Director's Wave | Volume 6 Edition 18

Vol 6 Ed 18 2025-2026 SY 6 February 2026 JU

Dear CIS Community,

Something to Ponder

“Somebody once said that in looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if you don't have the first, the other two will kill you.” - Warren Buffett

Recruiting

Recruiting, developing and retaining excellent staff that inspire students, colleagues and the broader CIS community is extremely important – many school heads argue that this is the most important thing they do. Throughout the school year CIS reviews and meets with people applying to our school for faculty and staff positions that may open up. October to April are usually considered the busiest months with respect to recruiting. The market for international teachers is very competitive and continues to be more so each year.

According to ISC Research (an agency that specializes in market research related to international schools), in 2026 there are just over 7.7 million students attending 15,075 international schools worldwide with a combined faculty of over 730,000. International schools are located in almost all countries in the world. In 2000 roughly 75% of international schools were not-for-profit and 25% for profit. Today the numbers are essentially reversed - roughly 15% of international schools are nonprofit (CIS being a not-for-profit school), and 85% for profit.

With this competitive market in mind CIS has already begun its formal recruiting, reviewing and hiring process. This week I am currently participating in international teaching job fairs to meet with prospective teachers. CIS recruits candidates using a variety of methods including recruiting agencies, job fairs, HR services and word of mouth to name a few. CIS is fortunate to be governed by ISS (International Schools Services) which is one of the largest international teacher recruitment agencies in the world. Of course, since we are in the Cayman Islands, all positions are posted with the Cayman Islands Government via WORC. Our process includes extensive review of paperwork, security checks, police checks, interviews, practice lessons and thorough reference checking, just to share a brief overview of the process.

Anticipated openings for next school year are posted on our website, with ISS and with WORC (Workforce Opportunities and Residency Cayman). Considering the competitive market for teachers, whilst CIS is a considered a desired school to serve, and the Cayman Islands is an attractive location, the cost of living on island presents a significant recruiting challenge. Our perennial challenge is to ensure our professional climate at CIS is an environment in which current and future staff wish to serve. The recruiting season is complex, exciting, ongoing and time consuming. CIS takes great care in its recruiting, using a variety of protocols, as mentioned above, in order to ensure our faculty and staff is aligned with our principles (kindness, partnership, sustainability, good intent), appreciative of our mission (connect, inspire, serve) and dedicated to global citizenship.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend - sincerely,

Jim

Jim Urquhart

Director - Cayman International School