The Rome International Schools Association (RISA) was founded in 1974 by two international school principals in Rome, who saw the need for intra-school communication and collaboration in the academic and non-academic spheres. In 1974 five international schools set up rules which formulated the association. The first inaugural conference was hosted by the F.A.O. in October of 1974, where 13 schools were represented. Since then, RISA has held intra-school sports, art shows, teacher workshops and conferences.

The schools are of varying sizes and offer different combinations of levels from pre-school through to secondary. The schools all share these common factors:

• They are independent of any state system
• They are international
• They have students and faculty drawn from a number of nations
• The sole or major language of instruction is English

Today RISA has 16 member schools.

The RISA Directory is published biennially as a service to families seeking suitable schools for their children in Rome.

The data and descriptions appearing in this Directory are furnished by the schools and endorsement of any particular school is not made by this Association.