Clifford School began as a fully Chinese local private school with Mandarin Chinese as the medium of instruction; however, western staff was present to teach English language classes as well.

An international program was established in 2002 to provide full English as the language medium for courses, with the goal of attracting expatriate families and foreign students living in Guangzhou, China.

This accreditation acknowledges that Clifford International School meets the common measure of an appropriate learning environment with proven academic standards.

English, chemistry, physics, biology, arithmetic, history, world issues, French or Mandarin, physical education, and electives are among the  subjects taught at CIS in preparation for university admission.

Clifford School has special permission to administer the SAT exams on campus to students who are registered there.

The following people are currently members of the CAS: C. A. Nie, A. Fang, D. Tang, M. Huang, and J. Zhang Qiu.