Founded
1951

For children of UN staff; 75 years in 2026

Curriculum
American + IB

US diploma; 36 IB courses, 28 AP courses

Ages
3–18

Early Years to Grade 12

Location
3 campuses

Pattimura & Pondok Indah elementary; Cilandak MS/HS

Structure
Non-profit SPK

WASC + CIS accredited; US State Dept-assisted

Students
2,300+

70+ nationalities across ~20 hectares

The short version

The short version

Jakarta Intercultural School (JIS) is a non-profit American-curriculum school teaching more than 2,300 students from over 70 nationalities, from Early Years to Grade 12, across three South Jakarta campuses — Pattimura Elementary in Kebayoran Baru, Pondok Indah Elementary, and the main Cilandak campus for Middle and High School.

It is accredited by WASC and the Council of International Schools, and its High School Profile lists 36 IB and 28 Advanced Placement courses beneath a US high school diploma.↗↗

For an expat family, the practical summary is this: JIS is the default shortlist entry for an American or IB education in Jakarta, with the deepest history and the widest programme in the market — and the deepest fee schedule too.

On the 2026-27 schedule an all-in high school year runs to about IDR 633 million, every year starts with a non-refundable enrolment-guarantee fee of up to IDR 32.25 million, and a child assessed as needing English-language support triggers a one-time EAL fee of IDR 89,148,000.

None of these lines is optional, and the EAL one is decided by the school, not the parent.↗↗

What the school is

From UN school to embassy school to SPK

JIS was established in 1951 for the children of United Nations staff posted to the newly independent Indonesia, moved to Pattimura in 1953, and became the Joint Embassy School in 1969 under Australian, British, Yugoslav and US embassy sponsorship.

The Cilandak campus opened in 1977, the school took the name Jakarta International School in 1978, and it was renamed Jakarta Intercultural School in 2014 — when Indonesia’s Regulation 31/2014 banned the word “international” in school names and folded every such school into the SPK (Satuan Pendidikan Kerjasama, or cooperation education unit) framework.↗↗

The SPK frame matters to parents in two practical ways. First, Indonesian-citizen students at SPK schools must take Indonesian language, civics and religion classes and sit national examinations in Grades 9 and 12; foreign students are exempt.

Second, schools like JIS operate as non-profit foundations (the yayasan model common across Indonesian international schools) — JIS’s own fee page states that 100 per cent of school fees go toward developing students and their learning experience.

The school remains an American overseas school, assisted by the US State Department’s Office of Overseas Schools, and marks its 75th anniversary in 2026.↗↗↗

One community note: JIS is an Indonesian school as well as an international one. Its High School Profile requires Indonesian Studies credits of non-Indonesian students, and the school runs the Bhinneka Tunggal Ika scholarship programme — named for the national motto — for Indonesian students entering Grades 8-10.

The result is a student body with a meaningful local share rather than a pure expat bubble.↗↗

Academics in practice

Thirty-six IB courses, twenty-eight APs, and a ten-application cap

The high school runs on the North American credit model toward a US diploma, with some AP options opening in Grade 10 and the full choice — the IB Diploma Programme or an AP programme including the AP Capstone — in Grades 11 and 12.

The 2026 High School Profile lists 36 IB courses and 28 AP courses, requires Creativity, Activity and Service (CAS) throughout high school, and caps each student at ten university applications worldwide — a deliberate policy to keep applications well-considered.↗

The school publishes its university-acceptance lists through its own channels; we do not reproduce results figures here because the current numbers belong to the school and cohorts change yearly. Ask for the most recent IB Diploma results with candidate numbers and the acceptance list, and read them against the scale of the senior class.

Beyond the classroom, JIS is a founding member of IASAS, the six-school Southeast Asian athletics and activities conference, and runs a Learning Center for students needing more intensive support — priced separately on the fee schedule (IDR 667 million all-in on the 2025-26 schedule, the highest line in the market).

Expat guides report a 1:10 student-teacher ratio school-wide.↗↗

Admissions and cost

Admissions, and the two fee lines that decide the budget

JIS runs a five-step application process that includes assessment of English language, reading, writing and mathematics, with a non-refundable application fee (IDR 5,543,800 on the 2026/27 aggregator record; IDR 5,000,000 on the 2025-26 schedule).

Expat guides report waiting lists of 12-18 months at the most sought-after Jakarta schools for nursery and early-primary entry, so treat the application calendar as something to work a full cycle ahead of arrival.↗↗↗

The first line to understand is the Enrolment Guarantee Fee: an annual — not one-time — non-refundable charge of IDR 26,872,000 if paid by the early-bird deadline (2 April 2026 for the 2026-27 year) or IDR 32,250,000 at the standard rate.

It holds an offered place for a new student and re-confirms a continuing student’s place every year, which means returning families pay it annually on top of tuition.

