The CIS Parent Teacher Association

Who We Are

Every parent and teacher at Copenhagen International School is a part of the PTA and we appreciate all efforts to meaningfully engage within our community, whether through the use of our communication platforms like Classlist and Instagram or by attending or volunteering at PTA activities hosted throughout the year.

Our mission is to facilitate a sense of belonging for all of our CIS families (Parents, Teachers & Students) by building a vibrant, energetic and inclusive community and establishing a broad and culturally enriching program.

Thankfully, we have a core team of dedicated volunteers which work tirelessly to ensure that our community thrives, but we can always use more! From those who serve as officers in our Executive Board to those who are only able to donate one hour of their time all year, we are made up of the CIS community to serve the CIS community.

What we do

Before families arrive at CIS, we reach out to ensure that they are welcomed into the community, offer connections through a Buddy program and help answer any questions they may have about CIS, the PTA and our home in Denmark. We take extra care with families who are new to Denmark as well, to ensure that they are brought under the CIS community umbrella quickly and fully, delivering additional opportunities to socialize outside of school as a part of our Newcomers Group.

Each autumn, we plan back-to-school get-togethers so that kids, parents and teachers have the opportunity to meet each other and make friends before the year kicks off. We know that for new students, just having one friend on that first day of school can set the tone for a fantastic school year. That effort to pull our community tighter continues throughout the year, where we provide each grade with class parents to ensure parent collaboration in the classroom and recognize teacher efforts with gifts.

And the fun continues, with huge social events planned throughout the school year organized to ensure that everyone feels included in our community. From the Welcome Social, to the incredibly popular International Fest, which pulls together our community’s diverse cultural backgrounds to educate and entertain our entire population, our events are widely attended and the feedback is overwhelmingly fantastic. This past year, we are proud to say that more than 800 people were in attendance, representing over 30 countries! It is by far our most popular event and for good reason. The singing, dancing and sharing makes us a tighter, more inclusive community and we look forward to continuing to have more cultures represented this year.

How we do it

We work behind the scenes as well, ensuring our community feels that their voices are heard.

We monitor Classlist, an incredible tool that provides our community with connections to other families and interest groups, and keeps everyone updated on school social events. We ensure that posts are in accordance with Classlist’s term of service, encouraging positivity and inclusivity in our communications.

We assuage concerns that are raised from parents and students, made possible by an open and consistent dialogue with the CIS administration and Board of Directors.

Finally, we are able to engage in all of this because of our incredible Finance Team, which together with our Social Events Team, creates our budget for the year. We are not a fundraising entity and must maintain a budget to ensure that we have adequate resources for all of the events we have planned for the year.

At the end of each school year, we join with the school to host an end of year coffee to ensure that the kids, parents and teachers kick off the summer right! And finally, when it is time to say goodbye, our Transition Team works together with the CIS Administration to ensure that each family feels recognized and appreciated and is able to ‘leave well’.

What we need

We are committed to recognizing and appreciating every student, parent and teacher who make up our wonderful community here at CIS. We want to make every person at this school feel like they are a part of our family. And to do that, we always need volunteers!

This past year we lost some very active PTA volunteers and although we are rebuilding, more are needed. So please consider donating your time, hosting an event, sharing your culture. We are you and you are us.

To become a volunteer, please send an email to events@cispta.dk.