leave TCIS not only academically prepared, but also more thoughtful about who they are, what they value, how they treat others, and what they will do with the opportunities they have been given.