Bloomingdale International School

This is a pro­file of Bloom­ing­dale Inter­na­tional School (BIS) in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, writ­ten for par­ents who have heard the name and want one clear page that brings together its pro­grammes, its approach, the out­comes it reports and the steps to con­tact it.

BIS has become one of the most sought-after inter­na­tional school options for fam­i­lies in South India. It was estab­lished in 2006 as a play school and reborn in 2016 as an IB World School. Its stated vision is to "empower every­one to become a thriv­ing life­long learner and respon­si­ble global cit­i­zen". The school com­bines glob­ally recog­nised cur­ric­ula, per­son­alised men­tor­ship and a strong empha­sis on stu­dent well-being.

Sev­eral fig­ures below, such as results, schol­ar­ships and ratios, are reported by the school itself. They are pre­sented as the school's claims, and the guid­ance sec­tions later explain how to ask about them dur­ing a visit.

Why par­ents choose Bloom­ing­dale Inter­na­tional School

Inter­na­tional cur­ricu­lum from preschool to high school

BIS is the only school in Vijayawada offer­ing the Inter­na­tional Bac­calau­re­ate (IB) con­tin­uum (PYP, MYP and DP), and it sup­ple­ments this with a dis­tinc­tive iCBSE pro­gramme intro­duced in 2025. The iCBSE path­way blends CBSE aca­d­e­mics with IB-style inquiry, crit­i­cal think­ing and real-world projects.

Reported aca­d­e­mic out­comes

The school reports that its stu­dents con­sis­tently out­per­form global bench­marks: its Mid­dle Years Pro­gramme (MYP) aver­ages above 40 points against a world aver­age of 39 (42/56 in May 2025), and Diploma Pro­gramme (DP) learn­ers score 1260+ on the SAT. BIS learn­ers are also reported to have secured over USD 440,000 in inter­na­tional schol­ar­ships, and the school holds a Uni­ver­sity and Col­leges Admis­sions Ser­vice (UCAS) affil­i­a­tion, which enables direct appli­ca­tions to UK uni­ver­si­ties.

What inde­pen­dent sources say about the IB in India

The Indian Express[1] notes that more than 51 % of Indian IB grad­u­ates choose to stay in India for higher edu­ca­tion, and the Asso­ci­a­tion of Indian Uni­ver­si­ties (AIU) has recog­nised the IB Diploma as equiv­a­lent to the Indian Grade 12 since 1983. On that basis, the arti­cle states that BIS's IB cre­den­tials keep stu­dents eli­gi­ble for national entrance exams (JEE, NEET, CLAT) and lead­ing Indian uni­ver­si­ties.

Design think­ing and project-based learn­ing

BIS's vision frame­work empha­sises design think­ing, project-based learn­ing and inter­dis­ci­pli­nary projects. Lessons are inquiry-dri­ven and con­nect sub­jects such as art, sci­ence and tech­nol­ogy through hands-on projects, so that chil­dren learn by doing rather than mem­o­ris­ing.

Expe­ri­enced edu­ca­tors and staff ratio

The school's "About Us" page high­lights a staff–stu­dent ratio of 1:9 and notes that most teach­ers have at least five years of expe­ri­ence. BIS explic­itly aims to help stu­dents become con­fi­dent, cre­ative and car­ing adults.

Awards and rep­u­ta­tion

Bloom­ing­dale has been awarded 5th in India for cre­at­ing design-think­ing lead­ers and named the Best Inter­na­tional School in Andhra Pradesh.

Aca­d­e­mic pro­grammes

IB con­tin­uum

BIS offers the full IB con­tin­uum:

1. Early Years Pro­gramme (EYP)
2. Pri­mary Years Pro­gramme (PYP)
3. Mid­dle Years Pro­gramme (MYP)
4. Diploma Pro­gramme (DP)

The school notes that the DP is a rig­or­ous two-year pre-uni­ver­sity cur­ricu­lum that includes The­ory of Knowl­edge, the Extended Essay and Cre­ativ­ity–Activ­ity–Ser­vice (CAS), fos­ter­ing crit­i­cal think­ing and inter­cul­tural under­stand­ing. Stu­dents choose sub­jects across six groups, from lan­guages and human­i­ties to sci­ences and math­e­mat­ics.

iCBSE pro­gramme

Launched in 2025, iCBSE com­bines the aca­d­e­mic struc­ture of CBSE with the inquiry-based meth­ods of the IB. It is aimed at fam­i­lies who want strong prepa­ra­tion for Indian col­leges with­out giv­ing up global skills. Its fea­tures include:

