Our daughter has been an ISS student for two years now, with one year in the PYP (Primary Years…read moreProgram, both at their Sindelfingen and Degerloch campus) and the other in the MYP (Middle Years Program, Degerloch campus).
For a U.S. government contractor, ISS seemed like a slightly more affordable alternative to DoDDS (Department of Defense Dependence Schools), which costs $24,396 per year vice $17K to $18K per year at ISS; and, unlike at DoDDS, we have never had to worry about our daughter being "bumped out of school" due to over capacity (i.e., space at DoDDS is only guaranteed for children of military and government civilians).
The IB (International Baccalaureate) program also sounded more admirable in its goal to mold and produce caring, compassionate, global-minded citizens, who are adept at self-motivation and self-education - a goal that greatly resonated with my husband and I. Unfortunately, this discovery method only works when a student is already very self-driven and/or has access to very thoughtful, innovative teachers; ISS is bereft of the latter, which is why ISS students easily struggle in math and language learning. For instance, rather than develop individualized learning plans to help students tackle their math and/or language challenges, ISS teachers will instead steer parents towards private tutoring services.
Pros of ISS: Although ISS's community of active parents is small, it is still impressively effective and most likely the reason why ISS continues to remain operational; it has some very caring and kind teachers and staff members, who truly care about the kids; it offers students a unique opportunity to become bilingual and/or trilingual, both through class learning and through immersion trips into neighboring towns; it provides numerous after school programs and a number of overnight school trips to "facilitate holistic learning"; and ISS works hard to build a community of compassionate, tolerant, and open-minded citizens by teaching their students how to appreciate, communicate, and interact with people from different cultures and from other countries.
Cons of ISS: ISS lacks visionaries; it is more reactive than proactive in its strategic and financial planning; many of its managing staff and teachers fail to understand the importance of providing students with strong foundational preparation, especially when it comes to math; lack of a focus on laying foundational knowledge has resulted in many kids falling behind and/or repeating a grade level, once they return to their home countries (most prevalent concern among non-German parents); the principals and teachers are slow at best to respond to your inquiries, unless forced to do so; and there is an absence of accountability for students, which, to be fair, is first and foremost up to the parents to address - but that doesn't mean that ISS should continue to set expectations without consequences, as well.
My husband and I still believe the IB program has great potential and merit, but we do not feel that ISS (Degerloch or Sindelfingen) has done all that it can to effectively execute it.
