ICS ADDIS | 2019-21 | 7
FOUNDATIONAL PRINCIPLES
In 1964 Emperor Haile Selassie donated 15 acres of land to a small school called the American Community School of Addis Ababa . He donated this land intentionally with the express purpose to support the American and international and diplomatic community as well as to stimulate growth here in Addis Ababa and throughout Ethiopia . He had the vision to establish Addis Ababa as the diplomatic capital of Africa .
From the very beginning , the International Community School of Addis Ababa was established to support diplomacy not only in Ethiopia but throughout Africa and to contribute to the development of Ethiopia . ICS has been and continues to be connected to the growth and prosperity of Ethiopia .
Our mission and vision call out who we are and where we are going . These ensure that we continue to partner with , learn from , and contribute to Ethiopia , Africa , and our world .
MISSION
The ICS mission is about clarifying what we do right now , whom we want our students to be . It provides clarity and intentionality to what we do every day .
Our mission is to nurture the talents , character , and intellect of all learners , challenging them to be a positive influence and empowering them to excel in their world .
VISION
A vision statement is sometimes thought of as a picture of your organization in the future , but it ’ s much more than that . A vision statement inspires and motivates community members towards a preferred future . It serves as the framework for all of our strategic planning . A vision statement answers the question , “ Who do we want to be and where do we want to go ?”
Our vision is to be our best with Africa and our world .
But what does this mean ? It means that we want to be our best , bringing our best every day , being our best-selves , demonstrating our best over and over .
Our best is not an end goal , like being “ the ” best , but an on-going dedication of striving to be our best every day .
We want to be our best “ with ” Africa , being a partner with Africa and Ethiopia , benefitting and learning from and contributing to our environment , in a collaborative effort . We want to be our best in “ our ” world , whether that is our family , our community , our village , our country , or something great , we want to bring our best in our world .
We believe that hard work is not necessarily competing with other schools , but it is continuously competing with ourselves , continuously improving ourselves , and being our best each year .