• Expe­ri­en­tial learn­ing and design think­ing: stu­dents learn through real-world projects and design-think­ing exer­cises.
• Inter­dis­ci­pli­nary projects: each term ends with projects that com­bine art, sci­ence and tech­nol­ogy, or human­i­ties and ser­vice.
• Con­tin­u­ous assess­ment: assess­ment goes beyond exams to include quizzes, projects, par­tic­i­pa­tion, effort and col­lab­o­ra­tion; progress reports track aca­d­e­mic per­for­mance, skill devel­op­ment and growth.
• Learner model (V Pil­lars): BIS aims to nur­ture self-directed learn­ers, effec­tive com­mu­ni­ca­tors, col­lab­o­ra­tive lead­ers, strong thinkers and com­mu­nity builders.
• Bridge pro­gramme and per­son­alised men­tor­ship: teach­ers begin each year with a bridge pro­gramme to under­stand every child's strengths and adapt instruc­tion; small men­tor­ing groups pro­vide guid­ance and emo­tional sup­port.

Uni­ver­sity and career guid­ance

BIS pro­vides a ded­i­cated uni­ver­sity coun­selling pro­gramme. Stu­dents and par­ents meet coun­sel­lors to explore career path­ways, schol­ar­ships and uni­ver­sity options. The guid­ance runs from early self-dis­cov­ery projects to sub­ject selec­tion and appli­ca­tion sup­port.

Sports and the arts

BIS treats sports and the arts as part of a holis­tic edu­ca­tion. The school's sports pol­icy empha­sises phys­i­cal fit­ness, emo­tional resilience, team­work and lead­er­ship. High­lights include:

• Struc­tured pro­gres­sion across eight core sports: Ath­let­ics, Yoga, Foot­ball, Bas­ket­ball, Ten­nis, Throw­ball, Swim­ming and Cricket, with sport spe­cial­i­sa­tion pos­si­ble from PYP 4 onwards.
• After-school sports coach­ing pro­gramme: stu­dents train five days a week under qual­i­fied coaches; tal­ent iden­ti­fi­ca­tion tests invite high per­form­ers to join school teams.
• Health and sports reports cov­er­ing fit­ness, skill devel­op­ment, achieve­ments and med­ical sta­tus.

The iCBSE vision frame­work also lists arts options: choir and instru­men­tal music, clas­si­cal and west­ern dance, and visual arts.

Well-being and char­ac­ter devel­op­ment

BIS describes a child's emo­tional and men­tal health as the foun­da­tion for learn­ing. Its admis­sions mate­r­ial says that care comes first: bridge pro­grammes, buddy sys­tems and morn­ing cir­cle dis­cus­sions help stu­dents feel safe and val­ued. Well-being classes cover feel­ings, friend­ships, respect and safety, and the school main­tains a no-com­par­i­son cul­ture. Men­tor­ship pro­grammes offer coun­selling sup­port, mind­ful­ness prac­tices and aca­d­e­mic guid­ance.

Achieve­ments and out­comes, as reported

• IB results: MYP aver­age scores reported above the world aver­age, and DP learn­ers reported to score 1260+ on the SAT.
• Uni­ver­sity path­ways: BIS is described as the only school in Andhra Pradesh with UCAS affil­i­a­tion. Grad­u­ates are reported to have secured places at Indian insti­tu­tions such as Delhi Uni­ver­sity, IITs (via JEE), NITs and AIIMS.
• Schol­ar­ships and awards: over USD 440,000 in inter­na­tional schol­ar­ships, recog­ni­tion among Indi­a's top design-think­ing schools, and the title of best inter­na­tional school in Andhra Pradesh.

How to eval­u­ate a school's reported results

Any school pro­file that quotes scores, schol­ar­ships and awards deserves a care­ful read­ing. These steps apply to every school, not just this one.

1. Ask for the basis. For any aver­age score, ask which year, which pro­gramme and how many stu­dents it cov­ers.
2. Check the scale. Pro­gramme scores can be reported on dif­fer­ent scales; ask the school to explain the one it uses.
3. Ask who awarded it. For awards and titles, ask for the name of the organ­i­sa­tion and the year.
4. Look at the full pic­ture. Ask how the school sup­ports stu­dents who find the pro­gramme dif­fi­cult, not only its top per­form­ers.
5. Match out­comes to your plans. If your child is aim­ing for Indian entrance exams, ask how prepa­ra­tion fits along­side the IB or iCBSE timetable.

