The Tianjin International School was founded in 1985 to provide an American educational program for the children of LDi (formerly MTI) employees. Classes began in the fall of 1986 in temporary classrooms at the Tianjin Grand Hotel Conference Center. The school initially had 30 students, 6 full-time teachers, and several part-time teachers.
In May of 1987, the school moved to the eighth floor of the Intertech Building. In 1991, the school expanded to include children of expatriates living and working in Tianjin or its surrounding environs. The school quickly outgrew its classroom space at the ITC Building and moved to the Xing Guo Junior High School building in 1993. During its seven years at Xing Guo, the school continued to grow and expand its program offerings.
In the summer of 2000, TIS moved into the Sun hope Building in the Huayuan Technology Zone, which provided much needed room for expansions of its programs. After more than a decade there, the school moved back to the Hexi District and opened its doors at the current campus on January 30, 2012. In what was a miraculous provision, the school campus more than doubled in size and added many facilities that increased the richness of the student experience.