Admissions Process

Martina joined the AISZ community in 2017 where she worked with families across the school in an administrative role. After discovering her passion for supporting families who are in transition – moving to Zagreb, joining new schools, perhaps even moving to an entirely new country - she was promoted to admissions manager in 2021.

Born and raised in Zagreb, Martina enjoys meeting people from different cultures and communities, and learning about their lives and experiences. She believes that students benefit immensely from being part of an international, multicultural, and diverse community, and she’s committed to helping families make the right choice for their children’s education. Martina’s favorite thing about AISZ is seeing students’ smiling faces as they enter school each day. Martina is multi-lingual and speaks English and Croatian, and she is currently working toward becoming fluent in German. Her favorite way to spend her free time is with her family; as an animal person that includes a number of cats and dogs.

Martina would welcome the opportunity to meet your children and your family, and she invites you to reach out by email or phone to schedule a tour of the school campus and/or a video call. She is here to answer your questions and guide you through the application process at AISZ. She has found that these introductory meetings can be very informative and often help reduce anxiety and stress that can be associated with a family’s transfer to a new location. In addition, all families are encouraged to explore the AISZ website to learn more about the school, its academic and extracurricular programs, and to take a walk on the AISZ campus through this virtual tour.

Fully completed applications must include (but are not limited to):

• Last two years of report cards (a certified English copy)
• Official Transcripts (for HS students)
• Two medical forms (downloadable from the online application portal)
• Confidential teacher recommendation forms (also downloadable from the online portal)
• Any external assessment results (if applicable)
• Notification of Special Needs (if applicable) with supporting documentation
• Any documentation that includes Learning Support services such as an IEP; documents cannot be more than three years old.

All documents must be translated into English with certified copies submitted to the school.

AISZ follows a priority system in line with its Admission Guidelines, which are:

• Priority 1: Dependents of employees of the United States Embassy of Croatia and their associated Diplomatic Missions, and eligible dependents of AISZ faculty.
• Priority 2: Expatriate or host country students transferring from an international posting who do not yet have a school in Zagreb.
• Priority 3: Expatriate or host country students transferring from a local or international school in the greater Zagreb area. 

Each candidate's application materials are carefully reviewed to assess the applicant's potential for success as a student at AISZ. The following list, while not exhaustive nor in any particular order, describes criteria that are taken into consideration during the admissions process. 

• School reports, recommendations, and references from previous schools
• Academic performance
• Credits eligible for AISZ diploma for Upper School applicants
• Behavior/discipline records
• EAL proficiency based upon experience and testing results for students in Grades 6-12 who are not native English speakers
• Student interview (as requested and required by the admissions committee)
• Math assessment for High School applicants
• Program requirements and AISZ resourcing (e.g. AISZ may not offer some IB courses required by students, notably in languages) 
• IB/DP only: Students may be required to take a specific Language A course for acceptance (e.g. Chinese A or Croatian A)
• Learning Support needs to include documentation of all support received at previous schools, IEPs, psychoeducational assessment reports, and any other relevant documentation (not older than 3 years)

The following enrolment requirements are adhered to:

• Pre-Kindergarten students must be 3 or 4 years of age by December. 
• Kindergarten students must be 5 years of age by September 1.
• Grades 1-12 students are placed in a class compatible with their age on evidence of successful completion of the preceding grade or year.

Specific requirements apply to these categories of applicants:

• Pre-Kindergarten 
• The applicant must be completely toilet-trained before commencing school. 
• The applicant must be able to feed and dress him/herself reasonably independently. 
• High School and IB/DP: Students must be on track with high school credits to graduate on time and have the appropriate academic and linguistic qualification for entrance to high school and IB.

Students moving from a school where the academic year ends partway through the AISZ school year will continue in the same grade. For example, if a student has successfully completed the AISZ equivalent of Grade 4 in December at their current school, that student will remain in Grade 4 for the second semester at AISZ (January - June). If a student has successfully completed half of grade 4 by the time they are to begin school at AISZ in August, then they will complete a full year of Grade 4 at AISZ (August - June). Exceptions to this will be made at the school’s discretion only if the school determines that it is demonstrably evident that the student would be better served in a different grade level.

AISZ strives to service students’ needs to the extent of the resources available. At this time, the school is unable to diagnose students or to provide long term remediation and therapeutic treatment plans. If a child’s needs reach a level beyond our service capabilities, the school may refer and recommend for outside educational evaluations, remediation programmes, consultations and therapeutic services at extra cost to the family or may recommend a different learning program altogether. 

Families are advised that Zagreb offers little opportunity for external educational, psychological, and other assessments to be undertaken in English. As such recommendations for such may involve accessing these services in other countries such as Austria.  We can advise families directly if this is the case. 

Our Admission Policy and Student Support Team does not provide services for students requiring Intensive Support. 

Due to limited resources, we are unable to support students requiring the following levels of intervention:

• A self-contained intensive learning classroom or life skills program.
• Special day classes.
• Severe behavioural support training.
• Complex and comprehensive curricular modifications or individually designed inclusion opportunities.
• Adaptive physical education and / or physical therapy and motor support.

You can see more details about tuition and payment here.