Ques­tions to ask before you enrol

• Should my child join the IB con­tin­uum or iCBSE, and can a stu­dent switch later?
• How does the bridge pro­gramme work for a child join­ing mid-way?
• How is sport spe­cial­i­sa­tion from PYP 4 organ­ised, and how much time does it take?
• How does uni­ver­sity coun­selling begin, and at what stage?
• How are con­tin­u­ous assess­ment results shared with par­ents?

Com­mon mis­takes

• Choos­ing between IB and iCBSE on rep­u­ta­tion alone rather than on the child's learn­ing style and future plans.
• Read­ing reported aver­ages with­out ask­ing what they are based on.
• Assum­ing the after-school sports pro­gramme suits every child's sched­ule with­out ask­ing about the weekly com­mit­ment.
• Wait­ing until the senior years to think about entrance exams or over­seas appli­ca­tions.
• Skip­ping the cam­pus visit and rely­ing on the web­site alone.

Admis­sions and con­tact

Fam­i­lies inter­ested in an inter­na­tional school edu­ca­tion at Bloom­ing­dale can learn more or sched­ule a cam­pus visit through the offi­cial web­site (Bloom­ing­dale.edu.in). The admis­sions team can be con­tacted on +91 952 552 5525, and enquiries can also be made through the online enquiry form.

Key terms

IB con­tin­uum

The sequence of IB pro­grammes a school offers, allow­ing a child to progress from early years to pre-uni­ver­sity in one frame­work.

The­ory of Knowl­edge

A Diploma Pro­gramme course that asks stu­dents to reflect on how we know what we claim to know.

Extended Essay

An inde­pen­dent research paper writ­ten by Diploma Pro­gramme stu­dents.

CAS

Cre­ativ­ity, Activ­ity, Ser­vice: the Diploma Pro­gramme com­po­nent cov­er­ing cre­ative, phys­i­cal and com­mu­nity work.

CBSE

The Cen­tral Board of Sec­ondary Edu­ca­tion, a national school board in India.

UCAS

The UK's cen­tral ser­vice through which stu­dents apply to uni­ver­si­ties.

Con­tin­u­ous assess­ment

Judg­ing progress through­out the year through projects, quizzes and par­tic­i­pa­tion, not only final exams.

Com­mon ques­tions

When was Bloom­ing­dale Inter­na­tional School founded?

It was estab­lished in 2006 as a play school and reborn in 2016 as an IB World School.

What is iCBSE at Bloom­ing­dale?

A pro­gramme intro­duced in 2025 that com­bines CBSE aca­d­e­mics with IB-style inquiry, design think­ing, inter­dis­ci­pli­nary projects and con­tin­u­ous assess­ment.

Can IB stu­dents in India take national entrance exams?

The arti­cle notes that the AIU has recog­nised the IB Diploma as equiv­a­lent to the Indian Grade 12 since 1983, and states that this keeps stu­dents eli­gi­ble for exams such as JEE, NEET and CLAT. Always con­firm cur­rent eli­gi­bil­ity rules with the exam body.

Which sports are offered?

Eight core sports: Ath­let­ics, Yoga, Foot­ball, Bas­ket­ball, Ten­nis, Throw­ball, Swim­ming and Cricket.

How do I con­tact admis­sions?

Call +91 952 552 5525, use the online enquiry form, or visit the Bloom­ing­dale Inter­na­tional School web­site for pro­grammes, admis­sions and vir­tual tours.

Ref­er­ences

1. Inter­na­tional Bac­calau­re­ate Orga­ni­za­tion. IB pro­grammes: Pri­mary Years, Mid­dle Years and Diploma Pro­gramme. IBO, Geneva.
2. Cen­tral Board of Sec­ondary Edu­ca­tion. Cur­ricu­lum for Sec­ondary and Senior Sec­ondary Classes. CBSE, New Delhi.
3. National Test­ing Agency. Joint Entrance Exam­i­na­tion (Main) infor­ma­tion bul­letin. NTA, New Delhi.

Exter­nal source cited in the orig­i­nal pro­file:

1. https://indi­an­ex­press.com/arti­cle/edu­ca­tion/inter­na­tional-schools-in-india-ib-cur­ri­culim-cam­bridge-inter­na­tional-west­ern-aus­tralian-cer­tifi­cate-of-edu­ca­tion-wace-fees-syl­labus-cbse-results-10200700/

Related read­ing

• IB Schools in Vijayawada
• Nalanda Vidya Nike­tan, Vijayawada
• Nalanda Degree Col­lege Vijayawada
• Math­e­mat­ics coach­ing at Express­wala Acad­emy