The 2026-27 schedule is valid until 31 December 2026; fees are quoted in rupiah, and the school offers 3-, 6- and 12-month instalments at zero interest via CIMB and Mandiri banks.↗

The second line is the one-time EAL fee — IDR 89,148,000 on the 2026-27 schedule, up from IDR 52,200,000 in 2025-26 — charged when the school’s own assessment determines a student needs English-as-an-Additional-Language support.

The accompanying policy is stricter than the price: if JIS determines at any point during enrolment that a student requires EAL, the student must join the EAL programme to remain enrolled.

Families of children with weaker English should treat that as a conditional-enrolment clause — discuss it explicitly with admissions before the assessment, not after the invoice.↗↗

All-in, the 2026/27 aggregator record puts annual totals (enrolment guarantee plus tuition plus capital fee) at IDR 392.6 million for the youngest kindergarteners, IDR 551.5 million in Grades 1-5, IDR 627.7 million in Grades 6-8 and IDR 633.0 million in Grades 9-12, with the annual capital fee at IDR 68,367,000.

New for 2026-27 are a Technology Fee and a Lane 3 High School Surcharge Fee whose amounts sit behind the fee page’s interactive panels — ask for the downloadable full schedule PDF, which the school provides on request, before you fix a budget.

On the 2025-26 schedule, school bus fees ran to IDR 78.75 million (chaperoned, early years to Grade 5) or IDR 72.8 million (unchaperoned, secondary) a year — a line that can rival a small car.↗↗

The family experience

Three campuses, one commute calculation

Campus assignment follows age: Pattimura (Kebayoran Baru) and Pondok Indah for elementary, Cilandak for Middle and High School.

All three sit in the South Jakarta corridor where most expat families live — Pondok Indah, Kemang, Cipete and Cilandak itself — but a family with children in both elementary and secondary can face two school runs, and Jakarta traffic makes a 5 km journey a 45-minute one at the wrong hour.

The chaperoned bus network exists precisely because of this; price it before dismissing it.↗↗

For foreign families, the visa dimension runs through the school as sponsor: across Indonesia, foreign children enrol on a student KITAS sponsored by the school or a dependent KITAS tied to a parent’s permit, and JIS’s own terms include a published “Indonesian Ministry of Education Requirements” policy among its enrolment documents.

Rules and enforcement change; confirm your children’s documentation pathway with admissions and a licensed agent as early as you confirm the school place.↗↗

Our readConfidence: Medium

The default American-IB choice in Indonesia — priced and conditioned accordingly

Our confidence is Medium rather than High. The 2026-27 fee structure, the EAL policy, the High School Profile and the SPK regulatory frame are first-party or government-sourced and current.

What we could not capture: the amounts behind the new Lane 3 surcharge and Technology Fee (the fee page’s panels are script-rendered), any published results data, and the classrooms themselves.

The direction of travel is nonetheless clear — JIS’s 2026-27 schedule raised the one-time EAL charge by more than 70 per cent over 2025-26, and the all-in secondary year now tops IDR 630 million before buses and trips.

JIS suits families who want the American or IB pathway at maximum depth, corporate postings whose packages cover premium fees, and parents who value a genuinely Indonesian-international community with 75 years of alumni behind it.

It suits less well if your child’s English is borderline and the EAL charge would be painful, if you want a British curriculum (look at BSJ), or if budget predictability matters more than breadth — between the annual enrolment-guarantee fee, the capital fee and the conditional EAL charge, the only safe way to budget JIS is from the current PDF schedule, confirmed in writing before you accept a place.

Take these to the school

Questions that move beyond the tour script

Admissions and the EAL assessment

  1. How is the EAL assessment conducted, at what point is the one-time EAL fee triggered, and can a family see the assessment criteria before applying?
  2. If our child is later assessed as needing EAL while enrolled, what exactly does the “must join to remain enrolled” condition mean in practice — and is the fee re-charged?
  3. For our child’s grade and entry point, what does current availability look like, and how far ahead should we apply?

Academics and pathways

  1. May we see the most recent IB Diploma results with candidate numbers, and the latest university-acceptance list?
  2. How do students choose between the full IB Diploma and the AP track, and can they combine them?
  3. What does the Learning Center provide, how is admission to it decided, and what does it cost on the current schedule?

Cost and logistics

  1. May we have the full 2026-27 fee PDF, including the Lane 3 High School Surcharge and Technology Fee amounts and which families they apply to?
  2. Exactly which fees are annual versus one-time — and what is the total year-one bill for our children’s grades including bus, trips and exam fees?
  3. What documents does the school need for our children’s KITAS or dependent status, and does the school act as sponsor?

Continue your research

Choose your next step

Sources and further research

Where to verify and keep reading

We favor direct links to the exact page or document a family may need next. Access dates matter because admissions, tuition, leadership, and programs change.